Weblog entries for April 2005
Emails 'pose threat to IQ' 
Stop reading email before it's too late. “The distractions of constant emails, text and phone messages are a greater threat to IQ and concentration than taking cannabis, according to a survey of befuddled volunteers.”
Deconstructing stupidity
Excellent article from the FT about how copyright law has become so nonsensical. “We extend protection retrospectively to dead authors, perhaps in the hope they will write from their tombs.”
Google Maps UK
At last. No satellite photos yet, though. I can see my house from here!
Who should you vote for?
What a great idea. Just state whether you agree or disagree with some statements, to find out which political party's policies are most closely aligned with your own views. The results might surprise you.
Headless Zombie Bunny
“The BBC News website has some of the worst stock photo usage in the world. This is a daily log of some of the most awful photo choices.”
BBC Creative Archive
This project provides access to as much of the BBC's material as possible for the British public to watch, listen and re-use. “In other words, you can rip, mix and share the BBC.” No content there yet, but watch this space.
Google Video upload program
Google has started accepting content for Google Video, their video search and purchase system.
World wide words
As implied by its name, it's about words: topical words, new words, weird words and turns of phrase. Recent additions include Flagitious, Cadge, Monkey's uncle, Scuttlebutt, Hobson's choice and Velocipedist.
Big red button
Try to stop yourself clicking it.
Surprises lurk in satellite snaps
“Notable surprises include a just-erupted volcano, violent scenes from Iraq (a bomb going off in Baghdad and a firefight in Najaf) and even a 747 landing in Tokyo, something difficult to capture given that the satellite is moving at 17,000 mph.”
Tiger did it
I bet Nike couldn't believe their luck after that Tiger Woods chip at the 16th. It's pure marketing gold. Absolutely amazing shot.
Premiership predictor
Not long now. Use this tool to predict whether your team will manage to avoid the drop.
How to give Blair a bloody nose
“You are a disgruntled Labour voter. You opposed the Iraq war, and the Prevention of Terrorism Act. You would like to weaken Tony Blair.” This page gives some advice on how to vote tactically to get your point across. There seems to be a lot of this going on.
Monster Raving Loony Party
I love their manifesto. “We will issue a 99p coin to save on change. … We pledge to reduce class sizes by making the pupils sit closer to one another and issuing them with smaller desks. … We will replace the House of Lords with the House of Cards, to make it easier for the Government to deal with.”
Which of the political parties do most for your pocket
A summary of how the major parties' policies would affect your bank balance. No major surprises: Labour may have to raise taxes, the Conservatives would cut bureaucracy, and the LibDems want to increase the top rate of tax to 50%.
08
The Elements of CSS Style
I've released the first draft of what I hope will become a useful reference for anyone writing CSS. It documents the way in which I write my CSS and reflects the practices I've found to be most useful. Comments welcome as usual.
First time buyer help
Should you buy a house in the UK now? Is renting dead money? Which people in the property market have vested interests? Some alternative opinions are to be found here.
Google Sightseeing
Weblog about interesting things found in Google Maps' satellite view.
The Empire Strikes Back, in stills
Takes ages to load but is worth it. It's interesting to scroll through it quickly to see the colours change.
25 Sesame Street memories
I loved the martians. And Grover. And the teeny little super guy. I defy you to read these without laughing out loud.
Not Apathetic
People who are planning not to vote in the UK General Election explain why.
M&G Index Tracker Fund ISA
This is the ISA I'll be investing in this year. No initial fee and a tiny 0.3% annual charge.
06
Hacking the credit card system
The phrase “rate tart” is being used more and more nowadays. But if you don't have debts, interest-free credit card offers are of little benefit. Here's a scheme that provides not interest-free, but free interest. I'm embarrassed to admit that I hadn't thought of this sooner.
Guardian election blog
This looks like the best election site I've found, except for the BBC of course. Read it before you get sick of the coverage.
Guidelines for UK government websites
Despite the title, it contains plenty of good advice for anyone building any kind of website.
Free photos and visuals
A good roundup of free photo stock resources.
PookMail
Disposable email addresses, so you can avoid giving your real email address to untrusted web sites. This will come in very handy.
Clean up that mess
How to organise your home office and stop it becoming a cluttered mess.
How to get that perfect shave
Avoid nicks, cuts and razor burn by going back to the old school of wet shaving.
About this page
These entries form part of Stephen Wettone's weblog.
Other weblog entries
The most recent entry is Reducing SlimStat's database size.
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