that canadian girl

Latest adventures…

  • Think before you register a domain name

    Why you should take time to think about what domain name to register:

    The following domains are real.

    Firstly there is Who Represents?, a database for agencies to the rich and famous: http://www.whorepresents.com

    Second is the Experts Exchange, a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views: http://www.expertsexchange.com

    Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island: http://www.penisland.net

    Need a therapist? Try: http://www.therapistfinder.com

    Finally we have the Mole Station Native Nursery, based in New South Wales: http://www.molestationnursery.com

    (From Sandstorming via Digg)

  • Leaving Comments

    Recently, I’ve been trying to cut down on spam in the comments, and it’s been working. But I’m also concerned it’s cutting out some genuine messages from readers. So if you’ve left a comment and it hasn’t shown up, please drop me an email or leave a shoutbox message to let me know!

    Otherwise, you lot aren’t commenting very often considering the number of hits a day that come through! 😉 Do say hi sometimes!

  • Today's shopping discoveries

    We went into Cambridge for the first time today with the sole purpose to walk around and do some window shopping. The weather was lovely and warm, 24 degrees Celcius apparently, and people were out in full force.

    I went into Lush, one of my favourite stores of all times, and got myself a few little treats. A Karma bath bomb, a Glitterbug to give me some sparkle in the evening, a Te’o deodorant because I’m curious to see if they work and finally, a Whoosh! temple balm to help me when my brain decides to stop working in the middle of a big project “because that’s the sound of deadlines when they rush by you and you must catch up”.

    Afterwards, we stopped in Whittards because I’d walked by a million times but never went in. I bought a pot of Chai Latte instant drink mix. It is SO tasty, it’s heavenly and I recommend it to everyone!

    We then pottered over to the Cho Mee, a Chinese supermarket on Mill Road, and picked up some nice pork dumplings for lunch, as well as a ton of noodles of all sorts to last us a long time! I bought Tapioca balls in the hope of making Bubble Tea sometime soon, but it looks like getting the other ingredients (if I want flavoured tea powders and big thick straws) might be a challenge as Bubble Tea is completely unknown in the UK.

    Now, we’ve got a lovely relaxing evening at home. Might just need to have a bath with some of my Lush products. Mmmmm nice!

  • Funny Google Searches – Part V

    We’re only halfway through October and it’s already raining with fantastic stupid Google searches!

    The stats package I’m using behind the scenes is AwStats, a free open-source log file analyser.

    • “strippers croydon lunchtime” – Everything about this search is so seedy, why oh why???
    • “marde menorca hotel” – This may only be funny to French speaking people, but *giggles* marde hihihi
    • “jordan chavette” shortly followed by “subwoofer disguised as a nos tank” – This search must’ve been made by an Essex boy, about two things close to his Barry heart.
    • “what to do on a rainy day with a girl?” – Well, you can string pink popcorn to make necklaces or play Barbies. That’s all girls do on rainy days, isn’t it?
    • “what would the circus want with a plumber explanation” – Aww bless, someone didn’t get the joke (see here for joke)
    • “dogging chav” followed by “ahhh my eyes” – Yep, my thoughts too
    • “england drinking laws” – The Law: Drink as much as you can, drink as often as you can, and definitely drink at lunchtime on Fridays
    • “rachel elnaugh bust” – Ok, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and assume you’re not looking for pictures of Rachel’s bust, but rather information on her company going bust. At least, that’s what I’m praying for.
    • “nag annoy angry ringtone phone download” – Or how to be hated by your coworkers in one easy step
    • “google earth zoom at girls” – Sorry chappie! Google Earth doesn’t let you zoom in THAT closely yet!
    • “carol vordeman facelift?” – It wasn’t just a *face* lift, honey.

  • Award for the most incompetently managed company

    And the award goes to NTL, broadband Internet, phone and television provider to a few millions of sorry customers.

    The story goes like this: We lived in Sawbridgeworth and had no choice to get NTL for broadband, as it was the only provider in the area. In September 2004, we disconnected from NTL, changing to Sky for TV, BT for phone and Pipex for Internet service. It took 4 months for NTL to believe we’d left them. Four months, 5 registered mail letters and a couple dozen phone calls later, the call centre minions still weren’t getting the point so we contacted the head office, who immediately sorted the problem. Or so we thought.

    Every desperate flyer and junk mail we now get from NTL, asking us if we’d like to join them and use their fantastic service has made me smirk since then.

    Since THIS September, which is September 2005, a whole year later, we’ve received a phone bill from them. Andrew called and reminded them that a. we’d moved house, b. we’d changed phone number and c. that new number wasn’t even in use by anyone! They mumbled an apology and promised it wouldn’t happen again. But again today, we’ve received a bill for £2.74 for phone calls! It’s beyond a joke!

    Moral of this story: Don’t use NTL, they’ll follow you to your grave! And if you’re a Telewest Broadband customer, run for your life before NTL’s incompetence spreads through!

  • The great thing about working from home is…

    I can sing and mumble while working, and nobody looks at me funny. I can even do a little jig while going over to the printer.

    (And then I snap out of it and think how, even if no one’s watching, I look like a complete idiot!)

  • Used Books Swap

    In the news, about 4 months ago, a website was launched where users could register and swap second hand books for no cost other than shipping to each other. I remember registering for that website, but I can’t seem to find any emails containing my registration details, and the website seems impossible to find in search engines.

    What I remember:
    1. It’s a UK-based site
    2. It requires a free registration to be able to properly swap with other users
    3. It was launched approx 4 months ago
    4. I found it via a news source, but BBC isn’t yielding any results.

    Is anyone able to help with figuring out the name and URL of the site? I’ll give you a cookie* if you find it! Pleaaaase, my memory’s terrible!

    * Will give cookie recipe for you to make your own 😉

  • Christmas gadgets

    The race is on!

    Before we even put away our summer clothes, shops bring in the Christmas stock; chocolates in festive colours, sparkly decorations for the tree but most of all, electronics of all sorts, announced with as much fuss as possible.

    The gadgets market has undeniably gone beyond the stereotypical young hip man with money to burn. Everyone, man, woman, young and old, has taken a fancy to the iPod or the Nintendogs – it’s just the way it is.

    Hitwise’s Heather Hopkins demonstrates that already, between July and September, trends are clearly visible as to which gadgets have won the hearts of consumers.

    “Hitwise Search Intelligence reveals that searches for ‘ipod nano’ have overtaken searches for ‘ipod’ for the first time, and are set to overtake searches for ‘psp’ (Sony’s PlayStation Portable) which launched to a fanfare of enthusiasm earlier this month. Since reaching a peak in the week ending 3rd September, searches for ‘PSP’ have since fallen by 34%.”

    Meanwhile the E1 ROKR phone, also known as the iTunes phone, has been getting the attention it deserves – None. Or at least, very little. Because it’s completely rubbish and doesn’t come up the ankle of gadgets like the Nano or my very favourite, the Mini.

    While the PSP remains quite a popular search term, the Nintendo DS doesn’t seem to register on the radar yet. I’m sure it’ll come, as being an unexpensive unit (£90-100 with Nintendogs game included versus the £180 PSP pre-games and pre-protective case) launched in the Spring, it now has the potential of reaching an otherwise less often targeted group of consumers.

    NintendogsLet’s be honest here, Nintendogs is a game where you teach your virtual pet dog to do tricks at the command of your voice and interact with other virtual dogs. I’m not sure it’ll quite cut the mustard for the usual GTA kill-kill-die-die hardcore gamer. But it’ll certainly suit those too old to own a Tamagochi. Because that’s effectively what it is, a very sophisticated Tamagochi.

    As the Hitwise article points out, add the Xbox 360, due in early December, and we have quite an explosive mix racing to be the most awaited present under the Christmas tree.

    Have YOU started your shopping yet?

  • After almost a month…

    I like being back on a Mac more and more!

    This weekend, I found out that OS 9.2 is contained on the CD that comes with the Mac Mini. Of course, I installed it and went straight to the Mac Garden for some good ol’ abandonware.

    Started with a few games of Desert Trek, which is just as funny and crummy as ever! Even just watching OS 9 load up with the useless extensions at the bottom is a fantastic blast from the past!

    Desert Trek

    I’ve got SimCity at hand to install now and Painter 7. Julie – Painter *7*, woooowwwww! 😉 (For everyone else – my sisters still insist on using Painter 3, even though it’s ancient and I’ve offered them newer software a million times!)

    All in all, I don’t miss anything from my old PC, having all the necessary software to make my Mac fully compatible with the overwhelming majority of PCs that surround it, which is the only thing that used to annoy me with older Macs.

    Alright, out for some fresh air now. Brain’s lacking in oxygen slightly…

  • A smoking monkey to entertain the children

    Ok… so this story is nearly a week old by now, but it really fascinates me still, as it’s just so odd.

    Ai Ai, the Chinese monkey, has kicked her smoking habit after 16 years.

    The creepiest part is how the monkey’s standing in this BBC article. It looks like a looking-old-for-her-age 45 year old smoker. She’d have yellowed fingers, tired grey skin and yellowing blonde hair, with a grim outlook on life.

    But fortunately, being a monkey, someone else has forced her to quit smoking and she’s become perfectly happy with her new diet of “fried dishes and dumplings at every meal”.

    Not fair… she eats better than me and gets all her meals cooked for her!