Minimal

Do not adjust your browsers

Expect this site to disappear soon for a day or two — my domain registration’s about to expire, as I’m moving to a different (cheaper) provider.

You know... I don’t even know why I’m posting this. The site’ll probably be down before you see it. Ah well.

Best job in the world?

As if students don't have enough of a charmed life already, now they're being recruited to test condoms. Time I enrolled for a Masters, me thinks.

Recycling

At last, some action in the right direction on recycling, enforced from the highest level. Yes, it's one tax raised and another new one introduced, but it's well worth it. I just despair at the irresponsible, short-sighted, whinging idiots who complain about this sort of thing. They need a damn good kicking, if you ask me.

Can you help?

I know site-design blog entries are boring, but CSS and I just aren’t getting on. I want the site to look like this (sans arrows), but I don’t want to resort to tables. The idea is that the permalist would stay left-aligned inside the right-aligned background image. The list would also retain its border, but would get a semi-transparent background via a neat dithered-transparency trick (this bit isn't a problem). However, I have a few problems:

1. How do I get the border snug around the permalist with the dithered background filling the inside? Using a <div> means the border’s not snug to its content, whereas using a <span> just puts a border round (and background on) individual list entries. Only a table seems to do the job properly, but they’re anathema, right?
2. How do I get the dynamic-width’d permalist to remain left-aligned in a right-aligned, fixed-width area?
3. Can I do it all in a way that leaves the various bits in this order in source: header, blog content, permalist, footer? I want these things in the right order for browsers than don’t understand the CSS, but this is the least of my worries.

Update: As you can probably see, it’s all sorted now. Well, apart from the whole dynamic width thing, but I don’t care about that any more. :)

Permalist reshuffle

I promised myself that I’d sort out minimal’s back end this weekend, but that was before I put The Italian Job (the video game, not the DVD) in the Playstation.

As you’d expect given the game’s age, the graphics are looking a bit ropey these days and the frame rate’s pretty awful, but the game itself perfectly captures the mood of the film. Everything is really well executed — the cut-scenes, the music, and most of all, Phil Cornwell’s superb impressions of Michael Caine playing Charlie Croker. Needless to say, the getaway mission in the Minis is far and away the best one, even if it is ludicrously hard (for a slow-witted gamer like myself).

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, something about removing my reliance upon blogger. Well, I got as far as a few scrawls on a piece of paper before I got bored, so I’ve decided to update my permalist instead. Yeah, that really makes up for it, doesn’t it? Well, whatever, it’s now got a disinctly UK flavour to it, with s.v.n being the only overseas site. I thought the web was meant to make you more cosmopolitan. Never mind.

Are we there yet?

3 months gone, 6 more to go. Waiting for my new car is proving somewhat more wearing than I’d expected. ANOTHER 6 MONTHS! Bah.

I’m Alan Partridge!

Oh, the shame of it! Off to a mate’s engagement do this weekend in Winchester and I left it stupidly late to book accommodation. Needless to say, there’s no room at the inn/B&B/guesthouse anywhere in the town. Instead, I’m doing my best impression of Alan Partridge by staying the whole weekend at the Travelodge a few miles up the road. Good grief. :(

We hate Bernie Ecclestone. And you too, Max Mosley.

The people who run Formula 1 really are taking the piss, aren’t they? First they suggest banning electronic driver aids (again), then it’s adding success balast to the cars, and now they’re proposing swapping drivers around between the teams during the season. What a bunch of jokers — it’s just plain embarrassing to watch the constant flailing and knee-jerk reactions in a sport I used to love. They’d be far better off just letting things run to their natural conclusion, with the absolute dominance of two or three teams. At least that way, we could still call it a sport. Well, almost. ;)

At least the BBC seems to have a tighter grip on reality with its suggestions.

A healthy breakfast of spam

Is it just me, or has spamming gone through the roof in the past month? This morning, I arrived in the office to find approximately 15 bits of email spam and 9 bits of ICQ spam waiting for me. Just a few weeks back, I’d be unlucky to get even 5 bits of email and I never got any on ICQ. Has someone registered my details with a porn site or something?

Note to the council

See the run-down waste of space that is Leazes Park? See the kids on skateboards ruining public art and monuments in the city centre? For god’s sake, make the little bastards a skate park, will you? You’ll be doing us all a favour.

The new eod.com?

It’s a long time since I’ve been so struck by a personal website that I feel compelled to call it a work of genius, but sorehead.org has managed it.

A week or so back, I took a brief look at little red book — the site’s weblog — and thought it was good, but tonight I looked at the homepage and was blown away. Last time that happened, it was Greg Knauss’s eod.com and that love affair only ended when he decided to call it quits. Here’s hoping that sorehead will continue to shine as brightly.

Surreal, insane, genius, brilliant

Following the weekend’s purchase of a PS2, I’m rapidly turning into a console monkey. Super Bust-A-Move, borrowed from Chris, is the title currently blowing my mind. I don’t know what drugs the developers were on when they dreamt that one up, but I want some. As Chris himself says, “As soon as the large purple chap vomits, you know you’re in for something special. :-)”

Make your mind up!

BBC News: ‘No sign’ of house price slowdown. Sigh. So much for last month’s news. I reckon I’m going to be living on a campsite by the time my house-sitting period comes to an end. Know any good ones?