Summoner geeks

Geeks. Dungeons and Dragons. Summoners. Hilarious. Watch it.

Cat-powered generator

Genius. A clever way to generate your own electricity, while giving your feline some much-needed exercise.

Toilet Trained Neat Cat (=^..^=)

This cat also doubles up as a toilet cleaner.

Magnificent. Excllent for those hard to reach bits in the bowl.

Toilet Training For Cats

All I need is a cat now.

Looking through the wrong end of the wire

BuzzMachine » Blog Archive » Looking through the wrong end of the wire
Useful post here by Buzzmachine's Jeff Jarvis on the value of networks. He argues, quite simply and a bit obviously, that we each put different values on our social networks. There is no point trying to place some corporate value on it. You can't because affinities that people feel to different niches at any given time are inherently human and intangible in nature.

He continues:

Network providers used to try to measure the value we put on networks negatively, in terms of switching costs. That was what AOL counted on for too damned long as they thought it would cost us too much hassle to switch off our AOL email addresses. Ha! But we each value a network positively on what it brings us. That is different for each of us and each of our connections. For example, I see no value, personally, in LinkedIn; it has never done a thing for me but attract a new form of spam, inconvenience, and embarrassment when I don’t link to someone. But for others I know, LinkedIn provides jobs, business, income, reputation; it is damned near invaluable. Similarly, I see little value in MySpace; for middle-aged me, it is merely a curiosity.

He also makes a point about A list bloggers which I have been banging on about for some time.

one should value a network as the sum of its networks. We see the internet that way. We also should see the blogosphere that way. This is why I continue to think it is adsurd and wrongheaded to analyze the blogosphere on its supposed A list. he vast majority of people who read blogs never read any of the blogs on that A-for-alleged list. They read and interact with the ones that are meaningful to them.

Quite. We are only just at the start of realising what the mass of niches means for us and our "media". But too many people are too concerned with making their fortunes and building up their egos to think about this carefully enough anymore.

YouTubers' big media backlash

So I had almost finished the most insightful post you are ever likely to see from me when my laptop imploded. Not 30 seconds before I had hovered over the save as draft button but failed to follow through.

Basically, I was getting a bit irritated by the backlash from youtubers about Geriatric1927's media attention. He was covered in the news here. Guess why? Because it is an interesting story, just like the thousands of other interesting stories there are on YouTube. Youtube is getting more interesting. I have been there for six months, and there are changes. It feels different.

Look, big media can be YouTubers too. It's YouTubers who have the power. Just seize the power and stop going on about it. YouTubers can ignore big media. They already say they like YouTube because if the diversity of people, of personalities, of stories, if you read responses to Renetto's Who Are You question. Big media is not giving them what this seems to be and the reasons why are highly complex.

But YouTubers can always take their channels, stories and personalities somewhere else. Another site. There will always be other interesting content to spend hours sifting through on a cold night. I love the machinima. I love animal videos. I love the conference videos, the pranks, and the arty ones too.

The point is, no one can stop me putting up as many videos as I want, entertaining millions, anywhere I want. If it is compelling enough, there will always be an audience. Look at blogging; look at podcasting. Look at Rocketboom. And if the tools are there, there could well be little communities of participants and non participants, and reltionships - or at least some sort of connections - between them. And that is why this, to me, has become so compelling and immersive. Each stream of responses to one video or another is an ever-changing stream of emotion and creativity (on the whole).

When I was little, my sister and used to "play telly" and "radio". We did it with a cardboard box and coathanger. Luckily we had a tape recorder for radio. And a mic.

It was fun. Imagine how fun it is now.

David Brent for Microsoft outtake

This is brilliant. Except Ricky Gervais knows his comic value mainly lies in his naughty laugh.

Apparently it is a seires of out takes from a Microsoft UK training video for employees.

Good god. What kind of techniques are they teaching them?*

Btw - apologies if this is turning into a YouTube spam blog. It's just fun. And the telly's shit until Big Brother tomorrow. And Kath and Kim.

Junku's back

IMG_0079,
originally uploaded by junku.

Either that or I just have not been checking my contacts' photos in enought detail. The acrobatacats are back.

I want one. Or four.

A response to Geriatric1927

Rich here explains the way I feel about Geriatric1927's annoyance with the media.

But this is great - you see, originally, Peter, or Geriatric1927, wanted to use this PUBLIC space as somewhere he could gripe and moan. So this is a glimpse of that cantankerous so and so who perhaps lies below the soft wherthers' toffee like exterior!*

*afterthought: but I do completely understand his wish to assume some sort of anonimity. The web is a release for people who seek that. That's why I have always found it an endlessly fascinating web of places.

Telling it all 7

This is what happens when big media gets in the way. I feel gutted for him. But he has ti realise that he IS talking to the world.

Obsessive Toilet Flushing Cat

What a clever pussy.

The fascination.

LonelyGirl15's "dad"

One of the more amusing videos on YouTube are those created as video comments which often feature spin off characters related to that video.

This one is by the "father" of YouTube's Is She Isn't She Authentic stars - LonelyGirl15, or Bree.

Many suspect her slick, cute videos of her "boy troubles" and proving science wrong are too good to be true.

But that just creates a plethora of interesting characters who feel so inspired to respond. Check him out from the start. Genius.

NOAA in Second Life

Second Life | Community: Events
Tonight I went to visit the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) island in Second Life. They have created a competition for teams to build the best simulations using the virtual world's tools which educate and stick to NOAA-related environmental issues and ethics.

It is an interesting experiment in public consultation, as well as collaborative working, and education in action.

There are some great projects there. My favourite it the Tsunami and hurricane so far. More to see... better go.*

*Check out the direct link to Meteroa, where the projects are, at the Bloghud.

Sharon split

sharon-split,
originally uploaded by sharonspotbottom.

A shout must go out to my Flickr friend Sharonspotbottom. I think she has lost a love, and she is revealing her inner torment in the only way Sharon can that makes sense. Click on the photo and follow them to the most recent.

79 year old YouTuber

I came across this bloke last night. I then saw a very short story about him in Guardian online.

Kind of compelling?

Big Brother housmates podcast

Pretty interesting to see that podcasting has even made it into the Big Brother house in the UK. The housemates each had to record a podcast (which you can subscribe to at 4radio) to get their food budget for the week.

Who would have thunk it when the word first emerged...?

I reckon podcast.com needs to snap up Tourette's Syndrome boy Pete, who will undoubtedly win this year. He also has a band - podsafe I wonder?

Girl takes pic of herself every day for three years

I am seriously getting addicted to YouTube. I thought nothing would ever replace telly for me.*

*It hasn't quite yet: I still have normal telly on in the background.

Powerbook Start up Sound Prank

This is genius. A library. That embarassing start up sound of a PC. Then the start up sound of a Powerbook that goes on a rather long time. By Prangstgrup.

Matt's all over games...

It seems that Matt, the guy who dances all around the world on the net, is not just being immortalised in Second Life, as reported earlier.

There are also FFXI, Guild Wars and Star Wars Galaxies mmo parodies. I am sure there are a lot more.* I love machinima, but I probably would prefer to do the real thing!

Didn't realise either that he was being sponsored by Stride long last chewie on his second trip, which started earlier this year and ended in June.

They should do something in mmos/virtual worlds now. They probably have done so already. Matt was a video games developer, apparently, before he chucked it all in to do the world. A guy on his first trip suggested he film himself jigging in different locations on his travels.

This is the list of games he is credited with working on, according to Moby Games.

Destroy All Humans! (2005), THQ, Inc., Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), Activision Publishing, Inc., Army Men RTS (2002), 3DO Company, The Dark Reign 2 (2000), Activision Publishing, Inc. Battlezone II: Combat Commander (1999), Activision Publishing, Inc., Battlezone (1998), Activision, Inc., Zork: Grand Inquisitor (1997), Activision, Inc.

*Just found a WoW one, and a Halo one.

Antigua 2006 mosaic

Antigua 2006 mosaic,
originally uploaded by The Kitten's Toe.

Pictures speak a thousand words.

Tiny Caribbean kitten

Tiny kitten,
originally uploaded by The Kitten's Toe.

This teensie kitten - must have only been a few days old - was one of the feline residents at our Antiguan hotel. It kept mewing quite loudly while we ate and did not seem to have a mummy.

We coaxed it to have some water and milk off fingers, and it did manage some of our saved lunch tuna.

When Blugg went back to check it was ok after it feasted on tuna, it seemed to have a bigger cat hissing defensively in front of it.

We heard it mewling once more, but that was a few days after we had seen it last, so that must mean it was being looked after.

It almost went in my hand luggage though. Just so sweet.

Stick men on the beach

Stick men,
originally uploaded by The Kitten's Toe.

So I have been away on holiday, in Antigua. It was fantastic, needless to say, and I shall be walking into a very unpleasant storm at work with does not exactly fill me with joy.

Anyway, it sounds rude, but there was great wood in Antigua. This snap is from the front of OJ's beach bar inbetween our beach (Johnson's Point) and Darkwood beach. For any of you Brits out there, Darkwood beach has another bar on it owned by Gus from Eastenders' uncle.

Check out the rest of the snaps.

Currently trying to work out what kind of job I could do that would allow me to languish on the beaches there full time sipping rum punch. Hmm.

Duran Duran in Second Life

BBC NEWS | Technology | Duran Duran to give virtual gigs
More bands are making the transition into 3D playgrounds by doing gigs in Second Life. Duran Duran will perform as avatars (which did not happen with the Radio 1 Big Weekend gig in May) next month, in world.

What a top gig that will be.

Where in SL Is Artilect?

Hot on the heels of wherethehell ismatt.com which I have blogged about before is this Second Life version. Genius. Wish I had thought of that.