box sleeper

box sleeper,
originally uploaded by jmw71.

This surely can't be comfortable.

It's weird - this picture had loads of comments about it. Which was nice. But it made me feel a twang of guilt that I whore Flickr and people's photo efforts out to my blog. Instead, maybe I should "join in the community" and actually comment on the photos too. Hmmm. A thought.

Right Royal blooper

Right Royal blooper,
originally uploaded by The Kitten's Toe.

This made me laugh out loud. Poor old Chuck. Got caught out with the uber-powerful press microphones that caught him mumbling how much he hated posing for them.

He also decided to share his thoughts on the BBC's royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell*. Not particularly flattering. There is a video here of his "reaction". Very amusing.

*I saw him on the Tube once. Before the days of cameraphones.

Boing Boing: New Dr Who star quits

Boing Boing: New Dr Who star quits after one episode
I can't believe he has quit Dr Who after only one episode has been aired. He was great. The whole episode was great - except for Graham Norton cutting through at the start... Duh.

My colleague who is well-versed in these things says it is about money and he wants more and when he gets it could be back. We shall wait and see. Seems odd though since he emailed the team to get the part.

I think Eddie Izzard would make a great replacement.

Easter in Amsterdam

Atlas,
originally uploaded by The Kitten's Toe.

I now have the photostream of Easter in Amsterdam 2005 up on Flickr.

Lots of cats.

Whisky bosses search for new cat

Whisky bosses search for new cat,
originally uploaded by The Kitten's Toe.

BBC NEWS Scotland Whisky bosses search for new cat

Awww bless the wee mite! He munched his way through 30,000 mice and protected the precious whiskey for a cat-tastic 24 years.*

Must have been the fumes of the lovely stuff that kept him going for so long. The Water of Life Indeed.

Maybe they should hold a Cat Idol to find the replacement. I'd watch that.

*In Scotland they also use geese to protect the whiskey - they are far more effective than alarms when any intruders try their luck.

Flickr contacts mosaic

my flickr contacts,
originally uploaded by curiouskiwi.

This is a nice applet for Flickr users that puts all your contacts into a single mosaic picture... Nice representation of your "community". I must have very little "community spirit" as I only have two picture that come up. Hmm.

They are not RFID tags - honest guv

This is hilarious. The US government, says Wired, is doing a PR job on RFID - radio frequency identification - tags which they plan to attach to passports to "keep track" of who is entering the country. There are lots of fears around this emerging technology. Lots of them obviously centre around their potential use to invade human rights and privacy. It is fair to say they have had a bad press so far.

The Department of Homeland Security says now that they are not RFID tags - shuh. No, they are using contactless chips.

Happy Easter - for yesterday

Happy Easter - for yesterday,
originally uploaded by The Kitten's Toe.

Happy belated Easter to one and all - well OK, maybe two.

Loving this Easter chick from the B3ta board.

The reason for the lack of posts has been because Blugg and I took our Easter in Amsterdam... Woohoo! We are loving the Dam. Back now though. Obviously. Although I am on me own until Saturday. So plenty of computer time and blogging.

Will get my arse in gear and upload some of the photos from the weekend. Loadsa random and known cats.

Conducting wood

Conducting wood,
originally uploaded by The Kitten's Toe.

Now this is what we need. Moving towards the idea that technology should and will be built actually into the fabric of furniture - including wood. No more messy snakes f cables!! Yee har! Wishful thinking...

Says Engadget:

The basic idea - sandwiching two layers of conductive metal between layers
of wood to integrate power into the furniture - strikes us as an elegant,
creative way to get rid of the tangle of wires that we're forced to contend
with when using normal furniture.

They do also point out that wood is flammable. I am sure some nanocoating or other would solve that problem.

Screen Licker

Screen Licker,
originally uploaded by The Kitten's Toe.

This is my most favourite screensaver I have ever seen. Click here to play it...

Don't forget the sound.

I don't know who originally did it. If anyone does know, tell me. Via the comments thing.

Invisibility Screens

Invisibility Screens,
originally uploaded by The Kitten's Toe.

Damnit! Cory Doctorow spotted this Flickr group before I did...

The challenge is to take a photo of the background behind your computer and set it as your wallpaper - you can see by the picture.

But it does remind me of the Invisibility Cloak in Harry Potter. This is seriously a way they - Japanese scientists - have created one.

Cool.

Better than Robosapien

Better than Robosapien,
originally uploaded by The Kitten's Toe.

These self assembly robots are much better than your average Transformer - or even Robosapien.

The M-TRAN II robot, developed by the Japanese Distributed Systems Design Research Group, is made up of a dozen of modules. Each has two linking blocks. The can each rotate 180 degrees around the link that connects them. Each module has a switchable magnet inside which means it can link to more modules in the system, says We Make Money Not Art.

Our robot future has only just began folks.

Here fishy fishy!

è±?è±?,
originally uploaded by tinghua.

Did I eat them already?*


*Please excuse btw the rash of cat posts. There are just so many around!!

Rico - Don't Nobody Bother Me

Rico,
originally uploaded by san291.

This feline epitomises to me what cats are all about. Look at that strut. Look at the hanging angle of the head. Classic. Hard As Fuck.

Oh Wise One

IMG_0035,
originally uploaded by Elias.gomez.

This cat reminds me of the anime/Manga type All Knowing But Still Cute cat characters in those films that is the brave companion to the vulnerable hero.

Five for Fun

All five,
originally uploaded by Mister Rossi.

I'll have them all pleaseeee!! Oh, alright then - one will do...

If Blugg and I ever do get a cat (here's hoping) then he would have to go to the cat home to choose one. I wouldn't be able to it. I suppose they come to you with their puurrrrsonalities.

Heh. Going to Amsterdam tomorrow! Woo hoo!

Flickr rich!

Flickr rich!,
originally uploaded by Mister Snitch.

Talking of Flickr...Yahoo has bought it, in case you hadn't heard, and there is a lot of dicussion in the groups there about what "Bonuses" Pro account holders will get.*

Some are saying Hoodies, some are saying flan and tiaras... Frisbees are popular too.

I say SHARES PLEASE and a Pentax 7 megapixel "retro" camera. Thanks.


*I am a Pro... It basically means that for around $49 a year, you can upload shit loads of photos. You are limited if you are not a Pro.

Exploding dog (it's not what you think)

picture a day - exploding dog,
originally uploaded by notext.

I haven't blogged for three days! Yikes! Not that anyone is reading anyway apart from Sharonspotbottom! Thanks!

Anyway, this Flickr picture caught my eye - I think places like Flickr really inspire people to expand what photography is. Most computers come with software that people can use to edit photos. Being Digital Is Great.

Notepad Space Invaders

Like the original, this blue pen and notepad version of the game is utterly addictive and a very clever idea... :0)

Random

amarrados,
originally uploaded by danib.

What the... There are some real gems among Flickr Everyone's photos...

Wag the dog messaging

Wag the dog message,
originally uploaded by The Kitten's Toe.

I don't usually blog about dogs, but this is such a good idea... It uses the persistance of vision thing to broadcast pre-programmed messages.

ITSY SPEAKING

ITSY SPEAKING,
originally uploaded by Torrie.

Excellent cat pose.

CAT-TV

Watching TV,
originally uploaded by hale_popoki.

Heh. If we had a cat it would have no choice but to watch TV. I have often wondered what cats can actually do see when they look at tellies, and in fact whether do actually think what they are watching is coming from inside the box.

QOLEDs

I love Mark Hibbett's Hey Hey 16k. Now he has done a song about QOLEDs.* These are in fact Quality of Life Enhancement Devices to be precise.

They are just the little things that we don't realise we need until we have them. Like a dust buster. Or four way adaptors.

Anyway, Mr Hibbett invites people to send in their QOLEDs.

*This may not indeed be new but I just found it via BleepBlog

Laaalaaaaaaa!

,
originally uploaded by tsogy.

I hear Verdi, or Carmen, or whatever.* A very operatic pussy indeed. In fact, I would pay good money to see a real Cat Opera.

*I am not "up" on opera. To me it is the name of a browser

Have you flushed?

image00558,
originally uploaded by MagicHappens.

I *really* hope that this cat chose to sleep there. Eurgh.

Flickr spelling

picturephoning.com
This is fun. Spell with Flickr lets you spell out any word with Flickr photos. Good clean fun.

Dave Winer gets "assimilated"

.

The inventor of Rss, Dave Winer, gets assimilated with two aliens in their Bluggcast skyperview. Fun trans-Atlantic chat with the coder and the aliens about RSS, bloggers and the Universe.

Apple furious at Shuffle impersonator

4203,
originally uploaded by The Kitten's Toe.

p2pnet.net - the original daily p2p and digital media news site
Heh - this makes me laugh. Apple are furious that a Taiwanese company has set up stalls at Cebit to show off its Luxpro's Super Shuffle. Looking at the two side by side is like trying to do those spot the difference games in cheap magazines.

Apple are "considering their options", according to P2Pnet.

Wooden laptops made from old wine-cases

woodenlaptop,
originally uploaded by The Kitten's Toe.

Boing Boing: Wooden laptops made from old wine-cases
I love these laptops - Blugg and I have often talked about our dream house with technology built into the furniture - it has all been possible for some time, and things like the mini ITX motherboards help, but it needs a name like Ikea to start doing it. I'd buy one - wish I could make it myself.


Reminds me too of The Final Cut, with Robin Williams, that we watched recently. His laptop/desktop editing set up was cool as fuck.

SCRUM

SCRUM,
originally uploaded by hexion.

I just want to dive in.

Public oblivious to blogs

beSpacific: Gallup Poll on Blogs Shows Limited Impact on General Public
This will come to no surprise to most people. But bloggers like podcasters do have the tendency to exist somewhat in their own wee world online.*

Three-quarters of the U.S. public uses the Internet at work, school, or home,
but only one in four Americans are either very familiar or somewhat familiar
with blogs. More than half, 56%, have no knowledge of them. Even among Internet users, only 32% are very or somewhat familiar with blogs." [The devil is in the details] Said differently, monthly-plus readership of blogs is 21% among 18- to 29-year olds, 16% among those 30 to 49, 14% among those 50 to 64 and just 7% among those 65 and older. - via beSpacific

*This is one of my pet Big Questions: How do we get "blogs" and "RSS" and "podcasts" out to a much wider net audience? Kids especially. They are the future.

Eh?

1,
originally uploaded by The Kitten's Toe.

I just did that movie personality test again* and this time I chose 18 questions.** This time I was a much less impressive movie that I have never seen. Hurumph.


*See below
**The more questions you choose the more accurate it is supposed to be

What movie are you?

What movie are you?,
originally uploaded by The Kitten's Toe.

Classic Movie Test
I was The Godfather.

bluggcaster: greetings, podsniffers of Earth!

bluggcaster : greetings, podsniffers of planet earth!

We are liking your Alien Chat.

From Russia with love

dollwurst,
originally uploaded by The Kitten's Toe.

we make money not art: From Russia with love
I have always loved Russian doll things. What has always put me off is the slighlty creepy rosey faces on them.

These however look ace. They are all designed by artists. There is a whole gallery of them. Loving the elephant.

Bloggers must reveal sources

Bloggers must reveal sources - judge The Register
Hmmm - interesting decision that could have some long reaching implications for bloggers in the future, particularly with those who like to get the "scoop" on an event or product. It might also make bloggers who are not trained journalists realise why some journos are restricted in what they can or cannot report on.

I know a lot of journos get flack for not doing a story based on rumours on the web. Sometimes journos have to go by some rules, which blogger "journos" are not quite used to.

But then the whole case brings into question intergrity vs freedom of speech.

Nokia and Morse Code

picturephoning.com:Nokia develops camera phone that can transmit, read Morse code
Interesting. Could actually become quite a compelling way to communicate. Much easier than pressing a button three times to get to a letter, or T9. It would also be quite cool to learn Morse Code.

Download tax?

'iPod tax' planned for music downloads? Tech News on ZDNet
This kind of thing does annoy me. First, we say, OK, let's have some legal services for people to download music and films. I meant that might have been bad enough for some who think sharing digital music has been around since the invention of portable media to store it on - ie cassette tapes.

Fair enough, people who create content should be paid for it.*

But now considering a tax, as a US governor is suggesting, is just silly. Why the fuck should we give even more to the government? What do they have to do with music and rights holders, really?

Sheesh.

*Although I think artists should be more concerned about getting paid to perform, hence using their actual CD sales etc as marketing devices - ie listen to this album for a v cheap price - or for free online - and share it, then pay to come along and see me do it live

Kitten attack

Kitten attack,
originally uploaded by raindog.

Excellent action shot - I love it went Cats Go Bonkers. My sisters cats use to climb up the puffy wallpaper on the wll and hang there when they decided to go nuts... hehe

The kitt-a-lounger

The kitt-a-lounger,
originally uploaded by tygress_janie.

Is this a natural position for a cat, really? Most inelegant.

Bismarck

Bismarck,
originally uploaded by emmeke.

This pussy cat made me smile - must be quite dangerous biting your nails as a cat.Satisfying if you want to scratch your own back - although probably best to keep those nails away from your arse.

Cool rolling around cam!

Cool rolling around cam!,
originally uploaded by The Kitten's Toe.

I want one - see Gizmag. Although it looks like a desk caster wheel and won't go very far from you if it is controlled by Bluetooth, it is still a desirable round shiny thing that can snap anywhere. Might be used for under-skirt shots I fear...

We Have You Surrounded

We Have You Surrounded,
originally uploaded by Carisenda.

This description for this photo made me laugh out loud. Wit and Flickr mix well my friends.

Hearing about my anti-cat agenda agents from CATNIP quickly staked out my house,
we can clearly see 2 such agents here pretending to 'sun themselves', but the
mask slips as one can clearly be seen in shadow.

Pussy therapy

lalomie II,
originally uploaded by aristide.

I was in need of some cat therapy this morning - if I had a real one I would just cuddle it mercilessly. But since I don't, this cute kitty will suffice - for now.

We make money not art: Real-life soap opera

This is truly Big Brother gone mad. Or a real-life Sims? Strange yet I feel drawn to this dreadful Truman Show-esque weirdness.* People will live there and choose which job they want. There will even be social classes "set up".

Says Near Near Future:

Prize money will be given out bit by bit as a reward for challenges successfully
carried out, but the sum will be lost if the contestant leaves the village
voluntarily. And with no set end date, they could well find themselves living in
it forever.

What if they revolted?

*I would probably watch every minute of it, sadly

I wish I ate pack lunches

byo_lunch_open,
originally uploaded by The Kitten's Toe.

I wish I ate packed lunches at work. I don't really, but these groovy lunchboxes I stumbled across via Popgadget are fantastic and make me yearn for soggy cheese and tomato sarnies. They are made out of wetsuit material - excellent.

Too real dollies

De-jen,
originally uploaded by sunsun.

These are at the same time weird, beautiful, and disturbing...

If you look closely at some of them they have drool in their mouths... hmmmm

Weasley family clock!

Weasley family clock!,
originally uploaded by The Kitten's Toe.

Came across this lifeclock thing via Near Near Future. It is developed by Microsoft and was shown at Techfest. Supposed to keep an eye on where all the family is, just like the Weasley familly clock in Harry Potter, as Engadget points out.

Still smacks of Orwellian nightmares no matter how clever it is. Especially as it is Microsoft's... *shiver*

BBC NEWS | Technology | Blogger blow in Apple leak case

BBC NEWS | Technology | Blogger blow in Apple leak case
Hmmm... could be an interesting development for bloggers in general. The problem is, knowing about Apple product leaks and then "reporting" on them is on the edge of the reasons why journalists are afforded legal protection. That protection is there to protect everyone if a story was so much in the public interest it would be amiss NOT to report it. Is knowing about upcoming Apple products that kind of story I wonder?

Cassie - we will always remember you

Cassie,
originally uploaded by The Kitten's Toe.

Just had some really awful news. One of my sister's cats, Cassie, was run over last night and killed.

They recently had to move to a new town and my sister is gutted because she had not yet moved down to join them - her husband was looking after the kitties.

I am really upset and so obviously is my sister who has had Cassie and Essie for 11 years. They were sisters.

Cassie was always very streetwise and always knew when humans needed a nuzzle or a paw of comfort.

Rest in peace in Kitty Heaven Cassie.

Stuffed Cat Adventures

Stuffed Cat Adventures,
originally uploaded by The Kitten's Toe.

Check out the all-new adventures of Chrismusspuss and other feline friends.*

*Might as well put my pretend cats to good use.

Happy Slapping

Great. This is all I need. New "craze"? Fucking annoying fuckwits more like. This is a month old from The Londonist, but I have not heard of it.*

*Not a surprise to me, that

Couch Potato Tormentor

2486273304194706,
originally uploaded by The Kitten's Toe.

Blugg had better not buy one of these things to annoy me. It is like that TV switch off gadget that caused hilarity recently, except it will interfere with more than just the on off button.

Engadget says:

"Instead of just turning your TV off, it randomly changes the channel, or screws
with the CD or DVD currently playing, or whatever. The best part is that you
don't even have to be there - once it's programmed you can just leave it lying
nearby and the Couch Potato Tormentor will just mess with your TV at random
intervals."

Heh.

Old Yahoo!

Old Yahoo!,
originally uploaded by The Kitten's Toe.

Does anyone reading remember what Yahoo looked like a decade ago in 1995? I do. In fact, I think I still have print outs of the index... heh. Check it out anyway - via UK tech blog BleepBlog.

Wonder whether it will still even be around in another decade.

Thong for Europe

461,
originally uploaded by neo13one.

This is a nice collection of images from a Flickr member which will make you chuckle. Made me titter.

Fashion phones hell

Euurgh. I am sorry, but "Fashion Phone" this is not. Whose fashion? A 12 year old's one, that's whose. Designers are still getting it wrong.

I am still on the search for a replacement for my mobile. Have had mine far too long.* Problem is, it a a P900 and I am now a touch screen convert. No longer do I bother with buttons on a keypad and such tomfoolery. No, I merely write my messages with my lavishly broken nails.

Until I find a cute, shiny, powerful, touchscreen, nicely designed, mega pixel camphone that can also play MP3s**, I shall continue to watch Shiny Shiny with baited breath.

*Almost 18 months
** I am quite taken with this one however