Heat Vision and Lej
About a week ago I heard a rumour that Lej had vacated Cambridge for the even wetter city of Portsmouth to attend a top secret recording studio session after penning an all new England World Cup anthem. Teaming up with Beauty and the Geek co-star Will Goodhand and a Royal Marines band, Edmund Bolton UK has done us proud once again with the horribly cheesy and inexplicably catchy We're England. It's replete with an insistant head-nodding rhythm and several silly voices — Will says his is supposed to be a cross between "Giles Brandreth and Timothy Claypole off Rentaghost". Apparently. The duo's combined geek star power and the song's trashy contagiousness might just be enough to pull it off. Be one of the first to know, tell your mates and get 'em keen. So suck on that, Ronaldinho.
On similarly trashy note, Ben Stiller introduces this truly shocking canned 1999 pilot for Heat Vision and Jack. The story follows ex-astronaut Jack (played by Jack Black) whose rocket flies too close to the sun causing his brain to deform so that he becomes hyper-intelligent in the sunlight. His sidekick is talking motorbike Heat Vision (voiced by Owen Wilson), imbued with the voice of his former roommate. Ruthlessly hunting them down is Ron Silverman (playing himself) as they keep moving across the USA. Trust me, it gets even sillier from there. Yet somehow this camp send-up of 70s and 80s pulp action TV shows manages to be entertaining.
Having supervisions in the week before exams start is less helpful than inconvenient, particularly when getting to it on Wednesday involves trekking to the opposite corner of Cambridge. Admittedly the afternoons are not my most productive period, but a 40min hike each way isn't exactly an improvement. Until then I'm mostly holed up in my room poring over folders and tricking out my statute books with iridescent Post-it index tags. Plans for a Cambridge-targeted Pimp My Textbook are, no doubt, already in progress.
Facebook -
by |[P]| -
Wednesday is going to be hellish, not only will I have that glorious trek to Fitz, but I'll have to get back my mock results
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 9:19 am
Oh! Typo! You heard it from me, first!
Also, just so you know: The adhesive in Post-it notes actually causes book pages to rot (after sitting on them for a long time). So, though the Post-its are undeniably handy for the mass of studious, er, students out there, you should stop for a second and think of the books, my friend. Think of the books.
(Man, I wish these comment things had an 'italics' feature.)
Every librarian who reads this website is looking down on you with disdain. I promise.
I once got yelled at by a librarian for putting Post-its in a book. It was very traumatizing. Very.
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 12:42 pm
I'm using the Post-it index tabs, not Post-it notes. I think the glue is different, though I have no idea what the long-term effect on the books may be. Given that the statute books are updated every year, I'm not too worried though!
You can use some HTML tags in your comments so < em > or < i > tags will have the desired effect.
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 1:07 pm
Will they?
and what does "em" do?
God, I hope that works or I'm going to look very stupid.
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 1:32 pm
I think I may have attempted those HTML tags before, and they didn't work. Because for some reason, I had it in my head that HTML tags didn't work in your comment thingies.
Oh well. Now I know.
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 1:38 pm
< em > (emphasis) and < strong > are actually often the proper tags to use rather than the more common < i > and < b >. They are structural (as opposed to formatting) tags that indicate the information held within them is more important. This is similar to the header tags, except that they can be used inline instead of as blocks. Search spiders will pay particular attention to the information contained within. It is also particularly important in making speech-friendly pages for those with screen readers as it marks a change in inflection. The Web Accessibility Guidelines prefer this method.
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 1:44 pm
Is there a list of which tags work?
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 3:22 pm
"search spiders"
I like the sound of them!
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 4:07 pm
I'll tell you what doesn't work: the Online Poker Spam tag.
[angrily deletes more comment spam]
The following should work, but be warned that although I don't moderate (non-spam) comments — other than the occassional typo correction cos I'm nice like that — I may strip out unnecessary font changes etc. in comments. Typing your entire message in fluorescent pink is strictly frowned upon.
< a href > < abbr > < acronym > < b > < code > < em >
< i > < li > < ol > < strike > < strong > < sub > < sup >
< div > and < span > tags may work but you shouldn't really need to use them.
EDIT: as we discovered, these 2 tags work for logged-in users (ie. me) but not for visitors.
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 4:08 pm
But flourescent pink can be so much fuuunnn!!
And the whole comment wasn't in flourescent pink, so you can't frown upon me.
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 9:22 pm
Damnit! It didn't work! You lie.
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 9:23 pm
Oh good, the font tag doesn't work. That means it won't break my site's validation which is always handy, since the font tag isn't part of strict XHTML. There is a sneaky CSS colouring technique that works, though.
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 9:30 pm
Must…have…colours…
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 9:42 pm
Well that didn't work.
How about now?
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 9:47 pm
Come on, come on…
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 9:50 pm
Now that's clever
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 9:51 pm
Surely this time?
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 9:55 pm
Grrrrrr, sneaky
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 9:56 pm
h1 {
color: #000099;
}
I should probably be revising or something. I will if this one doesn't work.
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 9:57 pm
OK, so I lied.
Now?
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 9:58 pm
Why isn't it working?
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 9:59 pm
I'm not sure whether to consider this spam or just highly amusing…
For the record, I can't actually see exactly what your typing since illegal or incorrect tags are stripped out automatically.
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 10:00 pm
This one will work!
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 10:02 pm
Oh, I thought I was getting somewhere in that it at least wasn't showing the tags.
Back to square 1…
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 10:03 pm
OK I'm going to be really angry this time
<span style="color: #55aaaa;">Maybe this?</span>
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 10:11 pm
I've tried that already.
But now I have a cunning plan!
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 10:12 pm
Which didn't work. But might this time…
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 10:14 pm
Okay guys, my fault.
I just did some testing (in another comment thread) and found that visitors have a different set of usable tags to logged-in users.
The correct code for inline colouring is (as Sparkie carefully copied and pasted):
< span style = "color: #xxxxxx;" >
but it seems that visitors cannot use the span tag, which is why I said I couldn't actually see the code you were using (in the hope that you'd tell me!
P.S. Adam would like the record to show that he copied and pasted the span tag first. So now you know.
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 10:15 pm
Hehe, I distracted all you lovely Cambridge-ites (Cambridgeans?) from your work simply be mentioning the italics tag.
God, you children are so readily distracted by anything. I swear, it's as if you all troll the internet, looking for something to do, besides work. Silly people.
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 10:40 pm
Pffff, as if!
Oh God, why am I still here.
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 10:42 pm
Jane, it's Cantabrigian. And it's exam term: what else are we supposed to do?
And you're still using < i > tags!
Adam, why are you still here?
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 10:45 pm
Adam - you seem to know a fair amount about writing websites, why don't you write one so I can read it and thus avoid more revision?
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 11:00 pm
Or you could trawl the web until you find something interesting with which to update the Junkyard.
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 11:05 pm
Dude, I can use those tags if I want to use those tags, and you can't stop me.
(They're the ones I use for livejournal, so I'm just used to them. The "em" ones seem to cumbersome, as they require typing more letters and are not immediately memerable - as in "i" stands for "italics" and all.)
EDIT: corrected typo on request and replaced all italic tags with emphasis tags. - |[P]|
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 11:23 pm
Apparently I can.
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 11:26 pm
I would say something witty here, but it fails me.
You're mean.
Happy now?
Comment on 23 May 2006 @ 11:38 pm
OK OK i get the point.
New subject matter is now up, but due to a general lack of things happening around here it is hidden away in other sections.
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 12:43 am
I would create a website to help people to procrastinate, but:
1 - I don't know how
2 - I'm not sure what the hell I would put on it
3 - 5 days before my first exam is probably not the best time to start thinking about it
4 - I don't know how
5 - I have no webspace (don't you have to pay for that?)
6 - I would spend ages deliberating over girly things like the colour scheme and be ridiculed by all
7 - I use the internet way too much already
8 - I'd probably get bored of it after a while
9 - I'm sure no-one wants to know about the boring stuff I get up to
10 - I don't know how
Sorry Rob, procrastinate on your own!
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 12:55 am
1 - I don't know how
–>Then learn by making one, you seem to have the basics already
2 - I'm not sure what the hell I would put on it
–>Why do you think I review alcohol? Couldn't think of anything else at the time.
3 - 5 days before my first exam is probably not the best time to start thinking about it
–>OK I'll give you this one, but by the end of May Week…
4 - I don't know how
–>Wuss
5 - I have no webspace (don't you have to pay for that?)
–>Get it free from the SRCF
6 - I would spend ages deliberating over girly things like the colour scheme and be ridiculed by all
–>There are websites that can suggest suitable colour schemes, otherwise just follow my hippie example and make one up
7 - I use the internet way too much already
–>That's what it is there for
8 - I'd probably get bored of it after a while
–>Well make one that requires no long-term maintenance
9 - I'm sure no-one wants to know about the boring stuff I get up to
–>It doesn't have to be a blog, mine wasn't to start with
10 - I don't know how
–>I'll teach you, it's a useful skill
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 1:15 am
–>Then learn by making one, you seem to have the basics already
- it's amazing what 5 minutes of googling can do. ¬_¬
–>Why do you think I review alcohol? Couldn't think of anything else at the time.
- Hmmmmm…..
–>OK I'll give you this one, but by the end of May Week…
- I do need something else to do beside drink…
–>Wuss
- Well, yes. ¬_¬
–>Get it free from the SRCF
- the what now?
–>There are websites that can suggest suitable colour schemes, otherwise just follow my hippie example and make one up
- yeah, this was a rubbish reason I thought. ¬_¬
–>That's what it is there for
- I still use it too much though.
–>Well make one that requires no long-term maintenance
- could do I suppose.
–>It doesn't have to be a blog, mine wasn't to start with
- True.
–>I'll teach you, it's a useful skill
- oh go on then, I'll think about making one if you show me how. Tune in next week for "Adam crashes the internet armed only with a knowledge of coding plucked from Google!"
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 2:21 am
Aw, come on, Adam - if I can make a website (albeit, a really crappy, mediocre, boring one that I've never shown to anyone, and was only one page) without crashing the internet, than you can do it, too. And it'll probably be prettier than mine.
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 9:35 am
I really don't want to be able to use the span tag, as it would allow me to propogate CSS beyond my comment.
I tried image vectoring, and that didn't work, but I'm not keen that your processor isn't escaping certain types of symbols that it really should be doing, all I now need to do now is create a unicode character that's eliminated in your pre-processor character table mappings and your website is own3d.
But this is for another day and another life, right now I have other things to concern myself with…
& ? '
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 5:35 pm
OK, maybe it's only you that it's letting do that… That's better at least.
Hmmm…..
I have too many personalities
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 5:37 pm
OK, maybe I should use this process against a local install instead… You seem to be doing a reasonably good job though
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 5:40 pm
Yup, that's why I was quite keen on the div/span tags not being made available but I didn't have time to delve back into the code now to check. Fortunately it seems that intelligent limitations are already in place - unless I create a new user account and assign appropriate privileges (but this isn't a social blogging exercise, despite your distaste for my expansion to Frappr!).
And yes, you have too many personalities. Which also causes a delay with the first post of each new identity, as they need to be moderated before appearing.
Sparkie warned me this was going to into a "can we hack your site" exercise, and I joked it was fine provided you didn't get involved! Seems to be holding up reasonably well so far though, but I'll be interested to see what you discover…
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 5:44 pm
SoopaJane - LJ favours the <em> tag over <i>.
EDIT: fixed tags (it thought you meant "&" so changed it to & ) - |[P]|
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 5:49 pm
Arse.
(And I thought WordPress had some pretty good measures against CSS hijacks).
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 5:50 pm
This is really interesting
Hmm… The joys of CSS,XHTML etc…
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 5:53 pm
I really hope that this doesn't come out in italics….
But in case it does, I'll terminate the behaviour here anyhow
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 5:53 pm
Oh, now this has got to be tried on a local machine. Wordpress seems to think that it can do XHTML tag open/close tracking.
I'm impressed, but not all that sure I believe it.
The Pallas Cat shall spam no more. Have a nice life everyone.
Meow.
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 5:56 pm
I'm pretty happy with the WordPress level of security. I think its used widely enough that where security issues exist (and they do) it is discovered and patched with a minor update reasonably swiftly. However, it does mean time-consuming manual security upgrades to all the WordPress installations I maintain (for myself and for others).
Luke, yes its tag tracking isn't bad actually. It is trying to ensure that its output still validates even if the idiot user forgets to close his tags, and works reasonably well although often with unintended results (closing tags later than you would like).
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 5:57 pm
OK, for the record then, do you give me licence to try?
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 5:57 pm
I believe that this might be interesting. Is it going to close 1 or 2 tags?
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 6:00 pm
It closes the first one immediately and the second one at the end, which is correct to avoid having incorrectly embedded < em > tags.
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 6:02 pm
Yeah, it's probably widly enough used. The obvious attack would be to attempt to DOS the structural parser that it must be using to clean the XHTML, but that's a somewhat childish approach, and would potentially cause actual harm so I won't do it.
This is the first thing I've seen that attempts to do something this sophesticated. I'll give it a detailed bashing offline at some point later…
Cheers
Pallas
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 6:06 pm
>It closes the first one immediately and the second one at the end, which is correct to avoid having incorrectly embedded tags.
So I observe. Very good, also lightens the load on the nest depth that the parser has to maintain
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 6:07 pm
Wow could this be the record for the most posts?!?!?!
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 6:50 pm
abc def - I know LJ probably favours the 'em' tag (though I'm not exactly sure what you mean by 'favours'), but the 'i' tag works just fine, so why shouldn't I use it?
What do you mean by 'favours', anywho? If the 'i' tag works, then why is it wrong for me to use it?
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 8:47 pm
For the reasons already outline by Priyan above.
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 9:56 pm
Oh, well, yes - that was so many comments ago, I had forgotten he'd explained it already. My bad.
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 10:22 pm
I wonder how many comments we can get this up to before either a) the website can't take it any more and crashes, or b) Priyan gets annoyed and deletes them all in a fit of rage.
Place bets now!
Comment on 24 May 2006 @ 11:23 pm
62
Comment on 25 May 2006 @ 12:06 am
Sparkie loses!
¬_¬
Comment on 25 May 2006 @ 12:50 am
Hello everyone
Yes I have finally got to the end of this comment thread! Ok so I have only just found it via Rob's procrastination list. Also I wanted to ensure that Adam didn't win. (I'm sure he'll find a way now especially as he has an exam tomorrow)
Also since Rob's website has no comments page I would like it publically noted that I have completed nine out of the 28 including 25! Anyway as I have now made it publically known I will go back to the revision
Comment on 29 May 2006 @ 10:00 pm
Apologies for the lack of comment section. This might be rectified during May week, but don't bank on it.
Comment on 30 May 2006 @ 2:55 pm