In direct competition is the online store Arngren which appears to have not understood the concepts of search boxes, tables of content, sections or other ways of dividing stock and content to avoid having a single page with absolutely everything they damn well sell on it. Props for trying…

And finally, there’s the animated rainbow background of THIS PAGE from  Dokimos.org, which includes other horrible examples inside it’s scary nineties designs. I just love the fake IE security bar at the top of the page. Just needs more spinning hamsters…

Seizure Special – MIA UK just in case you weren’t blind enough today, and I’m sure we’re going to revisit this trend in the future…

[Digg]

Some Staff Are Wannabe Film Critics, and They Suck
Don’t get me wrong, most of the staff that work at cinemas are A-OK. They know that they’re doing a job and they perform well. Granted, I can forgive a bit of confusion at the concession stand if it’s a new person working that bit, but I just cannot stand the guy that thinks he knows more than anyone else about films, and therefore his opinion is law. Usually it’s the guy serving or tearing the tickets, and I would expect either a good comment or no comment about what specific film I am going to see. I don’t expect to be questioned on my choice of film by the person selling the goddamned tickets to said film.
When I went to see Cloverfield, after I paid for my ticket the moron behind the counter said that he wouldn’t recommend it at all. Now, bearing in mind that (a) I’d just bought the tickets and (b) he’s employed to generally promote and sell tickets, the last thing I want is him saying I’m going to be disappointed, even when I’m telling him that I have seen some of JJ Abrams’ stuff in the past and have been heartily entertained by it. It’s very bad customer service when you are attacking your own customers. It’s even worse when you consider that this is in a city with more than just that cinema, and there’s heavy competition between them all.

Watching a Film with Other People Sucks
If I want to watch a film and it’s one that I’ve been waiting to see, the last thing I want is for the other people in the cinema to be noisy. Why do people feel the need to bring their newborn baby to a film with loud noises that will scare the kid senseless causing it to cry, scream or crap itself? What is the point of the “Turn your Phone Off” warning before the film when idiots that seem to have mentally blanked that phrase from their minds decide it’s time to talk to one of their gormless buddies as loudly as humanly possible, short of using cans and string? What failure in life decides that the best course of action is to say loudly what they think will happen (or if they have enough time on their hands that they’re willing to see a film twice in the cinema, what will be happening) when everyone else in the theatre are watching intently, thereby spoiling the story for everyone? If I’m forced into going to a cinema, I’d rather choose the latest possible showing to avoid these idiots. At least when watching films on DVD, the only person that I can possibly disturb would be myself. And I know full well I can pause it whilst I go to get another drink from the fridge.

The Food Sucks and Requires a Mortgage
Talking about refreshments, why does the food at the local movieplexodome fail to be tasty? There’s hotdogs that taste like rubber, popcorn that could easily substitute polystyrene pellets for packaging in boxes, and the noisiest sweet packaging known to man. If this was all sold cheaply, it’d be all right. But it’s not. I’m spending more on the food than I am on the already expensive ticket to get into the place, and for that price I expect quality.
It’s a shame that most cinemas forbid you from taking your own food into a screening, because I do love the idea of eating an XL Bacon Double Cheeseburger whilst enjoying senseless violence on the big screen. It’d be cheaper too. At least my couch doesn’t care.

Like this list at Utilware. 22 things that happen or you notice if you change to a Mac. And it’s quite a comprehensive list too. I’m counting all of them as “Happened to Me” except for items 2 (Haven’t seen any Mac owners), 3 (See 2), 17 (Haven’t sold it) and 20 (Haven’t returned it so don’t know)

If you are even thinking about getting an Apple device in the future, I highly suggest you read the list.

After getting the camera, I thought there’s some information you might actually want to know concerning buying a camera, especially if you don’t know that much about the subject.

Research before buying. Get some camera magazines and check out what’s available. You might need to buy multiple magazines since there are occasions where your price range is not focused upon in that specific issue. Check the websites of manufacturers to find out the specifications. Just find out as much as you can before you go out and buy a digital camera.

Go to the shops. It sounds obvious, but there are a few things that seeing the camera itself can tell you that magazines and websites cannot. Such as how the camera feels in your hands. Or how the menu is to navigate. Or how it actually takes photographs. Most shops will be happy for you to look at the merchandise and even test them out. However, shops will not allow you to check the quality of the final image, so you will have to rely on your research for that. Actually touching the camera and finding out how it works for yourself is a fantastic indicator as to whether it’s the one for you.

Once you have found your camera, find the cheapest price. Go around the shops or go online, and find the cheapest seller of that camera. If you would prefer to get it from the shops, there may be some leeway on the price if you can find it cheaper across the street. Online haggling is pretty much non-existent, but it’s usually cheaper than the shops anyway.

Do NOT buy a memory card from the same shop as the camera. Ok, it’s not going to happen when you’re shopping online, but when in a bricks and mortar shop, do not even look at what is available to buy there and then. Some shops rely on this as their way of making money, selling a camera and then telling the customer that they really should get a memory card, and then without thinking too much about it, the customer gets the nearest one from the shelves. What you might save on the camera through shop competition, you might lose on the memory card.
Example: Jessops sell their cheapest 1GB SD card for £39.99. Crucial (at the time of writing) had a 1GB SD card for £9.99 after tax, with the option of free delivery. Due to a screw-up with the local post office, I had to collect it from the depot, which cost about £10 in taxi fares. This is still half what Jessops are selling essentially the same card for in their stores. And for the price difference, I found I could get myself a fairly decent camera bag.

The best example from the list (NASA selected…) is to set up a radio telescope there so that they can observe more frequencies usually stopped by the Earth’s fantastic atmosphere.

Observations at these frequencies have never been made before and opening up a window into this low frequency universe will likely lead to many exciting new discoveries.

That’s definitely going to please the SETI@home people, but the rest of the human population doesn’t really care about that. I mean, my suggestions would include…

• Theme Park. On The Moon. (Obligatory Futurama Reference)
• Low Gravity X-Games. On The Moon. (Would make the Vert ramps more interesting…)
• Golf. On The Moon. (Done before, I know, but I’d rather do it properly. Like with golf buggies. And crater-sized bunkers…)
• Baywatch. On The Moon. (The slow-motion running surely would get even better)
• Moon. On The Moon. (So all of those who hate the rest of the world could show what they really think)

[Via Digg]

Indeed, the not so intelligent people are entering the places and doing stupid things that they might think is fine to do in their own home, but in a public environment where people are busy playing World of Warcraft or finding out the latest news on the iPhone. These people can upset the fellow customers and in turn make the staff do the face-to-pavement process on them.

Here’s a list of ways to join the elite group of goddamn idiots that ruin these fine businesses, just in case you had a lobotomy…

Attempting to commit credit card fraud.
I know of some people that have not just been thrown out, not just banned, but deported, because of this. They were stupid enough to order stuff online using other people’s cards that they were copying from notepad to the web forms, and have the sending address be where they were living. The police got involved, and they got sent back to their home country. I know of this because I shared a house with the pair. They were Nigerian, strangely enough…

Visiting hardcore sites. Repeatedly.
You would think that if a member of staff (that, from their counter, have the ability to see what everyone is doing on their computers) telling a guy not to view “specialist” sites is enough of a clue for most people to stop doing it. Once you’ve been found out, it’s probably best to give up and look at more savory offerings, not immediately go back to what you were doing, forgetting that the staff member actually came over just to tell you to stop that, and for that reason alone, and that they might know by some other magical means that you’re viewing forbidden imagery.
Of course, the staff may be interested in viewing these extremely special members only sites and could be compiling a list of them for personal use, but they will almost always take offense to anything too graphic. Especially when there’s kids running around. Not even they want to answer their curious questions.

Pirating Stuff.
It’s a bit obvious to most people that if you’re committing a crime, you try not to be as public as possible whilst you’re doing it. Asking how to install Limewire or Bittorrent, or asking to burn that ISO you’ve just downloaded to a CD-R you’ve brought with you are not bright ideas. Sending neverendingstory.avi via MSN to some friends in Denmark isn’t masterful at all. Not least because of your taste in films.

Arguing About Price
Unsurprisingly, the staff get told that it’s too expensive to use the machines for gaming on a daily basis. It’s a natural thing to want everything to be free to use, but it doesn’t work that way. Sure, you could be charged a few dollars or pounds per hour, but the shop is paying for the computers, electricity, insurance, rent, the internet connection itself and the staff wages. There’s an actual reason to charge that much: because they have to pay so much for the things that they need to give you a service that you’re too cheap to do at home.
If you want free but nasty archaic computer systems that blocks most of the interesting bits of the internet, go to a public library. Want to use your own laptop? Go to a high street chain coffee house and pay a lot for a wireless connection. Want a fairly decent machine to use for gaming at an hourly rate without paying hundreds for a top spec PC, an obscene internet connection rental fee, nor for the games themselves? Go to a gaming center and suck it up, you cheapskate.

Being a drunk loudmouth that thinks it’s funny to storm into the shop, sit at a machine, and demand to see tons of porn, because it would be hilarious to your mates that are with you, cheering you on.
Carrying a can in and sloshing it all over the place is just so mature. Just like walking past the shop doors and shouting “Geeks!”, “Nerds!” and “Saddos!” at the patrons inside. At least they won’t be cleaning up your vomit at the end of your extravagant evening in the bars and clubs. Or have a hangover the following morning. Or someone 30 years their senior in their bed.