I am the ghost of groovymother.com. Woooooo!

This is an old page from Rod Begbie's blog.

It only exists in an attempt to prevent linkrot. No new content will be added to this site, and links and images are liable to be broken. Check out begbie.com to find where I'm posting stuff these days.

Entries for week beginning November 6, 2005

November 11, 2005

see shy jo: thread patterns

How to recognize, at a glance, whether it’s worth opening emails on a busy mailing list.

Celestia

Wow. An amazing free space “simulator” for Windows, OSX or Linux. Tip: Select “Demo” from the Help menu to get an idea of what it covers.

Filed under : : : : : : : :
via |

Ambigrams

Interesting collection of word designs that read the same forwards, backwards, upwards, downwards, etc.

Filed under : : :
via |

November 10, 2005

CompUSA.com - Terms and Conditions

Wow, this is news to me: CompUSA no longer charges a 15% restocking fee on open-box returns. That fee was the reason I stopped shopping with them.

Filed under : :

November 9, 2005

My Web 2.0 Business Proposal

Last night, at the Boston Web Innovators Meetup, there were two presentations of practically identical new URL-gathering sites, and I had fun muttering heckles from the peanut gallery.

So I propose a new service: You write me a sizable check, go through your presentation, then I and some of my friends mock you mercilessly. Why would I use your site? What’s different from del.icio.us/digg/slashdot? What will happen if trollers and spammers game your site? How do you hope to scale your categories when Yahoo couldn’t manage it ten years ago? Are you aware that company names that end in ‘ient’ and have swoosh logos were considered ridiculous and clueless five years ago? And stop fucking saying “blogosphere”. Seriously. You sound like a tit.

We won’t offer solutions—Just get our rants off our chest, to your face, in private, and at least give you some preparation for what will be said behind your backs next time you present.

Current working names: “Undue Diligence”, “Cantank ‘R’ Us” and “That smartass know-it-all prick. Dot com. Two point oh. On Rails. ient.” Get in touch. Our rates are very reasonable.

oqo

Teensy palmtop Windows XP PCs. Got to poke at one a little today, and it is sweeeet.

Filed under : :

American Laundromat Records: High School Reunion

Indie rock acts covering songs from 80s high school flicks. Purchased!

Filed under : : : :

Five email tics I’d love for you to lose

Today at work, an email memo about the fact that we’re changing the paper in our copiers to a shiner brand was sent with Outlook’s High Priority flag set. I weep for humanity.

Filed under :
via |

Root.net

Install a Firefox extension and gather some statistics on where you’re “spending” your “attention”. Has potential to either prove really interesting, or a collosal fucking disaster. Can’t decide which yet.

Filed under : : : : :
via |

November 8, 2005

This is going to seem vocally narcissistic, but…

It would appear that I now have a “thing” for the Scottish accent.

I had to phone up the Bank of Scotland to sort out some stuff with my British bank accounts, and each of the women I spoke to had lovely lilting west-coast Scots accents. They sounded really quite yummy.

I think I may now understand why Joy puts up with me.

Risk via Google Maps

Best use of a mapping API yet.

Filed under : : : : : :
via |

November 7, 2005

Greatest Internet Moments

A nostalgic selection of memes and history from the last ten years.

Filed under : : : :
via |

Visual Studio Express

Microsoft have release the various versions of Visual Studio Express for free. Very smart move on their part — It reduces the cost of Windows programming to essentially zero for those who aren’t willing to pay, and MS can make up the money with their “professional” Team solutions and MSDN subscriptions.

The E-Mail Time Capsule - Forbes.com

Email the yourself of the future. My email to my 49-year-old self ponders on SMTP, spam and the likelihood of me still getting emails at begbie.com.

Filed under : : :
via |

About This Site

This is an archive of groovmother.com, the old blog run by Rod Begbie — A Scottish geek who lives in San Francisco, CA.

I'm the co-founder of Sōsh, your handy-dandy guide for things to do in San Francisco this weekend.