GromBlog

Icon Wars
When you go to work and leave your computer on, the Icon Wars continue.

TWA Travel--the world awaits....
Yet another careless domain name - TWA Travel - there really is no excuse!

The ultimate flight sim setup
Kudos to this guy for his 9pc, 13 monitor setup just for playing flight sims but I bet he doesn't have a girlfriend!

Nasty
I lived in shared houses when I was a student but thankfully no-one ever felt the need to stick notices like this one on our fridge!

Date a fake
Want to go on a date with a celebrity but are too cheap/minging? Why not try 'People Say I Look Like... ' it's where all those sad people who base their lives on the fact that someone once told them that they 'looked a bit like J-Lo' hang out hoping to be spotted by a talent scout.

Antiquesexchange
Another careless domain name - Antiquesexchange.com - do these people do it deliberately, do they have a GSOH or are they too stupid to read back their own domain name?

VirtuaPikey
Remember the bruises on you thumbs you got from playing VirtuaFighter all those years ago? Me neither. That's probably because I just couldn't relate to characters like Akira, Lei-Fei and Shun-Di. The cool Flash game VirtuaPikey solves that problem by letting you beat up the people that you really want to smash in - Pikeys. Tw4t 'em one for me.

Google Toolbar 2.0 beta
There's a beta of the new version of the Google Toolbar out now. Cool new features includes 'BlogThis button' (which is how I make this site), pop-up blocker and a feature to automatically fill in forms on pages for you. As usual - it's a beta version so don't come crying to me if it breaks you computer - wait for the full version if you're not used to running beta software.

Smokers of the UK unite
As a die-hard British smoker soon to spend a week in smoke-free California, I felt this deserved a blog. If you want to make a statement with your ciggies you can buy these stickers as an alternative to the government health warnings on cigarette packets. (For our US chums: "fags" is an English slang term for cigarettes, just thought I'd clear that one up).
UpDate: I actually put these on the server a few months ago so if you've got your own printer then you can print your own for free. - updated by grom

Scariest Mug shot ever.
Nothing else to say about this picture - it's just the scariest mug shot ever!

Greg Packer - Walking Sound Bite
Every on-the-spot news report these days has a soundbite from the 'Man in the Street'. It turns out that Greg Packer actually is that 'Man in the Street' most of the time. He spends his free time searching for television news crews and hangs about to give his opinion on air. Kinda ruins the whole idea surely?

Worst summer job ever
I can't help but think there must be a much better way to do this.

Tic Tac Toe Tactics
I was going to start thsi post with a rant about how the game is really called 'Noughts and Crosses' not 'Tic Tac Toe' until the guy sitting beside me at work pointed out that he's always called it 'Tic Tac Toe' and he's British so it's not just an american thing. Anyway, whatever you call it, this .pdf document will tell you how to win at this simple game

How to make RealOne behave nicely
'Scumware' is the apt description of certain programs like Real Player that you are coerced into installing but then try to take over aspects of your computer. This post in the Doom9 forums give instructions on how to keep the useful bits of RealPlayer whilst dumping the scumware elements.

DyneBolic
DyneBolic is another bootable Linux image that fits on a cdrom just like Knoppix but this partcular one specializes in multimedia applications straight from boot. In other words, you don't need a hard drive but it will set up your sound cards, graphics cards etc and have the ability to get on t'interweb and start streaming video or listen to mp3s a few seconds after you boot your machine from the cd. If you've got the spare bandwidth then I'd definitely recommend keeping a copy of one of these two systems for those times when your computer dies - they'll let you fire it up and work or help recover your data.

Don't get that case mod Grom
You know that you'd prefer to wait till you could get this 2m tall, fully articulated, cardboard robot one.

WARNING: Very bad English ahead

Aquarium case mod
Ooh ooh! I sooo want one of these Aquarium PC Cases. Any ideas how I can justify this to the missus after I spent a whole load of dosh on neon strips and glow-in-the-dark UV cables.
I wonder if they sell it as a kit that I can use with my existing case?
Update: Just found that Thinkgeek.com won't export that item to the UK but Light Computers, who are only a mile away from me, do sell them. Which is nice.

American Apology Shirt
Let the rest of the world know how sorry you are - wear it on your chest. Wonder if they'll do a Tony Blair version for us Brits?

Friends Re-cruitment
It seems that, according to The Register, Friends Reunited is being used as a third reference by employers to check up on would-be employees.
Quick - everyone log in and post really nice things about me!

play more
If you haven't seen this official XBox site then I'd say that it's well worth a visit, if only to see the fantastic menu system it uses - the rat is inspired!

Get the Puck Outta here
This game is basically online ice hockey featuring one team of Crispy Pancakes and another of French Bread Pizzas. Ok, so the realism factor isn't high but it's a pretty addictive game.

Random Anarchy
This spoof of the infamous Anarchist's Cookbook is quite cool - it generates a new page every time you reload with useful information like the instructions for making a bomb that include the ingredients 'Strawberry Jam' and 'Toenail Clippings' and instructions such as 'Quantities don't matter - this isn't rocket science! Just light and run like you have never ran before!'
I'd love to see someone try to follow these.

Don't know what to drink? Beer? Coffee? Nuclear waste?
Think Geek, the guys & gals that brought you caffeinated soap, and caffeinated mineral water, have out done themselves again:
Glow in the Dark caffeinated beer.

Not sure I want to drink anything that luminesses, but if it comes out the other end glowing it could resolve those late night, post pub, dark bathroom mishaps.

Write your own OS
Very geeky link. This one is for all the would-be code-monkeys who rant about how much windows sucks. This tutorial goes through tthe basics of how to start writing your own simple (!) Operating System.
If you do attempt this then 'Good Luck' - you'll need it.

Bull fighting
Tired of working out what your boss meant by "leveraging real-time synergistic stratagies"?
Bullfighter is an Office plugin that combats this type of buzzword mainia.

Matrix Reloaded in Japan: Update
I've found more information on the live re-enactment of the Matrix-Reloaded that has been happeneing in Japan as I mentioned a few days ago. Loads more info on this page (luckily it's in English) as well as more (much better) photos.

Hasselhof's Mammaries
David Hasselhof's nipples have got all jumbled up. Can you re-unite him with his tits?
(I'm quite scared - I got it on my first attempt - does that say something about me?)

Maze of Death...
...for Slugs. I have no sympathy for slugs - they destroy my garden and bring me no joy and thus I fully approve of the Salt maze devised by this sick individual.