Create your own Daily Mail front page

Not that I have anything against the art of crochet per se of course, it's purely for illustative purposes! DIY by uploading your own photograph here

Oh so attractive.....

But of course these won't become basic military uniform if global warming kicks in.....you have to be thankful for small mercies!

ps......Arctic War????

Game (puzzle) on

The usual point-and-clicky variety Designed as a short puzzle game. Play it here

And now for something completely different.....

Dumbshow with noise

And from the same source.....

A snapshot of Haltwhistle from the
Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge pub 1840

About this book Read this bookPenny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge By Charles Knight

Google books

About this book Read this bookThe Ports, Harbours, Watering-places, and Coast Scenery of Great Britain By William Finden, Edward Francis Finden, William Henry Bartlett

A plug for Google books

Type a search term in the box and when the results page comes up click on "Full View" for available (downloadable) books in all their scanned glory.

I didn't know that!

Anyone who's done a first aid course will probably have come into up-close-and-personal contact with RessuciAnne when being taught the basics of CPR. What you probably DIDN'T know (well, I certainly didn't until today anyway) is that the manequin is modelled on a death mask taken from an unknown corpse fished out of the Seine in 1900.
Read the story here at Neatorama

Sarah's trunk

Family trip to the Theatre Royal to view the unveiling of Sarah's trunk to the world at large? Suitable for the over 8's. Click on the image to enlarge to readable proportions.

Hearing colours, eating sounds

This one's for Sarah (who sees colours in words) and John (who's colour blind)

From BBC Radio 4......

"As many as one in 2000 people has an extraordinary condition in which the five senses intermingle. This major two part series reveals how synaesthesia is changing our understanding of the world of neuroscience."

Link to "Listen again"

See also the BBC webpage for "Derek Tastes of Earwax" where you can read more and take a couple of interactive tests

Cupcake fun

Daizy reaches the "dizzy" heights of age 8 on Monday.....and somewhere along the way she's discovered the joys of baking. There's plenty of colourful ideas for decorating the finished item here at cupcakefun

You suck at Photoshop Part 4

This weeks thrilling episode......

Chirpy chirpy cheep cheep......

Tell you what, it doesn't mature with age! So next on the wish list has to be Aga Do Do Do (nothing like a bit of Black Lace!), possibly some (or actually rather more than you probably want to see!) vintage Eurovision hits ......or maybe I should aspire to quality, YMCA with the Village People?

It just begs a caption.....

....because it's as sure as hell not just about buying a particular lurid shade of lipstick, there's a story there if we could only work out what it is!
Part of an original image posted at Agence Eureka.....

Italian nosh

Authentic Italian recipes from Mestolando.....they say

"It's about Italian food and sharing how we make it from our kitchen in florence, italy. we enjoy cooking and learning new recipes and hope you will too. buon appetito, and thanks for stopping by."

.....the Fagioli all'uccelletto, Tuscan style beans looks nice!

End of the week cuteness

The rest of the world seems to be posting it......so I will too!

The Wonderful World of Early Computing

There's a great post on the history of computing at Neatorama (above is "Turing and Welchman’s Bombe") that's well worth a read for any aspiring geeks out there.

The logistics of domestic planning...1937 style

I'm guessing you won't find this anywhere else on the web.....I scanned it from a weighty tome at work called simply "Planning", the 1937 edition. I guess the modern equivalent would be "The Architects New Metric Handbook", which gives (UK) space requirements and design criteria for a wide range of building types. But I particularly liked the diagram above, notice the sturdy division between service and living quarters!

Stories from the Arabian Nights

Found on archive.org, and well worth the (26.7mb pdf) download.

"This gorgeous book includes the following stories as retold by Laurence Housman: Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves; The Story of the Wicked Half-Brothers; The Story of the Princess of Deryabar; The Story of the Magic Horse; The Fisherman and the Genie; The Story of the King of the Ebony Isles; The History of Badoura, Princess of China, and of Camaralzaman, the Island Prince; Sinbad the Sailor; The first voyage of Sinbad the Sailor; The second voyage of Sinbad the Sailor; The third voyage of Sinbad the Sailor; The fourth voyage of Sinbad the Sailor; The fifth voyage of Sinbad the Sailor; The sixth voyage of Sinbad the Sailor; The seventh voyage of Sinbad the Sailor; and Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp."

Illustrated by Edmund Dulac, and there's more on him at.....
Artpassions
BPIB
and Wikipedia

Useful things to print

Got an email today from MakeUseOf (and it's well worth signing up for their e-newsletter by the way!) with a handy list of useful stuff you can print.......I see they rate PrintFreeGrahPaper too!

Pocketmod - Create all-purpose, wallet-sized, booklets out of plain A4 sheets in just 1-2 minutes. As it says on the website, "it is hard to describe just how incredibly useful the PocketMod is. It’s best that you just dive in and create one".
ePrintable - Web-based calendar generator. No registration required, just select the calendar type and click ‘print’ to generate it. You can also add some image and quotes.
PaperCDcase - Use this website to create a PDF file which can be printed and folded to create a stylish paper CD case.
Sudoku Generator - Sudoku fan? This site lets you generate different level sudoku puzzles which can be downloaded as PDF.
Documents Templates - Once in a while we all need some kind of document, it may be a business plan presentation, rental contract, non-disclosure agreement, or even a name change request form. Here are 3 places where you get them for free.
Big.First.Name - Free online app for printing nametags. Quick and simple. Check out some examples here.
PrintFreeGraphPaper - Web-based Graph Paper generator. Choose one of listed graph paper templates, indicate preferred paper size and measuring units, select paper type, and ‘Print’ it.
Deyey - Neeed a stylish business card ? Maybe nametags for employees ? Enter Deyey, a feature-rich online business card creator. Ready cards can be printed out in high-resolution formats.
Rasterbator - Turn any image into giant rasterized wall-poster.
MyBrochureMaker - Here you can create and print eye-catching brochures and advertising leaflets in minutes. Promote upcoming office parties, create product brochures, location promos, etc.
Notetaker - Create custom notetaking sheets. The custom sheets can be blank (Cornell st.), ruled, or graph style and can include your name and date.
iPaperCraft - Cash Wallet - Customisable paper wallets and card holders.
Paper rulers - Bunch of disposable printable paper rulers.
PDFpad - Provides a nice selection of handy document templates for work, school, games etc. These include: Calendars, Flags, Graph Paper, Smith Chart, Staff Paper and Sudoku.

Midweek point and clickery

Haven't tried it yet, so you're on your own! When you click on the link you'll think you're about to play "Adventure Quest" (at least I did!)....just an advert though.
Found at DumpTrumpet
they say......"The Visitor - A point and click where you play the evil alien whose goal is to kill all life. Makes a change from escaping a room, eh?"
Link

Interactive art....or a game?

It's your choice.....in fact that's what it's called.....Choice
More details here at Jayisgames

Articulated animals

Links to high quality scans of lots of vintage articulated animals at Agence Eureka (post for 22 janvier, 2008)

Internet radio stations

Explore (and listen to) over 1000 internet radio stations using a Google Maps interface at My Noxon

An audio test.....

This is hopefully 3rd time lucky, trying out another of those web jukebox things (attempt 1.....Warren Zevon, Werewolves of London came up with a "this track is no longer available" message and attempt 2, the Flanders and Swann track I tried to embed turned out to be someone's Uncle Sid apparently doing it in the bath!) Attempt 3 might give us The Animals doing "The House of the Rising Sun".......but I'm not holding my breath!

LATER.....Not impressed, not-particularly-good live recording....think I'll give it a miss!!

EVEN LATER....Now it won't play at all.....take this as a warning not to waste any time then!

The interactive body

Requires registration and installation of a plug-in (and on my bog-basic kitchen table laptop it took a while to load).....but it's worth it if you're interested in how your innards fit together!

The Visible Body

French circus posters

Magnificent French circus posters at The Poster Silo
Also vintage postcards

Original post at BibliOdyssey

Urban utopia

An interesting post at Strange Maps about Sir Ebenezer Howard (1850-1928), the father of the garden city movement. There's a place in his utopian scheme for ‘Homes for Waifs’, an ‘Insane Asylum’ and a ‘Home for Inebriates’......the man thought of everything!

Send free ecards

OK, so you've forgotten to post that all-important birthday/valentine/christmas card and you're sweating blood.....all is not lost, try out Delivr....it's better than nothing!
They say.....
"Delivr might just be the biggest greeting card site on the internet with over 3,000,000 images* to choose from. If you want something a bit more unique than your average animated clip art then browse all the images on Delivr and create your own personalized greeting card."

There's others, though I can't remember where I got this stolen (valentinesdaycentric) list.....whoever you are, I'm really sorry and I promise I'll try harder in the future!!

Rattlebox - Rattlebox is really very good. They have great designs, the interface is nicely designed and the themes themselves are actually decent. You can can change all or some of the text to customize the card, and embed video cards on social networking sites, blogs, etc.
Hipster cards - another witty, well designed e-card site that you would actually want to use. Please note there are some off color options so we're going to note it as - NSFW.
Someecards - their tag line is "when you care enough to hit send." These cards are pen and ink and have funny one liners.
MushyGushy - card site where you can upload you head shot into different animated themes (think JibJab) customize, and send.
Smilebox - site where you choose from various multimedia designs and personalize with photos, video, music, words, and style and share via email, blog, or print. (my note.....requires download)
meish.org - for the anti-valentine crowd. If you hate satin bears and VD (my note....assume they mean Valentines Day!) makes you want to hurl, these non-sentimental e-cards will fit the bill for you. Oh and are they funny.

Play Jackson Pollock.....without all that nasty messy paint!

Here

Zefrank's cat Annie

Find out all you need to know about Zefrank's cat Annie
There's also loads of other amusing stuff to waste some time with at his website

Culture shock

Currently suffering a severe bout of the above following a return to work after a bout of Galloping Galactic Flu.....and I'm not sure which is worse! Plenty of links but not enough energy to post......more later!

You suck at Photoshop Episode 3

The Philosophies of Butter

Found on Neatorama.....they got it from Accordian Guy, who got it from Tweebiscuit......

If LOLCats took over the internet........

Now the LOLinator wasn't working when I tried it (and could be a wind-up I guess!), but here's a link to what it does to the sainted Microsoft

Advance warning

Sarah gave me a vintage book for Christmas....."Personality Unlimited...The Beauty Blue Book...Veronica Dengel"...published shortly post WW2. Here's the stirring UK foreword as a taster....

"To the Women of Great Britain and the Empire

I realize that my book may see publication before all the effects of the war have passed. It is quite possible that many of my suggestions concerning diet, cosmetics, and clothing, may temporarily prove impractical, and be subject to substitutions, because of post-war shortages.

But I have such confidence in the ingenuity and resourcefulness of English women, as well as the recuperative powers of the British Empire, that I believe you will soon be able to take advantage of every helpful detail.

I hope that before many months I shall be able to visit your country and talk with you personally."

......I wonder whether Veronica made it!

Watch out for instructions for a home enema coming soon to this page......with diagrams!

(in the meantime, remember.....and this is very VERY important ladies...."it is dangerous to rely on a red hat for a youthful, dashing look; it might result in emphasizing your age and adding an unwanted 'giddiness' to your appearance".....so, you've been warned!)

Only 15$

Because we all need a single tentacle arm for that problematical theme party don't we!

The sales pitch.......
"While we've been using our primitive, apelike arms like a bunch of jerks, the squids of the world have been clutching their prey with their superior tentacles and laughing at us. Until now! For the first time, you can have tentacles of your very own. Equipped with suction cups and plenty of creepy greenness."

I'll take 10!

Link

Childrens Books Online

Just a random image from "The Marquis of Carabos" at Childrens Books Online - The Rosetta Project. It's a positive treasure trove, so be prepared to leave plenty of 'quality time' free before you click on the link!

Coughs and Sneezes

Amusing health propaganda trailer on the dangers of sneezing. NHS from 1948
OK, I can see the funny side now!

Infomertial heaven

Keep an eye open for the incongruous fag-smoking Hazel......and always remember that "times quoted do not include preparation time"!

You can watch a REAL review of the Magic Bullet here, watch the man make snow!

The Grainger Market goes East....

Shanghai Shopfronts....a photographic gallery from Polar Inertia.
The archive page is worth checking out too

Rather beautiful (card) trout models

Found on this Japanese website

Barts chalkboard

Bart will chalk it up just for you here

Katnip Kollege

Spotted on BoingBoing and Ursi's Blog.....so it MUST be good!

Rolf lives!

I was going to post a link to a timewaster "desktop stylophone" yesterday when I found you can buy the damned things again and my (year-old) link had "died" But, not to be outdone, I've found another one! Family members can thank their lucky stars I didn't realise the real thing was again on offer....you could have waved bye-bye to those webcams!

A Geordie Recipe.....

"Water is composed of two gins, Oxygin and Hydrogin. Oxygin is pure gin. Hydrogin is gin and water."

Can't remember where I found that.......but that's probably no bad thing!

Scottish recipes

Unfortunately currently out of stock, but I've ordered it anyway! (at Amazon)
Expect Mince and Tatties and Clootie Dumplings next time you call!

Following on......Crystal Tips......and Alastair!

Vinegar tips

Nothing more, nothing less. 1001 uses. (found while pickling red cabbage!)

vinegartips.com

Tynemouth Fire Tower

A page about a local landmark, the Fire Control Tower for Spanish & Castle Batteries

But then, of course, this started me thinking.....coming as it did from Subterranea Britanica. So here's a couple of other local underground oddities.....

The Victoria Tunnel which runs directly under our labs at work
Kenton Bar - 13 Group Fighter Command Headquarters and Region 1 Regional War Room

More deserted places

If you're in the mood for more spooky dereliction you could try The Hospital.....tagline "Stay a while, stay forever" Oooer!

99rooms.....

.....is an interactive flash experience, it's not really a game as such, the only object being to get to the end......it's purely linear. On some screens you need to find something to move on. Atmospheric soundtrack and nice photography of a decaying industrial space for those with a passing interest in german grafitti.

99rooms

Burns Night is on the culinary horizon (25th January)

And alongside the "noble beastie" and spring cabbage I'll be doing Orkney Clapshot.....recipe follows

Clapshot

An Orkney recipe that's perfect with Haggis (or anything else for that matter!).
Enough for 3 or 4

Ingredients
1 pound boiled potatoes
1 pound boiled turnip or swede
2 tablespoons chopped chives or finely chopped spring onions
Salt and pepper
2 ounces butter

Method
Cook the potatoes and turnip separately.
Beat the two vegetables together while still hot.
Mix in the butter, chives and seasoning.
Stir over heat till it is piping hot before serving.

Information on Burns.......the man behind "the night", just in case you're completely confused by the reference!

Directory of documentaries

There's a comprehensive directory of (full-length) documentaries available at Bodocus, there's over 650 at the last count apparently.

Here's one picked at random....."The Lair of the Red Worm"

Tweet tweet

Listen to the result online or download it as an mp3 to use as a ringtone
Nightingale-song.com has other audio toys to play with too
"Cullercoats sandy beaches" can be heard in the box files, just click on the filename.

A couple of free graphics software download favourites

Petite PhotoFiltre download.....it's French! (1.6mb), relatively powerful (as in 'it'll do most things you want to do with a picture').....and it's even 'portable', just extract to your pen drive and you can use it anywhere (in French initially but the last time I tried you have the option to change the language after installation)
PhotoFiltre Download page
PhotoFiltre Tutorials page

If you want something a bit more 'industry standard' you could try Gimp (with it's slightly steeper learning curve) or it's photoshop lookalike version gimpshop.

Gimp online user manual

It would pass muster today....

....as a book jacket. But it hit the Finnish bookstands in 1959.
the nonist again

The Art of Bookbinding

I found this at the nonist (new find, will definitely be visiting again!)

"The British Library has a dynamite collection of fine and historical bookbindings numbering, evidently, in the thousands, and their online database will happily serve them up, in random groups of 25, for your ogling pleasure. On the whole they are ludicrously beautiful, making those spiffy, redesigned, Penguin Classic’s we’re all so fond of look about as precious as supermarket circulars. To see them for yourself go here and simply click “reselect” to see more."

Another failed dance craze

Found at PCL Linkdump

Every now and then you need some graph paper....

.....for an assignment, a craft project or a lesson plan. But do you have any? Of course you don't! Help is at hand at PrintFreeGraphPaper.....now all you need is an ink cartridge in your printer!