New Google Reader

After some adventures in desktop-reader-land I think I’m finally settling on Google Reader. It’s quick, clean and most of the time I have the browser open anyway.

Today I woke up early to find that it has a new, more ‘traditional’ layout, with feeds on the left and content on the right.

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I rather like it, although for some reason it was carrying some old posts from early September as unread. That was quickly fixed by clicking the Mark All as Read button.

Right, I’m off back to the UK for the weekend. Wish me a pleasant flight!

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Amstel Bock

Just trying to figure out what’s in Amstel Bock (a Dutch beer with a brown head and an ‘interesting’ muddy flavour) when I figured ‘this is the Internet. Everything has a website.’

Of course, there’s one called Rate Beer where you, umm, can rate the beer you drink.

Here’s Amstel Bock

How handy!

Borat Movie

Borat’s movie, ‘Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan’ will be released in America ‘Fall 2006’, with UK release pencilled in 3 November 2006.

Watch the trailer here.

Have a look at the quality promotional website here (sidenote: FINALLY a promotional website that doesn’t require you to sit for half an hour while their bloody Flash-heavy loading page decides whether to download or not)

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The Weirdest Thing…

This morning at about 11 I could hear something that sounded remarkably like a fog horn getting closer and closer.

Next thing I know a load (and I mean a load) of lorries are driving along the road outside, with police escort, all sounding their horns.

I reckon over a hundred lorries – I counted (very roughly) 120.

No particular explanation: no posters or advertising. I can’t find much on Google News, but maybe it’ll be on TV tonight. Maybe they just all fancied a day out.

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Genius

Sometimes great ideas come at the most unexpected of times.

This evening I was picking up an apple, when it hit me (the idea, not the apple)

People pay other people to pretend to be their friend, You can pay somebody to be your pretend boyfriend or girlfriend. They send you letters; they send you roses; they send you photos. Everybody thinks you’re popular and nobody’s the wiser.

Enter the blog. Humankind’s way of saying look at me, I have something to say about cats and stuff. If there ever was a soul-sucking experience it’s posting your deepest thoughts on the ‘net, and to then sit, waiting. Every time you hit refresh it still says “Comments (0)”

Nobody likes you.

So here’s my idea. If you pay me money, I’ll post a comment on your blog. Once a day, I’ll come to your blog, look around and find the most interesting new post. Then I’ll post a comment. I’ll use different names, so your real visitors will never know our little secret. I’ll even pretend that I’m interested, and will delight in your miscellaneous cat based world.

Curious? Pleasantly suprised? Perhaps there’s a business model here!

Flickr Groups

A while ago, I created a group in Flickr called ‘Liquids & their Containers’. I’d completely forgotten about this for ages, until just now when I realised that not only did the group exist, but it’s had a load of people post photos in it!

Euro Key

Speaking of key combinations, a friend asked me the other day how I got the Euro symbol € to appear in Windows.

It’s (on a UK keyboard at least) hold down Ctrl and Alt, and press 4.

The Windows Key

I’ve been told that my computer tips are the most interesting thing on here (hmm, cheers :-), so here’s one you may (or may not know).

The Windows key – found on most PC keyboards since the late nineties; it’s between Ctrl and Alt in the bottom left – can be used in combination with other keys to perform useful Windows shortcuts. Here are the ones I end up using all the time:

  • Windows Key + D: Minimises all your windows (literally – show desktop). Press it again to bring them back.
  • Windows Key + R: Shows the little Run dialog so you can launch programs like notepad or cmd
  • Windows Key + L: Locks your computer, quicker than doing the whole Ctrl+Alt+Del thing.
  • Windows Key + E: Brings up Windows Explorer

There are others, but these are the ones I definitely find most useful!

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