Online Stalking

In case you get bored, here's an online stalking tool, so you can keep track of "friends" or associates on the web. It searches MySpace, Friendster etc, etc, as well as Flickr and Yahoo for images (there may be more - these were the only ones that came up when I was playing) and the usual suspects for blog and web searching.

It actually seems to work pretty well, and saves a few clicks on the mouse and keyboard if you're looking for someone.

I always get a little perturbed when I use search engines to see what I've been up to on the web, and find out that in fact I was wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to death, before being issued clemency. It was obviously traumatic as I can't remember a single thing about it, and my tan is nowhere near as good these days.....

Stalkerati.com

Greece is the word (it's got groove, it's got feeling)

P1000846.JPG
Originally uploaded by Aaron in Denver.

So, back from Greece, been totally slammed at work and in the garden, and trying to get the body back onto some sort of normal time zone. So, quick post to let you know the pics are up on Flickr here if you want to take a look, and I'll write a bit more when I get the chance. We had a good time though, and the weather was great.

Heading to Greece

Athens Greece October 2004
Originally uploaded by je29851.

So there may a bit of a delay in anything getting posted here (in other words, we're on holiday, I'm not taking the computer, you'll have to wait until I get back).

Trip is all courtesy of Heidi's hard work last year, so all expenses paid by her company - I can't wait. If only I can get all the work off my plate before I go - it might be a 24 hour session before I jump on the plane, but it will be worth it.

The Basement of Dreams

So this guy spent all his hard earned cash on old arcade games, and decked out his basement like the Spanish City of old. I'm very very jealous - he even has a change machine in this place!!!

Peter Hirschberg - My Arcade - Arcade Pics

BBC Mistakes Cabbie for Computer Expert

Apparently, some cab driver showed up at the front desk of the BBC to pick up a customer, someone presumed he was the computer expert they were waiting for, and shoved him on live TV. His face when they introduce him is a classic……




UPDATE: Apparently this bloke was in for a job interview, and not a cabbie as originally reported - he thought it was a stress test to see how he coped under pressure, hence going along with the whole thing...

Roeder named as Newcastle manager

Surprising no-one, Newcastle named Glenn Roeder as manager this morning, after a few week delay to get through the paperwork of his Pro License or something. This was bound to happen when he turned the team around in a couple of months, while still facing exactly the same problems and issues Souness had during his time, culminating in qualifying for Europe through the very dodgy route of the Intertoto Cup.

Anyway, Europe is Europe these days, so if we can use it as a springboard to get into the UEFA Cup, we'll all be happy. I wish him all the best, hope he gets the money he needs in the summer to get the players in he needs, and we give him a fair crack at the whip. The one good thing is that he seems to have the backing of the players, and he likes to play for them. I hope it continues.

BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Newcastle United | Roeder named as Newcastle manager

New MacBook Announced

Finally! These have been threatening to come out for a while now, but they're here. The new Intel consumer Macs are out in black and white, sport Intel Core Duo chips and a 13 inch widescreen. I think we may have to head down to the Apple store tonight to see one of these things in the flesh.

Anyway, full details direct for the horses mouth here.

New Sony VAIO

Now this is what you need for a portable pc - slidy screen for the keyboard, carbon fibre chasis to keep the weight down, and the usual mountain of connectivity options. The only problem is the price, which is apparently around the $1800 mark. This had better be one seriously fast machine, coz you can get yourself a pretty little Mac for that price.

Sony VAIO VGN-UX50: It's Official - Gizmodo

Updates on the Enzo Crash

Not that the original story was boring or anything, but the longer this story goes on, the crazier it gets. Homeland Security (or in reality some transport company), another Enzo and a Mercedes/McLaren SLR are all now involved, immigration has the guy locked up, and there's still no sign of Dietrich.......

I'm guessing this guy either has some really high connections and he'll walk, or he's going down for a long time.

CNN.com - Strange saga of smashed Ferrari back in court - May 15, 2006

Full Miami Vice Trailer!

One of my favourite shows of the past is being reborn into a film. Miami Vice was actually so good that I used to leave the pub early on Monday nights so I could get back in time to see it (that and the fact that I used to run out of money after my second pint). I think alot of it was to do with the cool cars, all the pastel shades, and the funcky music that used to accompany every episode.

Anyway, I'll no doubt be severely disappointed in the new version, having loved the old one so much (I still have VHS tapes back in England of all the shows that aired after we got our first video recorder), but I'm still sort of looking forward to it a little bit. I wonder what car Sonny will be driving this time...

Full Miami Vice Trailer! Woo Hoo! - Cinematical

New Zealand not for sale

It's amazing what you can get on eBay these days - someone once told me way back when that if it wasn't for sale on this site, it wasn't really worth buying.

So someone from Oz put New Zealand up for sale. Surely the only person who could do this would be the Queen, and even then, there might be a small revolt of some sort. EBay police agreed, and pulled down the listing - it would have been fun to see how much someone was willing to pay.


Online auction site eBay rules that New Zealand not for sale - MSN-Mainichi Daily News

Unreal Tournament 2007 Impressions - PC News at GameSpot

For the guys at work who partake in the regular 5 o'clock session, the latest download of 07 UT

E3 2006 - E3 06: Unreal Tournament 2007 Impressions - PC News at GameSpot

BBC America picks up Spaced

I think I saw this once when I was back home, but can't remember if it was funny or not. I'm guessing it was, but I'm biased - I'm sure Mr Stone will fill me in on Monday as to whether or not it's worth watching.

BBC America picks up Spaced - TV Squad

Top Web Domains

This list must be American based I would guess, given that Bank of America is so high up the list (unless of course, there's more American web users hitting the site than any other local thing going on). I was a bit disappointed that this site didn't make the list (joke - I know Lauren and Heidi are the only ones who read this on a semi-regular basis, and sometimes Neil and my brothers). But where was the BBC for example? or any Chinese sites.... I'm confused.

Top Web Domains - (washingtonpost.com)

Free Stuff

Don't say I never give you stuff - here, courtest of a Digg link, comes a site that's bound to be shut down soon (like the TV one I posted earlier). Lots of magazines, which it looks like someone has painstakingly scanned in, and offered in pdf format. No money needs to change hands (I tried out one anyway), so give it a shot - it's not the fastest site in the world, so have a little patience...

SpotBit.com - Tons of FREE E-Magazines for download

End of an Era

The BBC have announced the end of one of the classic kids programs "Byker Grove". I was a little old when this first started, but still watched the first series or two, and we all loved it at our house. There were a couple of things that stick in my mind - it was in Byker, which was just along the road from the butchers shop my Dad owned growing up, and there's nothing like seeing places you know on TV. Also, one of the other shop owners on my Dad's street was also an actress, and she was in it, so technically we were nearly famous (well, closest I had come at the time to knowing someone who was on tv - this has changed now with Michelle hitting the John Elway and some casino in Black Hawk adverts, and Michael having his legendary pepper crackin scene in CSI, along with some particulary dodgy appearances in Boy meets Boy on Bravo (don't ask...)).

It was also one of the few TV shows to fire off a few Geordies into Stardom (Spender, Auf Wiedersehen Pet and anything with Robson Green in it being the others that spring to mind, but they were all for old people as I thought at the time). Ant and Dec now host pretty much every show on ITV from what I can tell, and no idea what Donna Air is doing these days, but she's famous judging from the number of pics I found of her on Google. There's probably a couple of others since then as well, but I was way too old (and out of the country for the last 8 years) to follow along.

The final thing was the catch phase that somehow got adopted in our house - I can't remember if it was just me and Deborah who used it, or if Daniel and Matthew joined in as well. It still ticks over in my head every time I see Ant and Dec (or PJ and Duncan as they used to be), even though they hadn't even joined the show by then. So, for old times sake (and probably the only person to care will be Deborah)......

Say Hello to Julie, Winston.

Hello Julie.

The Greatest Parking Garage

This is the actual garage at VW's head office (I think it's there) - where they deliver customer cars if you opt for the factory pick up. It's got a giant automated elevator in the middle, and helps VW use up only 20% of the space that normal garages take. It looks pretty cool to me - maybe something from the Minority Report (without the futuristic Audis). I wonder if this stuff will ever make it into our real world - not getting any door dings from careless parkers would be a big benefit (and render mine and Mr Thompsons current dual parking strategy redundant).

I have taste

Well, not necessarily, but no-one can deny that I at least know a little about cars (obviously not as much as my brothers, but enough to make me dangerous, and broke of course).

So apparently there are some international awards for engines - they have awards for all sorts of crap these days - and my current engine (the 3.2 litre straight six in my M3) and my previous engine (2.5 litre boxer turbo in the STi) both won in their categories. What particularly impressed me was the fact that the M3 engine is now about 5 years old (maybe 6??), and it's still winning. Having spent this morning pushing the upper reaches of the rev range on my short 3 mile commute, I have to agree....

And my almost engine (from the Golf GTi, before I worked out I could afford the M3) also won as well. I guess this means my next car might have to be the M5?? Not likely (and definitely not until there's a manual option available).

Inside Line: BMW 5-Liter V10 Wins International Engine of the Year -

VW Scirocco

Maybe I missed these pics when they came out, or maybe they're new, but this one looks real nice (he says in American accent). If they put in a decent engine and some sorted handling, this could be on the list for future consideration (especially at the rumoured $28k....)

VW Scirocco may go for $28,000 - Autoblog

How to Break My Heart...

If you can't quite tell, this used to be a 911. Maybe not quite as bad as the Enzo crash a few weeks ago, but a little closer to home - the Enzo will probably never be a car I own, but the 911 always seems that little bit closer to reality.

Anyway, more pics here if you want to share the pain....

Britney Plans To Drop Another One

Hopefully not literally, but with her you just never know. The most widely known piece of gossip got officially confirmed last night on Letterman (which I didn't see as the effects of an overtime loss for the Avs to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, combined with a busy work schedule, and half a bottle of Mr Daniels rendered me unconcious after his opening skit).

CNN.com - Spears: Another baby on the way - May 9, 2006

Traceback

So my first YouTube posting showed up a glitch in the new template - I need to make the columns a little wider I guess (or maybe get rid of some of that whitespace on the left - but don't talk to me about whitespace management, it's been one of those plotting weeks).

I'll see if I can get to this tonight, otherwise we're looking at the weekend (or the weekend in about 6 weeks maybe), so don't hold your breath - just pretend it looks perfectamundo.

Top Gear Returns

And for those of you that either don't live in the UK, or don't have access to Wee Dod's share drive, where he kindly downloaded the whole program for us, take a gander at the following 10 minute segment. It's a goodie.....

Gullwing to Return?

So, apart from this being _one_ of Heidi's favo(u)rite cars, there's rumo(u)rs that Mercedes may be bringing this model back.

If they do (and it handles of course) I might be seriously tempted...

New Day, New Look

Not sure if this one will last or not, but trying out a new template for the site - the black was depressing me, even with pink dots (or maybe that was something else, but it didn't help).

Anyway, this also fixes all the issues I had with Internet Explorer refusing to co-operate, so hopefully everyone can see the posts without having to scroll down their page half a mile. It also means I need to spend some time going back and adding all the scripting and ad type stuff back in (which may have beent he cause of the afore mentioned problems - we'll see), so there may be some gradual changes over the next couple of days/weeks.

If anyone has any strong preferences (or even weak ones - I'm susceptible to public opinion), leave some comments, and I'll take it under advisement.

Keeping the Stereotype Flag Flying

Hey, hey, calm down, calm down says the young man in a shell suit and dodgy perm as he walks off down the street.

Obviously from Liverpool then, you say to yourself, but one key ingredient is missing - the stealing. Well, rest easy, as it turns out that such was the desperate need for some fans to get tickets to the upcoming FA Cup Final, they robbed Postman Pat's little red van, and emptied it of all the tickets. Authorities cancelled the tickets of course (allegedly, as that process must involve some semblance of organisation over and above getting a stadium ready within a 6 year timeframe, so don't hold your breath).

And Merseyside police have warned that Cup final tickets pilfered from a Royal Mail delivery van in Liverpool last Friday are worthless. "Fans are advised [that] tickets stolen on May 5 from the van have been cancelled and will not be accepted for the game," sniffed a spokesman for the bizzies.

Oh Dear

It was never the prettiest of things, but here's a valid attempt to make it look even worse....

I can't believe you have to fork over cash for "improvements" like these.

US World Cup TV Schedule

It's a goodie :-) All the games are going out live, plus there's the added benefit of HD broadcasts as well. The times look pretty reasonable, (although a couple of long lunches are going to have to be taken I think), and my flights for Phils wedding mean I'll be in Italy for at least one of their games, and don't miss any England games when I'm on the plane.

Now if only we can find a way to get that young lad Rooney fit, we might be in with a shout...

soccerTV.com

Watch TV Shows Online

This'll probably come down soon, so get there quick - lots of downloadable TV shows for all to view....

Watch TV Shows Online

Alfa's Coming Here (allegedly, again)

I'll have to wait and see before I believe this one, coz I got excited a few times before, but it's definitely being talked about again. And if they do come, it can't be a bad thing - it might definitely be a case where I consider a lease instead of a purchase to counteract the high depreciation and it falling apart after a couple of years (if they still do that - I know they used to...)

italiaspeed.com - Alfa Romeo

Aston Martin DBS Officially Revealed

Been a while since any car postings (maybe I'm just content with the one I own these days, so don't do so much digging around), but when Aston releases a new car, you know it's going to be too pretty to ignore.



Aston Martin DBS Officially Revealed - Jalopnik

The real Girl Gone Wild

Well, not wild exactly, but a little on the crazy side. This is the first female polygamist that I've ever heard of...

CNN.com - Here comes the bride, there goes their money - May 3, 2006

Romanov admits Skacel wants to go

Further curious interview quotes from the Russian owner of Hearts. This guy just gets better and better....

BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Heart of Midlothian | Romanov admits Skacel wants to go

The Transparent Toaster

Sometimes the greatest inventions are just so obvious. This thing is great - you get to see how brown your toast is before you pop it out. Seems a simple idea once someone else thinks of it, but it could revolutionize breakfast time across the world (well, not really, but it's kinda cool don't you think?).
Inventables - Concept Studio

Vonage includes Europe in unlimited calling plan

VOIP has officially arrived - when you can get free calling from the US to the UK (well, technically not free, but umlimited for a very reasonable flat fee), people start to see the benefits (over and above that little beep as a ring tone you get in CSU on 24).

I'm sort of tempted, but given that the family is all on IM these days, the phone calls are typically not as long as they used to be back in the old days (he says, suddenly realizing it's been over 8 years since he lived in England - Yikes!!!)

Vonage includes Europe in unlimited calling plan | CNET News.com

We're moving!!!!

Well, not really, but the study below gives you pause for thought. All the money spent on health care over here (double back home) doesn't make a difference to how healthy you end up in middle age - in fact, the study says Americans are much sicker (in the health sense of course). It doesn't even make a difference if you're rich or poor apparently, the same scale applies.

I wonder if they can correlate it back to how many miles you walk - I'm pretty sure I used to walk more miles in a week or two back home than I do here in a year (unless you count getting lost in one of the malls I guess).

CNN.com - Study: Americans sicker than English - May 2, 2006

Lily (aka Tat) is here!

Another Goodrich entered the world last night, so congrats to Glenn and Jill (mainly Jill, as I'm sure she did most of the work).

This brings the total number of new babys born to friends and family this year to around 1134 (actually, not quite that many, but it's getting up there). And there seems to be a definite weighting towards girls these days - it must be something in the water.

Goodrich Main : Lily (aka Tat) is here!

Internal memo: Ballmer on Wall Street reaction

The internet is an amazing thing - you even get access to internal memos these days from some of the big companies. Here, Steve Ballmer provides "some context" to the recent plunge in the stock price of Microsoft to the employees. I'm sure he must have realized someone would publish this outside the walls of the company - I wonder if the employees agree on his strategy as much as the money men hated it...

Todd Bishop's Microsoft Blog @ SeattlePI.com - Internal memo: Ballmer on Wall Street reaction

Earth's Artificial Ring: Project West Ford

This one is for the more techie oriented folks out there. Apparently, before there were satellites, there was an experiment to send up lots and lots of copper needles into the atmosphere so that communication around the globe could take place without the need for all of the underground cables being used at the time.

Damn Interesting » Earth's Artificial Ring: Project West Ford

Woman, 104, takes man, 33, as husband No. 21 - May 2, 2006

I don't think this needs any comments from me....

CNN.com - Woman, 104, takes man, 33, as husband No. 21 - May 2, 2006