More tape. I just need more tape.

 
Golf explained. I think. (Needs, you know, Quicktime.)

 
Google Experience #3409: Searching on the word "dancing" can bring delightfully unexpected results.

 
Steve Martin was right of course; comedy is not pretty, especially in these times. However, that doesn't seem to stop it from stepping out in public.

 
This just in (for me):

The 2002 Nobel winners have been announced. I'm so proud of Ethan Hawke. His mostly female, 18-25 yo readership will be in hysterics.

 
The cool word for the day is yacht. I think it's a WASPish sort of cool they're talking about.

 
Well, well. Just what every Futurama fan needed to see. Uh, yeah. Thanks Scoobie...

 
Actually, we used to call it When Server Rooms Attack.

 
H. G. Wells has been reincarnated and making politically-motivated Macromedia flash animations. He's also funnier this time around. Well, a little funnier.

 
The best fiction is often the shortest. And accompanied by a lego drawing.

(Damn that riley dog; where does he find them?)

 
What do you get when you put monkeys in charge of a library system? I bet it ain't Shakespeare.

 
Slate's Timothy Noah notes that he violated a "core precept of journalism" by discussing the coolest part of the story at the end of Tuesday's Chatterbox. Strange how he seems to be breaking a lot of those precepts lately, like the one about getting your facts straight.

(It's obvious Happy Day did not rub off on me completely.)

 
Hey Andrew? Does The Reg have a gun up your butt and thereby forcing you to read?

 
The ancient astronaut mystic.

Yeah, sort of a step back into Happy Day. Sorry.

 
We humans are marvelous beings. We have reached an amazing level of comprehension and discernment of the true universe around us. And we also know any really good superstition should never be swept under the rug.

 
Lesson for the day: how the enemies of the DMCA are much more clever than it's proponents. Oh, and if you get confused reading this at first, then join the club.

 
Wrapping up Happy Day on guff, it seems appropriate to end with, well, the end.

 
Ok folks, it's time for you to meet the rabbit.

Before you do, be aware of two things: 1. You need a Macromedia / Shockwave / Flash plugin thingie installed to see him. 2. Microsoft Internet Explorer users may experience an abrupt takeover of their entire desktop -- but fear not; it's just the rabbit.

 
Lots of fun at the expense of the Japanese. But honestly, it's all in good fun.

 
Some guys really know how to kick back and relax.

 
Mmm, mmm. Few things bring on happy thoughts more than hot apple pie.

 
Can't seem to find anything worth the effort to throw some guff at this morning. So today is Happy Day on guff. This tends to trigger my gag reflex, but there's apparently no way out of it.

First up, brit author Nick Hornby (High Fidelity; About a Boy) discusses ten music tracks one shouldn't be without. Link found by way of riley dog.

 
Kafkaesquí: "Hey Andrew, you old Poet Laureate. Do you have a cold?"

Andrew Motion: "Nah, I'm just in a mood to write."

 
"The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together."

Taken from: All's Well That Ends Well

 
Expecting tons of postings from me today? Ha!

I'm trapped in the middle of a writer's madness. Don't ask why I fell willingly into it -- no wait, go ahead and ask, because I'll tell you: it's mostly her fault. Thanks Shannon!

No really, I'm already deep into a plot outline, etc. So things are looking pretty good for me. At least today I'm on a high. If anyone's interested in keeping track of my 30 day struggle next month, as I doubt I'll be able to attempt more than the occasional wave here during November, you can do so at 50,000 words. There's a blog there, too (natch).

 


To me there's nothing more beatific in art than baby Jesus copping a feel. (In case you're interested: a crop of Madonna with the Child, Luis de Morales. c. 1570.)

 
You know guys, sometimes no really does mean no. (I am an Ananova linking machine!)

 
Web Science Experiment

Just noticed this in guff's referer* log:

14 Oct, Mon, 02:20:36      http://wwww.blogger.com/

That's four w's up there in the server host name. The World Wide Web What? With my interest piqued**, I went as far as I could go:

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww<br>
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.blogger.com

What do we learn from this? Not a hell of a lot, but we can say with certainty there's a 63 character limit for virtual host names on Blogger's servers (not so ironically, that's the same restriction for standard domain names... there, you learned something!). Try it with another letter, or play with your favorite multi-multi-syllabic word***.

*	Gotta love those technical spell-nuts!
**	Gotta love those slips of the keyboard!
***	Gotta love these geeky time wasters!

 
Well, I guess I can always use another reason for not embracing Islam. No offense to Muslim dog owners.

 
Today's Nordic news: shocking text and exploding toilet, or, all blush and no flush for the Norwegians.

Yep, once you write about Norway, you always write about Norway.

 
In regards to a technical discussion going on elsewhere (I'll provide a link if you want it, but you don't want it), I arrived at a philosophical conclusion:

It's common for something built to be simple to also turn out cool, but it's unusual for something built to be cool to end up being simple.

That little maxim may represent an important truth. If not? Well, at the very least I like the way it sounds.

 
Coming up this week: World Standards Day. We in the US will be observing it on Wednesday, while the rest of you get it out of the way early (Monday -- so much for standards). I'm not sure what we're expected to do to celebrate. Perhaps take a wine cork (ISO 4710:2000) or StarCraft CD-ROM (ISO 9660:1988) out for lunch.

 
I was trying not to post something about this, but then I got to wondering: how do you prove such a crime to the jury? I mean, how do you display the evidence? What I mean is... you know what, nevermind. I've decided not to know what I mean.

 
guff is looking for a drummer. No, not this guff. The other, more musically inclined guff.

 
A note to anyone thinking it's fun -- and funny, sure -- to bash all of Norway for Jimmy Carter's Nobel Peace Prize:

Make your case against it all you want. I'm with you, at least in spirit. (I mean really, the Peace Prize? Yawn!) However, don't belittle an entire country for the Nobel Committee's leg-kicking wackiness. That's like blaming all Americans for Christina Aguilera winning a Grammy (actually, she has two!!). In no way do I take responsibility there.

By the way, Castro is all for the prize. Expect some cigars in the mail, Jimmy; but don't try to sell them. That's still illegal here, you know.