bitful

Mi vergogno di essere italiano
I am ashamed to be Italian
Literally: 'Myself (I) shame of being Italian'.

An Italian senator who announced he wanted to switch back to support the government (after his party withdrew from the ruling coalition, thereby causing the prime minister to resign and the government to fall), was called a "piece of shit, [...]

We had to replace our beard trimmer because I dropped it and even after getting a replacement head it does not work properly. As in, it pulls your facial hair instead of trimming it, and often stops half-way through.
I did a little research online and it turns out that the one we have (a Philips [...]

WordPress is great. However, upgrading to the latest version can be a bit of a struggle. There are quite a few thinks to keep track of (especially if you are a heavy customiser) and do in the right sequence.
If you have more than one installation, you can spend the best part of an evening doing [...]

From Doris Lessing's Nobel prize acceptance speech:
We are in a fragmenting culture, where our certainties of even a few decades ago are questioned and where it is common for young men and women who have had years of education, to know nothing about the world, to have read nothing, knowing only some speciality or other, [...]

There's nothing I like on TV these days.
Apart from the fantastic Flight of the Conchords, all saved up on the PVR for a rainy day marathon, all I record now is filler TV, the kind of stuff I play back at 1.5 speed while folding laundry (i.e. Project Runway, The X Factor and Ugly Betty).
Last [...]

I seem to be unable to travel without electronics to keep me entertained during trips. A what? A 'book', you say? Is it something I can download on my phone?
So when I book seats I try and get one that's got a power outlet for laptops and phones.
Not if you book online, you can't. You [...]

You might be aware of Beacon, Facebook's new advertising platform that allows Facebook's partners to place a cookie on your machine when you shop with them, and next time you log on to Facebook you are notified that the retailer is sending a story to your profile that says 'X bought (played, watched, etc.) Y [...]

When I heard Barclays was releasing a three-in-one Credit, Oyster (London transport) and OneTouch (cashless purchases under ten pounds by waving the card on a reader) OnePulse Barclaycard, I was the first in line to get it.
The accompanying leaflet showed the logos of some of the retailers that will be accepting OneTouch payments soon: Books [...]

I took Tickle's Original Inkblot Test online, to check if the lovely warm results you get are there to make you want to buy the full report.
Guess what? I'm a lovely, lovely person, and I can find out more lovely lovely things about myself if I cough up 8 pound 95 pence. This is what [...]

Five Reasons Why Web 2.0 People Need to Shut The F**k Up about the Mobile Web,
in reply to
Five Reasons Why The Mobile Web Sucks.
I totally agree with the content (but perhaps not the tone) of the top article. I consume cartloads of mobile content every day (on T-Mobile "unlimited - as long as you do [...]

So now I'm told that my mother has been in hospital for a week. Same medical problems she had a few months ago. She is waiting to hear what they think she has this time, hopefully in a few days and not after weeks like last time.
I could not sleep last night, snoozed on the [...]

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Broken glasses with sticky tape, originally uploaded by bitful.

I broke my spectacles one week before going on holiday.
I was due my annual checkup anyway, so I went to have my eyes tested - for [...]

This morning at 7.30 I was exactly forty and a half years old.
Which means that that moment on I am closer to being forty-one than I'll ever be to forty again.
Strangely, the thought does not worry me at all. I seem to focus all my worry on how on earth I am going to cope [...]

Don't sneer - not everyone is as web-savvy as you lot.
So yes, these days anyone who's anyone in social media circles is jumping Twitter's ship and moving over to Pownce. It's sort of like Twitter, but with file share (messages, links, files, and events). It's sort of like IM, but you can send files to [...]

My del.icio.us tags are getting a bit out of control, so I tried using Matt Biddulph's stem identifier, but my bookmark thows a 503.
I did a quick search and I could only find The Amazing del.icio.us Stemmer, suitably renamed by the author The Broken del.icio.us Stemmer.
If you have any suggestions, the comment box (or my [...]

So last night I upgraded iTunes to v. 7.3 (the iPhone update). Why I did that, is totally beyond me (I'm very happy with my Windows Mobile thank you very much).
Anyway, I thought, new version, always good practice to update… Although, working in software product development myself, I should have known that sometimes it is [...]

The BBC News website has recently introduced a new section entitled 'Also in the news…' where odd, weird and bizarre items from across the website are displayed together.
I found out the hard way, because Also in the news has replaced Entertainment as the last section in the BBC News website left hand side navigation (which [...]

On the way home tonight (two tubes, one person under a train, a bus and a short walk) I clicked on a URL in an email on my phone to read a friend's message on Facebook, and the T-Mobile nanny informed me that
Content Lock has barred this service because this site is rated 18. [...]

A few statements (I'd say facts, but I have no means to verify them) from the article Revealed: Why prices are rising faster in rip-off UK (thisislondon.co.uk, 30 May 2007):

"British consumers are suffering the biggest increases in food prices and energy bills of any major economy"
"Tesco and Asda have claimed that poor harvests and rising [...]

Ten days ago I watched the BBC's undercover investigation on lack of basic hygiene in supermarkets.
For the last ten days I have been living on hard-boiled eggs, canned tuna, rolled oats, and assorted fruit and vegetables. Anything with the least amount of human filth added to it.
I can now button up my skinny jeans. Without [...]

I have always enjoyed the convenience of supermarket food. However, I have lately started reading labels a bit more thoroughly than just the calories content, and I did not like what I saw.
The other night I got stuck in watching Whistleblower on BBC1 against my better judgement:
For six months, two BBC reporters worked undercover to [...]

After what has been known as 'The Mika Incident' (I wowed the album for all of three days, then grew so tired of its repetitive songs and Scissor Sisters rip-off that even a fleeting glimpse of Mr Penniman's bouncy curls made me jump with all my weight on the 'Skip' button), I swore that I [...]

We are in the middle of British Sandwich Week 2007.
Unfortunately, we are also in the middle of our 'ZOMFG we only have three weeks to squeeze back into last year's swimsuits' week. There's no way I'm buying a larger size. I mean, my trunks were loose last year!
I know a sandwich can be a very [...]

My 2p on the Eurovision Song Contest, for decades cherished as a solitary guilty pleasure, for a bit enjoyed with like-minded lovers of all things camp, and this year forcing myself to listen to all forty-two dreary songs and watch it for old times' sake.
I feel very sorry for Malta. They want to win so [...]

Tomorrow Italian catholic groups are staging a national rally against civil partnerships and in support of traditional families.
That is, if you have not got a mummy and a daddy (or have more than one), or if you happen to shack up with someone of the same sex, you are made to feel like scum.
I cleverly [...]

I've been in Italy for the last few days to see my mother who is in hospital.
It is very hard to say whether it is serious or not; she had been losing a considerable amount of blood through her faeces and was taken into hospital to receive some blood transfusions and to undergo a series [...]

A few weeks ago I got into the habit of picking up a Del Monte ice smoothie on the way to work every morning. The perfect refreshment after a stifling tube journey.
'Only 96 calories', it says on the packaging, as well as 'No artificial colours, flavours, preservatives or sweeteners'. Well, they had me at '96 [...]

I always happily give away any pretense of privacy and let people access my data for a quid or two.
It is therefore hardly surprising that I always, always use my Tesco ClubCard, even when I but a stick of chewing-gum at a gas station. Then, every three months Tesco points turn up on my doorstep [...]

I have been running Windows Vista Home Premium for a couple of months now, and the biggest annoyance is that it refuses to retain your email account password(s) if you are using Outlook 2002.
Windows claims you need to enter your email account passwords every time because of security reasons. I say they do it to [...]

I always buy my one-month passes and top up pre-paid credit on my Oyster card online. It takes me seconds, one click or two, it's done. Call me irresponsible, but I trust people to keep my credit card number safe and I let them store its details for my next visit.
The greatest feature of the [...]