The Skyline Was Beautiful On Fire

Perish, emo!

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 22:14:13 GMT

A Ruby script is currently making all of my posts from 2006 and earlier friends-only. Enough with my emo rants from the past!

Gig! Gig! Gig!

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 09:24:58 GMT

Incidentally my band (mentioned just one post before this one) are playing at Studio 24 tonight, with Panic Cell, Man of the Hour, and Dog Tired. Come along if you're one of the three people in the world not going to the Amplifico thing :D

RUNEMASTER SONGS ONLINE

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 09:46:09 GMT

We (hastily) recorded some songs and they are online right now on our colour-clash-tastic MySpace. Metal ahoy!

PS: Don't turn off Monstrum because of its yellin' lyrics. Just wind to about 2:45 if you hate that sorta stuff. :)

Let's steal more stuff from glinda_penguin!

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 22:01:57 GMT

Stealing is fun! These are all from my MP3 player.

Step 1: Put your MP3 player or whatever on random.
Step 2: Post the first line(s) from the first 10 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song. (Skip the instrumentals, the remixes and the mashups)
Step 3: Let everyone you know guess what song and artist the lines come from.
Step 4: Strike out the songs when someone guesses correctly.

Estaba pensando sobreviviendo con mi sister en New Jersey, Ella me dijo que es una vida buena alla, Bien rica bien chevere, Y voy! Puneta!
Why do we do this C. G. and I? Every night vegetables, minds numbed by THC.
It appears to me, quoting alarms, the guillotine smirks, in your house I smothered.
~~Yeah ma, your dude is back, maybach roof is back, tell the whole world the truth is back.~~ Jay-Z - Change Clothes (baz1860)
~~Yo, yo, that was our album. We hope you liked our album. We think it was a pretty good album.~~ Futuristic Sex Robotz - Checking Out (tehangelphish)
Do you know where your teenager is at 5 o'clock in the morning? The after hours club. The clubs attract thousands of Chicago young people. Some say they come looking for drugs, dirty dancing, and pounding pounding techno music.* 2manydj's - Hand to Phone (figg)
Along to the station 'bout quarter to three, I ain't misbehavin' but what do I see? Some little schoolgirls a'lookin' at me.**
~~When I done quit hollerin' baby, I believe I'll shake 'em on down.~~ Led Zeppelin - Hats Off To (Roy) Harper (baz1860)
~~I'm the next act, waiting in the wings. I'm an animal, trapped in your hot car.~~ Radiohead - All I Need (brokenhut)
There's a darkening sky before me. There's no time to prepare.

* Technically this is a remix but I was never much for stupid rules.

** ULTRA BONUS POINTS available for this one.

This also heralds the end of the last quiz, well done to everyone who got stuff in that (mostly hoopiestfrood but who's counting?). The answers that nobody got were The Lives of Others and The Consequences of Love, which are German and Italian respectively so it's unsurprising that the lines were hard to get.

Stupid film meme thing

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 22:48:00 GMT

I don't post nearly enough, so here's something pretending to be content (thieved mercilessly from glinda_penguin).

1. Pick your 15 favourite films from IMDB and select a quote from each.
2. Post the quotes here.
3. Make your friends list guess which films the quotes are from.
4. Don't cheat!
5. Post this in your journal.

This isn't going to be my "top 15" since I'm terrible at picking such things. Just 15 I like. Avoiding ones I recognised from before. Quotes verbatim from IMDb so blame them for spelling and whatnot if necessary.

Bad luck doesn't exist. It is just an invention of losers and poors. The Consequences of Love Never guessed!
~~Y'know that ringing in your ears? That 'eeeeeeeeee'? That's the sound of the ear cells dying, like their swan song. Once it's gone you'll never hear that frequency again. Enjoy it while it lasts.~~ Children of Men (hoopiestfrood)
An innocent prisoner will become more angry by the hour due to the injustice suffered. He will shout and rage. A guilty prisoner becomes more calm and quiet. Or he cries. He knows he's there for a reason. The best way to establish guilt or innocence is non-stop interrogation.* The Lives of Others Never guessed!
~~I just want to tell you both good luck. We're all counting on you.~~ Airplane! (hoopiestfrood)
~~What makes you think it was murrderr?~~ Hot Fuzz (hoopiestfrood)
~~Mother always taught me: "Never eat singing food."~~ The Muppet Christmas Carol (windzswept)
~~Jimmy was the kind of guy that rooted for bad guys in the movies.~~ Goodfellas (windzswept)
~~Throw one at me if you want, hash head. I've got all five senses and I slept last night, that puts me six up on the lot of you.~~ Brick (hoopiestfrood)
~~It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.~~ The Blues Brothers (hoopiestfrood)
~~It would not be difficult, Mein Fuhrer. Nuclear reactors could... I'm sorry, Mr. President... nuclear reactors could provide power almost indefinitely.~~ Dr. Strangelove (etc...) (hoopiestfrood)
~~I just want to tell you both good luck. We're all counting on you.~~ Airplane! (hoopiestfrood)
My warrior woman. My Valkyrie. You'll always be mine, always and never. Never. The Fire, baby. It'll burn us both. It'll kill us both. There's no place in this world for our kind of fire. Always and never. If I have to die for you tonight, I will. Sin City (hoopiestfrood)
~~And you should see my Harry on Television. We're giving the prizes away. I JUST WANTED TO BE ON THE SHOW.~~ Requiem for a Dream (hoopiestfrood)
~~Life's funny. To a kid, time always drags. Suddenly you're fifty. All that's left of your childhood... fits in a rusty little box.~~ Amelie (hoopiestfrood)
"My job consists of basically masking my contempt for the assholes in charge, and, at least once a day, retiring to the men's room so I can jerk off while I fantasize about a life that doesn't so closely resemble Hell." American Beauty (brokenhut)

* I really want to pick a different quote for this one but the line I want is the last in the film, and I can't spoil it for people still to see it.

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 01:40:25 GMT

Oh, good lord, I am in all ways the third person in this set.

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 01:32:17 GMT

Move mouse over the blue cup.

Sat, 06 Oct 2007 18:21:48 GMT

This could be the most gutting advert of all time.

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 12:34:37 GMT

REDUNDANCY MAN

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 16:12:54 GMT

An investor pulled out of my company (unrelated to the company, they were cutting losses from other investments going sour) so I am once more in search of work. Ah well. I am beginning to feel like the Kiss Of Death for companies, but as yet I have done nothing wrong so it's not something I'm going to let annoy me.

In other news, Tom has pointed out that the "Accessibility" link on confused.com is an inline Javascript link. Way to go!

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 19:17:33 GMT

After my post a bit earlier in Windows Safari, kurisu posted this fascinating article on the differences between Windows and OS X (and now Safari for Windows) font rendering, which has puzzled me for ages.

A quick summary is that Apple want the fonts to look nice, whereas Microsoft want the text to be more readable. I think it's fair to say that neither is "better", but it's interesting to see the way the different approaches go.

Wait, what?

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 09:20:40 GMT

Ok, this Kerrang! CD has got me conflicted. I mean, I can't seek out and get a CD which has Fightstar doing a cover of Deftones (or has any Fightstar track on it at all), but on the other hand, I can't not seek out and get a CD which has Dillinger Escape Plan covering Soundgarden's Jesus Christ Pose. That threatens to be the coolest thing ever. Maybe I can just take a nail to the Fightstar sections.

Safari on Windows

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 09:10:24 GMT

My notes (so far!):

Anyone using this for normal browsing should probably stop now, they've apparently (and most of them haven't been properly confirmed, but better safe than sorry and all that) found six or seven serious security flaws in it so far, so I'd wait until they've done a proper security audit.
Other than the fact that Apple stubbornly refuse to follow the Windows HIGs (that is, it doesn't look or work like a Windows app, meaning it's a bit of a confusing/inconsistent affair) Safari is still a great browser, and KHTML/WebKit is a great HTML renderer. I've wanted there to be a version of KHTML for Windows or a KHTML browser for GNOME for some time (the open sourceWindows effort, Swift, is still extremely shaky, although it seems like the "proper" solution for a Windows KHTML/WebKit browser). It's good to see this around.
Being able to see our Safari rendering bugs in Windows is excellent at work. As well as making it easier for some people to move to OS X,
The Apple greyscale font rendering looks really weird next to Windows Cleartype (subpixel) font rendering. I wonder if Apple are planning to put a proper subpixel renderer (or, you know, use the Windows font rendering) in the Windows Safari at some point?
Stop bundling Quicktime with everything, Jobs! *shakes fist*

Dear me.

Wed, 30 May 2007 14:53:26 GMT

I haven't gone for it in previous incarnations, but I'm using version 11 of Windows Media Player at work and it's totally awesome. I often feel horrid going home to Banshee, and if I was using Windows at home, it'd be a serious competitor to foobar2000, which was my previous player of choice.

iTunes is pretty neat these days as well, but it's never gelled well with me on Windows.

Edit:
Things that are awesome include a very nice layout, very simple seamless ripping support (to MP3, rather than WMA, o'course), and (and this is my favourite thing, which is the main reason I dislike Banshee et al compared to Foobar/iTunes), correct handling of the distinction between "album artist" and "artist", and other tags. Compilation albums are a complete pain on most Linux music players.

Also I clicked the "Advanced Tag Editor" and it has built-in support for syncing lyrics to the music in the tags of the file. Not something I'd ever use, but really quite neat.

TrustFlow results for zootm

Thu, 10 May 2007 22:54:18 GMT

Stupid TrustFlow II for LiveJournal thing. Woo.

dirtylaundry (100 - 150)
duallist, gurny_girl, stolen_names (200 - 250)
katoria, pforpenguin, winglesstalon, jobbymoo (250 - 300)

white_raven_, firenewt, dragonxvi, sneaks, sickly___sweet (300 - 350)
conifer, lpteenz, tomma_h, shesbrokenapart, drea68, baafie, luciferthedoll, thomasskelton, xquiq, pookie1902, superstar291, yaarg, wizadora, anoifsnilloc, nobbert (350 - 400)
spiderlynz, azraelwings, new_republican, agabua, hellspawn_uk, rossclark, hmann, snowberries, sarah_dickson, destiny_n, srunken_rose, the_a_man (400 - 450)
simon57, stewit, arricc, anfalca, gareth_expoodle (450 - 500)
fastrez, kit_meh, stars_r_friends, beckism, donaldtheleach, thewaternixie, shamenaught, blane_firewing, kawaiicat, tehparksie (500 - 550)
gusstav, keithfaeriewood, angel_sinner, leighannabone, thingamjiggy, kitcat007, harsayis, spriter, alwish, randomchris, spikey_faerie, sweetcaffeine (550 - 600)
munch_my_flump, moosedevil, alexio101, sazzyd, kevon, crush_my_bones, candyfox, campbeltonian, dee_, loucarpenter, kireot, _prettyinpunk_x, denimtl, lur, kynon, squeeky_jane, steel_spine, zen_child (600 - 650)
possessed_pixie, zyhero_skater2, do_a_happydance, _wires, lordrahl54, ms_cc, especial, n3m3sis42, organfailure, turquoiseblue, rikitikitembo, elysian_field, littlemissbee, yodd, nikle (650 - 700)

Created by ciphergoth; hosted by LShift.

TrustFlow II: Who is closest to your friends list?

Gig on Friday

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 10:34:01 GMT

Hey peoples, I often forget that I don't see some people very often outside of online, so I've been a little late in posting this. Basically there's a gig with my band, and Lazy Hand (funny!) and Kieron's band (probably metal, but I can't remember their names!) and a Judas Priest tribute band (Judas Priest-y) on Friday the thirteenth (this Friday) for my birthday and Kieron's (Friday and Sunday respectively) and also just because it'd be good craic.

You are all, of course, invited if you want to come. :)

It's on from 6-11 in the Canon's Gait on the Royal Mile. Should be good fun, especially since the place will probably be pretty stowed with just the bands and equipment :)

I posted the details over at Neil's forum, and I'll reproduce that here now:

6 to 11 in Canon's Gait on Friday, my band and 3 others are playing (including a Judas Priest tribute band, and Lazy Hand and the Farce Bandits, who a few people should remember from the Open Mics in the Tron).

Come along.

It is free.

It is also my birthday thing since I'm lazy and can't decide on anything else.

Also I think we could go out after 11 if people wanted too since bands need to finish up then anyway.

As I say, it's an open invite, even if you don't know me and just want to go see a good-fun free gig, it's all good with me. :)

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 21:32:17 GMT

I love A Softer World.

"Fighting fire with fire"

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 23:05:42 GMT

Went to see Ghost Rider.

It's kinda like watching an Iron Maiden album cover for an hour and a half.

DISAGREEMENT BOX

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 15:43:44 GMT

I think I should start using this to guide my life.

Wahey!

Mon, 26 Feb 2007 20:27:28 GMT

My cousin, who I've met something like 3 times in my life, managed to track me down on MySpace! Excellent!

Sat, 24 Feb 2007 10:36:35 GMT

Oh man, I need to get me a copy of this book.

ACK, THE PINK, IT BURNS

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 13:22:03 GMT

Oh, this page cannot be the only reasonable reference to the DataGrid control...

I can right more good then you

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 13:15:09 GMT

Your Language Arts Grade: 100%

Way to go! You know not to trust the MS Grammar Check and you know "no" from "know." Now, go forth and spread the good word (or at least, the proper use of apostrophes).

Are You Gooder at Grammar?
Make a Quiz

In seriousness, it's pretty easy.

Awesome music video

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 11:55:01 GMT

Nerds will like, other people may:

Wahey

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 13:29:56 GMT

I like this:

Look closely. Considerable nerdiness required to figure out what's gone wrong (and why it's funny).