Many modern browsers (including recent versions of Firefox and Opera) support the W3C’s geolocation API. This is a standardised mechanism for Javascript to ask your browser where it geographically is in the world. Typically the browser will then pop up a message asking you if you wish to reveal this information, giving you the opportunity … Continued
What is it about the animation on dirtgirlworld that freaks me out?
There’s a trailer on YouTube – judge for yourself.
This weekend CBeebies is advertising a “brand new series” Cloudbabies.
Didn’t I see that show about a month ago? Have they changed it? Is it still really awful?
Something Special is the only CBeebies program not to feature a digital on-screen graphic (DOG). You know – those station logos that plague the corners of our screens on many (particularly digital) television channels. In the case of CBeebies the DOG is a CBeebies logo that occasionally flips over to reveal a CBeebies blob festooned […]
In Mike the Knight, Mike’s father, the King, is often referenced but never seen. He is off fighting in some crusades or something.
If they ever do introduce him for a Christmas special or somesuch, then I do so hope they manage to get Brian Blessed to voice him.
I must have missed this. Back in January CBeebies apparently changed the format of Waybuloo to include a voiceover from Dave Lamb (of Big Barn Farm). It was so unpopular that the format was changed back the next day – easy to miss then!
The single episode which was broadcast can now be found on YouTube…
I learnt today on It’s Our Planet that animals without a backbone are called “mini-beasts”. And here I was calling them invertebrates!
So the 14 metre long Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni (a.k.a. the colossal squid) is a “mini-beast”. You learn something new every day.
I am a big fan of Woolly & Tig. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a five minute show that works on a very simple formula:
The narrator (a slightly older Tig, looking back to when she was younger) explains “when I was very little…” and introduces something interesting she did.
Young Tig gets angry, anxious […]
There’s a new series of ZingZillas started on Monday, and it uses the same shortened episode format as series 3.
The first couple of series of ZingZillas were more than tolerable. The 22-minute episodes followed the formula of:
ZingZillas do some stuff.
Coconut clock strikes one.
ZingZillas try writing a song, but need more inspiration.
Coconut clock strikes two.
ZingZillas get […]
So the cat was meowing outside the bedroom door this morning, so I got up to let him in. He loves to sit on the window sill and look out at the birds on the roofs of the houses across the street, but the sill is so high that he can’t easily jump up there. … Continued
Christmas dinner in the Inkster household this year consisted of: Roast boneless rib of beef Pigs in blankets with thyme Roast potatoes with horseradish Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s roasted red onions Sophie Grigson’s roast celeriac with marsala Mrs Beeton’s Yorkshire puddings Baby carrots Mange tout Gravy Followed by Chocolate Yule Log.
It was 40 years ago today that Douglas Engelbart gave a demonstration that introduced the public to an impressive list of technologies which would in the following years become established in the mainstream. On the 9th of December, 1968, he demonstrated: a mouse; hypertext (i.e. text with links that can be followed — a precursor … Continued
In the news today: robbers dressed in drag steal €80 million worth of jewelry from a shop in Paris. As covered by: The Times Reuters etc… Also in the news today is that it's the 50th anniversary of two firsts The first STD call in the UK, dialled by the Queen; and The opening of … Continued
I meant to post this article a couple of weeks ago, but I’ve been very bad at updating my blog recently. The BBC is showing an adaptation of one of Henning Mankell’s Wallander novels tonight. Mankell is one of my favourite crime fiction writers, so here are a few random thoughts (no spoilers!): They’ve started … Continued
Wild Mushroom, Pancetta & Truffle Risotto Ingredients 200 g arborio rice (or other short grained, high starch rice) 850 mL ham stock (or chicken/vegetable stock) 150 mL white wine 250 g mixed mushrooms (such as button mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, porcini, etc) 50 g chopped pancetta (or unsmoked streaky bacon) 1 small onion, finely chopped 2 … Continued
BBC News has an article claiming that: The new projections suggestion that by 2050, minorities will account for 54% of the [US] population. Ummm… wouldn’t that be 100% then? Minorities set to be US majority
Charlie Brooker on creationism: Darwin’s theory of evolution was simple, beautiful, majestic and awe-inspiring. But because it contradicts the allegorical babblings of a bunch of made-up old books, it’s been under attack since day one. That’s just tough luck for Darwin. If the Bible had contained a passage that claimed gravity is caused by God … Continued
Damon Albarn, Jamie Hewlett and the BBC have reworked 1970s TV classic Monkey for the Beijing Olympics. Awesome!
hCard is an HTML-based format for describing contacts (people, organisations, etc) on web pages. It allows you to mark up which elements represent their name, their address, their birthday and so forth. Here’s an example: Toby Inkster Birthday: 1980-06-01. While hCard offers many useful properties that can be used to describe contacts, some are considered … Continued
Today is May Day and also election day in London. Recent polls have shown alarmingly high support for Boris Johnson (or Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson to use his full name — yes, really!). Much as I enjoy Johnson’s antics on Have I Got News For You, I ask how someone who could barely be … Continued
