Blog Backlog day 4 -- these are less frequent than I originally intended, since I've been working...

Blog Backlog day 4 -- these are less frequent than I originally intended, since I've been working on stuff (like moving Free Trinidad over to MovableType).
  1. I have been addicted for some time to Tropico, a simulation game based on managing a small tropical island. Coming from a small tropical island myself, this is extremely amusing. Which is why it's good to know that I'm not the only one who takes it seriously, with crazed Tropicans producing incredibly detailed (and really quite useful strategy guides for the tyranically impaired. Of course, for me most of the joy of a sim is working out the rules through experimentation, but getting a few tips is quite handy.
  2. The Sweetwater Post-Natal Abortion Clinic is great. From their page of frequently asked questions:
    Q: When is a post-natal abortion necessary?
    A: A mother should only turn to post-natal abortion when she is certain that it is the best (albeit regrettable) option. Generally we encourage mothers to make this choice only when the product of conception is "unviable", i.e. unable to survive on their own. Examples would include chronic illness or sickliness, hostility, rebellion, the inability to get a job and move out of the house, etc.
    Here's hoping my mom doesn't find this page.
  3. As everyone in my family already knows, our illustrious surname (which means "Fox" in some old version of German, apparently) is the title of a not-very-interesting book. However, as I have discovered, it is also the name of a town in Norway (complete with its own flag and with what appears to be good skiing, though I can't read Norweigan so that's essentially a guess), as well as being the name of a huge number of companies in every industry from ship building to light fixtures. The beverage industry has also not escaped our grasp; we are both a type of wine and some extraordinarily expensive designer water (it also means "waterfall" in Norweigan, apparently) which comes with a massively overproduced video of its origins. Hey guys, it's water. It comes out of mountains. Don't get too excited. But it would be pretty cool to get some for my birthday :-)
  4. On a lighter note, there's this rather well-done history of the Internet. Some excerpts:
    1972: Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniack get stoned out of their minds and build a computer that costs a fortune and runs no software. "Everyone will want one of these!", says Jobs.
    1995: Real Audio released, allowing users to listen to halting bursts of static in real time.
    Now is the time to be writing histories of the Internet, of course, since it's now officially over.
  5. IWantOneOfThose.Com (or just IWOOT) is the place to find all the coolest toys, up to and including your very own fighter jet ("Customers who purchased this item also bought: Large areas of Kazakhstan")
  6. Apparently we've eaten 90% of the fish in the ocean, which is sort of worrying. When, exactly? Should I try tuna now before it becomes a rare delicacy?
  7. Nothing is more worrying than discovering that the people who run the country are also worryingly clueless (although I suppose that should come as no surprise to some of you). This is what happens when you allow people to marry their cousins.
  8. Apart from being a fairly good read, you have to give props to suck-my-big.org just for having a good idea for a domain name, really.
  9. The pervy hobbit fancier's journal was very amusing, and produced a host of imitators. If re-casting the entire population of middle-earth as a bunch of horny, prissy bisexuals isn't funny, I don't know what is. You should read them in order, but my favourite is definitely Legolas:
    Day Six:
    Far too dark in Mines of Moria to brush hair properly. Am very afraid I am developing a tangle.
    Orcs so silly.
    Still the prettiest.
  10. Baby, gotta get me one o' those personal computing environments. Just build in an IV drip of caffeine and I would never leave.
  11. Fire, Cuffs and Guts (and sometimes other stuff is a frequently gross but always fascinating and quite probably illegal photolog by a paramedic photographer, or something.
  12. Salon read way too much into the Matrix Reloaded. Can't wait for the next one, though. Assuming I have a job by then, of course.
  13. A lipogram is a book, paragraph or similar thing in writing that lacks a symbol, particularly (but not always) that symbol fifth in rank out of our 26 script-signs (found amidst 'd' and 'f'), which stands for a sound such as that in 'kiwi'.
  14. Cthuugle is a directory into the works of H. P. Lovecraft, including The Shadow over Innsmouth. I always wondered where User Friendly got all those references to Cthulhu from.
  15. And finally, I recommend Stickman Battle, based on the original and still-great stickman fighting movie, which has spawned a host of knock-offs, like every great meme.
  16. The absolutely stunning Exactitudes proves that no matter how hard you try to express your own identity, you always end up looking like everybody else.
This is ridiculous; I still have a zillion links to go. Aaargh! Read my boobs! (NSFW) Fluffy the poorly-acted English Vampire Slayer! Lorem Ipsum generator! World of ends! The Matrix XP! How to delete AVI files that won't under windows XP! Design your own superhero! Hyper-violent Lipton tea! I love the web.