Idea Databases

Want to start up shop but not got the spark? Have a burning idea but no desire to bring it about? These idea databases are places where your ideas can be submitted, blasted, lauded and cribbed. Ideas (or is that memes?) want to be free!Why Not Lazyweb brianstorms idea-a-day ChangeThis BrainFlower ShouldExist Halfbakery Global : Ideas : Bank Ideas by Creativity Pool And just in case you think this is all talk no trousers, here is a 'graduate' of halfbakery: Count-it Contact Lens Case - AC L...

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Film Scripts

Looking around for info on new films I found a mine of reading material if you can visualise in your head. All the sites below offer scripts or transcripts of films that may or may not have been made. If you find them, look for the early drafts- it's very interesting how different the version that ended up on screen can be. As an example of this, here's Back to the Future's original draft. Not as family-friendly in this version! Daily Script Simply Scripts SCREENTALK As a reputable trade rag, these are the most likely to be genuine The Weekly Script Drew's Scriptorama Classic Movie Scripts JoBlo's Movie Scripts Movie-Page.com: Scripts Movie Scripts and Screenplays Awesome Scripts and Screenplays Movie Script and Screenplay Search Science Fiction and Fantasy Movie Script...

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Simon Powells

What a lot of me's. Simon Powell at least I'm not going grey Simon Powell I used to be a BSAC diver! Simon Powell I expect he's loaded Simon Powell Hate this one, he got the domain first Simon Powell Can't think of anything useful to say about this one Simon Powell (probably my favourite) Simon Powell Although this one's job looks fun Simon Powell salt o' the earth, us Simon Powells Simon Powell At least I'm not the geekiest of us... Simon Powell We seem to have an adrenaline issue Simon Powell well, the human ones anyway Simon Powell Scrub that, this one might be the geekies...

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Club 33

Not everyone knows that Disneyland is dry- they don't serve alcohol. Well, almost dry; Club 33 is an almost invisible doorway near the Pirates of the Caribbean ride which leads to an exclusive member's club.Club 33 Tour PageUnofficial Club 33 HomeModern Drunkard Magazine OnlineDisney Insider: Disneyland's Luxe HideawayUrban Legends Reference Pages: Disney (Club 33), (Descripti...

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Beijing Olympic Stadiums

After Santiago Calatrava's design for the Athens Stadium roof this year, architecture fans are already looking forward to the next Olympiad. The designs are quite something; a seemingly random latticework and a block of 'solid water' (and of course our old friends Arup are involved, naturally). They will be quite something, I think. 'Water Cube' concept wins Beijing Olympics design competition Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad Sports Venue Technology - National Swimming Centre in Beijing SkyscraperCity Forums - Athens Olympic Stadium -vs- Beijing Olympic Stadium Presentation of Competation for the Architecture Design...

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Maneki Neko

The Maneki Neko is the little waving cat you see in some oriental shops and restaurants. Well, I thought he was waving, in fact he's beckoning. Here are some sites that explain more. Maneki Neko Club Maneki Neko History Wikipedia - Maneki Ne...

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Dubai

Dubai has been transformed since His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan took over from his father running the country. The previous link shows some of his vision for the area, but what's staggering is comparing the modern city-state with its recent incarnation as little more than a fishing port. more than anything, Dubai is currently in the world's eye for its audacious attempts to create a network of man-made islands to increase its size. Dubai has recently been known for an explosion of building; I've been reading up on the projects and the architecture. Nakheel The company set up by the Sultan to manage all the over-the-top developments. If you go to this site and click on 'project fact sheets' you'll see most of them. Independent Travel"So bad it's good- A seven-star hotel, chic...

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Urban Entropy & Speleology

There's lots of different names for this subject, but I chose the two above because I'm pretentious. Why is it only the ruins of lost civilisations and past times that people go to visit? This is a look at the exploration of disused, abandoned and decaying urban or man-made landscapes. There are far more links on this one than any of the previous 'fascinate' posts, so I'd suggest limiting yourself to the bold links unless this really piques your interest as it has mine.There are many tangental interests in this one; some enjoy old municipal buildings, others military sites, I quite like tube stations- enough for that to be a post in itself later. I can't post every link I have, but I've tried to include some of every style to show the range of interest. I'm not sure where the fascination lies-...

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The Midland Grand Hotel & St Pancras Station

Few passengers who pass though St Pancras station stop to think why the station itself is so huge. Those who do may remember that it was built after Kings Cross by a rival company back before privatisation, and so may attribute the grand styling to a case of oneupmanship. What I had not realised was that the actual building I think of as St Pancras was actually the Midland Grand Hotel, and its size and styling were actually developed independently of the station to which it is attached. St Pancras Urban75 | St Pancras photos Urban75 | History of St Pancras station St Pancras Station and the Midland Grand Hotel Great Buildings | William Henry Barlow : St Pancras The unofficial Midland Grand Hotel St Pancras virtual t...

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Glastonbury

Had to be, really, didn't it? GlastoBlog a Glastophotoblog. BBC | Glastonbury The BBC provide 'listen again' and 'watch now' buttons for Glastonbury. Relive what you saw, see what you didn't, and remind yourself to get tickets for next year... Glastonbury Festival Official site Playlouder | Glastonbury the 3D lines graphic emerging from the '2004' on this site are very similar to those on the BBC site. I wonder who nicked what off whom? Guardian | How was it for you? BBC | Glastonbury 2004: Your reviews BBC | Glastonbury spirit defies the ra...

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Origami

As I said I would in the Paper Planes section below, here finally is my Origami section. Traditional Origami Origami Diagrams Joseph Wu's Origami Page Robert J. Lang Origami Origami CD Cases Origami CD Case, CD Case Diagram [GIF] 2 CD Case Diagram [GIF] Modern Origami Traditionalists would say that glue and scissors should have no part in Origami, but modern designs allow for very attractive models. Doll's arcade - Arcade machines Canon Papercraft - a lot of very colourful modern designs Yamaha Paper Craft - build a paper motorbike Paper presentation boxes - for gifts, etc Star Wars Origami Diagrams Origami Sekkei Also known as computational origami, origami sekkei is the mathmatical study of the possibilities of paper...

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Cartoon Propaganda

Donald Duck screaming "Heil Hitler!" in his very own, very specific voice? It's not a spoof. Although sort-of kinda hushed up, Disney have now allowed some of their propoganda cartoons to be released for modern viewers. Warner still remain very tight lipped about their fairly racist portrayals of the Japanese in the past. Donald Duck Vs The Axis Bugs Bunny Nips The Nips at The Big Cartoon DataBase Remember: Pay your taxes to defeat the Axis! And what do taxes buy? Guns! I've got digital copies of the following cartoons; if anyone wants a view, let me know. The Spirit of '43 (1943) Der Fuehrer's Face (1944) Bugs Bunny Nips The Nips (194...

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Authors with child muses

Lewis Carroll's Alice Inevitably links are often made between artist and their child muses in a sexual, paedophilic context. One of the most well known of these was Carroll. It has been said that he had an unhealthy fascination with one of his photography models, a girl called Alice. His stories written to entertain her and her sisters are well known, but less is known either about the girl herself or why Carroll and the Liddells fell out suddenly, and speculation on the reason has been rife. Alice Liddell Lewis Carroll The original Alice J. M. Barrie's Peter As many people know, all royalties for productions of Peter Pan (and that includes the films) go to the Great Ormond Street Hospital. Although the copyright ran out in 1987, Parliament actually made a statute law to keep it in perpetuity....

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Union Flag

"The Union Flag shall be azure, the Crosses saltires of St Andrew and St Patrick, quarterly per saltire counterchanged argent and gules: the latter fimbriated of the second, surmounted by the Cross of St George of the third fimbriated as the saltire." Flags.net A comprehensive listing of all world flags, current and historical MrFlag.com | A Short History of the Union Flag MrFlag.com | The Union Flag: A Historical Perspective MrFlag.com | The Union Flag: It's Status as the de Facto National flag of the UK Additional This is just flags in general, but I couldn't pass it up; BBC SPORT | Flags guide a guide to the various Grand Prix fla...

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Join Me

Join Me dannywallace.com BBC - The Karma Army BBC | Danny Wallace : the interview BBC - London - Your London - Danny Wallace BBC - OneMusic Documentaries - From Zero To He...

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Biometrics & ID cards

I'm worried about the new ID cards. Not the thought of carrying one per se, more the scope for it to go wrong in so many new and interesting ways. Read the first bold link for a succinct reason behind my problems with the technology, and the second for my fears about the concept. Biometrics are cool, but... Problems with authentication BBC NEWS | Q&A: Identity cards BBC iCan - ID cards: an iCan briefing BBC NEWS | Other countries' ID schemes BBC NEWS | When the British fought off ID cards PrivacyActivism.org | Biometrics And Airport Security EPIC Statement on Biometrics and Identity Theft, 7/18/02 No to ID cards- against ID cards, Identity cards and entitlement car...

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Pantone & colour rights

I was looking into trade marks when I stumbled upon the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys' website. On this there is a list of trademarkable things; I found it fascinating to find that it is possible to trademark a specific colour. With that in mind, I wanted to look into how specific the shade would need to be, but got sidetracked into the definition of colour in itself. Pantone Them themselves. Pantone - Wikipedia an Overview of what they do and what that means. PANTONE Color Cue™ - look, they make tricorders! PANTONEbirthdayCOLOR Apparently I'm Piquant Green.(solid, interesting, persistent) How about you? (This has been renamed and moved; it is now Colorstrology) Pantone to RGB Colour Conversion an easy way to make Pantone-ish colours online. Printing rules for MasterCard Not strictly...

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Body Language

Theory and Career Applications Decoding body language Body Language in Debating interview techniques - body language Business Week | Watch Your Body Language and also, the real reason you might be interested... Flirting Flirting & Body Language - The one to read, if only because this was written by the woman from the BBC's Would like to meet... show. Deciphering Body Language Body Language hints and tips - aimed at teenagers, but doesn't love make teenagers of us all? (bleagh) AskMen.com - Body language Any article in the self help guide titled "dear Player" must be onto something good The Significance of Body Proxemics - Even where you stand matters, it seems. Finally, something only tangentially related: Derren Brown Derren Brown - His website Channel 4 - Mind Control...

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Coke's Mistakes

I was going to put this into some sort of chronological order, but I've decided I can't be bothered. These are all the posts I've made regarding Dasani in recent weeks in one compact, easy to ignore serving. Enjoy. Mistake 1: Underestimating the importance of total product honesty Flameproof | new | Dasani I hereby crown myself marketing guru. At least I saw what was going to happen... Of course at first, it was just bad PR. BBC | Soft drink is purified tap water Evening Standard | Real thing or rip off? It was only a matter of time before this particular PR coup blew up in Coke's faces. Glad to know I wasn't the only person to think of Peckham Springs! It'll be interesting to see what they do now. More in this pop up window. This of course is simply a case of not getting people on-side. ...

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Zombie advice

With films such as Dawn of the Dead and Shaun of the Dead coming out there is a growing public awareness that it's never too late to be prepared for zombie attacks. Unless you've been eaten by zombies, I guess. The Zombie Survival Guide ILZ - A Survival Guide for a Zombie World Zombie Alert -- Home Protection for Sophisticated Families Wouldn't you feel silly if you didn't read these, and then this happened to you? Trapped By Undead, Need Help - a web diary Zombie Infection Simulation v2.3 Gain an understanding of how they propogate. Alternatively, you could just cash in on them instead. Brains4Zombies.com -- Your online home for Brains and Brain-Related Products Oh, and it's not really related, but it's my favourite zombie-like film: 28 Days Lat...

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Northstowe

I'm working on the proposed New Town just outside Cambridge, Longstanton-Oakington, now to be called Northstowe. Gallagher Estates Northstowe ...

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The Third Wave

Could it happen again? What drives people to cover up obvious injustices? A teacher tried a week-long experiment into the psychology of fascism that could have gone very wrong. The Third Wave a reasonably long article from the teacher himself. And we thought it couldn't happen a look at the experimen...

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Memes

The meme of memes has been around for a while (1976 to be exact), and is one that has influenced me before. I suppose if this is a concept that you subscribe to then my mental antibodies must be rubbish! I've chosen now to post this concept however because Cecil at the Straight Dope makes some interesting points on the concept of memes and whether they negate the need for a 'mind'. Memes A scholarly approach. Memes: An Introduction a slightly more accessible version. Straight Dope: What's a Meme? even easier. Straight Dope: The Teeming Millions lose their minds and the new spin; don't memes get rid of m...

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Boycott

It sometimes seems that every company in existence has some pressure group against it somewhere. Amazon, American Goods, Bennetton, BP, Danone, Esso, Gillette, Google, Israeli Goods, KFC, McDonalds, Microsoft, Nike, RIAA (Recording Industry), Shell, Taco Bell, Just about everything... Problem is, most of these operate under many different bands- Danone for example also trade as Jacobs, Lu, Lea & Perrins and HP in the UK. How do you make sure you're supporting the ones held for issues you feel are the right ones and not the stupid ones? They Rule Boycott City BadCorp.org This is the one to read- an eloquently Stated lowdown of the 9 worst companies and the products they make. http://infact.org Responsible Shopper Metafilter | History of the Boyco...

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Jasper Maskelyne

Maskelyne was a stage magician in Britain in the 30s. Coming from a dynasty of magicians, during the war Maskelyne realised that his skills in misdirection and illusion- and the other five effects of magic (or was it 18? Or 3?)could be put to practical use in fooling and concealing equipment from the Germans. More than likely to become a bit more famous soon when he will be the focus of a biographic film, War Magician (2004), where he's being played by Tom Cruise. Maskelyne anecdotes Channel 4 - Real Lives Guardian Unlimited - Jasper Maskelyne The Stage Memories - Jasper MaskelyneAdditional Not everyone thinks Jasper was as good as he did. This is a very good critique of the lege...

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Jidohanbaiki

According to one of those links, Jido means automatic, hanbai means vending, and ki is machine. (Cigarette vending machine would be "tobacco no jido-hanbaiki"; one for beverages would be nomimono jido-hanbaiki). Japan has a vending machine for every 23 people, and they sell a huge variety of things... PhotoMann - Images of Japanese Vending Machines Vending Machines - Notes and Explanations Jidoohanbaiki - Japanese vending machines Japan, Home of the Vending Machine The Ubiquitous Vending Machine Vending Machines For Sale Little things - Japane...

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White City

The Anglo-French exhibition was organised to commemorate the Entente Cordiale, of which 2004 is its centenary year. A New shopping centre, travel hub and key workers housing complex is to be built on the site of the old exhibition, now more commonly known as White City in Shepherds Bush. (Location Map, Proposed Layout) History IVth Olympiad The 1908 Olympics were held in White City. London 1908 It must have been very impressive. Have a look at the photo of the Court of Honour. Shopping Centre & Travel Exchange Whitecity Overview, Pictures, maps etc. London Plan - Transport Plan for the Future A look at the possible transport links to be put in. Politic Regenasis The agency in charge Regeneration Strategy and their plan Paddington Unites Against White City Key Worker Provision ...

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Abandoned Tube Stations

There are stations, tunnels, entire networks of metro train systems worldwide that have been forgotten, lost beneath the streets. These are some sites that catalogue a few of them. London Underground History This is the definitive site- if you only want to have a brief read, choose this one first. Brookwood Cemetery Railway The abandoned train of the dead (not a tube I know, but work with me here) London railway Branch Lines London's Abandoned Tube Stations Paris Métro Closed [English] Le métro Parisien [French] Closed stations in the Paris subway system [French & English] New York Abandoned New York Stations Moscow Moscow secret subway system A secret tube system built under Moscow from the Presidential Bunker away from the city. Northern Heights A plan to extend the...

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Mazda RX-8 and the Wankel rotary engine

The Mazda RX-8 looks fantastic. The styling is in Mazda's new house style, which I do like although I'm still unsure about the rear lightbanks. The technology is very intreguing however; Mazda believe they've cracked it this time with their new RENESIS rotary engine. What this has to do with toys I'm not sure. I dunno if this is a CG version of a real (or soon-to-be-real) toy, but Mazda have an animation of their fantastic RX-8 as an Autobot Transformer. Although it is great- does anyone know why? Getting back on track, they also have a very interesting couple of sites on the history of the Wankel rotary engine and the problems faced in making it work. I've also included a Howstuffworks listing for the Wankel rotary. Mazda RX-8 Transformers RX-8 Mazda: History of the rotary engine ...

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Nature Photos

George took me to learn me some culture this weekend, and en route we took in some fantastic photography at the Natural History Museum. These were: Yann Arthus-Bertrand The photographer of Earth from Above, a touching and insightful viewpoint. This was one of my favourites. Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2003 Amazing. The effort these people go to to get the right shot is beyond compare. Read some of the side texts. This was a favourite of this s...

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MS Bob

You know Clipit, the annoying paperclip that guides you through writing a letter in MS Office? It wasn't Microsoft's first attempt at a partonising hand-holding guide. MS Bob was there first. Bob in use A look at the GUI MS Bob - Overvi...

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