Author: Carrie

  • Wi-Fi again

    With Wi-Fi scares proliferating, Bad Science is still on the case. Two brilliant comments in particular: There’s just no point arguing with stupidity. If their arguments were not based on evidence and logic then you’re wasting your time. I can’t remember whose quote this is, but it has served me well.“Never try to teach a…

  • Biffovision: a review

    Jonathan Deamer’s reviewed the pilot of Biffovision, a warped parody of kids’ TV from the mind of Mr Biffo. I watched it in the wee small hours after one beer too many, which I suspect is the perfect viewing environment…

  • Games for grown-ups

    There’s an interesting contrast between the age of gamers and the mental age of games. The average gamer is 33 (the average buyer is 40, but that average includes parents buying games for their kids) but in many cases the mental age of games seems to be around 14. It’s an endless procession of pumped-up,…

  • I am going to shoot myself in the head

    …if I can’t find a way to turn off my internal jukebox. For no good reason it’s decided to fill my head with cheese at the slightest provocation, so for example I’d written the phrase “just say the word” in an email and boom! “Just say the word, woaaaah! Su-su-sudio!” kicks off in my head,…

  • If it weren’t for smokers, smokers wouldn’t be so unpopular

    As pubs go, my local is fairly smoker-friendly: there’s a nice outside area with an awning to keep off the rain (when they remember to put it up), halogen heaters to stop you freezing, and a bunch of benches and tables you can park your arse on while you puff. Plenty of ashtrays, too: a…

  • Mac Mini, anyone?

    My Mac Mini’s no longer needed so before I stick it on eBay, I thought I’d see if anyone here fancies buying it. It’s two years old, boxed with original system discs, PowerPC 1.42GHz with a half-gig of RAM, 80GB drive and a combo DVD player/CD burner. Yours for… I dunno actually. Suggest a figure…

  • Apple odds and sods

    Apple did what it always does and waited until I couldn’t return my MacBook Pro before updating the range. Faster processors and on the 15-inch model, the option of an LED backlight. If you fancy a Mac word processor but don’t need a full office suite, check out Bean.  It’s basically a text editor beefed…

  • Book joy

    Idly wandering around Amazon last night I discovered that not one, not two but three of my favourite authors have new books out or coming out in the next week. Yippee! They are: Hurricane Punch by Tim Dorsey. Serge Storms is back! The Watchman by Robert Crais. Elvis Cole is back! Well, Joe Pike is.…

  • The future of computer programming

    It’s obvious, really: the LOLcats meme has become a programming language, LOLcode. Here’s an example: HAI CAN HAS STDIO? PLZ OPEN FILE “LOLCATS.TXT”? AWSUM THX VISIBLE FILE O NOES INVISIBLE “ERROR!” KTHXBYE

  • The drugs do work

    My recurrent back problems have been making it difficult to work for a while now, so the doc’s given me some horse tranquilisers so I can get through the working day. Unfortunately they make me so drowsy I’ve spent half the day asleep. Oops.