GromBlog

Monopoly monopoly
Now this really made me laugh. Apparently the makers of the board game 'Monopoly' are being fined by the monopolies commission! Could you be any more ironic?

Doors reform
The Doors are reforming. Now, you might think there's a slight problem here. Well, the new line-up includes Ian Astbury (of 'The Cult' infamy) on vocals and Stewart Copeland (of 'The Police' fame) on drums. Not really, the Doors then is it?

Something Awful Photoshop Phriday
The latest Somethingawful.comphotoshop phriday competition is another corker - this week the subject is 'Rejected Software'.

Andy blows things up
The name of his website sums it up very precisely - Andy blows things up. Very impressive explosions too. Unfortunately very large files too.

Ar5e or Elbow?
This week's photoquiz from b3ta is 4rse or Elbow? Can you tell which is which?

Follow-up pt2
Another follow-up for today, this one from the Face/Off face transplant story from a couple of days ago. (cheers Al - nice piece BTW)

How Bands Got Their Names
I thikn I may already have blogged this but if not then here's how loads of bands supposedly got their names.

The Apple iToilet
At the recent unveiling of the new iMac, Steve Jobs had an idea.
"I have an idea!" he said. "Since most folks seem to think our new iMac is just a really really expensive desk lamp, maybe we should start manufacturing household appliances!"
Steve then danced around a bit, before adding "Hey! Since we're in the business of making crap, why not start with a toilet?!"

Leia's Metal Bikini
Oh yeah! A whole site dedicated to every geeks favourite fantasy - Leia's Metal Bikini from Star Wars. From what I've seen so far the site is pretty much SFW but I haven't delved too much yet. There's even instructions for how to make your own Leia bikini so get sewing and you too can have a girl laugh in your face when you suggest she wears it for you.

Get your Holy Grail Figures here!
I'm not a fan of 'collectible figures' - it's a truly nerdy hobby but these Monty Python figures raised a wry smile from me - own your own Knights of Ni or French Taunter.

Followup: Giant Spider Web Photos
Excellent! After posting about the massive spiders' web two days ago and bemoaning the lack of photographic evidence - I've finally found some amazing photos of the phenomena. (If you're scared of the thought of hundreds of little spiders, then it might be best to not get yer arachnaphobic ass over there though)

J & K's Travel update
The latest installment of my friends Joe & Kate's round-the-world travels have been uploaded to their site. They're now in Bangkok having 'done' India. Lots of lovely photos & movies so pop over and have a look (but get ready to feel very jealous!)

Personalised DNA gifts
Stuck for a Xmas present for someone? According to this report you could send away for a cheek swab sampling kit from DesigNAgift and they'll make some personal art/jewellery/rug etc from your DNA.

Old Jokes Home
Nice of Michael Jackson to dangle his kid over a balcony last week.
Usually he just tosses them off.
(courtesy of the Popbitch newsletter)

Send Darius to America!
Here's an odd petition calling for Darius' record company to release his album over there. Currently 57 people have gone public with their sad wishes and have signed (although the comments start getting silly near the end)

Geek Alert!!
This one's for all you Linux freaks out there (yes, I'm looking at you Popcorn) - have you seen Knoppix? It's a live Linux filesystem on a bootable cd. This means you can bung a cd into your windows machine & boot up straight into Linux. No installation - no messing. It creates a partition on the fly to retain any data and you can still access your windows data. There's even an option to remotely boot across a network via PXE (now that would be fun for hacking!). This is one seriously impressive program and as usual for Linux - it's free!!

A day in the life of a mouth
Justin Quinnell has taken a bizarre series of photos called 'A day in the life of my mouth'. Images taken by putting a pinhole camera inside his mouth. Odd.

Sony Website hacked
Quite a lame hack but still amusing that some 1337 d00d has hax0r3d the Sony site. (If the site is fixed by the time you read this then don't worry here's a screenshot). It seems that the hackers spent too much time in computer classes and not enough time learning how to speak proper like.

RIAA strike again
The idiots who belong to the Recording Industry ASS of America have stuck again. This time they've decided to go after cd cover sites - this was a very valuable resource for me to find out about special/limited edition cds as it used by people to upload scanned cd covers. They claim that they were breaking the usual rubbish copyright laws by posting cd covers on the web so I wonder if they will go up against sites like amazon next since they also store the same images (but a significantly smaller amount).

cars, music & explosions
The title pretty much sums up this flash game in which you drive a car around a city picking up sounds to remix a song ("Dissolve" by Tipper) whilst trying to find a bomb to destroy some buildings with. Odd.

High Noon
Recreate the feeling of being a Wild West sheriff by loading up this flash game, sucking on a cheroot and spitting tobacco all over your floor. I tried it but the cleaners are work weren't very happy with me.

Spiders create alien Trampoline
Another story that irritates because there's no picture to go with it. This giant spider web still sounds amazing - hope someone can get some pictures.

Face/Off becomes real
If you've seen the film Face/Off & thought that the whole face-swapping bit was highly implausible, guess again! It's now possible although I doubt it will be easily available even if you did want it.

Mr.T vs Everything
Here's another cult from the 'Interweb' (BTW if you don't know, the interweb is what lusers use) - Mr.T vs Everything is a collection of a helluva load of stories - most of them to do with Mr.T saving yet another Youth Centre.

Pay up for P2P
A Danish anti-piracy organisation has somehow befuddled a court with clear mis-information and managed to land a huge fine on people downloading files from the internet. I wonder if they tried that with me, would I have to pay for music that I have bought on cd after downloading the files or not?

NSFW!
Absolutely NSFW but there's a trend on some of the more dubious websites for their fans to show their appreciation by making a fan sign. Here's one someone sent me.

Scrambled Legs
This is a cool game based on a scramble bike (I'm sure there's a proper name for them now but I don't know what). I've worked out you use the arrow keys to accelerate, brake and lean forwards & backwards for balance but I'm still no good! Nice game physics though.

Gash or Tash?
This week's b3ta photo quiz is the delightfully named "Gash or tash" which asks you to guess whether the images shown are pant-moustaches or regular bum-fluff. (NSFW)

It finally happened!
To all those girls who told me they'd sleep with me when Hell froze over...
...you'd better start getting ready!
(apologies to my wife ;o) )

When you have an I hate my job-day, try this.
Found on anohther blogsite;

On your way home from work, stop at your pharmacy and go to the thermometer section. You will need to purchase a rectal thermometer made by Johnson & Johnson. Be very sure you get this brand. When you get home, lock your doors, draw the drapes, and disconnect the phone so you will not be disturbed during your therapy. Change to very comfortable clothing, such as a sweat suit and lie down on your bed. Open the package and remove the thermometer. Carefully place it on the bedside table so that it will not become chipped or broken. Take out the material that comes with the thermometer and read it. You will notice that in small print there is a statement: "Every rectal thermometer made by Johnson & Johnson is personally tested." Now close your eyes and repeat out loud five times: "I am so glad I do not work for quality control at the Johnson & Johnson Company."

Pick Michael Jackson's Nose...
...up for only $30 - on eBay that is. Looks like a total fake so it could actually be his nose - you just can't tell these days!