When did the internet get boring? Not individual websites but the web as a whole. What I really mean is the fact that I just spend ages switching between about 5-6 different websites and rarely visit anything else. These are: my email, Facebook, BBC, Google Wave and the Escapist. So after I've run out of things to read on those sites I get bored. I don't think 'Oh, I'll go and look at something else' because I can never think of anything else - I think '*sigh* I'm bored'.
Boredom is a weird thing. The way to stop it is by doing something but it makes you (or me at least) less likely to do so. It one of those self-perpetuating cycles or maybe spirals. And at the bottom of that spiral is depression. Yet when I can hear people talking in the next room, I don't go in there. It's like I'm paralysed by boredom but if I do go in I cease to be bored. So I put it to you that the cure for boredom is people.
Sorry it was mildly depressing this time but it's that time of year isn't it? I need summer.
Saturday, 6 March 2010
Monday, 22 February 2010
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Solitaire
What is it about Windows Solitaire that makes it so addictive and brilliant and yet a complete waste of time? I have several theories:- Failure: You may only win about 1 in 8 times but losing all of those games doesn't put you off but instead spurs you on to eventual victory.
- Anger: You often want to beat the game into a bloody pulp or maybe headbutt it into a fine paste or maybe... You get the idea - I'll stop before you all start backing away very slowly. This will mainly because the one card you need is under two others. You want to win so that you can shout "In your face, Solitaire! In your face! Ha!" at your mortal enemy.
- Reward: The big reward you get is the cards happily bouncing off the screen and leaving a nice pattern behind. However, it is annoying when a fully black trail messes the whole thing up.
Friday, 8 January 2010
New Year and Snow
Well, Christmas is officially over - the decorations are down, the tree is mouldering outside in the snow and now there's nothing to look forward to for months to come. Presents have ceased to be presents and are now just objects. New Year Resolutions have already been failed at miserably. Now is the time for going back to work, back to the grind. Sorry I'm being so depressing. Let's talk about snow instead.
What is it about snow that turns us all into kids? It's just frozen rain yet we all get so excited about it. I mean, sure, it's pretty - it turns half the world white and makes the colours shine out all the brighter. It makes the trees look less bare and lifeless. And it's also fun - throwing snowballs at each other, breath steaming out under hats and over scarfs, making snowmen (among other things). The air can be filled with laughter and fun.
But despite the glories of it, it seems to bring the whole country to its knees. The post doesn't run, nobody goes to work, people get stuck inside their houses, other people have to walk because their car is stuck. Isn't it fun?
So really snow is lovely for a few days but it soon begins to wear on you and you just want it to go away. Of course if you have no need or desire to go out, like me, it makes no difference and its just wonderfully pretty.
Anyway, my new year resolution is to update this blog more often. Of course it will fail but it might be worth a try. See you next time.
What is it about snow that turns us all into kids? It's just frozen rain yet we all get so excited about it. I mean, sure, it's pretty - it turns half the world white and makes the colours shine out all the brighter. It makes the trees look less bare and lifeless. And it's also fun - throwing snowballs at each other, breath steaming out under hats and over scarfs, making snowmen (among other things). The air can be filled with laughter and fun.
But despite the glories of it, it seems to bring the whole country to its knees. The post doesn't run, nobody goes to work, people get stuck inside their houses, other people have to walk because their car is stuck. Isn't it fun?
So really snow is lovely for a few days but it soon begins to wear on you and you just want it to go away. Of course if you have no need or desire to go out, like me, it makes no difference and its just wonderfully pretty.
Anyway, my new year resolution is to update this blog more often. Of course it will fail but it might be worth a try. See you next time.
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Old vs New
Ah yes, the old argument. Which is better - old or new? Is it true that "they don't make 'em like they used to"? Or should we "move with the times, dude"? Well let's see shall we? This post is going to investigate this age-old question with several examples. Before we start I feel like I should let you know that I am pro-old. I'm like a 4o year old or more even though I'm not.
I shall cover three main areas:
Without wanting to sound too...what's-the-word...I was listening to Mozart's Requiem the other day (you know the exciting bits like Dies Ira) and I was told that it was boring. Boring? BORING! Speaks the person who likes music that goes Thump Thump for hours and hours and hours and... You get the idea. A 3-year-old child could do the same, they'd just get bored quicker. (You're going to get a lot of '3-year-old child'-ing.) And people dance to this?
Let me give you something to compare to Dies Ira - Boten Anna. I only know this song because it's been forced upon me. With all the instruments ever invented, strings, brass, percussion, the human voice etc. this is what we get. I know I'm comparing one of the greatest classical composers to a song which will probably be forgotten in a year so it's bound to be a ridiculous comparison. But I know that some of you reading this will be thinking "...but Boten Anna's much better." You, my friend, are a philistine. Oh dear, this is turning into a rant already. Sorry.
Art
Right. Art. Let me give you two examples to compare:
http://www.lairweb.org.nz/leonardo/mona.html
http://blog.pennlive.com/iridescentartnews/2007/08/i_have_struggled_with_ellswort.html
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you 'Red on Canvas' by Ellsworth Kelly and 'Mona Lisa' by Leanardo da Vinci.
Now then. Who can tell me which took more time and talent to paint? Is it (a) the blank red canvas a three-year-old child could do or is it (b) the enigmatic smile of an unknown lady painted by one of the best geniuses the world has ever known. You are correct! It is (b)!
I once saw a TV program about Sotheby's which showed an egg-shaped frame with a gold fabric stretched over it with holes in it. Guess how much it sold for? About £7,000,000 - a number big enough to require commas. I would have bought it for 700 quid tops. So why do people spend so much on these 'artworks'? Because the 'artist' has somehow got famous and now people want their stuff.
And don't even get me started on half a dead cow...
And finally...
Technology
See now here's an area where pretty much all new stuff is better than almost all old stuff. You know the thing you're reading this blog on right now? 20 years ago, a similar thing could only just play Pong. Now you can browse the internet, write any number of different types of documents, listen to music, play games, talk to your friends etc. I could go on all day.
The bad thing about technology is engineered obsolescence, where they make something that is intended to break in 3 years or so so that you are forced to buy another one. For instance, my Mum's washing machine survived about 20 odd years including 2 moves of house. When it finally broke and she got a new one, none of them were intended to last more than 3 years. So now she weighs everything to make sure it doesn't exceed the weight limit in an attempt to make it last longer.
As Donavon Frankenreiter once sang: "It didn't even exist last year but now its what we need" which concludes it rather nicely.
Thanks for bearing with me and letting me rant like this. See you again sometime.
I shall cover three main areas:
- Music
- Art
- Technology
Without wanting to sound too...what's-the-word...I was listening to Mozart's Requiem the other day (you know the exciting bits like Dies Ira) and I was told that it was boring. Boring? BORING! Speaks the person who likes music that goes Thump Thump for hours and hours and hours and... You get the idea. A 3-year-old child could do the same, they'd just get bored quicker. (You're going to get a lot of '3-year-old child'-ing.) And people dance to this?
Let me give you something to compare to Dies Ira - Boten Anna. I only know this song because it's been forced upon me. With all the instruments ever invented, strings, brass, percussion, the human voice etc. this is what we get. I know I'm comparing one of the greatest classical composers to a song which will probably be forgotten in a year so it's bound to be a ridiculous comparison. But I know that some of you reading this will be thinking "...but Boten Anna's much better." You, my friend, are a philistine. Oh dear, this is turning into a rant already. Sorry.
Art
Right. Art. Let me give you two examples to compare:
http://www.lairweb.org.nz/leonardo/mona.html
http://blog.pennlive.com/iridescentartnews/2007/08/i_have_struggled_with_ellswort.html
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you 'Red on Canvas' by Ellsworth Kelly and 'Mona Lisa' by Leanardo da Vinci.
Now then. Who can tell me which took more time and talent to paint? Is it (a) the blank red canvas a three-year-old child could do or is it (b) the enigmatic smile of an unknown lady painted by one of the best geniuses the world has ever known. You are correct! It is (b)!
I once saw a TV program about Sotheby's which showed an egg-shaped frame with a gold fabric stretched over it with holes in it. Guess how much it sold for? About £7,000,000 - a number big enough to require commas. I would have bought it for 700 quid tops. So why do people spend so much on these 'artworks'? Because the 'artist' has somehow got famous and now people want their stuff.
And don't even get me started on half a dead cow...
And finally...
Technology
See now here's an area where pretty much all new stuff is better than almost all old stuff. You know the thing you're reading this blog on right now? 20 years ago, a similar thing could only just play Pong. Now you can browse the internet, write any number of different types of documents, listen to music, play games, talk to your friends etc. I could go on all day.
The bad thing about technology is engineered obsolescence, where they make something that is intended to break in 3 years or so so that you are forced to buy another one. For instance, my Mum's washing machine survived about 20 odd years including 2 moves of house. When it finally broke and she got a new one, none of them were intended to last more than 3 years. So now she weighs everything to make sure it doesn't exceed the weight limit in an attempt to make it last longer.
As Donavon Frankenreiter once sang: "It didn't even exist last year but now its what we need" which concludes it rather nicely.
Thanks for bearing with me and letting me rant like this. See you again sometime.
Thursday, 19 November 2009
Two Best Friends
Once upon a time there were two best friends called MySQuirreL (MySQL) and PHilliP (PHP). They lived together in the magical kingdom of Serverland.
In a castle lived a Web Magician who wanted to build a dynamic database-driven website and he told HenryTML to do this. HenryTML couldn't do this on his own so he summoned MySQuirreL and PHilliP to help him.
After it was built and uploaded to the Great Server Tree, a computer in our world was running a browser and the browser told the computer to look for the right website files in the Great Server Tree and bring them back.
When he was told to, PHilliP asked MySQuirreL for some data and MySQuirreL looked in the Great Database. MySQuirrel found the data and gave it to PHilliP, who gave it to HenryTML. The browser translated what HenryTML told it and showed it onscreen. The Web Magician saw this and was glad.
And they all lived happily ever after!
THE END
In a castle lived a Web Magician who wanted to build a dynamic database-driven website and he told HenryTML to do this. HenryTML couldn't do this on his own so he summoned MySQuirreL and PHilliP to help him.
After it was built and uploaded to the Great Server Tree, a computer in our world was running a browser and the browser told the computer to look for the right website files in the Great Server Tree and bring them back.
When he was told to, PHilliP asked MySQuirreL for some data and MySQuirreL looked in the Great Database. MySQuirrel found the data and gave it to PHilliP, who gave it to HenryTML. The browser translated what HenryTML told it and showed it onscreen. The Web Magician saw this and was glad.
And they all lived happily ever after!
THE END
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