FoxBoom!

The train now approaching platform 1 terminates here...

2007-07-20T21:49:00.000+01:00

You crazy guys! Are you reading my RSS feed? You're awesome, and this post is especially for you!

foxboom.com has upgraded to WordPress, and the feed's location has changed. You can change it directly to http://www.foxboom.com/feed/, or visit http://www.foxboom.com/.

I love you!

Captain George Dubya Bush

2007-07-14T11:45:00.000+01:00

This is Captain George Dubya Bush of the USS Internets.

Rebuild of Evangelion trailer

2007-07-10T22:02:00.000+01:00

Camcorder footage of the trailer for the first Rebuild of Evangelion movie is online. What a relief the original style and feel has been kept, but with much more fluid animation. Jon approves.

And the trailer for J.J. Abrams mysterious and untitled movie (apparently codenamed "Cloverfield") is now available in glorious HD. So the rumours go, this one's gonna be a fight between gods and aliens right here on our little planet. Awesome!

Westward Bound

2007-07-08T20:11:00.000+01:00

I went to Westward Bound's new shop on the Barbican this afternoon.

The website hasn't been updated to show off the new shop, so you'll only know about it if you're on the mailing list or passing by. We didn't buy anything this time, but you really ought to drop in and have a look.

Use ReiserFS...

2007-07-06T18:39:00.000+01:00

"Use ReiserFS or I Will FUCKING KILL YOU" t-shirts now available.

Electric Bike Ride

2007-07-04T11:21:00.000+01:00

It's kinda weird to watch a tour of your home city on an electric bike, but I like it.

Oh no... :(

2007-07-04T00:43:00.000+01:00

Catherine Tate will playing Doctor Who's new companion next season, so reports the BBC.

For what it's worth, I've already sent my numbing disappointment to the BBC, but I'm afraid it's a done deal.

I couldn't stand that fucking Christmas episode, and I can't sit through an entire season with her. I just can't.

Bollocks. :(

A Thought

2007-07-03T21:41:00.000+01:00

I'm not sure why this post from Megadog from January just appeared in my RSS reader, but it's too delicious to not pass on.

"The quickest way to break a system-password is to adopt a brute-force approach, applying it relentlessly to someone who knows the password." -- A thought from today's meeting...

LOL President

2007-07-02T22:51:00.001+01:00

GODDAMN I forgot to add LOL President to that last post.

"lol andenanden an den hepuditin indabox andenhe eeted it lololol!!"

LOL iPhone

2007-07-02T22:45:00.000+01:00

Okay, but seriously, LOL iPhone is genius.

And for those of you who saw the keynote, didn't you just wanna reach out and hug him?

OMG FLOOD

2007-07-02T22:27:00.000+01:00

Well, the Church of England seems to be pretty sure about the cause of the flooding, and it ain't got anything to do with climate change or waterlogged catchments.

So says the Rt Rev Graham Dow, Bishop of Carlisle:

"We are in serious moral trouble because every type of lifestyle is now regarded as legitimate."

"Our government has been playing the role of God in saying that people are free to act as they want."

"The sexual orientation regulations are part of a general scene of permissiveness. We are in a situation where we are liable for God's judgment, which is intended to call us to repentance."

Seriously, if God's gonna start indiscriminately killing and destroying homes just because I take it up the ass, the universe is more fucked up than I thought.

From "Floods are judgment on society, say bishops", Sunday Telegraph.

I CAN HAS CONTORL PANEL?

2007-07-02T22:01:00.000+01:00

In work this afternoon, I admitted to being interested in sticking Windows Vista on my Mac with Boot Camp.

And just as I was saying this, my boss fired up the Control Panel on his Vista machine, and was presented with an empty window. He restarted it, then was told his copy of Vista isn't genuine.

And last weekend, I spent a whole afternoon trying to get the fucking firmware update for my Skype phone to work through XP. I swear, the next time I see any mention of "MSVCR71.DLL" on my screen, I'll break something.

As much as I miss Microsoft Flight Simulator, I'm not ready to go back to Windows just yet.

Beneficial Finance

2007-06-30T23:41:00.000+01:00

It's worth pointing out that Beneficial Finance is a seriously fucked-up organisation, and really ought not to be trusted with your money.

I took out a consolidation loan with them a few years ago, and a year ago, when I moved into this new place, I visited the office to give them my new address and to get my balance amount.

Flash forward to today. By my calculations I should've had only a couple of hundred quid left on the balance, so I decided to pop into the office and get it cleared.

First, they took my address to confirm my identity, but they couldn't find me. That's because they didn't apply my change of address a year ago.

And when I asked for the balance, it was over a thousand pounds more than I was expecting. That's because they gave me the wrong balance last time.

Hey, maybe the account with that balance had the address changed to mine? Who knows? Do you think they care?

Superjail

2007-06-30T23:26:00.000+01:00

Superjail is the story of a psychedelic jail run by a sadistic Wonka-esque warden. It's ultra-violent and ultra-funny.

The Fragile Army

2007-06-30T16:13:00.000+01:00

My copy of The Polyphonic Spree's latest album, "The Fragile Army" (and a stunning signed poster), arrived safely from Good Records last week.

The previous two albums have been SO close to fucking perfect, but I can't help myself skipping over "Middle of the Day" and "Ensure Your Reservation". I haven't found any track yet on "Fragile Army" that I'm not almost always in the mood to hear. For the first time I can remember, I've bought an album without a single duff track!

The album slides in with a nostalgic snip of "Together We're Heavy" from the previous album of the same name, then kicks into the deliciously bouncy ("I feel so excited and delighted today, 'cause you decide to be in my life...") "Running Away".

The track "The Fragile Army" goes a little slower and deeper, and jumps into beautiful abstractism about a third in. With months, I know (1) I'll be singing the backing vocals without realising it and (2) I'll wake up one morning around 3am and suddenly realise what it's all about. I love it.

"Guaranteed Nightlite" is a very, VERY close second to "Mental Cabaret" for the top spot on the album. "Mental Cabaret" is right up there with "Light and Day", "Hanging Around The Day (Part 2)", "Hold Me Now" and "Two Thousand Places" to make my top5 Polyphonic tracks of all time. It's got such an incredible range in the sound, catchy lyrics and a great beat. "Guaranteed Nightlite", much more than other tracks, really shows off these guys' vocal talents and makes me wanna sing along.

In a word, "Light to Follow" is "otherworldly", with an unusual synth feel and wonderfully ambient repeating lyrics.

The rest of the tracks are just... awesome. Just awesome. If you like The Polyphonic Spree then you'll definitely love this, and if you're looking for an introduction to their world then this CD would be a great first in your collection.

RSS

2007-06-24T01:27:00.000+01:00

Don't forget you can subscribe to my RSS feed so you NEVER MISS A SINGLE CAPS LOCK.

I totally recommend FeedGhost on Windows and NetNewsWire on the Mac. And if any of you crazy dudes wanna syndicate FoxBoom! on LiveJournal then that would be SO FREAKIN AWESOME YOU GUYS!

Blogging is so therapeutic.

Vacation: Denied

2007-06-24T01:23:00.000+01:00

I have to miss Scotland this year, so here's some shots from two years ago. I WOULD LIKE TO GO BACK.

Red-Headed Step Child

2007-06-24T01:13:00.000+01:00

It's me, a.k.a. the little mad scientist, a.k.a. Beaker.

Someone called me a "cute emo boy" tonight. IS IT TRUE? IT MIGHT BE!

Authoritah

2007-06-24T00:51:00.000+01:00

a.k.a. "Nyah!", this dude does NOT respect your fucking authoritah.

Tom Waits did it

2007-06-23T14:47:00.000+01:00

OMG LIKE "Come On Up To The House" is one of my favourite songs EVAR.

Dear Cookie

2007-06-23T14:32:00.000+01:00

Dear Cookie, a letter.

Jon's Theory of Everything

2007-06-23T00:38:00.000+01:00

I just found this old e-mail I sent at work, which describes my Life on Mars/Doctor Who unification theory. Bear in mind this was written on the sly while I was supposed to be doing real work, so forgive my scatty memory and logic. OKAY IT FOLLOWS NOW:

Sam being hit by the car coincided with one of the "rift" experiments that Torchwood was performing immediately prior to The Battle of Canary Wharf. This (1) had him in his coma during the Cyberman invasion, and (2) jolted his consciousness through to the (past of the) parallel Earth where Rose now is.

Given the "coincidences" that brought the Doctor to that point in space and time, it's possible the Master is also present (whether due to the same coincidences or he manipulated the situation). Also given that the Master can inhabit and physically heal a human body, he may have seen Sam's apparent suicide and loss of consciousness through free-will as an easy host, hence his appearance and explaining his poor health.

The Doctor, with the help of Jack and Torchwood, manages to safely recreate the rift, and they all go back to 1973 on the parallel Earth to find Sam, so that can they can shift Sam's consciousness back into his original body thus displacing the Master. Gene spies on them and gets caught, and is brought along.

Back in the present day, the Master is defeated and Sam returns to his body, but there is a TERRIBLE ACCIDENT and they cannot recreate the rift, so Gene is trapped in 2007.

And thus begins "Ashes to Ashes".

OpenID

2007-06-23T00:26:00.000+01:00

I just created an OpenID account at MyOpenID so I can leave authenticated comments on my buddies' LiveJournals without the expectation of keeping a blog there.

OMG TEH DECENTRALISED AND OPEN DIGITAL IDENTITY???

Adventure Time

2007-06-21T23:43:00.000+01:00

Adventure Time is the awesomest!

Somewhere Only We Know

2007-06-21T22:47:00.000+01:00

After two years at the-company-I'm-not-allowed-to-blog-about, I decided for reasons-I'm-not-allowed-to-blog-about to leave.

At first, I thought about leaving, and I felt liberated. Then I applied for a job, and I felt a twinge of guilt. Then I got an interview, and I felt like a cheat. Then I got an offer, and it was bittersweet. Then I handed in my notice, and I felt sick.

The support I've received from everyone has been amazing, despite my feeling like I've stabbed them all in the back. All kinds of promises of keeping in touch have been made, when I'm sure both sides know time won't be found. I'll miss them all.

Together, we wrote the best software-in-our-industry in the country, and we have the awards to prove it. Our senses of humour were perfectly synchronised. Sure, we had the bad times too, and too many afternoons taken off to work off anger, but that's only because we all cared so much about the product.

I think I'm only just now realising that I may never work for another company with that kind of atmosphere.

Fucking hell.

BUT NOW, WHAT? TO THE FUTURE? OKAY NOW!

I've double-checked my new contract, and I don't see any clauses banning me from saying I'll be starting at Twofour Digital next month.

EXCITED YES, BUT ALSO QUITE TIRED RIGHT NOW, SO GOODNIGHT.