Round 2

After my embarrassing drubbing my Sam I'm a bit worried to post my results of the Wikipedia game, but since I did this round in two moves I think I'm fairly confident of what will most likely be a draw with my opponent Caleb (see sidebar).

If you are wondering what the game is read my post "You are challenged" before this one and see if you fancy a game.

OK, Caleb's word was sausage which means my links went...

Toast

Breakfast

Sausage

Resulting in a score of 2. If Caleb pulled it off in one move I'll be very impressed, but I'm doubting he did it in more than two either so well done and thanks for playing.

Weekly Quote 29/11/08

"...the roofscape was neither more nor less than a conglomeration of structures spreading to right and left and away from him. It was a mist of masonry. As he peered, taking each structure individually, he found that he was a spectator of a stationary gathering of stone personalities." - Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake.

Weekly Quote W/E 22/11/08

Well I've had one challenge already, and he won! Anyone else up for it?

"The days are long and humid. The river shrinks and black crows gorge on bright mangoes in still, dustgreen trees. Red bananas ripen. Jackfruits burst. Dissolute bluebottles hum vacuously in the fruity air." - The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy

You are challenged!!!

I can't remember if I've talked about this before but myself and my not to often blogging friend Dan have devised a game that can be played on Wikipedia. We've come up with several different variants and rules, but this is our latest version and it works quite well as it has a more competitive edge than previous variants.




Anyway, fancy a game?

Ok so first of all you think of a word, or more precisely a thing that can be looked up on Wikipedia and you check it's on there. If the thing you look up turns up a stub, that is an article with only a paragraph or two then you will need to make your choice more general as it makes the game too difficult or even impossible so we've found.











Then you find someone to play with - in your case reader that person will be me. You both reveal your word and then you each compete, trying to get from your word to your opponent's in the least amount of 'clicks' possible. The person with the least amount of links wins. You can play it under time, but it only works if your in the same room or are in close communication with your competitor. So in our game we will allow a day, not to think that it would take you that long, but of course with online communication it's not fair if someone misses out because they didn't see the e-mail or whatever.

So, if you fancy a game then post a comment saying you acknowledge the challenge. You will then have 24 hours to complete the challenge, post your results on your blog or other site, and let me know you're done. Once I read your initial acknowledgement I will let you know I'm playing and then I will also have 24 hours to complete the challenge. I think that might possibly be clear so let's lay down some ground rules.

1. You cannot leave the Wikipedia site for any part of your challenge, even external links in a Wiki page do not count.
2. You will need to post your 'path' from one link to the other when you've finished to prove your move is valid (hence rule 1)
3. The use of Ctrl+F or any other "find" function is prohibited, you find the links yourself!
4. You are allowed to backtrack, but each time you do it counts as a move

Well if I haven't put you off and you're still actually reading this then...game on!

Think of a word...

Check it on Wikipedia...

Scroll over to reveal my word which is..... TOAST

Then acknowledge the challenge and we're on!!

Hope you enjoy it, once you've battled me use your word and pass the challenge on to your friends, of course letting them know about the genius who started it all!!

And if you can come up with a better name than "The Wikipedia Game" or "Wikimania" then extra points for you!

The number 23 from Brighton

Well I thought I'd break the silence while I've time to confess to a slight obsession...nay interest...nay mild curiosity of mine. While I don't have the energy, time or enthusiasm to be an enthusiast on the level of the locomotive observers hinted at in my title and whose occupation is also the name of a famous film starring Ewan McGregor.

But nonetheless I do have a mild interest in the different types of packaging for DVDs and CDs. I don't mean the cheapo cases you buy to put the songs you illegally ripped off your mates in, I mean the cases that CDs come in on the shelves, maybe the CD analogy isn't that appropriate these days, and if you read my blog at all you may know it isn't too familiar an experience for myself either.

I am a fairly prolific buyer of DVDs and also Video Games, which come in the same type of cases. Time spent frantically trying to claw a disk out of a box, while struggling not to snap the thing in half, made me wonder about how manufacturers go about designing the containers to put entertainment products in and how boxes are chosen. I tried to find the name of the offending manufacturer, but they had wisely declined to put their name on their shody human-unfriendly box and so instead I will move on to some positive designs.

The 'classic' for me has to be the Amaray DVD Single. It is elegant in it's simplicity, and the performance of it's function is poetry in motion...well a limerick...at least a Haiku!! The central button or 'hub' as they call it is integral to most case designs and few have managed to top the system incorporated by the Amaray box. The hub consists of a split circle which, when pushed, actually lifts the disc out so you can easily remove it, then with a simple push down the disc is securely locked in again - beautiful!!

• Designed in close co-operation with the DVD industry and preferred in consumer trials
• Unique, patent, stress-free locking disc hub
• Proven economical inlay system
• Compatible with available automated packing machinery
• Find out more at the manufacturer website

The only box with a slight improvement of this is the DVD case for the series Firefly which has a mechanism with a slightly smoother running, adding an extra touch of elegance to the same principle, unfortunately I couldn't track down the manufacturer for this one either. I haven't seen many around, and the Amaray I think will always be top dog for some time.

My last one (was that a sigh I heard?) doesn't have a particularly elegant mechanism, but it has solved the problems of earlier holding mechanisms of it's type so the disk lifts easily from the holder, yet is still secure in place. It is not this that I call your attention to - it is that it looks pretty sweet! This product is the Super Jewel Box, which I first came across holding Ta-Dah by Scissor Sisters and then in DVD form with the Gorillaz live gig.

- New and improved look and feel for higher perceived value
- Same size as the old CD jewel case
- Flexibility of inserts, from a single sheet to a 50-page booklet
- Fits existing CD-based retail displays, security keepers and other packaging standards
- More details at the manufacturer's website




This box features rounded corners, giving it a touch of class over your johnny regular box. You can also see the transparent corners which stand intependent of the hinge, reducing the chance of damage to your CD's "lid", which happens frequently in standard jewel cases. The cases also feature a nifty "push" button to open, which is smooth and again reduces chance for damage - good stuff eh?

Two things for you to know

- I needed to kill time and I wanted to post stuff on my blog

- I looked up the names while I was writing and got images and details from Google

Word of the post: Supplement –noun

1.	something added to complete a thing, supply a deficiency, or reinforce or extend a whole.

Weekly Quote 15/11/08

" 'What do you think it's like for me?' says Vicky. 'It's bad enough when you see a ghost. It's much odder being one.' " - Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson

Weekly Quote W/E 08/11/08

Well I'm going to give you a double quote this week you lucky people, first a quote from a book as per usual and then a quote from the author to complement it.

"In the four thousand rooms of the centre the four thousand electric clocks simultaneously struck four. Discarnate voices called from the trumpet mouths." - Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

"Technological progress has merely provided us with a more efficient means of going backwards." - Aldous Huxley

Well there you go - don't get used to it!!

The Ultimate Rehab Programme

This has been bouncing around the net for a while, but I've only recently watched it and I think it's brilliant, the Filipinos really know how to do prison!! I don't quite know what they wanted to achieve by getting 1500 prisoners to perform a classic dance routine (besides internet fame) but I bet it killed a few of those lonely hours. Note that the video uploaded is of a practice - I'd love to see what the finished version looks like.



Word of the post: Byzantine- adjective

5.	(sometimes lowercase) complex or intricate: a deal requiring Byzantine financing.

6.	(sometimes lowercase) characterized by elaborate scheming and intrigue, esp. for the gaining of political power or favor: Byzantine methods for holding on to his chairmanship.

Weekly Quote W/E 01/11/08

"When you were very small - so small that the lightest puff of breeze blew your little crinoline skirt over your head - you had seen something nasty in the woodshed." - Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons