Archive for September, 2006

Oh my GAWDness me!

Thursday, September 21, 2006 19:44 4 Comments

And yes, you’re right, I could not possibly have come up with a more contrived post title. Anyway, this is just a little heads up to let y’all know I’ve joined GAWDS. I’ve even added the little GAWDS logo to my Worn With Pride section.

This was posted under category: Accessibility, The Pickards

Fear and Loathing in Cyrodil City

Thursday, September 21, 2006 19:23 2 Comments

It’s been a funny time for me recently. I ran naked for about four hours — being chased by the local law enforcement for the first hour — because all my clothes and things got locked in a chest miles and miles away from where I was; I’ve been spending a lot of time sneaking [...]

This was posted under category: Life, The Pickards

Scientists Aren’t Atheists

Tuesday, September 19, 2006 23:53 1 Comment

…or rather, they may be, but atheism is not a scientific theory. It is an untestable belief in the lack of a God. I’ve argued about this issue many times, partly because while I would like to believe in a God (as that might help my thanatophobia), I personally find it difficult to believe. However, [...]

This was posted under category: Articles, Faith & Forteana, Life, Science

TLAP 2006

Tuesday, September 19, 2006 21:27 3 Comments

Aarrr, that be right, ye scurvy dogs! Today be Talk Like A Pirate Day where the whole point is to lay about ye with your belayin’ pin at those landlubbers ye want to get to walk the plank. So, grab yourself a lusty wench and a bottle of rum, and go get your timbers shivered, [...]

This was posted under category: Oddities

A Mixed Reception?

Tuesday, September 19, 2006 21:07 5 Comments

A headline in today’s Newcastle Evening Chronicle said “Public were split on child-seat law”. The first paragraph then reads: Parents have given a mixed response to new laws forcing them to have special car seats for their children.Newcastle Evening Chronicle 19 Sep 2006 Hmm… that’s interesting, I thought. We’ve got too kids and while they [...]

This was posted under category: Language, Local Interest

Living with thanatophobia

Monday, September 11, 2006 23:39 680 Comments

Okay, it’s time to come clean. I’m mentally ill. Well, I’m thanatophobic, anyway. I’ll let you make up your own mind as to how unhinged that actually is. So what is it, then? A true medical diagnosis, this fear is characterized by an abnormal or irrational fear of death. This fear is often debilitating.Wikipedia I’ll [...]

This was posted under category: Articles, Life, Oddities, Science, Thanatophobia, The Pickards

Banksy Does Disney

Monday, September 11, 2006 18:26 21 Comments

The guerilla artist known as Banksy has been at work again. I’ll let the Beeb tell you in their own words: A life-size replica of a Guantanamo Bay detainee has been placed in Disneyland by “guerrilla artist” Banksy … it is understood to have remained in place for 90 minutes before the ride was closed [...]

This was posted under category: Life, Oddities

Pluto: Planet, Schmanet, Janet!

Monday, September 11, 2006 17:38 15 Comments

I’d been reading last month about how Pluto is officially no longer a planet, and I’d thought about writing about it, but never got round to it. Then today I read Eric Meyer’s post on the Plutonian Process and thought, what the heck, I might as well get round to doing it now. Incidentally, although [...]

This was posted under category: Language, Life, Oddities, Science

Twin Towers, Five Years On

Monday, September 11, 2006 17:10 19 Comments

It’s difficult to believe that five years ago today some fuckheads flew passenger planes into the Twin Towers in New York city, killing thousands of people. Sure, it happened, but I find it difficult to believe that anyone could believe that doing a thing like this was anything other than an evil act. As Bruce [...]

This was posted under category: Life

It’s time to kill off Transitional DOCTYPEs

Monday, September 11, 2006 16:11 41 Comments

No, really, it is. What the Transitional DOCTYPE was for was for allowing you to include presentational elements within your markup that tied back to versions of HTML prior to version 4.01. And frankly, anyone who is using a DOCTYPE is likely to be in favour of clean, semantic code, which means separating your content [...]

This was posted under category: Articles, Standards, Technology