electricinca.com

so I am quoting some of my favourite stuff from Barbelith. I love this bit of fictional David Niven biography written by Mr. Bizunth Mutters 'INRI' in the thread appropriately known as Fictional Biography.

I always remember an incident that grew up from an argument between David and his friend Pol Pot (Not the dictator). The two fellows had been drinking cauliflower schnapps at a knees-up in the Bigotry Club on Pall Mall to celebrate the release of David's latest film The Most Basic of Instincts and had got into an argument regarding the comportment of Lord Nelson. Pol insisted that the statue of Nelson in Trafalgar Square showed him exposing his 'lad', as he was too high up for anyone but pigeons to see. All official photographs were of a non-obscene scale model kept deep within Whitehall. David poohpoohed the idea, insisting there was no way a hero like Nelson would have permitted his todger to be rendered in stone. As the argument grew more heated the two men set off for the column with an entorage of drunken hangers-on( myself included), having first raided the lost property for mountaineering equipment. As the party charged towards the column the potent effects of the schnapps kicked in and one by one we passed out in the gutters.
On awaking the next day, somehow all back in our beds, we were mildly shocked to find that Pol had died in the night. David never revealed what had happened once they reached the column, but ten years later, drunk on another bottle of that schnapps, he showed me the suppressed autopsy that revealed Pol had died after being pecked by a duck whose beak was laced with Curare, the preferred assassination technique of The Freemasons. When I asked him if he had seen Nelson's most private of parts he fixed me with a glassy, terrified stare and said only 'There are more things in heaven and earth... Horatio."

Will this act of unwarranted street cleaning spawn copycats.

The Yorkshire graffiti artist known universally as Moose has what he believes is a cast-iron defence against accusations of urban vandalism.

He has devised a brand of street art which not only livens up city streets, but removes grime in the process. His method is to take any dirty inner-city wall or pavement, place a template over it and scrub the concrete clean, revealing an image as sharp as any spray paint which fades with time.

This is ingenious and I cannot believe that this will not start off a wave of 'graffiti cleaners' creating their art in our urbanscape. I look forward to the results.

It's a three dog night.

It's not just me and the other twentysomethings that love the retro games such as Pac-Man and Space Invaders, these games are becoming increasingly popular amongst the kids too young to remember them the first time around.

Back in play: Retro's the name of the game for a new generation of videophiles

Today's hottest games don't feature violence or mayhem. They're not photo-realistic and they don't even really have a plot.

Instead, they've got blocky graphics, tinny sound and bizarre objectives. And despite their rudimentary look, these games have inspired an almost manic need to play them.

A sudden spike in the popularity of retro gaming is bringing such low-frill hits as Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Pong to a new generation of gamers looking for something a bit simpler to enjoy.

I've written before about retro-gaming and how I believe that though modern games may be graphically superior they don't necessarily offer a better gaming experience.
Make It a Wario Party

I've also reminisced about the Speccy 48K and the games good and bad. Chuckie Egg excellent but Manic Miner was infuriating and in retrospect not much fun.
Clive Sinclair has no hair...

Labels: Games

When I have a son I'd love him top be like the 3 year old son of James Bloomer. Although given the dire state of my love life I'm a long way off having to cope with the responsiblity of a small human creature.

Here are a few classic Edward Bloomer moments, an Internet star in the making.

The father-son bond

Edward's Birthday Wishlist

A 3 years old's opinion about the cinema copyright warning

Labels: copyright

Like a real life Thundercat a Tiger-man wearing armor type superhero. Very fierce and frightening and yet I realise he is my colleague in a legion of superheroes (pan to a scene of the entire collective) fighting some unimaginable global menace. Sitting in an armchair in the home of a very fat American woman she is standing and talking to me in words that I can hardly understand and yet I know it is English but they don't form sentences I can comprehend. She has three white cats. I'm in an artist's studio but the room is in someway hyper-real and everything is perfectly in focus no matter the relative distance.

These three dreams were experienced by me last night in quick succession. I say three but it was like one long dream but there seemed to be three different narratives.

"They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety"
Benjamin Franklin in 1784

England lose to Portugal on penalties in the quarter-finals of Euro 2004.

Where did it all go wrong?

Primarily the referee's decision to disallow Sol Campbell's goal when everyone else in the stadium believed it was a valid goal. With so many decisions going the way of the Portuguese it did seem that the supposedly neutral Swiss referee was biased.

Secondly with the loss of Rooney the team just sat back and defended their one goal lead and allowed Portugal too many chances, they were bound to equalise eventually.

Thirdly the dire state of the penalty spot may have hampered the efforts of the penalty takers although this was equally hard for both teams. In this same vein why can Beckham not score penalties anymore?

Anyway I am depressed and angry and vow never to watch another football match again, although I shall probably break that vow and watch the final in just over a week.

Roll on the World Cup in a couple of years and watch us crash out of that one as well and continue our role as chronic underachievers who are robbed of their rightful place in the final.

Labels: Sport

From WIRED News - Court: Names Must Be Revealed

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ruled Monday that people do not have a constitutional right to refuse to tell police their names.

The 5-4 decision frees the government to arrest and punish people who won't cooperate by revealing their identity.

The decision was a defeat for privacy rights advocates who argued that the government could use this power to force people who have done nothing wrong, other than catch the attention of police, to divulge information that may be used for broad database searches.

Although this applies to the US I had assumed that the UK situation is pretty similar, I've been stopped by the police a couple of times recently in my car and been asked for my name and I've given it without question. Anyway it's just occured to me how this relates to the UK Identity Card Draft Bill in which it is stated that the Police will not have the power to make an on-the-spot request to see an individual's ID card. So I don't actually know what the situation in this regard is at present in the UK. Given that the police will not have the power to ask for your ID card will they have the power to demand your name, which would actually amount to the same thing.

I have written a thesis on the proposed UK Identity Card Scheme. Read it and then make up your own mind.

Ben Affleck, yes that Ben Affleck wins the California State Poker Championship.

Labels: movies

With a prolific spate of goal-scoring ability the Englishmen are into the Quarter-Final stage.

This is an insane match. Croatia looked dead and buried but they claw one back. Then Lampard scores again for England and it's England 4-2 Croatia.

Rooney scores again. England 3-1 Croatia.

YEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The little thug scores and it's 2-1 to England.

YEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Scholes scores his first goal in 3 years and it is 1-1.

FUCK!!!!!!!!!!
6 mins played
Croatia score off a free-kick.

An update to this post.
Anil Dash has made the text of Cory Doctorow's speech to Microsoft more readable and with hyperlinks to explanations of some concepts and words for the uninitiated.

Dig Now, Die Later!
Clark and Bruce go psycho.

I seem to be going through a bit of a nostalgia trip at the moment. In fact I think I may be regressing to my 16 year old self, going on dates to the cinema and then unable to make a move.

Anyway with this in mind I happen to stumble across this cool Transformers Music Video doodah. This may have regressed me even further and I am now a pre-teen who cannot wait for the next Star Wars movie or something.

Labels: Star Wars

I've just watched the best match of Euro 2004 so far. I was blown away by the excitement of this game, with dozens of shots on goal it was an open game of the type you never see anymore in national games. Teams usually play a far more controlled game nowadays in order to avoid defeat rather than a full expressive game where they push the play at their opponents and drive towards goal.

It wasn't without controversy though as there was a dubious sending off, incidents when penalties should have been given but weren't a goal that was allowed through a technicality. The second Dutch goal is a clear example of why the modern offside rule is utterly insane. It has been changed from an objective decision dependent on the relative positions of players to a subjective one where the player is considered offside only if they are gaining an advantage from their position.

I have just returned home from having seen the amazing documentary by Errol Morris titled The Fog of War (IMDB entry) which tracks the career of Robert McNamara concentrating on his role as the Secretary of Defence for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. I was deeply troubled by having seen it and it has left me feeling quite pessimistic for the future of humanity.

I've never thought of McNamara of being an evil man but there are those that do who blame him for the Vietnam War. I was confused how the man that had had a major part in the prevention of the Cuban Missile Crisis turning into a Nuclear War could have been an instigator in the start of the conflict in Vietnam.

In the light of this and the parts in the film where McNamara is talking about General Curtis LeMay I am reconsidering my views on many world leaders particularly of Bush and Rumsfeld. Not that I am in favour of their policies now just that I no longer considering them evil just wrong. This however does scare me that there are rational people in the world - leading the world even that are capable of making very bad decisions.

Understanding your enemy is a crucial point that has been recommended all the way back starting with Sun Tzu but is continually ignored or not fully explored by military leaders today. US involvement in Vietnam was born out of a paranoia about the spread of Communism and they were fighting for the freedom of the South Vietnamese. The North Vietnamese however didn't understand this and were convinced that the US were a colonizing power that they would fight till the last man in order to remain free from becoming slaves to the Americans. In turn the US didn't understand that even if Vietnam was to go Communist they would never ally themselves with China because they considered China to be their biggest and oldest enemy.

There are lessons to be learned here that apply to the current situation in Iraq particularly the motives of the insurgents. What do the insurgents believe of the intentions of the US government? I think it possible that far from being haters of democracy or some such tripe that has been used to describe them that they may in fact believe that the US is really there to steal their oil and colonize their land. They may well believe themselves to be freedom fighters endeavoring to throw of the shackles of a foreign power.

Labels: movies

DRM or Digital Rights Management is a general term for any of several systems designed to restrict the usage of a copyrighted digital work by the owner of the rights to the work. For example a copy protection system on a CD you purchased to prevent you from making illegal copies. It is a controversial subject as there are many legitimate reasons why someone may wish to make a copy of a copyrighted digital work and they are prevented from doing so due to DRM.

For more see the Wikipedia article Digital Rights Management

Cory Doctorow, science fiction author and technology writer is an advocate of a more coherent stratgey to protecting author's rights in this new world. He recently gave a talk to Microsoft about his concerns with DRM and their role in the implementation of it in their software products. He has put it into the public domain so read it here, download it, print it and distribute far and wide if you wish.

It seems that it isn't just football fans that become violent after a night of heavy drinking. In the early hours of the morning on the live feed from the Big Brother house a major fight broke out.

Thankfully there was little actual violence because the two would be combatants Victor and Emma were restrained. It seems that Channel 4 got more than they bargained for but what do they expect when they put volatile antagonistic characters in close proximity and then give them lots of alcohol when tensions are already high due to a lack of cigarettes.

I don't why there has developed a culture of violence in this country. The scenes of violence due to the football are just an extension of a typical Saturday night. The hooligans in Portugal are probably just typical English blokes doing what they would nornally do when they are fucking pissed and that's get in a fight for no fucking reason.

Labels: Sport

I think that I am a fairly prolific reader but I am completely outclassed by this guy who lists the books he's read so far this year.

From the BBC Becks on the spot.

Beckham's spot-kick miss against France cost England dear and Gary Tuhill (coach of under-15 side Beecholme Colts) reckons his players could show the national skipper how it's done - after putting away 46 in one game.

I pity the poor kids in that match it sounds like the penalty shootout was a huge ordeal that would have seemed like it would never end.

Barthez out-thought Beckham and it cost England the match so perhaps he does need a bit of practice at not aiming for the same spot whenever he takes one. Unfortunately now he'll have the dilemma if another penalty opportunity arises. He has confirmed that he will carry on taking them so will he change his spot like people may expect or will he bluff and hit it exactly the same again.

Labels: Sport

In this age of European integration and friendly competition on the field of play why not learn some offensive terms for your neighbours through the Wikipedia.

I'm just about recovered from the disappointment of England's defeat by France in the last couple of minutes of play, but I'm optimistic of the team's chances against the Swiss and Croatians.

Meanwhile as per usual the drunkenness of football fans has descended into violence.

Football violence descends upon Bath.

FRUSTRATION at England's heartbreaking last-minute defeat to France spilled over into violence in Bath last night. Pubs across the city centre were packed for the opening game of England's Euro 2004 campaign.

By 10.45pm the violence had shifted Bath's railway station as people tried to make their way home by train. At one point, crowds were stopping others getting on to the platform and then a fight involving 15 people broke out on platform two.

Five youths clad in football shirts caused trouble by throwing pint glasses in the car park of the McDonald's restaurant in Lower Bristol Road at about 11.05pm. At the same time, a woman was reported to be lying unconscious in London Road.

I was actually driving down London Road just about then and it was a lot more than just an unconscious woman I can tell you. It was a full on drunken brawl that spilled into one of the busiest roads in Bath and nearly caused a couple of crashes.

Labels: Sport

There are no lions or tigers in Norway.

http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/29/

With the improvements in processing power of modern graphics cards the characters in video games are appearing increasingly lifelike but have now possibly hit a wall. Human beings have over the millions of years of evolution developed an amazing ability to recognize other human beings and are able to discern the difference between real people and fakes. No matter how good the waxworks are at Madame Tussauds they could never be mistaken for a real person because they lack the 'spark of life' that humans are somehow able to recognize. The same is true of video game characters and computer generated animations no matter how close to realistic they are they will probably always lack that je ne se quais. The characters appear like dead people that are moving, puppets made of human flesh.

This phenomenon has been termed the 'Uncanny Valley' by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori and is written about in the article The Undead Zone: Why realistic graphics make humans look creepy by Clive Thompson. Mori used the term in relation to robotics but it is equally applicable to any situation where a representation of life is produced.

The comic book writer and artist Scott McCloud tackles this same problem in his book Understanding Comics. People prefer art in comics where the characters are detailed enough that you can distinguish between the various people but also lacking sufficient detail so that the reader can fill in the blanks and imbue it with life in their minds. But when something is too realistic the reader has less work to do to add life and so focuses on the minor details that detract from the realism.

Labels: comics, Games

I am a fucking idiot and now I'm trying to find solace in the bottle. I am plagued with self-doubt and have missed a golden opportunity for honesty with a girl. I had convinced myself that it was better not to know than to face rejection and yet this is fucking idiotic because I am in a worse position now than I ever would be whatever the truth of the situation is. I am overthinking too much and it's resulted in utter confusion where the message may have been totally bloody obvious.

A friend of mine wrote: 'One thing you guys haven't quite figured out yet is that it's the women who choose the men. You might do the chasing and the courting, but in the end, it's the fairer gender that chooses whether or not you get past the front stoop.'

I worked this out a couple of years ago and it's been all downhill since then. Knowing that the wizard is a regular guy hiding behind a curtain ruins the magic.

Maybe if I go back to deluding myself I might start having more luck, I just realized fucking obviously I would because of my lack of chasing and courting recently. If you don't play the game then you can't claim your prize. Fuck this stupid drunken ramble.

Last August, Greg Dyke, the former director general of the BBC, announced that the BBC would soon launch its "Creative Archive" -- a project to put much of the Beeb's programs on the Internet, so that the licence-paying British public could have access to it.

This is the most ambitious project of its type ever conceived. A fully realized Creative Archive could transform the BBC's precious, deep archive into a springboard for a new century of participatory creation by Britons. This project stands to make the BBC the banner-carrier for public service broadcasting in the information age, but if the BBC bends to pressure to scale back its ambition, the Creative Archive could amount to little more than brochureware and failed promise.

You can help: if you're a license payer, you can join the Friends,, and there will be lots of opportunities in the near future to petition the Beeb, the Governors, the DCMS and Parliament for this -- there's an open letter now that you can sign onto.

Here are some of the elements critical to the creation of a real, useful, relevant Creative Archive:

* It must be broad: drawing from all areas of the BBC's broadcasting from factual to light entertainment, from drama to sport, and everything in between.

* It must be accessible: files must be made available in open, standards-defined formats without "digital rights management" or other technology locks that will keep Britons from creatively re-using the BBC's offerings.

* It must be free: Material should be licensed under conditions that do not restrict any licence payer from accessing, storing, modifying or sharing archive material for non-commercial use.

* It must be whole: Material should be provided in its entirety for non-commercial use, not only in excerpted form.

* It must be soon: the BBC's own internally produced material should be released into the Archive as soon as possible, to prove to the world that the sky won't fall if you relax your copyright stance.

* It must be complete: the BBC should take steps to clear the rights to the independently produced material in its archive.

* It must be sustainable: the BBC's new licensing agreements with independents should all include the right for the BBC to make the works available in the Creative Archive for full non-commercial use.

Link

Labels: copyright

I am quite literally a lunatic. I've been acting a little insane all day and now I've just noticed that there is a full moon or as near as dammit. The power of the moon at it's fullness has affected my mind.