Minimal

England’s, England’s #1, England’s #1

Where is Alan Shearer? Creosoting his fence again? Seeing him on TV last night in Ron Manager’s highlights of the ‘98 World Cup was like stumbling across photos of an old flame. A World Cup without Big Al just doesn’t feel right any more. :(

GP4

My past is coming back to haunt me. It appears that Grand Prix 4, the latest installment from Geoff Crammond, is due to hit the shelves in a few months’ time. I’ve just been invited to rejoin an open source project that consumed me for the first half of 1998. I declined the offer. Am I older and wiser... or just older? Whatever it is, good luck to you, James. :)

Let down

Ever since I saw his interview with Eamonn Holmes, I’ve been hoping that David Blaine would win a Darwin Award at some point. Not this time, it seems. :(

Resistance is futile

At the risk of being accused of soap-dodging and general negativity (moi?), I'm not so sure the development of super-soap is such a great thing. Aren't we always hearing about how many of our modern health problems are caused by living in overly-sterile environments? Isn't this soap just going to exacerbate the problem? God knows, some people are paranoid enough as it is... ;)

Going

China aims for the moon—or rather its resources—by 2010. Hurrah! I might get to see a live moon landing yet.

Go on!

Tony Blair backs science and genetically modified crops in particular. Get in there, Tone, son. :)

Gone

Sylvain Distin signs for Man City. Bugger. He was our best defender last year and we've let him slip through our fingers. :(

Attack of the Groans

Went to see Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones last night. Somewhat underwhelmed, I was. A film of great contrasts, it is. (Ok, enough of the Yoda talk.) Some of the acting and dialogue was comically poor while most of the special effects were excellent. I’ll spare you the details of the badness for fear of spoiling it for you, but here are some of the film’s strong points:

1. The battles. These were awesome. I was totally immersed in the action and utterly believing of it.
2. Yoda. This dude truly rocks and moreso than ever. His CGI is some of the best in the film.
3. Jar Jar Binks. No, really! Improved animation, fewer scenes, and significantly less annoying than in Episode I.
4. Anakin. Or more specifically, the fact that the plot unveils his path to the Dark Side. Probably the best bit of the whole film.
5. Bladerunner. I thought I'd walked into the wrong screening at the start of the film. :)

It’s just a shame that these plus points had to be in stark contrast to some of the acting and, at times, the soap-like plot. Overall, 3 out of 5.

Can you read this?

For quite a while now, I’ve been wondering why a colleague’s browser shows XHTML pages in a smaller font than normal HTML when mine doesn’t. We’re using exactly the same browser (IE6), right down to the service pack. It appears I’ve been unwittingly forcing my browser into quirks mode. I use Naviscope to speed up web browsing, but it sticks non-XHTML-compliant tags around the pages I view. Therefore, if this site has been a bit difficult to read, my apologies. I’ll sort it out soon.

As for why IE6 displays XHTML smaller than HTML, that’s anyone’s guess. :(

Ooh, you lucky bastard

On the way home tonight, I saw a Puma with an L plate (learner driver) on it. I doubt the learner in question realises just how lucky s/he is. What a way to start! :)

$51.20 up for grabs

Woohoo! The 5k contest is back for another year. You would’ve thought this would be the ideal thing for me to have a shot at (what with this site being called minimal and all), but I can’t be bothered. Minimal design, minimal effort expended. ;)

Hit F1 for help

The end of today’s Austrian GP was a joke. Rubens, you have my utmost respect. Michael, the only respect I have for you is that I reserve for single-minded sportsmen who must win at all costs. You’re certainly no gentleman racer. Today’s contrived result was a disgrace.

Or was it?

I’ve read a fair few opinions that have said that F1 is no longer a sport, only a business. I’m not so sure that accusation can be thrown with much justification. Sure, the nature of the sport may have become a little more apparent today, but it’s still a sport. The only difference now is that we realise it’s more of a team sport than one focussed on an individual’s talent. And I’m not denying that it’s a business too—nearly all sport is—but the two are not mutually exclusive.

Ferrari have demonstrated today that the team’s ultimate good is at heart of every racing decision they make. Forget the drivers, it’s the team—and only the team—that matters. They believe that they have the best chance of winning both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships if Michael wins as much as possible, especially given his existing lead in the race for the drivers’ crown. Frankly, this is little different to a football club’s star player being rested for the FA Cup final. If it means the team has a better chance of winning the league, so be it. If people viewed formula one as a team sport rather than supporting individual drivers, I’m sure there would have been none of this outrage. The sport is growing up and maybe we need to do the same.

I still feel deeply sorry for Rubens, mind. :(

Perfect timing

Just as I was thinking it’s about time I posted something about the exciting future of artificial intelligence, Matt (of frownland fame) saves me the hassle. AILog is definitely one to watch. :)

Sadists, the lot of ‘em

And I thought these people were meant to help you get better!

True love

How could Kylie Minogue possibly resist this offer from my good friend, Ashley Frieze? Generous, sensitive, touching—it’s none of these things and more. It is funny, though. :)

Interesting times

We live in interesting times, but they’re only going to get more interesting. There are huge social issues that are going to need tackling in the coming decades, not least of which is pensions. I’m absolutely intrigued by this stuff and the ignorance surrounding it, even though I don’t yet have a pension of my own (I’m going with an ISA for the time being). If all of the predictions are correct, one hell of a lot of people are going to be seriously screwed when they get old. How is the world (for it’s not just the UK) going to cope? Raise the retirement age? Massively boost taxes? Involuntary euthanasia? Your guess is as good as mine, but it’s going to be fascinating to watch.

Fascinating like a car crash, that is. :/

Pet wins prizes

If you missed last week’s Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, don’t forget it’s the second episode tonight. Essential viewing, IMHO, but don’t just take my word for it—see what the critics said.

27 days and counting...

Not long now before the World Cup 2002 kicks off in Japan and South Korea. The hype machine’s really going to start cranking it up now that the FA Cup Final’s out of the way, although the official FIFA site is a bit short on information. Just one player profile per nation? Come on... :(

No more telesales

Did you know that you can prevent companies trying to sell you things over the phone? No? Well, you do now. :)

Ailments for the 21st century, #1: Design rage

When I get a little older and richer, I’ll be able to afford the expenses of design rage. For the moment, I have to keep my temper under control when I encounter products with poor usability. When I’m rich and old, I’ll get myself a shotgun for the express purpose of blowing away things that frustrate me. Life will be sweet. Design rage will be the affliction that finally unleashes anarchy upon this world.

Already there are signs of a growing intolerance. The backlash has begun. People expect more these days. Car manufacturers even encourage us to do so. The higher our expectations, the less we’re willing to put up with the shit we get fed, day in, day out. Make the bastards understand that you’re mad as hell and you’re not gonna take it any more. Vive la révolution!

“What brought this on?” I hear you ask. Nothing more than putting my crappy kettle on.