LordElph's Ramblings » Fun http://blog.dixo.net Stuff and nonsense about software development and whatever else I find fun... Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:04:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Chicken Phal, anyone? http://blog.dixo.net/2009/02/11/chicken-phal-anyone/ http://blog.dixo.net/2009/02/11/chicken-phal-anyone/#comments Wed, 11 Feb 2009 22:34:39 +0000 lordelph http://blog.dixo.net/?p=266 Many years ago, a friend and I attempted to eat a Chicken Phal. Ordered from an excellent establishment in Newcastle upon Tyne, the proprietor urged us not to eat it.

But eat it we did.

The following day I vowed never to attempt anything quite so daft.

Time heals all wounds though, and some 17 years later I’ve been talked into repeating the episode for Comic Relief. It’ll be a lot of fun to watch the pain, so please sponsor me if you can.

http://www.myrednoseday.com/pauldixon

Click the link, you can sponsor me online and it only takes a minute or two.

Edit: we had to abort doing this on comic relief night due to my co-conspirator attending a funeral. The mayhem will take place in late April now…

]]> http://blog.dixo.net/2009/02/11/chicken-phal-anyone/feed/ 1 Custom Mosaic Posters for Charity http://blog.dixo.net/2008/03/11/custom-mosaic-posters-for-charity/ http://blog.dixo.net/2008/03/11/custom-mosaic-posters-for-charity/#comments Tue, 11 Mar 2008 22:48:39 +0000 lordelph http://blog.dixo.net/2008/03/11/custom-mosaic-posters-for-charity/ Many people enjoyed the 3rd birthday mosaic image I made for Geograph, so I’m now offering to make custom mosaics for anyone who wants one. All I ask in return is that you make a donation of whatever you can afford to Oxfam – see my fundraising page for details.

Here’s my first effort, an A2 sized poster based on this Geograph image by Michael Ely. Click for zoomable fun!

Mosaic

Thankyou so much to Michael for helping me towards my fundraising target of £1500.

The images are made from tiles drawn from Geograph images – thanks to the thousands of photographers who made that possible.

Get in touch if you’d like one too!

]]> http://blog.dixo.net/2008/03/11/custom-mosaic-posters-for-charity/feed/ 1 I’m walking 62 miles in less than 30 hours! http://blog.dixo.net/2008/02/09/im-walking-62-miles-in-less-than-30-hours/ http://blog.dixo.net/2008/02/09/im-walking-62-miles-in-less-than-30-hours/#comments Sat, 09 Feb 2008 12:48:46 +0000 lordelph http://blog.dixo.net/2008/02/09/im-walking-62-miles-in-less-than-30-hours/ I’ve formed a team to take on the Oxfam Trailwalker Challenge – a 62 mile walk on the South Downs that must be undertaken in less than 30 hours! Our training is well underway, and it looks like we’ll be shooting for around 25 hours.

On the big day I’ll be sending pics and reports to the team blog, and you’ll also be able to send us messages of support via SMS too.

We’re hoping to raise £1500 for Oxfam, so if you can possibly afford it, please consider sponsoring me.

You can keep track of our training and out how to sponsor us on our team blog at http://trailwalker.dixo.net

]]> http://blog.dixo.net/2008/02/09/im-walking-62-miles-in-less-than-30-hours/feed/ 0 Feyntube transforms YouTube comments into reasonable and smart ones http://blog.dixo.net/2008/01/22/feyntube-transforms-youtube-comments-into-reasonable-and-smart-ones/ http://blog.dixo.net/2008/01/22/feyntube-transforms-youtube-comments-into-reasonable-and-smart-ones/#comments Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:07:06 +0000 lordelph http://blog.dixo.net/2008/01/22/feyntube-transforms-youtube-comments-into-reasonable-and-smart-ones/ Tired of banal comments on YouTube videos? Now every comment can be intellectually stimulating by installing a GreaseMonkey script called Feyntube – turns every comment into a Richard Feynmann quote.

(Blimey, my first post in months. Must try harder).

]]> http://blog.dixo.net/2008/01/22/feyntube-transforms-youtube-comments-into-reasonable-and-smart-ones/feed/ 0 Tesco Value Halloween Costume http://blog.dixo.net/2007/11/01/tesco-value-halloween-costume/ http://blog.dixo.net/2007/11/01/tesco-value-halloween-costume/#comments Thu, 01 Nov 2007 17:53:15 +0000 lordelph http://blog.dixo.net/2007/11/01/tesco-value-halloween-costume/
Needed a costume with just a few hours to spare, so knocked this up, printed on transfer paper, and hey presto, one fabulously scary halloween costume.

The whole Tesco Value thing is a running joke on b3ta.com, I think the original inspiration came from the greetings cards over at http://boakes.org/tescovaluecard/

]]> http://blog.dixo.net/2007/11/01/tesco-value-halloween-costume/feed/ 6 Fon boosted by BT tie-in http://blog.dixo.net/2007/10/04/fon-boosted-by-bt-tie-in/ http://blog.dixo.net/2007/10/04/fon-boosted-by-bt-tie-in/#comments Thu, 04 Oct 2007 11:07:46 +0000 lordelph http://blog.dixo.net/2007/10/04/fon-boosted-by-bt-tie-in/ Fon today announced they’ve done a deal with BT to encourage their 3 million+ users to share their wifi with others. Could lead to a large increase in the number of hotspots, but when I tried the accompanying BT website, I was unable to find my own or any nearby Fon hotspots. Hopefully just a launch-day glitch.

I’ve had one of the free fon routers since February and it’s worked flawlessly. If haven’t got one, go get one!

]]> http://blog.dixo.net/2007/10/04/fon-boosted-by-bt-tie-in/feed/ 0 New look, new features! http://blog.dixo.net/2007/07/06/new-look-new-features/ http://blog.dixo.net/2007/07/06/new-look-new-features/#comments Fri, 06 Jul 2007 08:14:13 +0000 lordelph http://blog.dixo.net/2007/07/06/new-look-new-features/ Revamped the blog with a nice new look, and I reworked the “Geograph of the Day” as a Wordpress widget (contact me if you want a copy). I’ve also written a widget which copes nicely with Google Reader’s RSS feed to provide a list of posts which have piqued my interest – you’ll see that in the sidebar too.

]]> http://blog.dixo.net/2007/07/06/new-look-new-features/feed/ 2 Bad programmer! Bad! http://blog.dixo.net/2007/06/26/bad-programmer-bad/ http://blog.dixo.net/2007/06/26/bad-programmer-bad/#comments Tue, 26 Jun 2007 22:27:52 +0000 lordelph http://blog.dixo.net/2007/06/26/bad-programmer-bad/ I’ve really messed up on Geograph by ensuring forum nicknames are unique. Thank god clearer heads than mine are around to enlighten me! The names have been changed since I wish this chap no ill will…

Millions of people have the same nickname, so why does your site insist that a nickname has to be unique? It certainly refused mine “because this nickname is already in use”.

I can’t manufacture a nickname! I suppose I could call myself GNDSTYVSDT but it wouldn’t help much would it because I couldn’t remember it anyway? I would have thought that my nickname “Terry” along with my login email address, should be enough.

Is there now only one person in the entire world who is allowed to be called “Terry?” I think not! But apparently this is the situation on your site.

Could I venture to suggest that in this respect you are not actually in contact with the real world? If I’m invited to submit a nickname I do NOT expect it to be refused for some shortcoming in your programming. If this is really a problem for you then I suggest that you just remove the option.

This option on your otherwise wonderful site promises something and then does not deliver the goods, which is an absolute no-no in programming!

Tut tut – shame on you – I wag my finger sharply sharply at you and I bet the programming instructor wouldn’t have sanctioned this.

Thanks to “Terry” for raising a smile!

]]> http://blog.dixo.net/2007/06/26/bad-programmer-bad/feed/ 3 Microsoft Surface http://blog.dixo.net/2007/05/30/microsoft-surface/ http://blog.dixo.net/2007/05/30/microsoft-surface/#comments Wed, 30 May 2007 12:18:26 +0000 lordelph http://blog.dixo.net/2007/05/30/microsoft-surface/ Who’da thunk it – something cool out of Redmond – Microsoft Surface. I’d like one of these please!

]]> http://blog.dixo.net/2007/05/30/microsoft-surface/feed/ 0 GPS Spray http://blog.dixo.net/2007/04/01/gps-spray/ http://blog.dixo.net/2007/04/01/gps-spray/#comments Sun, 01 Apr 2007 09:50:59 +0000 lordelph http://blog.dixo.net/2007/04/01/gps-spray/ My new business. One day only.

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