bitful

Daddy B. came to pick us up at the station. He looked cool and jovial but perhaps betrayed his slight uneasiness when he exited the station car park via the way in. And then later fell over at home – Dr. B's explanation being 'My dad's belly is so big he cannot see his feet'. [...]

OK. It seems that we won't be going anywhere after all. There are reports of four more bombs on public transport in London. Three on the tube, one on a bus – again?
Whitehall is sealed off and therefore I cannot leave work early as planned to go home, pack and catch my train to go [...]

This coming Saturday I shall not be going to Big Gay Out – the park bit of the festival formerly known as Gay Pride, now removed from it and running on a separate weekend.
Instead, I will be meeting Dr B.'s family for the first time. We are spending all day tomorrow on the scariest rides [...]

I, Roommate: The Robot Housekeeper Arrives - New York Times
I should not have let the fact that the writer mentions his boyfriend surprise me. And yet it did, and I went back to the beginning to check that he was indeed a he. I fell right into the assumptions trap myself.
(tags: technology robot housekeeper japan)

Pulp [...]

Based on the same principle as Google Earth, a minisite to commemorate the anniversary of the first manned Moon landing: Google Moon
Make sure you zoom all the way in: amazing detail!

This is sick.
Remember the advice to store a next of kin contact in your mobile phone under 'ICE' (=In Case of Emergency')?
It is a genuine initiative launched by the Anglian Ambulance NHS Trust, and yet somebody has maliciously circulated the news that it would open the door to some sort of mobile phone virus which [...]

BBC - collective - webslinky | making music
Selection of entry-level software and resources to make music on your home computer
(tags: music software computer)

I'm just back from my local 24-hour Tesco Express, where I popped in at midnight to grab a copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I am not a mad fan, it was just one of those stupid ideas one gets when getting home from Friday night at the pub. Rather hammered, yes.
So apparently [...]

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Bus firm takes car sharers to court
A coach company takes to court a group of French cleaning ladies accusing them of 'unfair and parasitical competition' because they organised a car-sharing scheme to get to work. What the…?
(tags: news service sharing business)

Planarity Flash Game
Arrange the vertices such that no edges overlap. Online game, mildly addictive, as levels progress it becomes more complicated but not more difficult.
(tags: flash game online)

Processing a Digital Photo
All very good if your camera has the option to save photos in RAW format. Which mine sadly doesn't, I found out after reading this.
(tags: [...]

Been invited to a jolly gathering of like-minded souls tonight after work:

Dear Sir or Madam:
(We value your custom so much that we would have bothered merging this word-processed letter with our address book – if only we knew how to do that)
You have been invited to join our Member's [sic] Party held at [...] on [...]

DTPM then.
It was meant to be a carefully orchestrated night out, with the added bonus of having taken Monday morning off. All the premises were there for a fantastic time. A treat fit for a queen, infused with the naughtiness of clubbing on a school night.
And then I go and spoil it by going out [...]

Sky News homepage on 7 July 2005
Originally uploaded by bitful.
While news of the four bombs on public transport in central London was rolling in, I noticed that Sky News was consistently faster (and probably less cautious) than BBC News to provide updates.
So I kept going back to it, only to be greeted by the annoyingly [...]

Stuff On My Cat
The URL says it all: pictures of cats with stuff put on them while they snooze. Very patient cats. Or pictures taken seconds before a proper scratchfest. Slightly wrong…
(tags: cats humour photo blog)

jumpingpictures: Jumping CATS
(tags: jump cats photo picture)

The biggest bed I've ever slept in
Originally uploaded by bitful.
The tiny bloke in the picture is Dr B. He is 5 feet 11 and 1/2 inches tall — 182 cm.
We stayed at the Hilton Metropole, Brighton, United Kingdom during Brighton & Hove Pride last year, and we will this year too, as a last-minute surprise [...]

Just in case anyone hasn't already seen this:

Simply use your mobile's phone book to store the name and number of someone who should be contacted if you have an emergency – but add the letters ICE in front of their name.
ICE stands for 'In Case of Emergency': it's what the emergency services will look for [...]

Just in case anyone hasn't already seen this:

Simply use your mobile's phone book to store the name and number of someone who should be contacted if you have an emergency – but add the letters ICE in front of their name.
ICE stands for 'In Case of Emergency': it's what the emergency services will look for [...]

London tube bombing
Originally uploaded by qwghlm.
This is not me, nor taken by me - this picture was taken by Keith Tagg/Adam Stacey and was originally uploaded here, with a CC licence.
[Via the Guardian Newsblog]

London is currently being hit by a series of explosions. At work we have been instructed not to leave the building until further notice.
Yeah, and to go where? 100 yards left to the Houses of Parliament or 10 yards right to Trafalgar Square? Not even our blast-proof windows can stop me feeling like a target. [...]

BBC NEWS | In pictures: Battersea Power Station
A unique glimpse inside one of my favourite London landmarks. Hoping very much it will find a new vocation in the future and breathe new life.
(tags: london battersea decay architecture)

London 2012 - Service Unavailable
Originally uploaded by bitful.
Oh dear. That's not a good start is it?
Only one hour after the announcement of London winning the bid to host the 2012 Olympics, and the official website is down.

Olympic confetti
Originally uploaded by bitful.
I do feel proud to take part daily in London's slutty grandeur and perform its rituals and ceremonies as religiously as if my genes had been sown here many generations ago.
And I am proud indeed that the city I have elected that three years ago as my permanent home for the [...]

Feeling surprisingly excited about the Olympic bid result that is being broadcast on the big screen in Trafalgar Square, round the corner from work and probably partially viewable from one of our meeting rooms' window.
Told one of my (straight) colleagues that Rachel Stevens is going to sing after the results, thinking he'd bolt out to [...]

From DTPM to the Night Bus stop
Originally uploaded by bitful.
Green arrow: directions from DTPM to the Night Bus.
Red arrow: the way I got to the bus stop by following the directions I had written on a Post-It before leaving home.
The problem: I had placed the club on the wrong side of the street in my [...]

MAKE: Blog: HOW TO GPS Tag Photos: Flickr, Mappr, Google Earth….
(tags: flickr google map photo photography tag)

Introduction to Icelandic Cooking and Recipes
My favourites: rauðkál (pickled red cabbage) and harðfiskur (dried fish). Also, vanillurjómaí­s (the staple of so many of my past Christmases) and how to prepare rotten (fermented) shark - a bit of an aquired taste.
(tags: iceland cooking recipe food)