Corporate Anti Hero

So, various milestones passed:

[X] Started checking Wave every day.
[X] Used Wave for a conversation that's not just about testing Wave.
[X] Seen real-time editing taking place (although zandev tells me it made his machine very sad).
[X] Managed to stop using the thing like forum software.

On the flipside, various problems still remain:

[ ] "Copy Wave" copies only a Blip, not the whole Wavelet. I want to copy Wavelets.
[ ] The system for showing unread content needs to integrate better with playback so you can watch changes to the Wave since you last visited it change by change.
[ ] More access control features are needed. Any participant being able to add anyone they like is not always appropriate.

I also haven't tried writing any gadgets or bots yet, but there are already some promising ones in development. For example: Fighty!

Previously I have been completely ignoring Bayonetta due to having somehow received the impression that the game was mostly about the heroine wearing too few clothes in HD resolution.

But this gameplay clip actually looks pretty fun. Somewhat God of War like^[1]. In a good way.

---

[1] Come to think of it, the heroine actually seems to be wearing more clothes than Kratos ever did!

This,



this,


and especially this


are right.


All via the captioned http://faildogs.com/

This is just so wrong

( for humanities' sake )

http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2009/091125.html
Carol singing, mince pies and Christmas shopping are just some of the ways you can get in the festive mood while exploring Oxford University’s cultural venues at this year’s Christmas Light Night.
OU offerings include:

• performances of Victorian and Edwardian parlour songs and a film screening at the Museum of the History of Science
• carol singing, late night shopping, mulled wine and mince pies at the Ashmolean Museum
• lantern procession and world music and festive tunes played by pipers at the Pitt Rivers Museum
• lantern procession and jazz and traditional music at the Museum of Natural History
• traditional music from the Oxford Waits, late building visits and late shopping at the the Divinity School and Bodleian Library.
• Nightfair before Christmas is an affordable art fair based in Ovada, Gloucester Green from the Ruskin in collaboration with Oxford Brookes art School. Sale of work by some of the top emerging students.
  The big screen in Gloucester Green will be showing a series of selected short film and video works from students.

The City of Oxford will have a parade of lights 6.15pm - 6.45pm and a German style Christmas market and Winter Wonderland themed display at Oxford Castle throughout the day, while Modern Art Oxford is hosting a 'Yard Party'.

( Memesheepquiz )

Seeing this one go round on wildrogue's LJ made me all nostalgic for the early days of LJ when people posted actual life updates on their LJs and answered quizzes like they mattered.

( It's 2002 again baby! )

I have run out of excuses to loiter around the film crew that's currently in the museum. Which means I haven't actually 'met' Tony Robinson, as the Oxford academic is currently talking him to death. But Tony Robinson! Cool!

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Somehow the approach and passing of the IGF deadline seems to have messed up my blogging routine. Not having time to write updates, I started blogging stuff immediately, meaning that there was never any point writing a longer update since I had very little left worth mentioning. So, in an effort to get back to my previous update format, here's a bizarre mix of stuff from the last month or so!

( Captain Successor )
( FaceBook Fake!Babes )
( Cyborg Beetles )
( Stealth Classics )
( Equality and Gaming )
( Light Emitting Jelly Baby )

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Very excited that I have 245 points in the "intro" category of this game:

http://www.boundvariable.org/task.shtml

Beats anyone on the scoreboard. Admittedly, I'm three years late to enter the contest, and haven't seriously started any of the other categories yet. And it was a 4 day contest, and it's now 4 days since I first looked at it, and my total score is 375, which is rubbish. But the game's fun.

Note to anyone playing this, because I found it annoying (although self-inflicted). When you get to the point where you're either pressing "p" or "x", DO NOT PRESS p while attached to a windows terminal. I assumed it would be a hex dump, and it isn't. I had to reboot.

[Edit: I'm guessing the extra 15 points weren't in the original contest - there's a note on the home page about an updated codex with "easter eggs".]

Me! The Emperor!

My rail line has been broken this week due to "a bridge". So I've been working from home where possible and going in via replacement buses, etc. when I need to be in. I've finally found a picture of the bridge.

( Big picture beneath )

Apparently they're working on the temporary solution of diverting the rail line elsewhere so they can run a limited service. I can't help thinking I'm in for a long winter of trouble based on this picture.

After over three years (not to mention previous tenants' efforts) of trying to get the downstairs shower at Templars fixed properly (and one and a half months of it being entirely unusable with a hole in the kitchen wall to allow the rotten woodwork to start drying), the plumber arrived to start preliminary work today. The plumber and central heating engineer engaged is the highest quality of the workers our agency does business with because they're fed up of the constant small jobs they have to sort out due to the previous botching.

We hadn't known what work was planned at this stage, so hadn't cleared the kitchen. It turned out that the preliminary tasks would include removing more of the adjoining and damaged kitchen wall. I delayed my departure for work to clear the surfaces, so the effusion of mildew from the work wouldn't cover all our food equipment and I'd be able to bleach everything once the dustsheets were down.

Just as I was finishing the task and checking things with the plumber, he declares he doesn't want to do the job, has a bad feeling, the job is going to prove to be a hassle, he isn't going to do the job, and walks out (though I pleaded with him not to).

At this point, words fail me.

( Spoilers, for this and previous episodes )

When someone I know adds a new friend on FarceBook, it now appears on my newsfeed and I have the option to "Like" it.

What's the etiquette here? If I don't click "Like" does that imply I'm a little grumpy about my friends having other friends and am sulking in the corner of the playground pretending I didn't want to play with them anyway?