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Twitter Update
Oct. 7th, 2007 02:07 am- 11:17 Andrew is satisfied with his technological jiggery-pokery.
- 18:18 Andrew is putting shelves up.
- 23:16 Andrew is happy with his new shelves, and off dancing at Retribution.
Oct. 7th, 2007
Surely the point of spam is to get as many responses as possible?
That being the case, you have to wonder what percentage of the market the person sending spam marked "fat granny riding young cock" was expecting to be interested in their product.
I mean, I'm sure there's a _few_ people out there, but when 95% of your emails will get killed by filters, having 99% of the remainder deleted by people with a grimace on their face isn't really the response you'd hope for.
Unless, of course, this is one of those fetishes that's actually really popular amongst the general population that nobody ever talks about, because they think it'll make them look weird.
That being the case, you have to wonder what percentage of the market the person sending spam marked "fat granny riding young cock" was expecting to be interested in their product.
I mean, I'm sure there's a _few_ people out there, but when 95% of your emails will get killed by filters, having 99% of the remainder deleted by people with a grimace on their face isn't really the response you'd hope for.
Unless, of course, this is one of those fetishes that's actually really popular amongst the general population that nobody ever talks about, because they think it'll make them look weird.
One final note before bedtime
Oct. 7th, 2007 03:20 amI will possibly be using the word "ontology" tomorrow. Unless I forget. Must try not to forget.
Twitter Update
Oct. 7th, 2007 05:08 am- 11:17 Andrew is satisfied with his technological jiggery-pokery.
- 18:18 Andrew is putting shelves up.
- 23:16 Andrew is happy with his new shelves, and off dancing at Retribution.
- 02:40 Andrew is suitably tired, alcoholed and deaf for this time on a Saturday night.
The fruit of my labours
Oct. 7th, 2007 10:22 amHere's the view from my bed. A mere four square meters of reading material
They don't quite all fit - I still have four or five boxes of books. But all of the trade paperbacks are now on shelves, and by the end I was getting a strip up in about 20 minutes, so putting another (thinner) column up will be pretty easy.
As it is, I have less books than I've owned since about 1995, what with three different phases of book disposal (2001, before moving to Edinburgh, and then twice more when moving flat this time), otherwise I'd need another wall.
They don't quite all fit - I still have four or five boxes of books. But all of the trade paperbacks are now on shelves, and by the end I was getting a strip up in about 20 minutes, so putting another (thinner) column up will be pretty easy.
As it is, I have less books than I've owned since about 1995, what with three different phases of book disposal (2001, before moving to Edinburgh, and then twice more when moving flat this time), otherwise I'd need another wall.
Oh for goodness sake
Oct. 7th, 2007 11:11 amI was just checking to see if anywhere else did slot shelving other than B&Q, as they've been so crap at actually supplying it.
And I discovered that nobody else does it in 2000mm pieces. They all do it in 1980mm lengths (78").
And that B&Q are stopping doing it in 2000mm lengths themselves.
So if I want to do the other part of my room in exactly the same style (rather than risking having the shelves be slightly higher or lower) then I'll have to get down there and pick some more up ASAP.
Of course this isn't helped by them not allowing me to order the pieces online.
Useless bastards.
And I discovered that nobody else does it in 2000mm pieces. They all do it in 1980mm lengths (78").
And that B&Q are stopping doing it in 2000mm lengths themselves.
So if I want to do the other part of my room in exactly the same style (rather than risking having the shelves be slightly higher or lower) then I'll have to get down there and pick some more up ASAP.
Of course this isn't helped by them not allowing me to order the pieces online.
Useless bastards.
Ordering a t-shirt from spreadshirt UK - £20.
Ordering a t-shirt from spreadshirt US, and then flying it to the UK - £13
Might I possibly enquire "WTF?"
Ordering a t-shirt from spreadshirt US, and then flying it to the UK - £13
Might I possibly enquire "WTF?"
Answers are a prison for oneself
Oct. 7th, 2007 02:25 pmFirstly from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
electricant
1. What one single thing would improve the quality of your life right now?
Except for an extra few days each week, I have to say that the main thing would be cash. I'd like to sort out various things in my new flat and having about £15k would sort it entirely. I'd like to finish the move of the bathroom from one end to the other, sort out the plumbing mess that's been left behind and knock together the shower room and the kitchen to make a decent sized kitchen. Then it'd be a _great_ flat rather than just a good one.
2. Tell me about some of your favourite books.
Oh God, I hate this kind of question. Largely because it's so subjective, and because my tastes have changed so many times that things I remember loving migh seem terrible/pointless if I re-read them now.
For instance, I _adored_ Illusions/Jonathan Livingstone Seagull as a child, and they're both on my shelf because I can't bear to not own them, but I'm terrified to reopen them because I'd undoubtedly feel a terrible sense of loss at parts of my life now seeming like a foreign country. So I'll list a few books I've loved, and you'll have to bear in mind that some of them might not actually be any good.
IT - Stephen King. Less a horror tale than the story of a small town and the childhood of a bunch of kids growing up in it. Taps perfectly into a sense of childhood, with all the wonder and horror that goes with it.
Signal to Noise - Gaiman/Mckean. The story of a dying director making one last film in his head. Absolutely fantastic look at meaning and where it comes from. "How do you make sense of your life? Signal to noise: What's signal? What's noise?". Also, the art is amazing.
Stardust - Gaiman/Vess. I re-read this last week and it blew me away again. I really must write something about what it says about stories and their power. Also, the perfect fairy tale. About 5000 times better than the film.
We Need to Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver. A woman writes letters to her husband about their mass-murderer son. An utterly beautiful and horrifying book about what it means to be tied to someone you hate.
The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists - Gideon Defoe. Silly, ridiculous, and sublimely funny. In many ways I wish I could have written it, because it definitely seemed to be written for me.
Illuminatus/Schroedinger's Cat Trilogy - Robert Anton Wilson.- broke my attachment to meaning, changed my life, etc. Which is actually a reason I think that going back to it wouldn't work - they were the perfect books for who I was then, which means they won't be for who I am now.
And that's probably missed off at least 5 that I'd kick myself if I remembered them.
3. What's the most important political issue to you at the moment and why?
Probably politics itself. Break the two party system, fix the election dates, and remove game-playing from as much of the political process as possible.
4. What one item of popular culture would you preserve to show to future generations and why?
How popular is popular? I mean, Las Vegas is a fascinating example of taking something and pushing it to its extremes - there's nowhere on earth more Vegas than Vegas, and showing The Future what that was like would be worthwhile in some respects. I'm fascinated by things that push things as far as they can go, so taking (for instance) Natural Born Killers (one of my favourite movies) would be perfect. Or possibly the DVD of U2's Zooropa tour, which 500 television screens and a multimedia show designed to blow the audience's heads off. Something ridiculously over the top, so that I could say "This is how far we pushed things. You can imagine all the other things along this continuum."
5. Do you see yourself staying in your current career for the rest of your working life or do you think you might end up doing something a bit different at some point?
Good question. I've only actually had a "career" for the last five years (before that I had a succession of jobs). But working with computers? That's staying until I find some other area of employment that allows me to do very different things every year or two, challenges my mind, and brings in a fair bit of cash. If I were to start from scratch then academia might interest me, and if I were rich enough to do anything I'd probably spend my time alternating between writing and coding. Where I'll be in 10 years? No idea at all, and frankly I like that.
Answers to questions frombugshaw to follow when I get the chance :->
electricant1. What one single thing would improve the quality of your life right now?
Except for an extra few days each week, I have to say that the main thing would be cash. I'd like to sort out various things in my new flat and having about £15k would sort it entirely. I'd like to finish the move of the bathroom from one end to the other, sort out the plumbing mess that's been left behind and knock together the shower room and the kitchen to make a decent sized kitchen. Then it'd be a _great_ flat rather than just a good one.
2. Tell me about some of your favourite books.
Oh God, I hate this kind of question. Largely because it's so subjective, and because my tastes have changed so many times that things I remember loving migh seem terrible/pointless if I re-read them now.
For instance, I _adored_ Illusions/Jonathan Livingstone Seagull as a child, and they're both on my shelf because I can't bear to not own them, but I'm terrified to reopen them because I'd undoubtedly feel a terrible sense of loss at parts of my life now seeming like a foreign country. So I'll list a few books I've loved, and you'll have to bear in mind that some of them might not actually be any good.
IT - Stephen King. Less a horror tale than the story of a small town and the childhood of a bunch of kids growing up in it. Taps perfectly into a sense of childhood, with all the wonder and horror that goes with it.
Signal to Noise - Gaiman/Mckean. The story of a dying director making one last film in his head. Absolutely fantastic look at meaning and where it comes from. "How do you make sense of your life? Signal to noise: What's signal? What's noise?". Also, the art is amazing.
Stardust - Gaiman/Vess. I re-read this last week and it blew me away again. I really must write something about what it says about stories and their power. Also, the perfect fairy tale. About 5000 times better than the film.
We Need to Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver. A woman writes letters to her husband about their mass-murderer son. An utterly beautiful and horrifying book about what it means to be tied to someone you hate.
The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists - Gideon Defoe. Silly, ridiculous, and sublimely funny. In many ways I wish I could have written it, because it definitely seemed to be written for me.
Illuminatus/Schroedinger's Cat Trilogy - Robert Anton Wilson.- broke my attachment to meaning, changed my life, etc. Which is actually a reason I think that going back to it wouldn't work - they were the perfect books for who I was then, which means they won't be for who I am now.
And that's probably missed off at least 5 that I'd kick myself if I remembered them.
3. What's the most important political issue to you at the moment and why?
Probably politics itself. Break the two party system, fix the election dates, and remove game-playing from as much of the political process as possible.
4. What one item of popular culture would you preserve to show to future generations and why?
How popular is popular? I mean, Las Vegas is a fascinating example of taking something and pushing it to its extremes - there's nowhere on earth more Vegas than Vegas, and showing The Future what that was like would be worthwhile in some respects. I'm fascinated by things that push things as far as they can go, so taking (for instance) Natural Born Killers (one of my favourite movies) would be perfect. Or possibly the DVD of U2's Zooropa tour, which 500 television screens and a multimedia show designed to blow the audience's heads off. Something ridiculously over the top, so that I could say "This is how far we pushed things. You can imagine all the other things along this continuum."
5. Do you see yourself staying in your current career for the rest of your working life or do you think you might end up doing something a bit different at some point?
Good question. I've only actually had a "career" for the last five years (before that I had a succession of jobs). But working with computers? That's staying until I find some other area of employment that allows me to do very different things every year or two, challenges my mind, and brings in a fair bit of cash. If I were to start from scratch then academia might interest me, and if I were rich enough to do anything I'd probably spend my time alternating between writing and coding. Where I'll be in 10 years? No idea at all, and frankly I like that.
Answers to questions from
bugshaw to follow when I get the chance :->