Category Archives: bit of fun

Pyramids and the shape of news

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I saw a tweet a few days back from my good friend Paul (@digitaldocs).

If the news was a shape - what shape would it be?
May 27, 2011 1:40 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@digitaldocs
PaulEgglestone

I replied that it was either a square or ‘a messy blob’

Thinking about it later I wondered why I didn’t immediately say pyramid. My immediate thought was box. So much for thinking outside of it!

Talk about burying the lead!

In that way the web has, I felt an echo of that as I read this article on the BBC website

Seventeen lost pyramids are among the buildings identified in a new satellite survey of Egypt.

Perhaps it was the idea that new technology would unearth these monuments to an older way of life. Maybe it was the irony that these seemingly impervious icons of an older way of life would just dissapear without anyone knowing.

All that effort, all the reason for them being there in the first place, forgotten.

 

iphone app idea: iwall

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A few tweets from Sarah Hartley gave me an idea for an iphone app:

My mock up of iwall

My mock up of iwall

I’m going to call it iwall and it’s specially designed to give you a portable bit of wall to bang your head against when you are in a meeting.

Taking advantage of the tough build quality of the iphone this little app takes the innovative step of bring the wall to your head rather than your head to the wall. The app will display a high-quality picture of a wall for you to bang against your head and can be set to emit a realistic head on brick sound.

How much shall I charge?

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Google: A future Champ

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The slight disruption is service has been down to a music festival – very good – and quick visit to the lakes to celebrate my mum’s 60th.

Whist up there I came across one of those ‘guide to the web’ books from 2000 and this page caught my eye

Google, a future champ

Google, a future champ

A nice Google Beta(!) screen shot and text that reads

Google is a highly promising newcomer, with a large database, an intelligent system of ranking hits by relevancy(popularity), and local cache access to pages that have disappeared since its crawl or are otherwise unavailable.Check it out, as it looks set to become a future champ

That was 8 years ago…

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The Parrot theory

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In any line of work there are rites of passage. Sometimes it’s the trial you have to go through to be excepted by your peers – like being sent out for tartan paint or a left handed hammer. Other times its the jobs that just make you groan. ‘not again’.

In journalism its the stories that crop up that can mysteriously clear a newsroom leaving a rabbit-eyed intern right in the firing line. The prime suspect for that ‘groaner’ is usually a vox-pop (for snappers it’s the big cheque picture) but in online I’m sure that it’s the parrot story.

Now I haven’t done any empirical studies on this. I base this purely on a rough bit of googling. But the thought came to me when I watched the Croydon Advertisers video on Frisco the talking parrot.

What a great little video. A nice treatment of a traditionally duff story.

So remember it may be parrots catching burglers, prediciting earthquakes or even revealing affairs but one day you will be sent on a parrot story. Are you prepared?

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What is a citizen Journalist?

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This made me smile. Not saying I agree. Just made me smile.

A definition of citizen journalist by Seth Finkelstein in response to a post by Dan Gillmor about defining the loaded term

“person who wants to have things both ways, by claiming all the privileges which attach to the role of “journalist”, while disclaiming all the responsibilities and rules which constrain that role, saying they are a “citizen””.

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Have you got my number Ray…Number10tv goes online

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So Number10 has gone online with a wordpress powered website and a brightcove powered TV channel number 10tv. It’s all flickr and community orientated. Looks good.

With my video head on I’m very excited as they have obviously gone for the TV-format approach. Whilst the TV does series from a Zoo and a wildlife park, Number 10TV does ‘Kestrel Rescue’

Cue exciting music and last minute errands of mercy all held together with Gordon Brown doing his best Rolf Harris Animal hospital routine?

No. Cue this (listen to the sound)

So, Ray. Are you sure you have the number? ‘Cos it’s changed.

History lesson.

Wife!

Wife? Check.

I also enjoyed the feature on Winston Churchill. I particularly like the section on wife. Yes he had one and she was “tall, stately and handsome” which I’m sure is a description that would earn you a slap, even in polite society.

Given the tone of the section I think Number10 have inadvertantly raised the veracity of wikipedia as a source.

Make your own bluescreen.

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I would normally stick this in my daily links but one of the comments made me smile and it’s cool, so I thought I would share.

Now you can present the weather in your own home

Now you can present the weather in your own home

Theodore Watson is running what sounds like a fantastic class called ‘The Make Class’. It’s about “making stuff! It is also about sharing the process!”. They make everything from Helicams to sex toys! Brilliant.

With all the talk about teaching innovation and creativity, this sounds like the kind of course I’d love to take.

Anyway, the project that caught my eye was the portable blue screen and he shares how on his blog and on Instructables

And the comment that made me laugh? Instrcutable member sciamannikoo offers an alternative.

1. take a second hand laptop
2. Install any MS system
3. Delete few system files (with Vista you don’t even need this step)
4. Enjoy your blue screen ;)

Thanks to FreshDV for the tip off