This is the house that dave broke

This is the house that dave broke http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/ <a href="http://i.1asphost.com/toxicshock/index.asp#noads"> <center><img src="http://i.1asphost.com/toxicshock/imgs/Main2.jpg" width="500"></center></a> Tue, 10 Jun 2008 23:44:11 -0000 Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:11:46 -0000 This is the house that dave broke http://images.obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/logo http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com 100 100 General Lee Made Of Toy Cars Just something odd that Google turfed up for me the other http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/links/item/23/General_Lee_Made_Of_Toy_Cars Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:11:46 -0000 Striking Similarity Former President Castro: <img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8b/Fidel_Castro_102006.jpg/180px-Fidel_Castro_102006.jpg"> vs Barry Chuckle (the one on the far left) if he had a beard: <img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/2a/Chuckle_Brothers_005.jpg/800px-Chuckle_Brothers_005.jpg" height="300"> One might also be tempted to compare the long running tv-show of Chucklevision with the state run channel Cubavision. In other news, the <a href="http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/journal/item/72">DVD case expose</a> I posted yesterday is currently on the front page of <a href="http://www.imdb.com">imdb</a> up with the likes of the independent newspaper and entertainment weekly.com . I'm sure it's a catastrophic administrative error that'll be corrected soon, but for now I'm enjoying the moment. http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/journal/item/73/Striking_Similarity Wed, 27 Feb 2008 11:08:00 -0000 The Formula For Successful DVD Cases So I was looking for some stationery yesterday, so naturally I went to my local book store. I couldn't get what I was looking for, so I spent a while looking at the DVDs (I'm almost positive that book stores will be the cities of the future; all they need to do is offer lodging, and possibly a pub, and there'll be no reason to leave). While I was there, I noticed a trend appearing on newer DVD boxes. The formula goes like this: Close up headshot of lead actor either staring at or facing a point 20% from the front + (1 part perplexed expression + 3 parts steely determination) + an explosion somewhere on the case = success. Here it is in Michael Clayton: <img src="http://images.play.com/covers/3475552x.jpg"> And again in Déjà Vu: <img src="http://images.play.com/covers/3275114x.jpg"> The Constant Gardener had a fire instead of an explosion, but it's still colourful, hot and dangerous: <img src="http://images.play.com/covers/842963x.jpg"> Although Die Hard 4 deserves a bit of slack, as nobody ever expected it'd have anything else on it's cover: <img src="http://images.play.com/covers/3275181x.jpg"> And whilst you may think this is a recent phenomenon, I've done some research and it turns out that films have ... http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/journal/item/72/The_Formula_For_Successful_DVD_Cases Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:15:00 -0000 Caption Me (Back to Business) <img src="http://imgs.xkcd.com/blag/meetup/raptor_suit.jpg"> http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/journal/item/71/Caption_Me_Back_to_Business Sun, 10 Feb 2008 15:17:00 -0000 Celebrity Death Picks 2008 Well <a href="http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/journal/item/30/Celebrity_Death_Picks_2007">we tried this last year</a>, but of the 64 individuals named, a grand total of 64 of them are still alive and well. Few were particularly bad guesses, so the inevitable conclusion is that we are simply fated to do badly. Anyone considering refraining from hypothesising should therefore consider that by taking part, they are quite possibly increasing the likelihood of survival for those that they would have picked. Before I name my guesses, I think it's apt to remember Luciano Pavarotti, Evel Knievel (who I'd have sworn had been dead for years), Kurt Vonnegut and <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.infoplease.com/biography/2007-deaths.html">all the others</a> that did leave us in the last year. The scoring system is as follows. Each correct guess is worth 10 points plus another point for each year below 90 that they were on death (if they were below 90). A 91 year old individual would be worth 10 points, as would a 110 year old. However a 85 year old would be worth 15 points and a 25 year old, a whole 75 points. So you could pick a lot of more likely, low point peopl... http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/journal/item/69/Celebrity_Death_Picks_2008 Mon, 7 Jan 2008 23:13:00 -0000 The Happy Cuddle Club There are probably better ways to spend 3 decades. Then again, I'm sure there are much http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/links/item/22/The_Happy_Cuddle_Club Thu, 6 Dec 2007 17:08:18 -0000 Judicial Indiscretion <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7116426.stm">This</a> is an amusing but unfortunate story of when a power mad idiot is given an extreme degree of discretion and very little oversight. http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/journal/item/66/Judicial_Indiscretion Wed, 28 Nov 2007 23:15:00 -0000 Tell Me About Your Mother <a href="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380743991&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull"><img class="alignright" src="http://www.dailyinfo.co.uk/images/cinema/lost-in-translation.jpg" border="0" height="300">Diplomatic screw-up over fishy translation</a> Hopefully somewhere in Israel, a particular journalist is being forced to write "I will not use <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babel_Fish_%28website%29">Babelfish</a> for contacting foreign diplomats" a few thousand times. http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/journal/item/65/Tell_Me_About_Your_Mother Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:28:00 -0000 Spot the Flawed Logic If you didn't any know better, you might think the prison service was being run by idiots<a href="http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/24035/Prison-offers-inmates-pole-vaulting-lessons"><img src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42618000/jpg/_42618149_pole_vault_416.jpg" width="350"></a> http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/journal/item/64/Spot_the_Flawed_Logic Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:54:00 -0000 Prime Minister/Athletic Star Now why can't Britain have a politician like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuilaepa_Aiono_Sailele_Malielegaoi">this</a>? I could imagine Gordon being a dab hand at the shot put. http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/journal/item/62/Prime_MinisterAthletic_Star Tue, 11 Sep 2007 23:40:00 -0000 Excuse me sir, but you're on my foot The increasing reliance on 'summary justice' from the UK government and police is far from a good thing. The job of the police is to detect and prevent crime, not to punish it. The result is that many people who would have had their cases dismissed by a court of law end up paying unnecessary fines. It's only in patently absurd cases such as <a href="http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23410896-details/Pedestrian+hit+by+police+car+suffers+broken+foot+-++and+%C2%A380+penalty+for+%27denting%27+vehicle/article.do">this one</a> that people stop and take notice. http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/journal/item/61/Excuse_me_sir_but_youre_on_my_foot Thu, 6 Sep 2007 14:09:00 -0000 Pets Why do we give children pets? More importantly, why give children adorable and lovable pets that have a lifespan that practically guarantees that the animal will be dead before the child is grown up. I mean; rabbits average about 5 years, mice and other rodents last about 2, and even the ever-popular cats and dogs each have an average life-expectancy of 12 years or so. What's needed is a rise in support for alternative pets. The advertising campaign pretty much writes itself. "[insert animal name] - the pet that won't let you down". With inflation taken into account, I predict that horses will become the new dogs in the next decade or so. So at least when it does kick the bucket, the average life-span of 20 years means that its owner will be emotionally equipped for the loss. And since the general populace will now be able to afford horses, the rich and famous will need a new animal. Since I'd expect them to want in on the new long lasting animal phenomenon, they'll all probably go ... http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/journal/item/60/Pets Fri, 31 Aug 2007 00:28:00 -0000 An Open Letter To Film-Makers Everywhere <img class="alignright" src="http://www.visionforumministries.org/resources/library/issues/news_and_reports/panavision_agrees_to_sponsor_c_1__camera.jpg" border="0">Dear film-makers of the world,                                          I regret to inform you that your services will no longer be needed. Yes film-making as an industry is now obsolete. You see there is this new film out. Its name is not important but all you need to know is that it concerns robots that are in disguise. Yes I do realise that it was directed by Michael Bay. He may have made some mistakes in the past which may have included the butchering of historical events or the repeated casting of Ben Affleck. However this time he has hit the mark and with such unerring accuracy that his hand can only have been guided by divine powers. Now I realise that many of you may believe that you can top this cinematic masterpiece. Some may even try. However it will surely be a waste of the pu... http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/journal/item/59/An_Open_Letter_To_Film-Makers_Everywhere Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:28:00 -0000 All The Woe To The Bank I stopped at a cash machine outside a Halifax on the way home on Monday. Well I was on the way to the pub that was on the way home (pretty much the same thing). I put my bank card in and waited. And waited. And waited until I was pretty sure that absolutely nothing was going to happen and that the machine had just swallowed my card. Profanity ensued. I managed to borrow a bit of money from friendds, assuming that I could simply pay them back the next day after I got my card back. Foolishness on my part to expect a bank to act rationally or reasonably. So the next day I go down to the Halifax. General Unremarkable Typical Bank Woman comes to the counter. "Excuse me, last night one of your cash machines outside malfunctioned and swallowed my bank card" I say politely. "Yes. They do that sometimes. Was it a Halifax bank card" GUTBW replies. "Ummm...no" I say, knocked slightly off-balance. "If it isn't a Halifax card, then you'll have to order a new one from your bank" "So there's no way for me... http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/journal/item/58/All_The_Woe_To_The_Bank Thu, 12 Jul 2007 00:37:00 -0000 Separated At Birth The Pope is on the front page of Wikipedia once again. This guy is the most important Christian on the planet, but he just looks really evil. I mean REALLY evil. He looks evil, he has a sinister voice and if at all possible I think he has an evil walk. And it probably isn't helped by the frankly uncanny resemblance to the Evil Emperor from Star Wars: <img src="http://www.thekn0wledge.com/pictures/pope-benedict-palpatine.jpg"> But giving credit where due, in this image obsessed society it's hard to remember that a lot of these perfect looking celebrities look distinctly average and normal if you take away their armies of make-up people. Some however, do not look normal. See if you can figure out which of these two pictures is Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas. <img src="http://64.111.216.18/ul/1858-fer7.jpg" width="400"> http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/journal/item/57/Separated_At_Birth Wed, 11 Jul 2007 22:55:00 -0000 Knock Off Nigel Here is the newest advert used in the UK to discourage people from getting counterfeit DVDs. Personally I think it's a load of bollocks. It seems that the Anti-Piracy commission has given up on trying to get people to fear prosecution, and is now just trying to associate the practice with scorn. I'd imagine that the logic that if you buy knock off DVDs, you must be a cheap git like this guy, is probably not going to win over many people. This is almost certainly a step down from the 'piracy is stealing thus it is a crime' advertising that preceded this. Associating the practice with theft in people's minds seemed like a fairly decent strategy. On the other hand, it's still better than the 'if you buy counterfeit DVDs, you're funding terrorism' line that was picked up after 9/11 (Call me naive but I'd expect that the vast majority of sales are just to people looking to make a few extra quid using a fast internet connection). To be honest, I think it's my sense of logic that is most off... http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/journal/item/55/Knock_Off_Nigel Thu, 21 Jun 2007 11:19:00 -0000 Caption Me (Mixed Messages) <img src="http://www.ericreiche.net/gallery/Fun/org/justjump.jpg"> http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/journal/item/53/Caption_Me_Mixed_Messages Sun, 3 Jun 2007 00:40:00 -0000 Caption Me (Table Football) <img src="http://halbot.haluze.sk/images/2004-04/81_tischfuball.jpg" height="500"> http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/journal/item/54/_Caption_Me_Table_Football Sun, 3 Jun 2007 00:05:00 -0000 My Week I could go into a lengthy rant about this week. But why bother when there's a cartoon that'll say it all for you <img src="http://photos-319.ak.facebook.com/ip002/v67/106/103/506326487/n506326487_43319_431.jpg"> I increasingly wonder about the value of most of the things that people are tested on. A few years ago, a lot of it could be said to have value but now we're in the digital age where almost any piece of information can be brought up in a matter of seconds, it seems that a lot of what is getting taught in schools is only useful for pub quizzes (case in point, my mind just blanked on the plural of quiz, a ten second google query and I have the answer). I would suggest that for subjects like law, history and most of the other essay writing subjects; a better method of examination would be using computers connected to the internet ,  giving candidates access to all the resources they would in a real life scenario. Results would be less dependant on memory and more on capability to find, analyse and interpret information, which I think is more akin to reality. As for my ... http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/journal/item/52/My_Week Fri, 25 May 2007 14:05:00 -0000 I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud In a bid for tourism for the lake district, a rap video has been made interpreting (which is the least offensive word I can think of) William Wordsworth's classic poem. It features a rapping squirrel called MC Nuts and if that isn't quite enticing enough. He looks like some kind of deer-kangaroo hybrid. If you want to take the easy way out, here is the YouTube video for it (although it's worth using the link just so you can see it on an actual tourism website). http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/links/item/20/I_Wandered_Lonely_As_A_Cloud Wed, 23 May 2007 19:02:20 -0000 The MyHeritage Project In order to stave on the impending exams, I've been wasting time on the MyHeritage celebrity face recognition program. It came up on here a while ago, on Steve's previous account. After seeing the first picture on a comedy website, I decided to see whether or not there had been much improvement since then. I have to say, it's improved dramatically. It had me stymied a couple of times, although it still seems to make distinctions based largely on the way the pose that the photographee is sporting. It did have me stumped a few times guessing most of the modern actors I threw at it. As well as the Apollo 11 astronauts and Sigmund Freud (although it did think it more likely to be a picture of Pope Pius based seemingly entirely on similar glasses). It doesn't seem to be too fond of actresses from older films, but stubbornly refused to give any entertaining results. Here are some of the better results. I might have cheated a bit and used drawings of some people/some fictional people. ... http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/photos/album/11/The_MyHeritage_Project Wed, 16 May 2007 00:37:59 -0000 Neologisms and stuff This is an e-mail forward that I came across. It claims to be from the Washington Post Mensa Invitational for 2006 (or 2005 in some versions). A quick internet search seems to suggest that no such competition exists, but it was still fairly entertaining. There was a small handful of versions on offer so I went with one of the more complete ones, although several of them seem to have been added later on. I particularly like 1, 2, 11 and most of the neologisms. New Words: 1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time 2. Intaxication (n.): Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with 3. Reintarnation (n.): Coming back to life as a hillbilly 4. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future. 5. Foreploy (n.): Any misrepresentation... http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/journal/item/51/Neologisms_and_stuff Mon, 14 May 2007 13:17:00 -0000 Dangerous Places Book stores are dangerous places for me. Especially the new kind of book stores, the kind that are more akin to miniature cities. Yesterday I wandered into one, looking for a particular CD (a peculiar logic at best). I just get immersed. I look at the special offers, to see if there's anything that looks vaguely readable. I look at the big new hardback books, the critically acclaimed stuff, the works by my favourite authors (not that I won't have already read all their books, it's mostly just so I can be sure that they haven't tried to sneak something out without my noticing. Repeat this process for CD's. And DVD's. Worse still is when I see something that engages my interest. Yesterday it was <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bigger-Deal-Year-Poker-Circuit/dp/0316730777">Bigger Deal</a>, the sequel to it's predecessor, which was named (would you believe) Big Deal. Now I do play poker, albeit without any particular skill, but I would never consider buying a book about it. In my opinion it's half common sense, betting with good cards and not betting with bad ones, and ... http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/journal/item/50/Dangerous_Places Thu, 3 May 2007 23:30:00 -0000 Comparing Law School to Movies I can definitely relate to this article. The first two years at least have held true for http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/links/item/19/Comparing_Law_School_to_Movies Fri, 27 Apr 2007 14:03:23 -0000 Blue Peter sorry for goat slaughter The story isn't as interesting as the headline suggests, but to match the headline, it would need to be an absolutely amazing story. Unicorns would probably be http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/links/item/18/Blue_Peter_sorry_for_goat_slaughter Thu, 26 Apr 2007 00:43:18 -0000 Pencil Sculptures From <a href="http://www.random-good-stuff.com/">Random Good Stuff.</a> Sculptures made out of pencils: <a href="http://www.jennifermaestre.com/pictures/tiamat2_600.jpg"><img src="http://www.jennifermaestre.com/pictures/tiamat2_600.jpg" height="300"></a> <a href="http://www.jennifermaestre.com/pictures/aurora_600.jpg"><img src="http://www.jennifermaestre.com/pictures/aurora_600.jpg" height="300"></a> <a href="http://www.jennifermaestre.com/pictures/asteridae_600.jpg"><img src="http://www.jennifermaestre.com/pictures/asteridae_600.jpg" height="300"></a> (Click on them to see the full size versions) There's plenty more on the creator (sculptist?)'s website - <a href="http://www.jennifermaestre.com/pencil_show.html/">http://www.jennifermaestre.com/pencil_show.html</a> http://obfuscatedhonesty.multiply.com/journal/item/48/Pencil_Sculptures Wed, 25 Apr 2007 15:47:08 -0000