A Welsh View

Daily Links

Man Shoots Self After Taxi Robbery [via Toronto Star]
2,666 Jugs of Urine Found on Highways [via Yahoo!]
Dwarf 'Refused A Ladder' [via The Sun]

Funny Saddam Pics

This is probably just the beginning of the Saddam photoshopping.

char msg[] = {78,111,119,32,72,105,114,105,110,103,0};

When Electronic Arts decided to woo staff from Radical Entertainment, it set up a billboard only a computer nerd could read.

Vancouver video-game maker Electronic Arts is using in-your-face tactics to try to recruit employees away from rival Radical Entertainment.

A billboard on Terminal Avenue near Main Street says "now hiring," followed by EA Canada's logo.

What has raised eyebrows at Radical is the fact that the message is in ASCII code -- a computer language in which numbers are used to represent letters -- and that the billboard is only about 100 metres from the company's head office.

Because of its location and its cryptic message, it's clearly aimed at wooing away Radical's software engineers and programmers, Radical chief executive Ian Wilkinson said Tuesday.

[via Canada.com]

Pub Quiz

Last night I attempted the local pub quiz and didn't do very well. Given that our team only consisted of my father and me, when most teams have an average of 4 players, and that I'm not very good with a lot of the questions, we didn't do too bad.

Have a go and see how well you do. There are two questions missing, ones that I didn't have enough time to write down.

Update: I shall post the answers to the quiz later in the week.

Quiz Of The Year's News

BBC: Quiz of the year's news

It's the time of year for 52 Weeks 52 Questions. Test yourself on 2003's ups and downs, winners and losers in the first installment of our four-part quiz.

Part one is published today, with part two on Wednesday, part three on Thursday and a multi-media finale on Friday. Each day has 12 questions and a prize question.

How much do you know?

Man Breaks Most Body Piercings Record

Brent Moffatt from Winnipeg, Canada, pierces himself with surgical needles as he sets a Guinness record for most body piercings, in Montreal, December 13, 2003. Moffatt inserted 900 needles into his legs to break his previous record of 702 piercings.

Birthday Calculator

You were born on a Wednesday under the astrological sign Libra. Your Life path number is 8.

The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2443799.5.
The golden number for 1978 is 3.
The epact number for 1978 is 21.
The year 1978 was not a leap year.

As of 12/16/2003 7:12:07 AM CST
You are 25 years old.
You are 302 months old.
You are 1,313 weeks old.
You are 9,190 days old.
You are 220,567 hours old.
You are 13,234,032 minutes old.
You are 794,041,927 seconds old.

There are 307 days till your next birthday
and 9 days till Christmas!

The moon's phase on the day you were
born was waning gibbous.

[via Attu sees all]

Burglar Steals Entire Kitchen, Installs In Own House!

Ananova: Burglar steals entire kitchen from house

A burglar has been jailed after stealing an entire kitchen, including the sink, from an unoccupied house and installing it in his own home.

Patrick Corby used power tools to strip £30,000 worth of property from the house over a number of days, including the fitted kitchen, freezer and fridge, a dresser and carpets.

The kitchen was later found fitted at Corby's home in Briar Crescent, Exeter where a total of 84 items stolen from the house were discovered, said prosecutor Richard Crabb.

Saddam Action Figure For Sale

It didn't take long for a bearded Saddam doll to surface.

An action figure in the shape of a bearded Saddam Hussein has gone on sale on a US-based website.

The Hero Builders have a series of figures including Hussein, George W Bush and a Tony Blair doll called Talking British Ally, for sale.

The 12-inch Saddam figure, with an Ace of Spades t-shirt costs $29.95 (£18), plus packaging and postage.

The website also has an action figure of Saddam with a moustache, which can be fitted with S&M gear at an extra charge.

Herobuilder also sells a Dead On Arrival doll of one of Saddam's sons, Uday.

It has two heads, one before his death in a shootout with Coalition troops and the other after.

[via Ananova]

Longhorn To Cost More Than Sending Man To Moon

Here's an interesting quote from an article on The Inquirer regarding Microsoft's next OS, Longhorn:

'This OS, according to Microsoft chief architect Bill Gates, will cost more to develop than it did the US government to put a man on the moon.'

Longhorn could cost significantly more if reports in the media last Friday are anything to go by. Originally due to ship in 2005, it could be delayed until possibly 2008 or 2009 although it is more likely to shipped between late 2006 and mid 2008.

New Government Internet Access Target - Too Ambitious?

The Guardian: Hewitt wants internet access for all by 2008

The government yesterday pledged itself to one of the most stretching technology targets in Europe, saying that every home in Britain will have access to online services within the next five years.

[...]

Announcing publication of the UK Online annual report, Ms Hewitt said yesterday the government still planned to provide internet access for all who want it by 2005 but a new target is needed.

As a result the government is planning to appoint a Digital Inclusion Panel that will advise on how to bring the benefits of online access - through computers, TV and even mobile phones - to the whole of Britain by 2008.

[...]

News of the latest target was welcomed by BT, which owns the route of access to the internet for most British households. "Will they achieve it? In a way that is not so important - what is important is we are trying as a community to get there and there are benefits to be had regardless of how close we get," said Pierre Danon, head of BT's retail business.

M.I.T. Publish Largest Commercial Book

NY Times: For a Small Kingdom, a Visual History in a Big Book

"Bhutan," to be released today, is five feet high, opens to nearly seven feet wide, and weighs more than 130 pounds. A picture book of 114 pages, it pushes the technological frontiers of digital photography and computer printing.

Each book uses a roll of paper 5 feet wide and 400 feet long, a third longer than a football field. Each copy consumes two gallons of ink and takes 24 hours of printer time.

The big book is also a philanthropic endeavor. The plan is to print 500 copies of the book, with a price of $10,000 each. Each book costs about $1,000 to produce; the remaining $9,000 will be a tax-deductible charitable contribution. The proceeds will go to the Bhutan ministry of education and into a scholarship fund to send Bhutanese students to college abroad.

The technical challenges of producing the book were many. To make such large pictures print crisply and clearly requires densely packed image files of about two gigabytes, which strain the capacity of today's software and printers. Pushing the limits of every element of the hardware and software technology at once meant constant tweaking and debugging.

Update: Amazon are selling this book for $10,000 but it's currently out of stock. However, they do allow you to look inside the book. I can just imagine the postman trying to deliver it! [via The Presurfer]

UFO/Alien Related Headlines From The Weekly World News

Here's a list of amusing UFO/Alien related headlines that have appeared in the wacky 'newspaper', The Weekly World News. Here are a few examples:

`WE WERE MARRIED ON A UFO!'

WOMAN USES BUG SPRAY TO KILL E.T.!

HELL IS ON THE PLANET VENUS

12-MILE-LONG SNAKE FOUND ON MOON

`SPACE ALIENS TURNED MY HUBBY INTO A COCKROACH!'

UFO SPACE TRAIN ORBITING EARTH

Noah's Ark Found In North Korea

Weekly World News: Noah's Ark Found In North Korea (W/ Pic!)

Noah's Ark has been found in North Korea -- but demented dictator Kim Jong Il won't let Americans near it.

Scientists and theologians are banned from approaching the greatest archaeological find of modern times, now guarded by a full armored division.

Kim has bizarre plans for the ancient artifact, which surfaced last month in a village on the northeastern corner of the Korean peninsula some 50 miles south of the Yalu River.

Scientists say the wacko strongman will use the Ark as a bargaining chip to wring trade concessions and financial aid from the United States.

According to archaeologist Martin Bemis, reports reaching the West reveal that the 5,000-year-old Ark, resting on a barren mountainside, is largely intact, though roofless.

[...]

Reports already reaching Washington warn that Kim Jong Il, desperate and deranged, is threatening to blow up the Ark unless his demands are met.

Comet Christmas Game

Pilot Comet & Santa around the training area by using your mouse - the objective is to deliver as many presents as accurately as possible. As you progress through the levels, you will have more presents to choose from.

Builders On Speed

This must be the fastest that I've ever seen builders work! Apparently this is the fastest a Habitat for Humanity house has ever been built, constructed in just 3 hours, 26 minutes and 34 seconds. [via Milk and Cookies]