Toadfish Monastery

These are good:

http://twistedsifter.com/2015/03/mind-bending-optical-illusion-paintings-by-rob-gonsalves/

Had a lovely Skype with Australia yesterday. My son and d-i-l were trying to fence in their new enormous TV set using a play pen which you build yourself by clipping the four sides into each other. Their plan was to not join the last side so it could be stretched out like a fence with the outer sides angled in towards the wall on either side of the TV, thus forming a barricade. (the plan was a little short-sighted, once errected no one could see the lower half of the TV screen Lol., however they persevered.). The reason for this rather daft plan being that my grandson delights in electric cables and any piece of electrical equipment. They are absolutely his favourite things.

Needless to say he took a great interest in the building of the barrier and while that was going on he was quite happy to ignore the TV. But the minute it was finished........... he managed to squeeze past one side by the wall to start tugging at some of the wiring. So the sides were adjusted to stop him. Immediately, without even trying the same trick, (clearly judging it as no longer viable) just one year old, not yet walking without hanging onto something, he quickly crawled across the room to fetch one of those hard sort of cushion boxes on wheels that people have as adjuncts to arm chairs, and then raced along pushing it ahead of him getting up a good speed and slammed it into the "barrier"!! It was the funniest thing. Couldn't stop laughing. How to be outwitted by a one (just) year old......

You have to wonder though, if a baby can work out what he wants to happen, what is needed, then work out what is actually quite a complex plan, and then carry it out, what hope is there for the rest of us.

Greece votes to change billing address: http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2015/01/26/greece-votes-to-change-billing-address/

This is definitely worth 10 minutes.

[youtube=425,350]H3r9bOkYW9s[/youtube]

From the Open University

http://www.brainpickings.org/2013/11/13/open-university-history-of-the-english-language-animated/

Nice parody.

[youtube=425,350]jPaM6fxG7Vg[/youtube]

Stephen Fry is getting married.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/stephen-fry-confirms-hes-set-to-marry-his-toy-boy-lover-elliot-spencer-it-looks-as-though-a-certain-cat-is-out-of-a-certain-bag-9959570.html?dkdk%3Fcmpid=facebook-post#

QuoteThe British actor, 57, is set to wed his lover, stand-up comic Elliot Spencer, 27, in a private wedding.

It sort of surprises me - the age difference - which it should not as nothing wrong with age differences. But I just know people where the elder one gets hurt cos the younger ones often seem to move on eventually. Just feeling protective !

Do You Really Have Perfect English Skills?

I got:

Grammar Slammer

Exemplary, my liege! Your mastery of American English is unparalleled (not unparalelled as so many would believe) and your abundant knowledge is greatly appreciated (what, with there being a societal deprivation of such). Your innate intelligence is applied dutifully and naturally to such concepts as predicates, complements, objects, nouns, verbs, adjectives, and -GASP- spelling words correctly and/or using them in proper context! We bow to you, Grammar Master! Carrieth thy banner high and mighty!

Unfortunately they don't give the actual score but I can only assume I got them all right, except for the one that did not contain a correct answer to choose, where I must have chosen the best wrong answer.

http://www.playbuzz.com/jonb10/do-you-really-have-perfect-english

What Crime Did You Commit in Your Past Life?

I got:

Practicing Witchcraft

While living in colonial Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692, you were charged with performing witchcraft! Throughout this time, residents of Salem were accused of witchcraft and a series of trials and executions took place. After a young woman in the Village claimed to be possessed by the devil, she accused you of inflicting her with the spirit of Satan. After the rumors began spreading, a wave of hysteria washed over the community and you were thrown in jail. Luckily for you, the woman who accused you admitted that she was lying and you were set free.

So I didn't commit this crime as she was lying, so this is a daft result.

http://www.playbuzz.com/margottouitou10/what-crime-did-you-commit-in-your-past-life

I do a helpline online which has tables in Google docs that you can look up charities in various areas of the country to tell people about where they can get help.

Just now, logging in, I got a large warning box which said it was i2i@googlemail.com wanting to run a script. It said it would allow me to access the documents. So I said OK.

Then it immediately threw up a pop up box saying it was accessing my documents.

I kinda freaked. Was it really getting hold of stuff on my machine? I've no idea.

EDIT

OKOK it was a google thing i2icmail - probably fine.

I am doing a full av scan.



EDIT

Can't reproduce the problem. Hmmmm.

A brain-dead Irish woman's body is being used as an incubator. Be angry

Ireland's politicians tell us not to be emotional about the abortion debate but these are women's lives and it's right to be upset

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/19/dead-irish-woman-body-incubator-abortion?CMP=fb_gu

This is massive on FB. 500 odd comments. Most of them by pro-lifers defending the rights of the foetus to use the woman's dead body.


***actually this has happened before

Here's what I got:

Your soul's color is:

Silver

Silver souls are rare but they're also a level above everyone else. As a silver soul, you're wickedly smart, but you have a little bit of shyness that comes with the gift of intellect. You see the world in a sane and honest way so it's hard to be so sure of everything. Your brain excels at understanding problems that are fascinating and intriguing. Your mind is immersed in solving interesting challenges and exploring uncharted lands. You have an extremely high chance of affecting humanity in some enormous way!

Pretty good  

http://bitecharge.com/play/soulcolor/h4

I just got the wrong punch holes in my new diary insert and when I requested the right ones they told me they had stopped making them as it was now 12 years since the particular type of filofax I use had been discontinued.

So they said choose a new one and we will knock 50% off. (money, not 1/2 the filofax).

I ordered one today in gorgeous leather which I could afford with the discount.

But they've requested the wrong colour from dispatch and now I am waiting to find out if it can be correcteed.

The phone conversation had been one of those where she kept saying brown and I kept saying NO, I want the BLACK, I don't know how many times this happened, maybe 5 times, anyway she ordered brown. What with Christmas post I am worried I won't get my diary before year end when I started the whole procedure back at the beginning of November, and now I have loads of dates just scrawled on the back of my current one which ends on 31st Dec.

But the real point is, I find this sort of thing so stressful. I thought I'd ticked the task off my to do list and now it is back on. I have been unable to do anything other than fret all day. And of course now more ill because of it. I cannot cope with modern life. It is awful.

Hoping everyone gets safely out.

My son works in the financial centre of Sydney, but he is currently home asleep -- that is until I woke him up to find that out, forgetting about the time difference - Woops.

https://www.playbuzz.com/julianr12/what-philosophical-school-of-thought-are-you-in?pbg=8029

This is what I got:

A deeply rational School of Thought, Platonism seeks to examine and explore above all else. Although we may not reach the answers in this life a Platonist believes they are still out there.
"Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil"
- Plato

which is slightly odd, as there was a question incluing the option to respond there's nothing after death which I selected and the above implies there is "something".

I already own a Kindle Touch which I've had for 2 years. Shortly after I bought it they brought out the paper white and I lusted after it but managed to resist. But I've given in and just bought the new Kindle Voyage which I have been trying out for a couple of days now. Was it worth buying given I already have the Touch. YES! I love it. (and I do use my kindle every day after all).

The paper white and the adjustable light are great. Much easier on the eyes, and my eyesight is deteriorating, whether through age or illness I don't know.

I'm not so enthusiastic about the new page backwards and forwards pressure poiints at the sides - so far I automatically just keep touching the screen for that, and actually that seems more responsive. But they are useful for times when pressing on the screen keeps selecting something instead of going to the next page as wanted. But  there again, my old Touch never made that mistake, so perhaps they have built in the mistake to justify the new pressure points.

I haven't really got the hang of the new Collections design despite reading several articles and the user guide. I have got everything linked into Collections and Cloud etc. (had to do this manually as no Import Collections option which I don't understand as all the articles said there was) but I don't quite get whatever they've done to the front list page of items/collections. It doesn't seem to display these in the way the Touch did, and I am totally confused.

I get The Guardian on the Kindle, and it is not dealing with that in the same way as the Touch, and so far I am confused about what it is actually doing. (refering to where/how it displays the new issue and how it archives the last weeks copies).

I think my main criticism is that the Touch's functionality was very easy and intuitive and the Voyage is very confusing. Hoping I will get the hang of it once I've been using it for longer, otherwise I think I am going to get quite annoyed by it. The old Touch functions haven't changed, so that's ok, it's the new features they've added that are a struggle.

But overall, I am pleased with it. The actual reading is so much easier on my eyes, and that, after all, is what I use it for.

I've got a strange conundrum. I think there must be a logical reason but I can't work it out.

I have a nifty little program called File Monkey.

It can do many nice things with files and is very easy to use.

For example, change files date/time stamps.

I use it to copy folders/files out to USB drive.

I use the date function so effectively I back up all files since the last time I did it.

You cando this by file created date, or file modified date (a little irritating that can't do both in one operation).

So, this time, I did all files modified between 14/3/13 and 29/11/14.

Except the only files copied out were the recycle bin files. Nothing else was copied out at all.

Now all files created have a date modified even if they have only been created - ie. dates would be same.

So how come none of my files from the last 18 months got copied out and why did the recycle bin ones only work?

I keep seeing people posting rows of little square empty boxes - in line about size of these characters I am typing.

I can't copy them here because when I click post they disappear from my post.

Google has nothing to say about them.

Anyone know what they mean?

I have got my MSc with Merit.

Can't quite believe it.

Also, have been awarded a prize for being Best Part Time Student (given personal circumstances) in the department.

Can't believe that at all.

I got a very low mark for the dissertation due to mistakes I agree with, but also and maybe more, due to total misguidance by my supervisor on two very major points. If I had stuck to what I knew, and ignored her, I would have a considerably higher mark, so very pissed off with her. I don't know what planet she lives on. I wish I had had the confidence to ignore her advice which I kind of knew was wrong, but I didn't, because she was a Senior Lecturer and I assumed she knew her stuff. She didn't. Thank goodness it was at least a pass.

Anyway, that aside, my course director says I can still publish if I apply the markers' observations. It will be a lot of work to replace all the stuff that is wrong due to the supervisor, but I still feel like it ought to be published as it is an original finding. Don't know if healthwise I am up to doing more work on it though.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why have they been repatriating people with Ebola? This nurse in Spain surely shows how stupid such policy is. I am very sorry for non-African nationals with Ebola but they should stay where they are. If incubation can be up to 21 days what use is it screening air travelers? Of some benefit obviously, but hardly going to be fully effective. What I really don't understand is why no one but me, apparently, saw this situation arising at least three months ago? I totally distrust Jeremy hunt (Minister of Health) saying the NHS can cope; he and his predecessor have almost enitirely broken the NHS. It's no longer fit for purpose, like ordinary purpose, like eg. treating cancer, they've got about one infectious disease beds in about 5 hospitals - that means Jeremy has to make sure only 5 people catch Ebola, and they have to be living in different parts of the country. I doubt he is that clever.

What we need is some way of testing for Ebolo before it is symptomatic. This is true for all such virus outbreaks. Why hasn't the science been done?

As for me, I'm off to Mars.

Damn! I was banking on there not being any

They'll be proving St Peter really is ia at the Gate next.