bitful

The Best and Worst Abdominal Exercises
From the Bicycle (simply classic) to the crunch (ineffective, with back-straining potential), via all sorts of useless pricy equipment.
(tags: exercise health abs gym fitness)

A cognitive analysis of tagging (or how the lower cognitive cost of tagging makes it popular)
Specific aspects of categorisation in the digital domain. Tagging as a way [...]

Tesco Premier Cru nets the non-vintage champagne trophy at the International Wine Challenge awards in London.
'The Tesco entry, which costs £14.79 per bottle, beat 282 other non-vintage champagnes, including leading names of the champagne world such as Taittinger, Lanson and Mumm, who were among the competition's other entrants.'
(tags: food drink tesco champagne competition)

Ruby and Rails [...]

Weird and wonderful vocabulary from around the world
I can tell this is going to be a hit at Christmas. A few reservations though, as I had never heard three out of four Italian words mentioned in the article (have I been out of the country so long?). Also, if my elementary language notions don't fail [...]

The Booty Call - When to Make It, When to Take It
'booty call - n 1: the act of calling or contacting a person for the sole purpose of having sex. 2: a person that is the recipient of such a call'
(tags: bootycall sex)

komo news | Ask Steve : Who Names Hurricanes?
'Around the U.S., [...]

towleroad: Exclusive Madonna Album Details
Matt Kalkhoff attended the Q&A session with Stuart Price and has some great details on the forthcoming album.
(tags: madonna confessionsonadancefloor stuartprice music)

The Observer | International | Italy snaps over gay poster excess
Billboards for the men's clothing line Ra-Re featuring two men kissing and groping on a sofa have triggered outrage.
(tags: italy [...]

Bits, Bytes, Mega, Giga, Tera (explained)
Personal bookmark, to come handy next time I have to explain the difference between bits an bytes to a colleague
(tags: bit byte mega giga tera)

Oceanic Airlines | All flights cancelled
Due to 'financial difficulties in the wake of the Flight 815 tragedy' Oceanic Airlines ceases all operations effective immediately.
(tags: hoax tv [...]

Independent Online Edition > Kate Bush: The sequel
'King of the Mountain, the first single from Kate Bush's forthcoming double album 'Aerial', will be available September 27 at a host of digital download sites
(tags: katebush music news pop download)

Italy bristles at hint of gay marriage law - Europe - International Herald Tribune
Prodi: 'I never talked about [...]

57th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards.
Top drama series award to 'Lost', best actress to Felicity Huffman ('Desperate Housewives') and Patricia Arquette ('Medium'). 'Housewives' lost best comedy award to 'Everybody Loves Raymond'. During the show, Donald Trump in bib overalls sang the 'Green Acres' theme with 'Will & Grace' star Megan Mullally.
(tags: emmys television tv awards usa)

Kids [...]

Local weight: 12 stone 13 pounds (181 lbs / 82.1 kg). In-laws bathroom scales obviously malfunctioning.
Spent yesterday afternoon shopping in the small town nearby. Or rather, being teased with streets and malls and more malls of shops and more shops - with nothing worthwhile buying inside.
After a customary bout of electronics shopping to keep Dr [...]

Greetings from rural Staffordshire. Local weight: 12 stone 10 pounds (178 lbs / 80.7 kg). In-laws bathroom scales possibly over-weighing by a handful of pounds?
My weekend plans (XXL on Saturday night, London Open House and London Zoo Gay Day on Sunday) had a last-minute change when Dr B.'s parents had a bit of a computer [...]

del.icio.us: terrible twos
del.icio.us turns two on 15 September 2005 - what was it doing before everyone and their mothers discovered it and started using it say, less than a year ago?
(tags: blog del.icio.us technology)

Geotagged blogs on Multimap | clagnut/blog
How to get your blog into Multimap's local information facility by linking to an appropriate map
(tags: blog [...]

pop sketch series::images
'Drawings generated from pop songs. The songs are analyzed note-by-note. At each note, a line is drawn. The angle at which the line is drawn is determined by the pitch of the note and the length of the line is determined by the volume of the note. The res
(tags: art design music drawings [...]

Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl by Tracy Quan
Nancy hustles as Suzy. She is engaged to the perfect man, Matt, who is unaware of her job. As wedding plans draw close, she wonders whether she should tell him what she does and would she then miss turning tricks? This is often illustrated during her therapy [...]

I plan to spend no longer than five minutes writing a review of the last book I read. It might take you under a minute to read it.
I would like to shift the balance towards less thinking and more producing in my life. A lot of pondering without much outputting is exactly what has stopped [...]

10 Reasons Clients Don't Care About Accessibility
I am incredibly privileged in that I develop websites for the UK government, where accessibility is a constant preoccupation
(tags: accessibility technology usability web website css design)

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | The beauty products from the skin of executed Chinese prisoners
'A Chinese cosmetics company [...] is developing collagen for [...]

A Really, Really, Really Good Introduction to XML [XML, XSLT & Web Services]
From the basics to building an XML-powered content management system
(tags: coding computer development howto tutorial xml)

The Telecrapper 2000 telemarketer interception system
'A computerized system designed to both intercept incoming Telemarketing calls on the first ring, and then carry on a virtual conversation with the [...]

IM Fone - Bluetooth based device allows using cell phone to make calls via IM - Phoneyworld.com
A gadget you plug into the USB port, pairs up with your cell phone and lets you call any landline in the world via imtel or Skype, within a range of 50 metres from the computer.
(tags: computer mobile technology [...]

Voltaic Backpack, Solar Backpack, Solar Bag
'Embedded in the outside of the bags are three lightweight, tough, waterproof solar panels which generate up to 4 watts of power [...] The bags come with a set of 11 standard adaptors.'
(tags: design mobile shopping technology travel power solar)

I confess: I have been enjoying The Emancipation of Mimi. Sue me.
I listen to the worst in pop but have never liked Mariah Carey. However, her voice seems to have taken on a huskier warmth over the years, and if you strip the sound from any accessory ego trip antics (introducing her personal water carrier [...]

Pets In Uniform
It's pets! In Uniform! It's creepy!
(tags: pets cats dogs web humour)

Dictionaraoke.org - The Singing Dictionary
'This site features parodies of popular songs using karaoke-style backing music with vocals provided by audio pronunciation samples from online dictionaries.' It rocks.
(tags: dictionary audio humour language)

La Saga Cigarette | Cigarette packs collection
Some of the old designs and names [...]

Last night I reunited with the fabulous Sitges holiday posse for our three-month-on get-together, very fittingly at Navarro's, a Spanish restaurant in Charlotte Street.
Memories were shared (our girls talking random strangers into taking their tops off in clubs), plans for next year's break were tentatively drawn (Israel?), imaginatively named desserts were savoured (gypsy's arm, anyone?).
We [...]

I just watched Charlotte Church's Call My Name video. Great song, average shoot, and a twist right after the song ends that had me laughing very loudly for almost a minute.
I shall not go into further details so I don't spoil it for those who have not seen it yet. Made my day. Still smiling.

Watch [...]

Mad-Eyes - Confessions On A Dancefloor
Facts (and rumours) about Madonna's upcoming 'future disco' album.
(tags: madonna music)

Anil Dash: Web Development Trends for 2006
'…a list of up-and-coming trends that you should keep an eye on. Call it vocational education for people building Web 2.0.'
(tags: development internet technology web trends)

Live lightning
Map showing real-time instances of thunderstorms in a 375-mile radius around London. Refreshes every minute.
(tags: britain uk thunderstorm map weather)

Open House London home
'Every September the annual Open House London event takes place and this year the dates are 17th & 18th September 2005 . Over 600 buildings are opening their doors to everyone and [...]

Dieux Du Stade Calendar 2006 | ProwlerDirect
Preorder your copy now (available from 22 September 2005)
(tags: calendar rugby gay dieuxdustade france)

Mint: A Fresh Look at Your Site
One of the reasons I never - EVER! - check stats for my weblog is that the information is incomplete and not easily available. And I don't care how many people read me and where they come from. If i did, I'd probably spend 30 USD on Mint.
(tags: application [...]

NME.COM | Kate Bush announces new album details
'Aerial', Kate Bush's DOUBLE album, out on November 7, preceded by the single 'King of the Mountain' on October 24.
(tags: katebush music)