Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Filed under: Other — Malcolm Owen @ 10:17 am
I’m sure everyone has heard of the story that if X amount of people put their religion down as “Jedi” on the Census, it becomes legally recognised. Granted, that may or may not be completely true/legal/whatever, but some people do take things a bit too seriously. I mean, what are the ultra-fans going to do, set up their own “Jedi Church”?
Wannabe Jedi Knights are advised to brush up on their lightsaber techniques, dust off their copy of the Jedi Handbook, and get down to Surrey, where two Star Wars aficionados have announced their intention to open a training centre dedicated to promoting the popular alternative religion.
Wait, what?
Training to become a Jedi Master can apparently take up to two years, during which time disciples will have to master the lightsaber, study technology, martial arts and meditation and “learn the importance of neuro-linguistic programming” - something which is reckoned to act as a substitute for Jedi mind-control powers.
…So, just to clarify. There’s some people out there that want to celebrate thinking they are a Jedi, pretending to be a Jedi, with other people that think they are Jedi as well. And they are opening a training centre in order to do so. Mentioning that “neuro-linguistic programming” thing makes it seem a bit sinister though…
Morda Helol explained: “We are not extremists, we are not psychotics and we are not a cult. This is a treatment plan to better your life. It is exploiting the best parts of your life. You can follow it completely or at you own pace. We open our doors to anyone.”
Well… That makes it all right then. Although it does sound an awful lot like what a cult would say to the outside world anyway to convince people that they aren’t. And it is up to the people involved to do what they want with their lives, to believe in what they want to believe, to pretend that the acting in Episode 3 wasn’t wooden… At least it’s only confined to one location…
According to Mr Helol, he’s had offers from Brazil, France, Spain and the US to establish similar chapters. He declared: “This is going worldwide.”
Mr Lucas, what exactly have you done with these people?
[Via The Register]
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Filed under: Other, TV — Malcolm Owen @ 7:26 am
Recently, I’ve had some free time to go and visit a few important people in my life. As part of that, I had to get some shopping to avoid that whole “Eat them out of house and home” scenario. As usual, to collect my usual supply of Coke Zero and Relentless, I passed down the drinks section, and this little beauty caught my eye.
Yes, it’s an officially branded 24: The Series energy drink. A large can about twice the size of Red Bull, and less than half the price. How could I possibly refuse?
Reading the CTU-coated can, you somehow get the feeling that this is a cheap cash-in on the franchise. The blurb on the back says “Be Your Own Action Hero… When the clock is ticking, revive and conquer Jack Bauer style. You can pack a lot of action into 24 hours… every second counts”, and I presume you have to use your own imagination to fill in the gap where the ticking clock and sound effects go.
Poured into a glass, the liquid looks like Red Bull, namely appearing like a sample of urine with glow-stick liquids thrown in for good measure. The taste however, is different.
Red Bull has this habit of smacking you in the face with it’s potent taste as soon as you take a mouthful, but it quickly settles down. This 24 drink doesn’t have that sort of wallop to your taste buds, preferring a slightly more soothing taste at first, which is a nice change. However… when it goes away, it leaves behind a fairly foul aftertaste which I can only describe as Vimto-Halitosis. Unfortunately, this taste stays with you as you go for another sip, and it cumilates the further you drink. Towards the end of the can, I didn’t want to drink it any more.
Somehow I feel that Jack Bauer would not allow this drink to exist if he drank it. At least I now know why it’s so cheap…
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Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Filed under: Gaming, Internet, Other — Malcolm Owen @ 1:15 pm
Yes, 100 Kirbies. As in Kirby but plural. And in costumes. Kick-ass costumes. Like ones that don’t really exist. Really!
I want a Poster… Now…
[Via VG Cats]
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Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Filed under: Other — Malcolm Owen @ 2:36 pm
I have to admit to you all right now, I am an internet junkie. That’s right, I spend my time looking at my 3 computer screens (2 on PC plus the Macbook) looking for the latest and greatest of offbeat randomness. This does impact what I wear somewhat, namely I want to be as comfortably dressed as possible whilst spending hours on the information superhighway. Of course, if I want to do something else, such as leave the house to visit someone, or to go to work in an office, I will make myself look presentable. Or at least attempt it.
And then, we find someone who’s more relaxed over clothing…
Allentown police had suspected William Torres of dealing drugs in the city. But an undercover narcotics investigation yielded much more, and resulted in Torres, 21, being charged early Saturday with two counts of homicide.
Ok, so we have someone who takes life seriously enough to be doing highly illegal stuff. He’s killed people. He therefore must look sharp. I’m expecting a Samuel L Jackson level of coolness here…
Torres was driving on Turner Street Friday afternoon when he was pulled over by police and arrested. He was wearing a hooded sweartshirt with a skull-head pattern on it, pajama bottoms and fuzzy lion-faced slippers at the time. He was still wearing the get-up when he was arraigned after midnight at Lehigh County prison.
Wait, what?
Fuzzy lion slippers? Hooded sweatshirt (at least I spelt it right…) patterned with skulls? Pyjamas? Someone who kills others dresses like this? Well, I would think it would be from being arrested at home, except that he was DRIVING when he was arrested. He actively chose to go outside in this gear to do something. What exactly was he thinking?
And yes, there is a photo…
[From The Morning Call via Digg]
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Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Filed under: Other — Malcolm Owen @ 12:25 am
Everyone knows Jeremy Clarkson. He’s the loud-mouth from that motoring show “Top Gear” on the BBC, that compares cars to greyhounds going to the toilet, that has celebrities driving a really crap car, and has The Stig. Jeremy will say anything to make you think, and will try to make his opinion known, usually in a fairly blunt manner. Yes, he makes lots of enemies through his work.
Recently, Clarkson decided to, in an article about those missing UK government data CDs containing bank details for millions of people, try to prove that this isn’t a big deal, and decided that the best way to show it was to put his bank details in the newspaper column for everyone to see.
Many would say this is a fairly foolhardy manoeuvre just asking for trouble, but Jeremy persisted in his “I’m always right” ways.
Until he checked his bank statement.
Someone managed to set the account to send a direct debit for £500 to the charity Diabetes UK. Not only was he proved wrong, but also due to the data protection laws in the UK, the bank “can’t” find out what happened.
Jeremy eventually admitted his mistake, changing his belief from the lost data CDs being pretty much nothing to something far better, namely “Contrary to what I said at the time, we must go after the idiots who lost the discs and stick cocktail sticks in their eyes until they beg for mercy.”
Clarkson, as usual, ambitious, but wrong…
[Via the BBC News]
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Monday, January 7, 2008
Filed under: Other — Malcolm Owen @ 12:07 am
I want to know how honest you are…
Today, during a lunch break in work, I went to the nearby newspaper shop to get some supplies for the rest of my shift (food, drink, reading material, headache tablets…). I was a bit low on cash, so I used the in-store ATM that charged a fee per withdrawal, even for something as low as £20. Everything went fine, and the machine spat out 2 crisp £10 notes. It then started to make a weird grinding noise, then stopped. An error message appeared on screen saying that it had failed to give me £20, and that the amount would be altered to match what I had been given. The machine printed out a receipt showing the mistake and changed the error page to a generic “Out of Service, See Attendant” message.
I checked the receipt, and weirdly it said that despite asking for £20, it says it dispensed just £10. It didn’t realise it spat £20 out for me. The machine screwed up and would only be charging my bank account £10. I had the right amount I had requested, but at half the cost. Effectively the machine gave me “free” extra cash.
Me being me, I took the extra note and the slip of paper to the woman behind the counter at the shop, explaining what had just happened, and gave her the £10 to put back into the machine. She looked at me weirdly, and asked why I didn’t just keep it for myself. Funnily enough, everyone else today asked the same question, as if it’s a break from the norm to hand in seemingly free money.
Most would believe that since there’s so many withdrawals and fees being taken out each day from the machine, that the company that operates the ATM wouldn’t miss the £10 at all. Yet, weirdly, my thinking is more that it isn’t MY money, so therefore it belongs to someone else, and I should try to rectify the problem as quickly as possible.
No-one I have talked to today have said they would return the money, preferring to spend it. Even when I suggested if the machine accidentally dispensed an extra £50, most of the same set of people would do the same, with only a small proportion of them thinking that at the higher value it would be better to hand it in. I’d have thought more would do what I would consider “the right thing”.
Moral Dilemma Time – When faced with an extra note coming out of the ATM, would you keep it, or return it to the bank?
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Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Filed under: Other — Malcolm Owen @ 10:16 am
So, yes, I admit it. I’m a fat man. I have done the dieting thing to death, and I’m still blubber-coated. I have tried so many ways to diet, it’s not funny, and most of them are torture…
The one way that seemed to work was Paul McKenna’s “I Can Make You Thin”, which helped me change my eating habits for a good few months, but I soon fell back into the same routine of bingeing after I stopped listening.
I also have his Instant Confidence book and CD, which made me feel an awful lot better in my job, and combining that with the slight diet success, McKenna might be on to something.
The new book and CD combination - “I Can Make You Rich”.
Yes, really. Paul went around the world, talking to various billionaires, rich people and highly successful businessmen, and decided on what mental qualities these people have that us great unwashed do not. And since I have a track record of some success with these CDs and books by him (until I stop listening, that is), I have decided that it’s still worth a try. At the very least, I’ve lost a few pounds to Mr McKenna, but it would be very interesting indeed if this really did work.
Check back this time next year to see how well/badly I am doing…
Side Note - A friend in work asked if he could borrow the book if it worked for me at all. If it did work, and worked well, would I still be working there to be able to lend it out?
Side-Side Note - Is it at all pretentious to write a book about becoming rich, then making the hardback copy have a gold-effect edge to the pages, making the book look rich? Or is this part of the whole system?
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Monday, September 10, 2007
Filed under: Gaming, Internet, Other — Malcolm Owen @ 9:46 am
So, Justin and I were recording the latest edition of Video Game Guys, when we ran out of news on a slow news week. This has happened before, but to avoid too much pain and embarrassment, I dutifully looked online for any new things that pique my interest, gaming-wise. Cue reading Destructoid [NSFW], more specifically a story called Second Life gets even creepier: Sex with unicorns anyone? [NSFW] And my brain just broke at this.
Really, you can go onto Second Life, and get… impregnated… by a unicorn [NSFW]. And in return, you get a pet unicorn to keep. And I’ll leave it at that, so you can go see the report [NSFW] for yourselves and get creeped out.
…My brain still hurts…
[via Second Life Herald [NSFW] via Boing Boing [Fairly SFW] via Destructoid [NSFW]]
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Monday, August 27, 2007
Filed under: Other, Tech — Malcolm Owen @ 4:47 pm
So, you’re in Nuremberg looking for something to do. You feel hungry, but going to a normal restaurant with bossy waiting staff isn’t your cup of tea. Where could you possibly go?
How about somewhere without the aforementioned waiters? A self-service restaurant that isn’t a buffet such as ’s Baggers, where the food gets served by going down huge rails from the ceiling, straight to the table. You order from a screen at your table, and the food slides down ready for you to eat. The screen ordering also gives updates as to how long food and drinks will take to arrive, and payment is done by smartcards. It’s pretty nice to look at, slightly Steampunk-ish, but an elegant design for a not thought of much problem.
I have to wonder how long will it take for McDonalds to take advantage of this…
[Via HardOCP Via Spiegel Online]
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Sunday, July 1, 2007
Filed under: Apple, Gadgets, Internet, Other — Malcolm Owen @ 1:20 am
So. Yeah. Coca Cola is doing a contest to win stuff. Entering codes via text or the website enters you into a draw. Every minute they give away 15 iTunes song credits, and every hour they give away an 80GB iPod from Apple, and you get entered into both draws automatically.
I like Coke, funnily enough, so I just bought the smaller bottles instead of the larger ones, not only for more entries due to liquid volumes, but also because the smaller bottles had 2 entries each. I’ve tried a few times between 2am and 3am (partly because I have late shifts at the moment, partly because I doubted that many people would be awake or bother to put codes in at that time), entering a few labels to see what the wins to labels ratio is. In total, I had 104 entries (52 labels, half are me, half are picked up from friend’s bottles whom didn’t bother with the contest. At least I didn’t scavenge the bins at all…) winning me 96 song credits. That is an admirable ratio, with 9/10ths of the time getting a song.
However.
Last night, I decided to go a bit overboard, and bought 10 bottles from Tesco, because they were on some 2 for £1.40 offer. 10 Labels, plus an extra 6 I had sitting here anyway, making 16 labels, 32 entries.
Last night, I won 31 songs. I was a bit bummed out from missing that one song.
Until I got an e-mail at 3:01am.
From Coca-Cola Music.
Subject Line: “Great News - an 80GB iPod is yours”
…
My immediate thought was “…Wha? Really? I didn’t think many were entering at that time, but that few for me to actually win the iPod?!”. Closely followed by “…this claim form on this website is a bit of a pain to fill in. How do you click that Submit button?” (because it took me 5 attempts, on both my Mac and my PC, using multiple browsers. Eventually did it by tabbing down to the button and hitting Return)
So. Yes. It appears I now have an 80GB iPod coming. I can now replace my fairly crappy 1GB MP3 player with something that more than does the job.
Next question: How do you fill up those 80GB?
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