I have finally gotten around to registering plasticbag.org on Yahoo! I’ve always felt a bit strange about putting my weblog on a directory – but I suppose after over a year of writing it, I should probably accept that it’s going to stay around a while. Moreover, for some unknown reason, it’s the most popular site I’ve ever done. I must be doing something right. Next stop (I suppose) is to get some meta tags sorted out.
An interesting place to get the inside information on what is going on with Macs is at Apple’s own PR section. Unsurprisingly, this little section isn’t particularly well flagged on their site’s main navigation.
Everyone in my office has a mobile phone. In the UK at the moment, it’s not really particularly surprising – almost everyone I know in London has one – from librarians to film execs, from journalists to lawyers. But is this ubiquity about to have a cost? In a feature called Deadly Decoys, it appears that some phones are not just cooking our brains with stray radiation. Some phones are instead actually guns. Could this be the first time in which professional criminals can blend in most effectively in the media industry? [via metafilter]
Today at work, my esteemed boss revealed the awesome wonder of a “holiday chart” complete with little stickers, each of which designates a separate worker. My sticker is a pink triangle. Without wishing to sound too sick, the irony of this has not escaped me.
We all know about Disturbing Search Requests – the weblog that allows you to post some of the bizarre ways that people have accessed your site. But I was surprised how disturbed I was by Lycos’ list of the Top 50 Search Terms. Assuming (for a moment) that sex related words have been removed that still leaves us with: Rush Lumbaugh at #12, Tattoos at #17 and Marijuana at #19 – the latter of which might explain the presence of Pecan Pie at #36. These are the obsessions of the web generation…
Question: How should I react to this? plasticfag.org [via hoblog] At the moment I’m torn between wry flattery and absolute blind fury. Part of me is getting mighty bored of being gay.
I don’t want to go on too much about the Age of Consent issue on this site, because I think everyone knows my opinion on the matter. So instead I will talk about a site which alleges that it wishes to get other people’s opinions on the matter: AgeOfConsent.org.uk. Sponsored by the people who want to keep an unequal age of consent, it includes this page where you can vote: Vote on the age of consent debate.
Quite apart from the fact that the question is heavily loaded to completely miss the point of the whole exercise, the questionaire requires you to fill in your name, postcode and sexual orientation. One wonders why they want this information, and what it is used for once they have it. Certainly I’m not comfortable giving my name and address to homophobic right-wing bigots. Still, thankfully it doesn’t seem to have had the slightest impact on the voting, which is sizeably (59/49) in favour of equalisation. Suck on that, Baroness Young.
9am: There are stirrings in the flat. Kate has decided to get up early and is in the sitting-room talking to her mother on the phone. The acoustics of the flat mean that, despite the fact that the sitting room is at the other end of the building, almost all of her words are completely clear. I wake up, feel like I’m intruding and immediately turn on some John Lennon so that I can’t hear what she is saying. I have to be careful though, because I don’t want to wake up my other flatmate in the next room.
10am: It’s no good. I’m awake, and I might as well just admit it. Kate’s still on the phone, but I can’t hear more than a mumble, so I decide to read the book I bought yesterday. It’s really enjoyable, but I’m a bit groggy and disorientated so it’s not really sinking in. I feel kind of grumpy – like I’ve woken up in an environment that is rife with tension. There’s no reason to feel that way. But all these feelings fade in a moment when Kate knocks on the door and hands me a package from Amazon. Opening it, I am amazed to discover that it is a Random Act of Kindness from Lance Arthur – a copy of The Iron Giant on DVD along with a slightly cryptic, but very sweet message.
11am: My whole mood has changed now – I feel really cheerful and relaxed. It’s just such a nice thing to do out of the blue. I am going to e-mail him immediately and tell him what a difference it has made to my day. All gifts should be given like this – there shouldn’t be the pressures of Christmas to make giving something worthwhile – you shouldn’t feel obliged. So I’m going to carry on this sentiment and go and find someone elses Amazon wishlist and give them a gift out of the blue – maybe we can keep this going all around the net…
Possibly the most depressing picture ever presented of the inhabitants of our fair isle is that, at heart, we are best represented by Swindon. I’m off now, to coiffure my six feet of nasal hair.
Finally it’s happened. Britain has finally brought the gay age of consent in line with the straight one. Now, people of either persuasion can sleep with people from the age of 16 without fear of prosecution. In the end the government had to use the Parliament Act (which says that if the House of Commons passes a bill twice but the House of Lords blocks it both times, then the government can force it through [elected representatives having to have the final say]). PlanetOut, The Independent (comment), Guardian Unlimited, The Independent (article), ITN.