Anything about this website, the internet or technology as a whole
Not only was our recent trip to Spain my first trip abroad for nearly two years, it was my first major trip with the iPhone. And far from being a distraction, something that detracts your attention from the places, sights, sounds and smells you’re meant to be immsersed in, it was a real help. For…
Justin was in town the other day, briefly, and I used a quick catch-up as a chance to play around with his new iPad. The iPad was released to much gusto a wee while back, and – like many – I was not convinced. The idea struck me as simply a large iPhone but without…
For those who might have doubted my lofty claim of a mention in the haloed “what we’ve been surfing” column of the ICA, evidence of my ascent to the pinnacle of renown has arrived. Mono-recommender-in-chief Donald has just emailed me with a photo of his copy he just dug up – see below. Also among…
I paid a visit the other day to the website of the Inverness City Advertiser – a free listings and features magazine that comes through letterboxes in the Inverness area each month – and was surprised to discover one of my photos on there, without permission. It’s a photo of Billy Morrison, a legend of…
As you’ve probably noticed, my website has now finished its major overhaul, and it’s great to finally have it up and running. Although the content is much the same as my old-look website, and the old blog has been imported over to here, there are a number of benefits to this new design which I…
You may recall from some previous posts that I’ve been having some awful trouble closing my old mobile account with Three. For those new to the saga, here’s a run-down of what’s happened, with some more recent developments: June 2009 – I get an iPhone with 02. I close down my account with Three. June…
xkcd has exceeeded its usual high standards – this is total genius, not to mention a work of art. Click the image to view it large. Oh, and I included the Americanism “movie” in the title of this blog with gritted teeth, only because it is the xkcd title.
Up until now, I’ve been suffering from “two diary syndrome”. It’s frustrating – if I need to be somewhere, I need to check both my personal diary and my work diary to be sure that I’m free. With my work diary being online, that’s something of a hassle. When I got my iPhone, however, I…
I really do love Futility Closet – it’s full of the most astonishing stories. The other day, it drew my attention to British soldier Mad Jack Churchill. Either totally insane or hugely brave, and most probably both, he was quite a character – fighting in WW2 with a bow, arrow and claymore. And bagpipes. Quite…
One cartoon blog I follow is xkcd. It’s a wonderfully geeky series of cartoons about (in its own words) “romance, math, sarcasm and language”. Not being the world’s biggest geek (no really – I hated maths at school), I often struggle with some of the jokes that only people into science or technology might get,…
More evidence that I’ve been doing absolutely bugger all this week: I’ve discovered the magnificent Lark News. It’s an American satirical Christian news site – basically, a heretical Onion, and it’s very, very funny. With headlines like “Small group members decide to stop feigning interest in each other” and “Obama heals hundreds“, how can you…
The TVNZ piece from Farewell Spit was broadcast on Wednesday night’s Close Up show, and you can also watch it on the web. It’s quite surreal to see myself on telly, but it’s a really good piece and a nice memento of a fun day’s mullet-hunting. And while we’re at it, I’ve also tracked down…
I am spending this evening catching up on some of the emails I received while I was away down under but have not had a chance to read or reply to. One is from Pandora. Pandora is basically a free internet-based music website, that creates custom-built “radio stations”, based around the music you tell it…
I’ve decided, in a fit of pretentiousness, to give my blog a name: “Lost Horizons”. For some time, I’ve been wondering about what neat phrase, quote or concept could sum up my blog. Perhaps something that is a little more creative and thoughtful than simply “Simon Varwell’s blog”, which is admittedly very Ronseal but ultimately…
This is a very cool, and strangely compulsive, website. A must for all fans of Stone Roses album covers… Thanks to JJ.
So, I’ve been on Facebook for a couple of weeks and thought it would be worth summing up my thoughts about the social networking site I was initially very resistant to. And I have to say my first impressions have been good. Facebook has been fun and interesting, although by no means instantly essential to…
Well, after barely twenty-four hours on Facebook, I have acquired over 75 friends, and discovered the existence of a “Where is Simon?” group. Somewhat creepily, it has thirty-seven members. Well, thirty-eight now I’ve joined.
Thanks to everyone who commented about Facebook on my recent post. I’ve been thinking about it all quite a bit, having more conversations with Facebook users (Faceheads?), and even getting a few “guided tours” of peoples’ Facebook pages to see how it all works. And the more I hear about it, the more I am…
Rich emailed me today to say that my blog was “all over the shop”, asking if I had changed anything about it. Well, no. But a few days ago I did have to reinstall the photo on my banner (above) so maybe there’s gremlins in the WordPress system. If anyone else has noticed funny goings-on…
Donald has just told me a nice witticism via MSN Messenger – “Computers are like Air Conditioners. They stop working when you open Windows…” That brings to mind this blog entry from Graham (plus the two before it) about the PC v Mac debate, which I found very interesting. I am increasingly certain that when…