More Internet Randomness

Have you found the invisible cow yet?

This looks like a blank web page.  But it has an invisible cow on yet.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go to http://findtheinvisiblecow.com/ - you have to find a cow that is hidden somewhere on your screen, by listening to a guy shouting "COW" at you.  It's good fun, and you can't help but feel a little bit of achievement when you finally see this:

Yippee!! It's an ex-invisible cartoon cow that says "moo"

Play long enough and you can unlock a goat too.

This cartoon goat doesn't say moo.  They stick true to the principles of nature.

If you haven't been over to my YouTube channel recently, I'm doing Vlogtober - a video every day for the month of October - which is going quite well, I'm making some different videos, I actually have a fair few videos ready to make live, and some more that just need editing.  Do drop by and say hi!

Strolling along the shore of the Internet

Tonight (as I type this it's about 3.30am) I've been strolling along the shore of the Internet.  I know the common cliche would be to "surf the net", but I don't think I've been that focussed.

I've been uploading a video onto YouTube, and encoding a second video to be uploaded after the one first is finished.  For some reason these videos are monstrously huge (3Gb for a 15 minute video) so it is taking some time to get them online - hence the reason why I'm up to late (and also that my other half has agreed to get up with the little one so I'm enjoying the opportunity to be a night owl for once!)

In the meantime I've been checking out peoples blogs, and it's been really interesting.  You never know what you're going to come across when you visit a new blog.  Is it going to be about a particular subject?  Or is it going to be a general everyday life blog?  Are you going to find it interesting or not?  Maybe they might hold some views that you don't agree with - not that I'm looking for an opportunity to troll or flame anyone, but I find it interesting to compare views.  If I come across a blog that I really don't agree with, well there is always another one to try instead.

It could be argued, is what I've been doing an efficient use of my time?  In this age where you can type whatever you want into Google and get it in a split-second, should I be spending time looking at blogs that might not interest me, or might even offend me?

Yes.

It's important to experience other things, other views, to stop and smell the roses.  I've learned and seen things tonight that if I hadn't done this, I might never have experienced.

Moving on, I am continuing to do Vlogtober despite missing out the 7th of October, so go over to my YouTube channel and discover the thoughts I have whilst in bed!

Why are ileostomy bags following me?

At the weekend I had a pleasant evening making videos and discovering new blogs that I haven't read before.  My partner was getting up with our little one in the morning, so I didn't need to get to bed any time soon.

And then I notice something about the adverts dotted around the pages that I'm visiting.

They're all about ileostomy bags.

Let me say right now that I have nothing against ileostomy bags, if you've had that procedure then obviously you need the bags.  But I haven't (and have no immediate plans to).  What does Google know that I don't?

If symptoms persist...

(I start off this post with a disclaimer - I'm not advocating the use of slimming pills, equally neither am I saying that they are bad, good, indifferent, or anything else. Medical advice should always be obtained before you take any medication.  Which this isn't.)

So, I was looking on the back of a box of slimming pills the other day (note these are "Slimming pills" - not painkillers, not laxatives, slimming pills.)

As you'll see, much of it is the standard sort of wording that you would expect on any kind of medication - keep away from children, do not exceed the stated dose, do not use after the expiry date, if symptoms persist... - hang on!

Let's look at that one.

If symptoms persist of worsen consult your doctor.

This is on a box of slimming pills.

The "symptoms" I presume would be - being well built?

So - if I take them, and I'm still overweight, I should consult my doctor?

"Hello Doctor, I appear to still be well upholstered, despite taking one of these slimming pills right after my usual extra big MeatBurger and fries.  I even washed it down with a fried chicken milkshake.  Do you think that the pills are faulty?"

"My God man! You're supposed to take one of these little chappies three times a day!  You can't expect results from just taking one!  Now get out of my office before I prescribe you some antibiotics!"

Something here is amiss, I fear.

I'm taking part in Vlogtober, releasing a video every day on my YouTube channel.  As I type this, I'm making a video about meat from the delicatessen counter of your local supermarket.  It'll be uploaded soon!  Come stop by :)

(edit: The deli video is now online!)

Star Traders 2 Kickstarter and Vlogtober!

I've put my planned blog post to one side (yes, this stuff is sometimes planned, it's that good!) because of two reasons.

Firstly, you have 32 hours to go and check out the Kickstarter for Star Traders 2 RPG.  I'm a big fan of the original Star Traders, where you get to fly around a galaxy, shooting bad guys (or good guys, depending on how you want to play), trading supplies, doing quests, listening to rumours, all kinds of randomness.  The developers (the Trese brothers) did a fantastic job bringing a great deal of depth to it, and I'm really looking forward to Star Traders 2.  As I write this they're about $1,800 away from their first stretch goal of adding Orbital Stations to the game, which I do think would be a really interesting addition, so it's not too late to get involved!

Second reason for my usual blog post being postponed is that because I have to say that I am taking part in Vlogtober.  This basically means that I'm committing to releasing a video every day through the month of October.

I generally aim to release a video on my YouTube channel about once a week, and I find that a struggle sometimes, so it is with some trepidation that I'm attempting doing a daily video.  Nevertheless I am attempting the challenge, and I've managed so far to keep to schedule the first two days:

The first day I told some bad jokes.

And the second day you watch me drink beer.  It's that good.

If you're taking part in Vlogtober please do say hi in the comments, I'd love to hear from you and check out how you're getting on!

Looking for Ms Rosemary...

So, I was walking to work the other morning, and noticed this bin on the pavement outside someones house.

If it's not clear, it says "Rosemary Trimmings - Please Help Yourself".

This puzzled me.  Who is this Rosemary person?  It's a very specific offer - if you are Rosemary Trimmings, help yourself to whatever is in this bin.  And obviously they had done, because the bin was empty.

Maybe Rosemary is some kind of kleptomaniac, and keeps stealing things, and to satiate her desire to obtain goods illegally someone had resorted to placing sacrificial items in an easily accessible container so that Rosemary would take them rather than trying to break in?

Perhaps it was a passive-aggressive note to Rosemary who always nicked the neighbours newspaper, and they've gone to the trouble of buying two newspapers and then placing one in the bin so she can take that one.

After about three or four minutes considering this, I hit upon another possibility.

Maybe they had a rosemary shrub.  And they had trimmed it.

Hence - rosemary... trimmings.

Coffee in a morning is obviously not optional.

Travelling Book Project update - book sighted in Ohio!

Today I'm doing a bit of an update to the Travelling Book project, following the exciting news that one has been spotted in Ohio!  I've been sent a number of snaps of the book, being held by a number of people (some of them looking suspiciously inanimate).

I'm relatively confident that this is a real person, however.

I've been trying to decide if "Liquor Control" is a genuine division of the local government in Ohio, or if it's actually in a bar.

Joe Haden holding a book.  Disclaimer: Possibly actually a poster of Joe Haden with a book held in front.

Andy Dalton holding a book.  Disclaimer: See previous disclaimer.

 Thanks to Tim for sending these through, I should say that it is quiet on the travelling book front (although another book has just made it to Las Vegas via Australia!), so if you have received a book, please do let me know where in the world the book is, and photos like this are much appreciated, we'll definitely feature whatever we get here and on the Travelling Book Project website!  Remember that at the start of each book is a hashtag, so if you tweet anything with the hashtag I will pick it up.

If you would like to get involved in the project you can reserve your own book by sending a PayPal donation on the Travelling Book Project website for £12, or if you're a student, up till the end of October 2014 just £5 will reserve you a book - this entails me making a book and sending it out to you, and doing my best to keep track of the book when its in the wild, then scanning the book when its finished and making it available on the internet for all to see.  Any funds received go towards the running of the website so they are very much welcomed.

Google turns 16!

Happy birthday Google, who today turns 16.  I've discovered this as a result of a long period of research, and certainly not by noticing Google's doodle of the day on www.google.co.uk

It is interesting to think about and see how the Internet has developed and moved on over time.  I started using the internet in 1999 when the PCs at college were enabled, and at the time there was a whole host of search engines fighting it out for supremacy - Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, Altavista, Lycos, and Excite spring to mind, I remember my favourite being Altavista for quite a while, and also having a website on Lycos's free webspace service, Tripod.  Nevertheless, apparently like 88% of internet users worldwide, I now use Google.  I love the clean design of the website, how it works out what I want (back when I first started using the internet half the struggle was wording your query correctly so that the right websites would come up - now all I have to do is type "Guardians of the Galaxy Hull" and Google fetches the cinema show times for me)

So, if Google was an actual person that had turned 16, what could it now do?

• In the UK, they can join the army.
• In Canada they can get a driving license (and join the army)
• In Germany and Mexico they can legally drink alcohol
• In Tacoma Park, Maryland in the US, they can vote (as they also could in the recent Scottish referendum)

(Actually I found it really hard to use Google to do the research for this - it seems to be stuck thinking that I want UK websites!)

What else is new?  I've got a new video on my YouTube channel up, it's a bit different to most of my videos as it's a gaming video, but if you'd like to watch a rogue ragequit in Hearthstone then do check it out!  I expect to be doing more of these videos as they're really easy to do - provided I record anything worth watching!  I'm also planning a series about the classic ZX Spectrum game, Journey's End, so stay tuned for that too!

Busyness!

It has been a busy day - well, it's been a busy week, to be honest.  This week I'm doing a training course which I am enjoying, but it does come with two exams and a fair chunk of revision each night, so I am a bit tired.  That said, I did enjoy seeing this page in the revision material:

If it isn't clear, it says "This is a blank page", hence making the page not... blank.

Another picture I thought that I'd share with you was from a train station the other day.  At the train station there is a stall selling cards and flowers.  Nothing wrong with that, I can quite imagine going to jump on a train to see someone, and needing to grab a card and/or fauna en route.

All that stood out to me was the blue sign visible above the stall that advertised their wares.  It starts off with "Flowers for any occasion", which is fair enough - they sell flowers, and I'm sure that many occasions indeed would be positively impacted by the inclusion of flowers.  No argument there.

They then decided to list some of the events that flowers could be suitable for - again, perfectly sensible.

Now, how did they start off this list of events?  Well, let's think, they're in a rail station so you're likely to be buying them either to take on a train, or, and probably more likely (because I wouldn't want to carry fragile flowers on a train) they are for giving to people that get off trains - your loving partner who has been away on business, your aunt who has travelled from somewhere to visit - so, bearing this in mind, the very first event listed on the sign is:

"FUNERALS"

The sign in the picture again is a little small, but "FUNERALS" absolutely stands out.

It just seemed a little pessimistic somehow.

If you haven't already taken part in Wiki Loves Monuments, this is the time!  If you're in the US go to http://www.wikilovesmonuments.org/ (or if not search on Google for your countries relevant website - for example the UK one is http://www.wikilovesmonuments.org.uk/) and upload some photos of a local monument or listed building, especially those that Wikimedia don't have yet.  I've been down to a Whiting Mill on the bank of the river Humber for photos - I should say that I walked around and around the mill for about ten minutes because it wasn't where I thought it ought to be, according to the description, but I got there in the end!

Finally, the good people at find.com have let me loose on their website, if you would like some tips on losing weight then check my blog out - I might even follow them myself one day!

Now, I'm off to sleep - night!