A friend of mine has just completed some design work on a site Shuddervision. He’s pretty good on his design (although I’m still ribbing him to this day about his explanation of CMS meaning ‘control management system’ come on Tom, get it fixed!).
Anyway, the video on the homepage of that site reminded me of this oldie but goodie (well, it’s not that old.. but it is good):
And as it happened, I needed something to distract me from twitter (now there’s a thought eh?!)
Google Moderator Logo
This was a bit out of the blue, but for the first time in ages I clicked on the ‘Everyone’ stream in Twitter, and the second tweet on the screen was this from Brit. Turns out I caught that tweet 22 seconds after she posted, and as far as I know it was the first announcement of Google’s ‘Moderator’.
The Appspot Moderator is a place to ask Google Engineers a question directly, and there’s a voting system in place but I’m not really sure why. The help doesn’t actually say very much. But, you do get to ask any question you like of Matt Cutts, Adam Lasnik, and eight other Googlers.
Stupidly (?), I asked a serious question (partly based on something Rand wrote a while back, and partly simply to see what kind of response we’ll get through this new forum – and it is a question a few people will be interested in getting an answer to). TBH, Vanessa Fox’s question was much smarter.
You can also ask questions to world leaders (living or not) or suggest Android Apps. Does that indicate there won’t be many answers forthcoming? I guess we’ll have to see.
I did, of course, tweet this find out but maybe because of the time, or maybe because I don’t have that many followers, it only got a few clicks.
I’ve since found this post on the App Engine Blog, but I was a little surprised it wasn’t ranking top for [google moderator].
So this was my question – vote me up!!
My Google Moderator Question to Matt Cutts
I’ll be interested to know what you think…
Just a few things I’ve picked up over the last few days / weeks / months…
tr.im is a handy URL shortening service, since Jane over at the Moz went into such depth on the various services that have sprung up I thought I’d try a few out and this one seems to fit. Not quite as good browser integration as TinyURL but seeing as Tiny has been playing up for me it was a timely change. I do like the Moz.
This is an interesting look at Social Network use geographically, and although the data and graphs aren’t perfect because of a number of things Google (and searchers) do, it’s still a bunch of pretty pictures that you can choose to gleam some information from if you want to.
I just can’t help but find this mofo’s stuff funny, but this could actually be useful for quick edits here & there (instead of simply side-splittingly funny). Not bad for an intelligent guy who plays the fool all too well. Also check out his Low Priority Page, but don’t make it a priority.
I also enjoy the occasional FAIL, but it’s nice to balance them out with a rare WIN.
2.1 does indeed seem much better than previous firmwares, as I randomly tweeted earlier. Jailbreak and all the excellent supporting software is a lot down to these tremendous folk.
And this is timeless, especially seeing as my daughter is watching all of the Star Wars films incessantly at the moment.
Ooooh, it’s been a while since I’ve been here..
Here’s a quick blast from the past to brighten up your day. You might like the gawky 80s backgrounds and effects, the sentiment might engender an urge to optimise your conversion rates or PPC a little further, or you might just like the tune.
Building up my troubles to the size of a cow? Maybe. Hey, this is this.. wise up sucker!
Not ten minutes ago I was playing Scrabulous on Facebook, something I do every now and again to flex my mental muscles, get my head round some general wordiness, and, of course, whup my friends.
I’m sure most people are familiar with the scrabble game that’s taken the FB by storm since the web game was ported onto the platform. Unsurprisingly it’s caused a bit of a stir with the 2 major rights holders (Mattel and Hasbro, in different parts of the world), and their online sub-licensees, EA and Real Networks (again, for different parts of the world). Well now there’s a real storm kicked up as Hasbro / EA have forced the issue and had Scrabulous removed from Facebook.
This has all happened, as far as I can tell, in the last hour or so. I played moves in two games in that last hour, and then within minutes of patting myself on the back for being rather canny there was no trace of the game on Facebook at all. Even a search for the application returned a ‘page not found’ error, although very quickly there have been more Scrabulous support groups spring up and even a ‘Save Scrabulous’ application has appeared.
I’m pretty annoyed, although I guess it was in the post. I wasn’t aware that EA were developing an online version of Scrabble with the intention of making a social networking (i.e. Facebook) version, but apparently it’s already available. And they know they can’t compete fairly with Scrabulous’s half a million regular daily users… but of course they don’t have to.
Supposedly the action was taken in America to protect the US and Canadian rights that Hasbro and EA hold, but it hasn’t taken long for it to filter through to the UK. TechCrunch called it vapourware in an earlier article this month which leads into this article on today’s events in the Washington Post, and twitter is currently alight with chatter.
To add fuel to the fire, the official version of the game has been hacked and is inaccessible at time of writing. You can find out a bit more of the conversation about this over at Digg, but this has definitely caused problems for the official rights holders in North America at a time when I’m sure they were planning on making a few converts out of moping Scrabulous fans.
As the EA version of Facebook Scrabble is only available in North America, which means that folks in the UK (and other parts of the world) can’t play their mates across the pond anymore, there’s going to be further backlash.
There is a Mattel version called Scrabble Worldwide now available on FB also, but this specifically states that it is not available to users in the USA or Canada, so the same problem exists there too. I’m not sure whether Hasbro, Mattel, EA, and Real will get their acts together and sort out some way of linking the games together – but of course there’s all sorts of underlying issues like advertising revenues to get in the way of that so even if it could happen it’s probably going to be a long way off.
Scrabulous.com is still up and running at the moment, and it will be interesting to see how long that lasts and whether there’s a mass migration out of Facebook just for people to play – after all, there’s no reason why you can’t have another tab open in FireFox.
I guess I’ll have to figure something out with my regular opponents, and maybe even revisit the game in the real world again (you can’t beat the deluxe edition board). I might even buy some of these 1337 tiles to make the real game a bit more net-geek-y…
Triffsco Inferno sent me this link earlier. It’s pretty funny. Ok, it’s not so funny that I have a stitch in my side, but a stitch in time saves nine. Or something..
I saw some of Jay-Z at Glastonbury a few weeks back. Watched about 15 minutes. He was shit, so I moved on to go catch some comedy. I thought it was good that he was there, and all this palaver about how they were ruining the festival by having a rapper headline is just complete rubbish; one of the best things about Glasto is that there’s so much there and it’s always growing and moving in new directions. I just didn’t dig his vibe, at the time.
Anyway, cheers Triff. As always, you’re a star. A bit messed up, but a star none the less.
Well, it appears that bots are getting reasonably sophisticated in the throwing not too non-sensical lines back over IM. Either that or this bloke is a moron. Either way, I felt I had to just keep the conversation alive just a little while longer; I was being idle, but of course their time (or processing power) is money… however miniscule the amount.
20:31
evelynkunivy@hotmail.com
Hi
20:31
swerve
hi
20:32
swerve
i’m going to take a wild guess that my brother instigated this?
perhaps not
20:36 Message could not be sent because a connection error occurred:
20:36 Message could not be sent because a connection error occurred:
20:36 Message could not be sent because a connection error occurred:
20:36
swerve
?
20:37
evelynkunivy@hotmail.com
hey, A/S/L?
20:38
swerve
25/m/amsterdam
20:39
evelynkunivy@hotmail.com
hey whats up babe, U got a webcam? finally someone adds me, I am soo fuckin horny today for some reason lol
20:40
swerve
you’re surfing for ppl with webcams? is that a regular pastime of yours?
i don’t have one i’m afraid
20:41
evelynkunivy@hotmail.com
listen hun, I am just about to start my webcam show with jen, come chat me there in my chat room? We can cyber, I will get naked if u do..lol!
20:42
swerve
why would i want to do that? i live in amsterdam!
20:43
evelynkunivy@hotmail.com
I can show u how to watch if u promise not to tell anyone else how to do it???PLEASE
20:44
swerve
you want me to watch you?
20:46
evelynkunivy@hotmail.com
well since its the law that u gotta be 18 (nudity involved), u have to sign up with a credit card for age verification! BUT.. Once you are inside, just clikc on “Webcams” let me know what name you use to sign in with so I know it is you babe! http://XXXXXX.lovelXXXXgirls.com/ fill out the bottom of the page then fill out the next page as well and u can see me live!
20:47
swerve
or in about an hour or so i can just walk up the street and watch fine ladies dancing in their windows
are you a berk?
20:48
evelynkunivy@hotmail.com
Please dont mention anything about that in the chatroom once u get in ok?
20:49
swerve
people from amsterdam aren’t normally allowed inyour chatrooms?
why? is it offensive?
we’re pretty tolerant you know
20:50
evelynkunivy@hotmail.com
OH SHIT.. k I am late to start my show, I gotta get off msn…I will see ya inside my chatroom babe.. remember not to mention that I am upgrading u… You can use your msn name to sign in so i know it is you..
20:51
swerve
ok thanks
20:51
evelynkunivy@hotmail.com
AUTO-RESPONSE: hey just in the middle of my webcam show if you want to watch click the link http://XXXXXX.lovelXXXXgirls.com/
20:51
swerve
auto
wow
and here’s me thinking you’re a bot all along
21:05
evelynkunivy@hotmail.com disconnected
Having interesting things around is always a good thing. It keeps us stimulated and provides both inspiration and the potential to lift a mood.
One of my good friends is an artist, and he’s starting to make a career out of it which is good for him. All of his family are a bit arty in some way or another, and they’re all interesting people to have around. From them, I’ve gained some insight into what good art (and bad art too) is about.
One of the many modes that my friend has introduced me to in recent years is that of street art and the various other forms and styles that surround it. Graffiti, stickers, and the more ‘high-brow’ stuff that has emerged out of that scene.
Some of the good stuff is from OBEY. I have a limited print of the ‘Jonesy’s Jukebox’ thanks to a hat tip a few months back. Signed by both the artist and Mr. Jones himself, and shipped from the US of A all for a few measly $20 notes down the wire.
I noticed a few weeks ago that OBEY are doing a new line, all based around animals. A bit quirky, but the same inimitable style. I’m using the Chairman Meow as the wallpaper to one of my monitors just now. Pretty cool.
Chairman Meow by OBEY The Kitty | Courtesy of OBEY & CafePress
Anyhoo, if you’re in the market for something to brighten up your walls and brighten up your day, perhaps you’d like to take a look at this underground art gallery which is run by another one of my friends. Alternatively, you can always head over to OBEYgiant.
When did this happen? Well, hey say it’s a month early and it’s also called Tyner.
Seeing as it was so painless to install, I’m quite impressed. But then, I’m not running any fancy stuff, so I guess you should expect that. Now I’ll have to go look under the hood.
This Is What I’m Listening to Right Now
Yeah, I’m a hiphopster. Sometimes.
Quite a few folk were down on Shadow when his last album, The Outsider, came out. I don’t see why (and I didn’t see why at the time either). He explained what he was doing, and I think it’s just as good as anything else he’s done – so pretty awesome all told.
This track sticks out from the rest of the album, but it’s one of my favourite of his tracks because it’s so upbeat. It’s got that goodtime vibe and you just can’t help but smile and tap or click something.
I think maybe I’ll be posting more about music. We’ll see.