Weekly Quote W/E 26/9/09

"Outside, the garden was drowned in a blue light, heavy with the scent of stock. An eyelash of a moon hung in the sky. Far below, on the beach, the sea whispered." - The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher

iStuff

OK so I'm having fun with this iGoogle business after I decided to get myself a brand spanking new Gmail account, mostly because my other e-mail addresses are very random an not the most suitable for contacting prospective employers with!

The iGoogle page you can get with your account is pretty fun too. I can now read blogs, while checking my mail, and look at the weather while deciding whether the 'word of the day' is suitable for a blog post. Having all these things together makes it much easier and it's quickly become my homepage.

One thing I like is having 'themes' to the page, you can decorate your homepage with themes on a range of topics, from comic books to TV shows to gardening. These things go across the top and bottom of your page and look something like this.























What I like is having 'Theme of the Day' which changes and features a new, often famous, designer. I've mostly had bands and female fashion feature as themes, but it is a fun way to discover new things.

One thing I have discovered and enjoyed is Scott Draves, a software artist who uses 'fractals' and computer algorithms to create art. An ongoing project is 'Electric Sheep' where home computers network together in a type of SETI project to create branching and developing algorithms to propogate and continue the artwork, creating new and exciting pieces. I don't quite understand how it works, but the results are stunning.









Word of the post: Taciturn- adjective

saying little, especially usually

Weekly Quote W/E 19/09/09

"She...pushed back the door which opened slowly...then she slipped through it, and shut it behind her, and stood with her back against it, looking about her and breathing quite fast with excitement, and wonder, and delight." - The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett

Under Water

Struggling for ideas so I'll resort to pictures. These are some pictures I took in the Blue Planet Aquarium on my 22nd Birthday. They're not great (Tim!) But they are interesting and show off the cool underwater tunnel which features a moving floor so you can observe the ocean life while being carried along.


























































Hope you enjoyed!

Word of the post: Defunct –adjective

1.	no longer in effect or use; not operating or functioning: a defunct law; a defunct organization.

2.	no longer in existence; dead; extinct: a defunct person; a defunct tribe of Indians.

Weekly Quote W/E 12/09/08

"Life was such a wheel that no man could stand upon it for long. And it always, at the end, came round to the same place again." - The Stand, Stephen King

Digital Kid

I've become aware over time that I really am a product of the digital age; blogging, e-mail and the internet are the norm for me and are more present in my lifestyle. One factor in particular has made this clear...

I'm rubbish at sending letters!!

I can write them OK, though I rarely do - it's the posting them part I get stuck on and when there's a parcel, letter or document that needs Royal delivery I have to ask for help! I'm not a complete ignoramus - I do know how to get envelopes and seal them and can find my local post office fine and even use the red box!

But where the address goes, what corner to put the stamp in - no idea whatsoever. I know they both need to go on the envelope, but each time I try to put pen to paper I know it's in the wrongf place and eventually I have to give up and get help, usually from a family member, but hey there might be some online!!

Yes there is!

But it does worry me about our progress as a nation. I'd say I was one of the first generation of the digital age. The internet, e-mail and all the rest of it were invented during my childhood and teenage years so I grew up and adapted to this technology as it came out. Children are now growing up with e-mail and internet as the norm before they were even born, they are taught to use e-mail in primary school and half of the year 5 class I was working with recently had Facebook accounts. What will posting a letter mean to these people, who won't even have contact with a post office unless they buy sweets there?

strange times huh?

Word of the post: Redundant –adjective

1.	characterized by verbosity or unnecessary repetition in expressing ideas; prolix: a redundant style.

2.	being in excess; exceeding what is usual or natural: a redundant part.

3.	having some unusual or extra part or feature.

Single of the Week

I've posted before about my hesitancy to spend money on music, especially music that's not already familiar to me and that I'm comfortable with. I've also mentioned Single of the Week when I stated that I'd bought an album by The Gaslight Anthem after downloading a free single through iTunes.

I'm really getting into this iTunes business and I'm enjoying being able to download new music at no cost or damage to myself. Bands I encountered first through this medium are starting to make a name for themselves in the charts, bands such as Friendly Fires being notable, and chart topping debuts such as Empire of the Sun have also featured.

I'd really recommend it as a way to explore new music, you may download a song and hate it - so what, delete it then, it cost you nothing. I've got a stack of songs I never listen to because they don't appeal. I've also got several I like listening to, but wouldn't stretch to buying, that's the beauty of the system, not to mention it's 100% legal and promoted by the bands themselves. You downloading their free song raises their profile and makes them more money, so you aren't harming the muic industryt at all - in fact the reverse.

And once in a while you come across something that you realise you just have to get your hands on. I find this quite an organic process. I download all these songs and leave them on iTunes, I listen to iTunes and over time a song will stick out, one that I want to play over again each time I log on, eventually becoming a favourite, after this I start keeping my eyes open for it on the shelves and CD racks (I'm a purist).

You guessed the fact that I found a band - the group I like are The Airborne Toxic Event. I liked the single 'Sometime Around Midnight' for a while, but unfortunately couldn't get the album in HMV or my usual haunts. I eventually dug it up in an indie music shop in Cambridge and it's fast becoming a favourite.










I won't attempt a review, instead I'll let you hear for yourselves.



Another single that's growing on me is 'Crystalized' by The XX. I'm finding I flick to that song every time I open iTunes, I suspect it will be bought as I can see it on the shelves more commonly and as soon as money comes in as well as out I'd imagine I'll pounce on it quick! Another band I'm enjoying are Solid Gold. I might post up some songs, but I don't want to clog things up so I'll leave it there for now - check them out online.

Word of the post: Heuristic –adjective

1. serving to indicate or point out; stimulating interest as a means of furthering investigation.
2. encouraging a person to learn, discover, understand, or solve problems on his or her own, as by experimenting, evaluating possible answers or solutions, or by trial and error: a heuristic teaching method.
3. of, pertaining to, or based on experimentation, evaluation, or trial-and-error methods.

Weekly Quote W/E 05/09/09

"Are we not all flung into the world only to hate each other, and therefore to torment ourselves and others?" - Ana Karenina, Leo Tolstoy