INTERNET: Get Acrobat Reader 7 for viewing PDFs. adot's notblog*: get acrobat reader 7

HELP: Links to donate and help the survivors of the Tsunami disaster. Asian Earthquake Relief

NOT WEB DESIGN: The funniest most hideous thing I've seen in a long while. css Zen Garden: The Beauty in CSS Design by Bruce Lawson

INTERNET SEARCH: What people have mostly been looking for this year. Google Press Center: Zeitgeist 2004. The usual suspects mostly, but still interesting to see some more lists! Oh and Merry Christmas if i don't see ya!

CHRISTMAS: Photos from around the world. Guardian Unlimited | Gallery | In pictures: Christmas 2004

TELEVISION: MediaGuardian.co.uk | Broadcast | Mr Benn returns to TV after 35 years: "52 Festive Road" there's probably a couple such addresses in the country. Do they fully appreciate what those addresses mean to eighties kids?

WEB STANDARDS: Molly cuts to the chase, and sets the record straight. Well worth reading to clear our heads as web standards starts to get noticed. It's always good to know exactly what it is we are trying to promote, along the way some terms have got a little fuzzy in some heads...molly.com � web design world cool-down: "Concerns with Terminology"

INTERNET: Firefox making an impact in the browser universe, at least in web developer usage communities. Digital Web Magazine - News - Browser Stats Reloaded

POLITICS: This whole story just makes me think the government has no idea about utilising modern technology wisely.
And
"According to a report in the Times, the deleted e-mails will be stored on back-up systems which are beyond the reach of the Freedom of Information Act because of the cost of accessing them."
How difficult will it be to access them exactly, and how are they going to get them onto these magic and mysterious systems in the first place?
It all sounds like political smoke-screens and not the whole story.
Freedom of information is a strange idea anyway, we, the public will always be relying on someone or some department to be honest about what is known and what is fact etc.
Call me an old cynic, go on...
"BBC NEWS | Politics | Howard condemns e-mail deletion

POLITICS: All's fair in Eastern European politics. And the fact that Viktor Yushchenko appears to have been poisoned during the Ukrainian election is a coincidence of course. BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Deadly dioxin used on Yushchenko

BUSH: Can't spell, won't spell. Yahoo! News - Top Stories Photos - Reuters

WEB SEARCH: It's google Jim but not as we know it?... Google (Suggest - Beta) Could it be the future? Give it a try, it may be the answer to all our web searching prayers.

A prediction for your enjoyment and possible disagreement... Forty Media - Phoenix Web Design - Web Design in 2005

ENTERTAINMENT: Well technically, but I hope she/he's alright. BBC NEWS | Scotland | Krankie hurt in beanstalk tumble
"A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: "Wee Jimmy Krankie fell out of the beanstalk on to the stage and was taken to Glasgow Royal Infirmary." "

HEALTH: Big supermarkets not looking after our health interests, but only their own profits... sort it out retail industry! BBC NEWS | Business | Supermarkets 'fail' health test

WEB DESIGN: A very nice little site, smallTransport: Web Standards and Print Design. Good colours and imagery.

ONLINE SHOPPING: Not always as simple as you'd think
A comment: "Just give me a working serial number and I’ll download the software from someone more reliable, like a Bittorrent site"
mezzoblue - e-commerce Hall of Shame I ordered a product for download from the Adobe Store last week, for the first and last time."

WEB DESIGN: Alt tags and title tags, we're all using them now, but here's a primer on exactly what they're for. The alt and title attributes | 456 Berea Street

WEB STANDARDS: Discussions on web standards and whether Internet Explorer will make any positive moves to update its compliance. Internet Explorer is already breaking the web | 456 Berea Street

DESIGN: RIP Web Page Design For Designers, and thanks Joe Gillespie. Your retirement is well deserved.

INTERNET: The future of online publishing
MediaGuardian.co.uk | Media | New media

Accessible Forms: Guidelines & Manipulation - webSemantics

NOVELTY: Get yourself a 12 sided calendar.
Yes, that's right a calendar, with, count em, 12 sides! One for each month of the year, genius.

ZIMBABWE: Another sickening tale of racist injustice by Mugabe's evil regime
Guardian Unlimited Sport | Cricket | Political happenings in Zimbabwe: "Bennett was imprisoned at the end of October after he was found guilty of assaulting the justice minister Patrick Chinamasa during a debate in parliament. Bennett had reacted with fury and pushed Chinamasa to the ground after being taunted by him about his farm and his parents called 'murderers and thieves'. The parliament, with an almost two-thirds majority held by Mugabe's party, sentenced Bennett to 12 months in prison with hard labour; usually a fine is levied in assault cases where there is no serious injury."

CRICKET: Andrew Flintoff, coming of age for Engalnd
The Observer | Sport | Great bails of fire: "A month later, in the sixth and last one-day international, with India requiring 11 to win in the cauldron of Mumbai, Flintoff bowled the nerve-tingling final over. He knocked over Srinath's stumps to tie the series. In relief and jubilation, he tore his shirt off and careered around the stadium. 'It was a massive release of tension,' he says. 'But after about 10 seconds running round waving my shirt I asked myself, 'What are you doing?' I had the whitest, palest body in the world and there were about 60,000 Indians there.'"

BBC: Public service broadcasting
"Details of the proposed losses come as Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell told a private meeting of MPs this weekend that the BBC's commitment to impartiality 'needed to be strengthened'.

Jowell...said it was 'highly likely' that a green paper, to be published in the new year, would emphasise the importance of 'freedom from bias' in BBC journalism. It will also attempt to steer reporting further away from comment and analysis, underlining factual accuracy as the BBC's top priority."

Well excuse me, but impartiality is a great ideal, but there is no such thing as impartial, there is always a point of view. The BBC seems the closest organisation, respected across the globe (except for countries where the truth is not welcome), that sets it sights on impartial, unbiased, quality news reporting.
But every news story is biased in some way, as humans, we all have our opinions and beliefs, the BBC is no different. As long as their underlying editorial policy is strongly outlined, then we need not tamper with that area of their output.
The Observer | UK News | BBC news in crisis as axe hits 350 staff

Play this nifty rugby game, its flash based, but it all happens pretty quick, so get your boots on and your mouth-gaurd in... Game of 3 Halves

MUSIC: My mother's got a what?! PIXELSURGEON | Interviews | Music | Goldie Lookin Chain

Many newspapers now live online, but can they survive simultaneaously in print? Wired News: Newspapers Should Really Worry: "Don't think for a minute that young people don't read. On the contrary, they do, many of them voraciously. But having grown up under the credo that information should be free, they see no reason to pay for news... And their hands never get dirty from newsprint."

OK, we may not all be happy with his main business interests, but you can't say he hasn't made an effort to improve life for those who can't even afford a PC with his software on it! About Us - Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

This Ukrainian election just gets crazier and crazier. BBC NEWS | Health | Was election candidate poisoned?

ZIMBABWE CRICKET: Mugabe is getting away with murder, in more ways than one.
BBC SPORT | Cricket | England | Olonga predicts England isolation: "England batsman Graham Thorpe, who is not part of the touring party, described the situation as 'farcical'."
When will the ICC wake up and take a firm stand on this issue, Zimbabwe have been left to get away with 'murder' in cricket terms and on the human rights issue.
It is sad and pathetic that crickets governing body are willing to keep their blinkers on over the issue, leaving the indivdual criketing nations to look like fools, and the players to be torn between a blatantly clear moral stance and their duties as employees of their cricketing board.

[information leafblower]: The Top 40 Bands In America Today - 2004 Edition: Good to see some discussion about what's hot in the U.S. today, and I'm not talking about the obvious pop/r'n'b stuff thats in the media, what is really good and big news...TED LEO + PHARMACISTS? New to me, but I'll check them out, in the spirit of John Peel!! Good to see Wilco and David Byrne not far down the list.

Guide to Ease � A research agenda for information architecture

www.KMWorld.com Special Publications: "Faceted Navigation and Guided Navigation anyone?"

Digital Web Magazine - Home Alone? How Content Aggregators Change Navigation and Control of Content: "Every time someone makes a list, be it on a blog like Kottke’s or a list of groceries, content is aggregated. The act of aggregating content (usually content that is alike in some way) makes it more understandable. Instead of looking at a whole field of information, you choose smaller, more logical subsets of it in the hopes of understanding those."

An aged but worthy and thought-provoking article from A List Apart on the meaning and understanding of web design. A Dao of Web Design: A List Apart

Digital Web Magazine - The End of Usability Culture, Redux "I value usability as much as any component of the design process. As a designer, while I strive to get the most out of form and function, I insist on function, even if to the slight detriment of form. I am not for flashy, style-for-style’s-sake aesthetic design. Usability is a critical component of design. But, as so many have pointed out, it is only a component."

Jeffrey Zeldman speaks to iStockphoto.com - royalty free stock photography community

Since when did Spain become so racist? All this cowardly chanting from the anonymity of the terraces towards coloured England footballers? I thought they were a developed and advanced country living in the 21st century? Comments please. BBC SPORT | Football | Internationals | FA to complain over racist chants

How does Web Credibility Relate to Web Design? : Bokardo.com

Steve (Stephen) Coogan and Jack White (Stripes) 'meet' via exchanging questions and answers whilst appearing in the same film... cool... Guardian Unlimited Film | Interviews | 'Can I have coffee & cigarettes with you in New York?'

London Training - HTML Dog Blog - HTML Dog - On 18th January, I'll be teaching the "XHTML and CSS" course...The next week, on the 25th January, I'll be teaching the "Accessibility" course...

London Training - HTML Dog Blog - HTML Dog - On 18th January, I'll be teaching the "XHTML and CSS" course...The next week, on the 25th January, I'll be teaching the "Accessibility" course...

London Training - HTML Dog Blog - HTML Dog - On 18th January, I'll be teaching the "XHTML and CSS" course...The next week, on the 25th January, I'll be teaching the "Accessibility" course...

BBC NEWS | Technology | Election apology starts net feud: "Sorryeverybody.com started the duel the day after the polls closed,
with a picture of its creator holding up a 'Sorry World' message."

Trying to find a cheap/decent hotel in New York for our January sales related trip early next year. Teletext - Cheap Hotels In New York

Consumer WebWatch: How Consumers and Experts Rate Credibility on the Web

Firefox has genuinely arrived on the browser scene. This Digital Web Mag article shows just how big an impact it may well have. Obviously the more web savvy people are amongst the audience for this sort of site, and the average user may be less inclined to discard IE for Firefox's superior skills, but it may well be an indication of things to come, congratulations Mozilla/Firefox! Digital Web Magazine - News - Firefox takes first place

Drew Curtis' FARK.com: "VP Cheney rushed to hospital. Bush notified, ready to assume power if necessary" The real story - Cheney heads to hospital after noticing shortness of breath

The future battle for newspapers is the balance between print and online media and how to make both viable whilst supportive of the other. The Daily Standards � Archives � How Many Editors Does It Take to Save Their Jobs? "For years, newspapers have been trying to fight off declining readers, declining subscribers, declining market share … and the thing is, they truly have no idea how to right the ship. None. Whatsoever."

New Scientist - interview with Benoit Mandelbrot: "Few people would recognise Benoit Mandelbrot in the street, but the intricate pattern of blobs, swirls and spikes that bears his name - the Mandelbrot set - is an icon of science."

Read this helpful book online for free, as if life ain't sweet enough already...Building accessible websites - Joe Clark

I don't want a to sound a sap, but reading this made me well up a little:
""I adored John and can't believe how much it hurts to have lost him. He was a one-off who inspired me greatly in the ways of music and family. I miss him now and always will." Said BBC Radio 1 DJ Jo Whiley, who was at the service."
RIP John Peel, a truly memorable human being: BBC NEWS | Entertainment | TV and Radio | Thousands mourn Peel at funeral

Digital Web Magazine - CSS Cookbook Another self-help book for CSS people

Protein Feed - Protein� Calendar Blueprint Remix: "Blueprint are *giving* away 14k of these puppies in their December/January issue. You heard it here first."

Protein Feed - Music, Sex, Chocolate and Cocaine: "What is the secret of music's strange power? Seeking an answer, scientists are piecing together a picture of what happens in the brains of listeners and musicians."

Wikipedia tells all about Cascading Style Sheets, and the difficulty with adoption. The fight continues... Cascading Style Sheets - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

RSS readers and news aggregators are feeding our need for news and subject specific content. Digital Web Mag reports on the growth in this area. I recommend Sage extension for your Firefox browser. Digital Web Magazine - Home Alone? How Content Aggregators Change Navigation and Control of Content

President George W. Bush cares about money, and his financial backers.
He thinks the environment can wait, well I'm afraid George, you can't mess with nature, because it is far more powerful than all your army of bank-rollers and big businesses being pandered to by your short-sighted and immoral ignorance of the world's environment.
Chances are in decades to come, his name will go down as the one that cost us dear in terms of our planet's ability to sustain all our lives.
Protein Feed - Bush Snubs Kyoto ... Again: "'President Bush strongly opposes any treaty or policy that would cause the loss of a single American job, let alone the nearly 5 million jobs Kyoto would have cost,' said James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality."
If you voted for him, I hope you can handle that on your conscience above all the other lies and dirty deals he has done.

Students unite to get real about the copyright law, and not before time. It could be the most important thing they learn in higher education. Wired News: Students Fight Copyright Hoarders

The Invisibility Game! Move your mouse around the maze, with an invisible cursor, genius

IQ and Politics or How come all Bush's voters in the recent election (listed by state) have an average lower IQ than those that voted for Kerry. Are we surprised? Looking at the facts of Bush's time 'in charge' how can you really have wanted him in charge for another term?

The Observer | Sport | Triumph and despair - Heath Streak interview: "Can a white person live in Africa? I think that depends on how you are as a person. There is still much bitterness about the colonial past. Too many of the colonisers were very arrogant: they didn't respect local cultures and didn't bother to learn local languages. But the majority now are a lot more aware of other people's cultures and are prepared to learn the differences between the two."
Cricket and the people of Zimbabwe are the losers. Let's hope things improve, and all parties can find some common ground, amidst Mugabe's racist regime.

Cats and George W. Bush, a seamlessly tenuous blog rant.
Allerca | The Hypo-Allergenic Cat: "hypoallergenic cats" please save us, "lifestyle pets" I mean I know the world has clearly gone mad today, as 50% of US voters think John Kerry would be a worse president than George W. But specially produced cats.
A fake war on 'terror', a ropey economy and plenty of job losses, that John Kerry, you people had a lucky escape, he would have sunk the whole continent into the sea, it's about the only thing worse than having George in charge again.
Can you all not see the man's a fat-cat pleaser, pandering to the wants of big business, they fund his campaign, he lets them do what they want, thus the lack of environmental and healthcare, wake up, oh its too late, we're all in trouble now, who knows what he'll do next...

A different, more web standardised approach to image-maps, looks good in the examples too...

As Michael Moore points out: "First of all, let’s just acknowledge what you already know: America is a country which still has a race problem, to put it nicely. Al Gore would be president today had thousands of African Americans not had their right to vote stolen from them in Florida in 2000."
Do you need to go any further down the long list of reasons to get that damn fool Bush out of the most important political and big business position in the world!!!!
Vote Kerry, if nothing else he can't be as dumb and dishonest as George W. Bush....

The The Man in Blue > Writing > Perspective Archives " There's so many things you have to worry about when you're making a table-free web site: box models, 3-pixel mystery whitespace, relative font sizes, cascading rules, floats ... but really, none of it matters. When you're designing a web site you shouldn't think about them." Pertinent article on web standards.

More css layout tips The Man in Blue > Writing > Perspective Archives An example of resizing content to fit the browser window, very neat.

Max Design - CSS Page Layouts A variety of step by step css layouts, the correct way! to bring you into the 21st century of web design.

Wired News: Saving the Artistic Orphans Copyright laws and the red tape surrounding them are depriving we, the citizens of valuable information and written resources.

Another web standards example for all those web workers struggling within companies who don't quite get it...graphicPUSH: Why Clients Care About Web Standards

A work of great effort and of great use to all css users in their hour of need... CSS Properties - HTML Dog

Amazon.co.uk: Unfortunatley named authors Childish but funny, if only it was my job to do this all day...

Get this... and I'll have one for Christmas while you're at it! PIXELSURGEON | Reviews | Movies | The Shawshank Redemption
“Since I am innocent of this crime, sir, I find it decidedly inconvenient that the gun was never found.”

AlterNet: War on Iraq: Top 10 Reasons to Get Out of Iraq
Are you listening Mr Bush? No, I didn't think so, but then you never were...

Let's not make it to easy to make a song form other people's work... Protein Feed - Sampling Law Changed

DonnaM: Usability testing for findability: "Rarely have I heard about a test that explores whether people can understand the content once they have found it, whether they can use it to make good decisions or gain meaning from it."

Molly Holzschlag serves up Integrated Web Design: Strategies for Long-Term CSS Hack Management

All the 'ingredients' for the ideal web site, listed by Keith Robinson...My Recipe For Web Design

If you're into logo design, then this is a good example of the process...Design by Fire: Rebranding the W3C

Wise words which I hope to make use of...Design by Fire: When I grow up, I want to be an interface designer

Another css layout technique to keep you in touch with your stylesheet abilities, hopefully I'll get around to trying it myself...[ws] 2-col tableless layout | Dvousloupcov? beztabulkov? layout

Super levels of storage means an entire film library could be held in a single cd jewel case... BBC NEWS | Technology | DVDs could hold '100 times more'

Super storage possibility, carry your film library in one cd case??!! BBC NEWS | Technology | DVDs could hold '100 times more'

Escher for Real

Saturday night, I spent mostly at my mate Dan's party, with Becx and some good friends, nice... danhodgett | ::MY::PARTY:: photo gallery

Review: Salford Quays, Manchester

Barely 15 minutes by tram or road from the centre of Manchester (which itself is barely 3 hours from Peterborough), the Salford Quays have seen a huge transition in keeping with the massive reconstruction of Manchester’s cityscape in the past decade. Originally the Manchester Ship Canal was a hive of activity with boats in and out…

The waterside location is becoming a cultural magnet for the Northwest, boasting two modern architectural masterpieces, both enigmatic metallic structures rising from the water’s edge.

The stunning Lowry, all nautical themed stainless steel angles outside, and bright curvaceous colours inside, houses two impressive theatres - including The Lyric which boasts the largest stage outside of London - offering high class ballet and theatre productions.

With numerous bars and a chic modern restaurant, you almost forget that the Michael Willford designed building is home to the biggest public collection of L S Lowry’s work.

A short walk across the Lowry Footbridge and no less stunning is the Imperial War Museum North, designed by Daniel Liebeskind who will re-design the Ground Zero site in New York. A combined theme of architecture and entertaining exhibitions, the displays are modern and emotive, including a vast multimedia display every hour, well worth seeing (maybe a little too loud for smaller children). Well worth the entrance fee, which being a museum is free.

After some culture, retail junkies can check out The Lowry Outlet Mall for a few big name bargains from Marks & Spencer, Whistles, Nike Factory Outlet and Karen Millen among others.

Then you could visit Manchester United's Red Cinema or can eat at Pizza Express (always good value) before chilling out in the cool retro Lime bar.

Well worth a visit, even for non-serious football fans, is the Manchester United tour. While the museum may only be for serious fans, the hour-long tour of the famous ground takes you behind the scenes, into the dressing rooms and boardrooms of the renowned sporting institution, finishing up with a trot down the players tunnel.

Literally down the road Lancashire County Cricket Club offers summer sport fans the chance to watch top-class county and international cricket from the comfort of your own hotel room balcony at the 68-room Old Trafford Lodge hotel, plus in recent summers they have had big name live music on show, this summer R.E.M. and Feeder are amongst the performers.

Across the road from Manchester United’s ground (it is that close) The Golden Tulip hotel offers a good standard of comfort and the excellent Watersreach Restaurant, with its stylish décor and a menu to match.

Impressively all the main attractions and hotels mentioned are situated within one square mile, so you may forget Manchester city centre is only a short Metro ride away. This could be the perfect base to explore the North-west, but there’s plenty of exploring to be done amongst this cultural goldmine.

Hotels

• 3* The Golden Tulip; from £49.50 per room, web: goldentulipmanchester.goldentulip.com


• 3* Old Trafford Lodge; from £49 per room, web: www.lccc.co.uk


• 4* Copthorne Hotel; from £65 per room, web: www.copthorne.com/manchester


• More information and web links for the Salford Quays area can be found at: www.thequays.org.uk

Great design work from Cameron Moll... Archives ~ 08 September 2004 ~ Authentic Boredom

Get these... 5 Free Windows Web Design Apps You Can't Live Without! [Software Tutorials]

Keep the web standards flag flying people... Digital Web Magazine - News - Adopting Web Standards at Work

Been there, done all that, had a really good time thanks... Salford Quays

Douglas Bowman teaches a lesson in liquid css page design... Stopdesign | Liquid Bleach

For those interested in design and user issues in web design... Digital Web Magazine - Forging a partnership between designer and user

Web design theft, please ask when using designed work, most people would be more than happy to let someone share some layout or css knowledge or ideas, but stealing a design, no no sir... Andy Budd::Blogography: BAFTA Award Winning Design Thieves

A story of our times, and what might lie ahead, once all the fossil fuels run out. And by the way, it will happen, and those who prefer to ignore this or use what we have left for their own gain, ie Bush, etc, shame on you forever... Cold Turkey -- In These Times

Google Search: image map accessibility This is for me to look at, at work in the morning, thanks blogger, quicker than emailing myself! Goodnight people, oh and say no to Bush, how can anyone really believe he's a good president? Please tell me...

This is very interesting and clever, but ouch, growing your own jaw on your back, after having the original cut out, and half your tongue. Ow... Protein Feed - Grow Your Own Jaw

People come together and share their web standards/ css/xhtml/ html introductions, resources and helpful links. Thanks mezzoblue... mezzoblue ??? Comments on Standards Resources for Beginners

Another basic introduction to cascading stylesheets and the benefits of coding websites in a more modern and efficient way... CSS From the Ground Up - 1 - wpdfd.com

Getting to grips with web standards, and persuading others to join in the fun. It's the future, and not like garlic bread... A Web Standards Primer | Kit | maccaws.org

Don't go or live here... The Idler

An answer for tab rollovers, involving just one image... read on... SimpleBits | Accessible Image-Tab Rollovers

Invaluable guidelines for all web designers and site producers using css/xhtml driven sites... Max Design - A webstandards checklist

Web design tips from asterisk... Search Engine Optimization -- Titles

Got some preview tickets to see The Terminal (Hanks/Spielberg flick) at the local flicks tomorrow, courtesy of my mum finding the details in the Heat rag. Thanks mum, lets see how Hanks pulls off an eastern European accent...

Learn css, week by week, for free, westciv has the answer... learning :: free courses - css type selectors

George Bush is so dumb, I mean can we seriously have a uUS President who says stuff like this... George Bush answers a question about sovereignty, badly

From beeb news, are you listening George??? :
"Last week, 10,000 homes in Florida, I watched it and thought thank God it's not me. Today my house has gone; a lifetime's work, wiped out in a few seconds. I'm staying with friends, they're being very kind. I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with this. Tomorrow it might be you. Surely now it is clear that weather patterns are changing. To Bush I say: It's too late for me, but for the sake of the world, forget profits, forget the black gold and sign Kyoto before its too late for you." M, Boscastle, Cornwall BBC News report on the Boscastle floods

Funny and not funny at the same time, things like this should be accepted as witty, and/or sick... Princess of Clocks > princessdiana | CafePress

So if you were to use a P2P file-sharing software apparatus and include your personal files as being ok to upload by others, either by foolishness or by choice, this is what would happen... Foundphotos Newest

Lest we northern hemisphereites take for granted having the top half of the maps of the world to ourselves... The Upsidedown Map Page

Mmm honey, this steak tastes just as good as the last one we had. That's because it pretty much is, but if you die, well, you trust me don't you honey? Wired News: Clone Steak Safe, Unless It Isn't

Reasons to convert to css #205 Stopdesign | Throwing Tables Out the Window "Many developers believe these claims because they start by developing for ? and checking in ? IE. Then they view it in another browser and become frustrated when they see all kinds of supposed ?bugs? they think they?ll have to fix.

IE interprets CSS more loosely than other browsers that have been iterating versions over the last couple years..."

So, a day off, and an enjoyable (I am sick) afternoon spent in the company of =Father Dowling Investigates, where fortunately at the end, Sister Stephanie's wayward brother was not murdered by the dodgy cops, phew. Then Carol Vorderman stunned us all by getting 663 with only numbers less than 10 on Countdown, when the bright chap contestant only made 664, smug bitch.

Worth a laugh, not very PC mind you! Viceland mag - Dos, July 2004: including - "Dude, you are the worst President ever. Even motherfucking George Burns clawed his way out of the grave to make fun of you."

Web Designer Jason Kottke has put together this html version of That report. I guess we should all have a quick flick through, just to see how bad it, and the Government are... The 9/11 Commission Report

Thinking of visiting NYC sometime on the near future with my girl Becx, this photographic trip around Manhatten certainly encourages me... Safety first :: NYC Helicopter Ride, 07/2004 (kottke.org)

"This survey compares 10 web sites through elements of their layout: styles, page construction and elements? The survey seeks similarities and differences between those well known web sites, built by famous, talented designers" Web Design Survey

The US site for the 2004 Ryder Cup, a good bit of design as well as being damned informative! Ryder Cup 2004 / Team USA

Say No to 72 dpi: "The 72 or 96 dpi numbers are NEVER used to show images on the monitor screen. There is no concept of inches or dpi in the video system. Those logical inch dpi numbers are only used as a crude approximation to size text fonts on the screen."

"When you hit a snag in CSS, strip down to the base ID and work up. Imagine this: The div containing your masthead image wraps improperly in IE, but displays perfectly in other browsers. While not all that difficult to imagine, it?s quite frustrating." Cameron Moll ~ 26 July 2004 ~ Eight things I wish I?d known when I started

Get stuck into this css tutorial, part 1... Veerle's blog - Designing a CSS based template - part I

For css lovers and learners everywhere... How To write Efficient CSS

I struggle with obvious words at the best of times, but this might explain a few forgetful moments at work... BBC NEWS | Health | A coffee can make you forgetful

"Seriously, do you need film reviews to tell you what you already know? That the new studio meatloaf I, Robot?"suggested by" Isaac Asimov's book, as if the 50-year-old anthology pitched itself to Fox execs?is 18 kinds of overprocessed sheep crap?" oh dear, poor willy smith ... http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0429/atkinson2.php"The Village Voice: Film: System Failure by Michael Atkinson

All companies with an online presence take note "...but most Web applications continue to be developed by engineers with little to no actual experience in user experience methodology, information design, brand application or usability. This is not just a trend?it is an oversight by many companies not willing to invest in improving the user experience." This article is American based, but still has relevance to the UK market. Digital Web Magazine - Brand Value and the User Experience

Here is a book all about accessibility on the web, Joe Clark, opens up his book, chapter by chapter for you to browse Building Accessible websites - joeclark.org

There is some messed up shit on the web, but this makes me laugh, "ass, titties, ass and titties" everyone... you need soap. and water. soap. and water. water. water. water. water. water. water. water. water. water.

Mindless fun, ripped off from hold the button, you can't not do it... Don't Let Go

Thanks b3ta for making me laugh on a sunday morning, this image shows, apparently the Apollo space mission planning team were a little bit cheeky.. apollo_mission.gif (GIF Image, 1190x646 pixels)

I really should apply for this, and its the last day tomorrow...??? It is my ideal job, but in the big smoke?...Your chance to work at Wisden

Healthy eating? And I bet the supermarkets didn't realise they were selling all this stuff,pumped full of salt...yeh whateverBBC NEWS | Health | Popular foods 'loaded with salt'

Busy man paints stones, and they look kinda cool, he sells them and makes a living, a story for us all there, life doesn't always have to the sterotyped daily 9-5 job...if only One of a Kind Art gifts, Hand Painted Rocks by George Witham

Remember Digitizer on teletext? Then this might make you laugh...I don't but then I'm just give give give, selfless etc...Mr Biffo's FAQ - Do you love me, daddy?

Jills - Some crazy sh1t you can find out from b3ta: THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO AAHH
Baby ferrets

If you didn't think weasels could be cute, you
are very wrong, as this photo gallery clearly
demonstrates.

Fact 1: Female ferrets are called Jills.
Fact 2: The name Jill derives from the Greek
ioulos - 'downy-bearded'. Erm. We think you
can draw your own conclusions from that.
http://snipurl.com/7hfq"

Mindless russian dolls animation, 'too much time...' etc: The Russian Dolls Go on Holiday

What b3ta said this week, and what a lot of people aseem to be thinking, sorry Microsoft: ": GOOD AND BAD
Stuff this week which is er.. good or bad

>> GOOD: Firefox browser <<
Free from spyware, quicker than Internet
Explorer and complete with fantastic tabbed
browsing, Firefox has recently become our
browser of choice."

Nice to see George Dubya isn't pretending to be dumb and not in control things, as this journalist found out..Protein Feed - Bush Gets Asked Some Real Questions

Student debt
Long gone are the days when students are mocked for their 'easy life', as student debts become an ever-increasing millstone around their bank balances...EducationGuardian.co.uk | higher news | 'Students face �2,000 extra debt'

See this film
Went to the flicks last night with Becx, saw Eternal Sunshine, a brilliant film, well written, to make you think, well cast, with Winslet and Carey very believable and memorable characters, and beautifully put together by Michel Gondry, subtle camera and special effects give this film its edge. Essentially a love story, there should be something in it for most people to associate with...Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) @ imdb uk

For those of us who have to mediate between different groups of clients when designing websites. There are no defined rules, within the boundaries of web creation, anything is technically possible, its finding the balance between what the customer wants, and what you as the designer thinks is the best route to the ultimate site goal...This article discusses this in greater detail...Web Designers On A Fence

Bad news for music junkies with a physical music collection worth treasuring!...Wired News: CDs, DVDs: Human After All: "Part of the problem is that most people believe that it's the clear underside of the CD that is fragile, when in fact it's the side with the label."

Cricket: The Zimbabwe issue
It's a mess, whether England or anyone should be touring Zimbabwe.
It's time everyone stopped squabbling, and came to some sort of consensus, that basically, all the big guns in this saga are passing the buck.
The ECB are left with no choice but to agree to tour under threat of financial ruin, the ICC are at fault for doing nothing and for foolishly clinging to the false hope that sport will not be infiltrated by politics. Well, it's time to wake up and smell the coffee, because it is, and always has been. And now is the time to act.
The current situation in Zimbabwean cricket is dire, not as bad as it is for the people of the country, but that's another story.
The cricket board is blatantly obviously under the control of the ruling Zanu-PF political machine, whatever they claim, and it is affecting the team and the consciences of the players.
And the only decent cricketers they have left, (all the really good one's have been steadily lefleaving t over the past few years) have tried to open up the hidden world of political tyranny, but unfortunately the arcane toothless ICC don't have the courage for actually doing anything positive for the game.
All the political bluffing from British politicians is helping no one, will somebody make a decision?!
The politicians say its up to the cricket boards, the cricket boards say they will carry on unless ordered not to do so by the politicians.
Shame on the great game, pity Zimbabwe.

Thinking of redesigning a website? Working on a decent sized project now? Then here's a few tips. Whilst I'm at the brink of helping to renovate www.peterboroughnow.co.uk into becoming www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk, by Monday 10th May 2004 (fingers crossed) this sort of forward thinking attitude has made the workload a lot smoother...Digital Web Magazine - Features: This Old Website: Web Renovations

Anyone learning xhtml/css should get stuck into this handy primer, a free weekly course taking you through the basics of understanding how xhtml takes html into a new dawn! OK, maybe not that grand, but you can get a weekly update of the next section of the course, or stump up $30 and get the whole thing downloaded to study at your leisure...Westciv Self-paced Courses

"i have enough beer can to last me the rest of my life" that's what my friend Dan said to me, and we're talking dead pig here (imagine a Jamaican accent) Tesco were certainly being generous went Dan got to the frsh meat counter. I have a date for my practical test, and with Theory in hand, I prepare for a fifth stab and polluting the atmosphere in order to get places faster when i want...fingers crossed
Oh and I have a 4 figure pay rise from work, and I'm still underpad, its a crazy and unfair world...

Just a quirky little story about how clever the media can be, giving a magazine to subscribers that personalises the cover and advertising to their area, all 40,000 of them, pretty 'neat' huh?..Protein Feed - Personal Publishing

ZIMBABWE / CRICKET: Things are getting worse for cricket in Zimbabwe, as the political regime's control of the Zimbabwe Cricket Uion becomes all to clear, and their own racist attitudes are all but destroying the countries cricketing chances. Here an article by Simon Barnes in The Times delves into the depressing matters, for cricket and the people of Zimbabwe...Touring Zimbabwe a moral blow to all that is decent - timesonline.co.uk

CRICKET / ZIMBABWE:

How many more players have to leave the Test arena for Zimbabwe, suffering for the clearly biased selection policy and general attitude of the politically motivated controlling body. And how many more people in the country have to suffer at the hands of Mugabe.

The man is not right, for all his racial equal beliefs, he is as racist as they come, ousting all the whites from their land, and ruling the public with an iron fist, killing and leaving his people to suffer for his actions.

It is wrong that cricket and sport in general has to bring the focus of this inhumane man to the front pages of the media, but if in the end something is done, and this evil, selfish, tyrant stops ruining his country, then it will be worth it.

Cricinfo - Streak stands down as captain

WEB DESIGN:
A very worthy book, that couples design with the web and gives inspiration for web designers block sufferers. Different areas of design, eras and genres are explored and examples given, and on the US version of amazon, you can explore the whole book, well worth a browse...fresh styles for web designers

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - A crazy film with Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. A bit Vanilla Sky, messing with our minds sort of thing, but with a few more laughs and a few less facial disfigurements! And ELO's Mr Blu Sky on the soundtrack, check out the trailer @ apple.com...Apple - Trailers - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

The game where the Yeti hits the penguin, you must have heard about it? This is the original version, and still the best! Plus there's a 2nd game involving a whale?!?� Erm, anyway, its not real...YETI SPORTS by chris hilgert ## powered by edelweiss medienwerkst.at

Jobs + India = communication + computing revolution
Its becoming more and more of an issue, as major UK and global companies move call centres and IT departments to India. Don't get me wrong, there are some talented, well-educated people out there well qualified to do their jobs. I'm not sure about the whole thing, as it's all based upon the parent companies saving pot loads of cash at the expense of thousands of jobs in areas of countries that may well be relying on the industry for a large proportion of the local employment. But globalisation creeps ever further into our lives, whether we want it or not. The internet, and digital technology is cutting away all boundaries for industry and communication. This Wired magazine article talks to some workers in India about their views on the subject.
The New Face of the Silicon Age - wired.com
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.02/india.html

"If two blades is good, and three blades is better, obviously five blades would make us the best fucking razor that ever existed. Comprende?" It's not for those who don't like swearing or fancy words, but i couldn't stop laughing. Every so often, these Onion fellas write the funniest material ever. It's stupid, but it's genius. Just let me work there, or on the script-writing team of The Simpsons...The Onion | Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five Blades

Bless Time magazine and its hazy, rose-coloured bespectacled view of the Iraq oil takeover by the US. All our happy soldiers blindly following crazy George and his clueless political cronies. Adbusters dishes the dirt on a sickening article from a big name in publishing...Adbusters: Relationships, God, and their universal language: commerce

Free books! Just discovered planetpdf, which obviously has fairly limited appeal outside those using pdf's, but they put free ebooks online, a new one each week, that's 60+ classic titles, I mean we're talking: The Time Machine - H. G. Wells, The Hound of the Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle and Dracula - Bram Stoker. But still, free. Still can't quite understand, these generous souls! Free PDF eBooks - 1-10

Not quite like the film, but a very interesting idea, that we notice things, that we can't have seen, changes in the surroundings, call it instinct, esp, all very intriguing. Article for the open minded only!! Protein� Feed - Testing Your Sixth Sense

Of all people, apple, sucking up to Pepsie and the RIAA. When will the big corporations realise they have to join in the download music revolution and not ty to fight it. Give the customers what they want, and stop whingeing about declining sales and illegal copying, get over it and get positive, or your going to look like fools, oh wait you already do! This article tells of another chapter in the saga, but involving apple. I myself you the new iTunes for windows, its pretty damn good, but all these stories don't do its image any favours..The Register - iPod owner's open letter to Apple

re: The comfort zone. It's a freaky idea, that the job we have has a certain 'comfort area', outside which we rarely venture. A safe haven, where we do things we understand, and are never trifled with new and challenging tasks and ventures. But things can and do happen to change this, not always for the better, but we have to actually 'live' this life at some point, the safety net is a wonderful invention, but the sense of falling, not knowing exactly what's goingto happen, or where your day is going, can be a positive and highly motiviating force.

If you're in the website making game, like I am, then there's plenty of 'handy hints' and 'trinkets' of advice. Who actually likes the word 'trinket' unless you're watching an old pirate-based or maybe Raiders of the Lost Ark, ok there's a few, but only movies?? To the point - Web design tips here..W3C QA - Quality Tips for Webmasters

Even I worry about opening emails, when I read this sort of stuff. Buts its just online experience and a bit of common sense that you need to manage an email account, run your bank accounts online etc. Phishing Alert

And another thing - Michael Moore calls George W Bush Jnr, a deserter, amongst other things! The Village Voice: Nation: Mondo Washington: Operation Desert Guard by James Ridgeway

MikeRoweSoft, that sounds a lot like, what's that company called, you know, the one run by the richest man in the known universe? Get it? Poor kid sold out to Bill Gates' Microsoft in the end, but fair play, he's only 17. The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Microsoft lightens up, ends fight against MikeRoweSoft

So now Nokia are bringing out shiny new media phones that play music, with added text and can receive tv signals, what next? I want one...visual radio, isn't that just tv?The Register: 'Nokia introduces visual radio'

You've read, laughed at, and quickly deleted the emails, now US companies are getting the phone calls from these pesky Nigerian's, the '419' team are branching out. Don't be fooled people its all damn lies. The Register: "419 scammers start working the phones"

OK in essence what cd-wow was doing (seling cheaper overseas produced versions of CD's you get quite easily pick up in your high street (for several quid more)) was bad for UK and EU sales, etc. But still the paranoia of the record companies is reaching new heights. Its a good battle between good and evil I suppose, with the consumer just trying to save an honest buck ro two, considering the record comapnies can't exactly be strapped. Read more, thoroughly researched journalism, as oppsed to my quick-draw ramblings...BPI down plays Amazon.com 'illegal importing' probe - from 'The Register'

Aren't trams brilliant, like buses only on tram lines...anyway, good to see a positive public transport story. Can't see them re-appearing in the 'boro, I'll have to get the train to Notts to enjoy a tram-treat!! (Yes I do need to get out more.)
BBC NEWS | UK | England | Nottinghamshire | Trams are ready to roll

So I thought, I should write more. I nearly wrote 'right' then, which would have been a bad start to any burgeoning idea of being a serious writer. althoug I'm not really serious, about anything much, apart from cricket, the Internet, my friend and Becx (not necessarily in that order). So it is probably about time I got serious about something, and stopped watching from the touchlines all the time. Threw my hat in a particular ring as the phrase goes. So we'll see how often I get my warped thoughts down on virtual paper...

From Monday (19/1/04) you can see thousands of archived aerial shots of WWII, digitised by Keele University in England. Evidence in Camera - Aerial Images of WWII

Morning people, a story on the Channel 4 news annoyed me tonight. Scares over cannabis causing mental illness. I'm sure it does have a bad effect on some people, it's a drug! They said it should have a health warning on it, ok, it's a drug, like cigarettes. What's the big fuss.

The governments of this world are quite happy for people to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes (that kill thousands every year, fact, and rake in loads of money in tax, fact), so what valid reason is there for not making cannabis legal. I've never smoked the stuff, it doesn't really bother me, but the double-standards of this world do get on my nerves.

Goodnight.

A useful link here for web designers, a list of downloads for all the current browsers to test your work on from IE, NN, Mozilla, Opera and even OmniWeb?! Web Page Design for Designers � Editorial January 2004