GromBlog

Lego Steadicam
Al's lego post earlier inspried me to find more lego stuff. If you 've ever wanted to shoot a lego film, you'll need a lego Steadicam for all those long tracking shots in your lego movies (shame the site hasn't been updated for a while - it used to be a really cool site).

x-ray picture gallery
X-rays of everyday objects can be ghostly beautiful as you can see. But what mention of X-ray images would be complete without a link to the Rectal Foreign Bodies site where you can laugh or gasp in amazement at the things people stick up their butts.

Jewel Eye - the eye jewel
The latest fashion gimmick to hit the streets in the Netherlands is the JewelEye - it's a small piece of platinum shpaed as a heart, star or circle which is implanted into the mucous membrane of the eye so you can only see it when you turn your eyes to look in the other direction. 500 euros for the surgical proceedure - I'm not quite convinced it's worth the risk at all.

The Lego Stripes
Its been a while since we had a lego item here, and I just found this.

Google Adsense Test Page
Although I'm not about to stick adverts on this site, I was intrigued to see exactly what adverts Google would think were the right ones for my readers. I found a Google Adsense Test Page which reckons they'd put on 4 boring adverts relating to blogs and one about smurfs!

Humourous clothing labels
I loved this label found on a laptop carry-case. It's like the t-shirt makers Chunk who put bizarre phrases on all of their labels.

ID card Bill 'within four weeks' - end of freedom in 5 weeks
The British government have suggested that the Identity card Bill could be rushed through parliament 'within four weeks'. This is the most close-minded, ill-conceived policy since Clause 28 and the Poll Tax. Whilst I share every sane person's concerns about freedom, I'm more alarmed by the technical aspects - they are throwing their lot in with biometrics which they seem to see as an absolute guarantee of identity. Anyone with experience of biometrics will share my fright at this. Did you know that if you don't want to leave fingerprints, you should get a job as a bricklayer for a few weeks before you commit a crime as they have barely any fingerprints (2nd pageof this .pdf). or that a gummi bears can defeat fingerprint sensors or even that if you have glaucoma or cataracts, a retinal scanner won't work. All of this is irrelevant as all biometrics prove is that you are the holder of the card, if the card was forged in the first place then it makes no difference unless you combine all the databases containg this information and make them all publically available to the agencies that need them which in itself is a security nightmare.
Gah! It makes me mad! I can't wait for an elderly, gummi-bear loving bricklayer with cataracts to attack Blunkett so I can see his use of biometrics in action.

GHOST TOWN - Biking through Chernobyl
Ever wondered what it would be like to travel through a real ghost town (Coventry doesn't count!)? Elena rides her Kawasaki Ninja through Chernobyl's 'Dead Zone' and documents it on her website, It's fascinating and freaky to hear that there are packs of wild horses roaming around but no humans - there are no garages to re-fuel, mobile phones don't work and she has to stick to the wise-open roads which have less radiation than the buildings.
thanks to Gary for this one

ID cards: a guide for technically challenged Prime Ministers
The Register has produced an intelligent series of arguements regarding the use of ID cards in the UK. Blunkett is currently just pipping Kevin 'Bloody' Warwick on my list of irritating, dangerous people.
As always, the most comprehensive collection of info is found at Stand.org.uk.

Luxury Case mods
For the executive who's share options have just come through - ava computers make pcs with leather cases, cigarette lighters built-in and options that include Tachometers rewired to display pc activity. Shame they're so ugly. They come in silk bags with a gold-plated card which proudly states the cellphone number of the CEO of Ava. For the cost of these, I'd expect him to hand deliver it and service my wife as part of the cost.

Extremely Low-tech Fridge wins award
How simple is this idea? Take one clay pot, place inside a second, larger clay pot. Fill the gap with wet sand, cover with a damp cloth and as the water evaporates, it draws the heat outwards leaving the contents cool. It costs nothing, will work anywhere hot enough to evaporate the water and the technique has been known for centuries - it just took Mohammed Bah Abba to realise the practical use for it. Over 90% of his village has no electricity so the award for $100,000 is one heck of a prize for him. Obviously, this has the potential to change their lives. And it already has -- there are more girls attending school, for example, as their families no longer need them to sell food in the market.
Pure Genius.

Einstein's theories finally put to the test
A theory is just a theory until it's proven which is why it's interesting that we finally have the technical know-how to test some of Einstein's theories by creating the 'most perfect spheres ever made'. At last a decent reason for the space program.

How grammatically sound are you?
Maybe I only care about this because I scored full points and I wanted to show off but the 'How grammatically sound are you?' quiz on quizilla isn't that easy and caused a few arguements in my office.

WorldToilet info
Vital information that every worldly traveller needs to know before embarking on a long trip abroad is 'What will the toilets be like when I get there?' WorldToilet.info has all the answers (and brought back some nasty memories of bogs I have known and hugged throughout the years).

Insert witty phrase here
As long as your German is up to scratch then you won't have any problem working out how to use LetterJames although it's fairly obvious. All you need to do is type a few words in and see them rendered in a very professional way. It's very well done & I lost about 20 minutes just playing around doing "... is gay" signs for eveyone in the office!

Your chance to lick R. Buckminster Fuller
R. Buckminster Fuller has long been a hero of mine - he was the inventor of the geodesic dome and has the molecule 'Buckminsterfullerene ' named after him. His biography is about to gain another entry when he'll been known as beinbg the face on the weirdest postage stamp I've ever seen. (halfway down on the left hand side)

What every dad *really* wants for their birthday
Anitropia has found the ultimate in Fathers Day presents - it's something I hold close to me heart - a Boring Machine. Or to be more precise, a massive tunnel boring machine used in the Eurotunnel.