Ze Internet! Page 17

Hello and welcome to another week of the internet. Not too much to prattle on about this week, so let's just jump right in. 

It's been really cold on the east coast of the US right now, so cold in fact, that NYC is surrounded by ice. Very pretty. 

Speaking of New York, take a look at these maps of the world's biggest cities according to tourist photos. Data artist Eric Fischer used geotagging information to map where tourists and locals take photographs of cities around the world.

Areas marked red on the maps show the places where tourists take photos, blue designates locals and yellow is where it’s too hard to determine which is which. It's pretty interesting to see the differences - especially if you know the city well. You can see a lot more over on Flickr. 

I often find myself missing London, but know that I'm missing a London that just doesn't exist anymore. I'm actually quite glad I left when I did. I think it'd be heartbreaking to witness the changes firsthand. I read about a shop called 'Champagne and Cheese' that now exists in Brixton Market. How is that even possible? Anyway, London is Changing, "is intended to facilitate discussion about the impact of economic and policy changes on the culture and diversity of London. Via a web form, we are asking a series of questions intended to capture a variety of personal stories and circumstances that will enhance understanding of broader demographic trends concerning migration into, out of, and around London. An edited selection of responses from the web form is currently on display on digital billboards in Central London and new responses are being added daily." The responses are sad, but true. I've watched as my London friends have been forced further and further out into the suburbs as their old homes were either bulldozed to create new, generic blocks of flats for the super-rich (none of whom actually live in London), or their rents grew astronomically high - again, only in reach of the super-rich. What will become of London? 

To cheer you up, have a read of these FML (f*** my life), moments in Greek mythology. Here's a taster. 

If you're going to die soon, you should sort out your online stuff, like Facebook, and online storage. Here's a guide to how to make sure someone else can access your profiles after you've gone to the big playground in the sky. 

If you live in the US, you can get anything you want via one text. You lucky people. I'm not sure what 'anything' actually encompasses, but there you go. 

If you're a Chrome user, chances are you'll find something useful or cool as Chrome Experiments celebrates 1000 experiments.

Ever wonder how your favourite drink is made? Wonder no more. 

I spent most of today (Friday), annoyed about a picture of a dress. When I actually read about it, it was interesting. Here's a video that sums it all up. 

Obligatory space bit in the form of Spaceprob.es. "Spaceprob.es catalogs the active human-made machines that freckle our solar system and dot our galaxy. For each space probe, we've affectionately crafted a short-and-sweet summary as well as handpicked geeky hyperlinks we think are worth exploring." The site is really worth digging around in. It's a goldmine of spacey information. 

I think I'll leave you with this.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Interweb 16

Another week of baby stuff marred by shootings much closer to home this time. Miraculously, only three dead and five injured, but three and five too many. 

Other things that happened this week were a jaunt to England to visit the grandparents (no screaming on the flights, thankfully!), and, no...that's it really. Oh wait, actually Photoshop turned 25 (!). 

This "map of self-declared identity according to the 2011 Census: how English and/or British is each local authority?" is wonderful (see here for a much, much larger version). I've alway considered myself more British than English, having a strong link to Scotland, and a surname stemming from Ireland (not much to do with Wales, mind you). It's interesting to see the odd patches of Britishness around the country, as well as the very high rate in London. I'd have actually thought it would be the opposite, but there you go. 

The biggest film news this week (if you look away from the Oscars coming up), is that a new Alien movie is in the pipeline - officially! Directed by Neill Blomkamp of District 9 (I just found out he's a year younger than me. I'm so old), the final film can't be any worse than Alien: Resurrection - even the usually resplendent Sigourney couldn't save that. Or can it? We'll have to wait and see. 

Anyway, to travel stuff, because why not. America, Liberia, and Myanmar are the only three countries that still use the imperial system. Go figure. If you're an expat or travelling there, here's a handy guide to help you out. Silly Americans. 

Gird your loins. Bet you never knew that!

From loins to chemical reactions. 

Maybe I should have put Jesus and his marketing team before the chemical reactions. Loins go much better with Jesus. Anyway, too late. 

Occasionally I notice a Wilhelm Scream in a film, but I'll willingly admit I've missed most of these. 

And for your weekly dose of space (actually, that was something else that happened this week. This photo of us, the earth, turned 25 too. "Pale Blue Dot is a photograph of planet Earth taken on February 14, 1990, by the Voyager 1 space probe from a record distance of about 6 billion kilometres (3.7 billion miles)." Now sit back, close your eyes, and listen.

Have a great weekend. Be kind to one another. 

The Internet - 15

Hello and welcome to another week of the internet condensed into one handy blog post. Needless to say, this is entirely my own pickings from things that have popped up in my feed or that I've come across while surfing the web - but speaking of the web, do you know the difference between the web and the internet? Now you do. 

There's been some beautiful weather in Copenhagen recently, in fact, you would be excused for thinking spring is beginning to spring, but I won't get my hopes up. One of my earliest memories of living in Denmark was being on the bus and seeing huge piles of snow - in April. I mean... I don't know. It's not right. Maybe I should move to Las Vegas. No, I can't even joke about that. I'm not sure I could imagine much worse. Anyway, here are some lovely photos of that obese and glittery money pit. 

I must admit, however, that Las Vegas fascinates me. I've been twice, and I'd gladly go again. It's the strangest place. Try to arrive at night, if you're ever going there. It's fascinating to see it rise out of the blackness. Totally unexpected and yet entirely predictable, it's heaving with debauchery of every kind. It has a history like no other place on earth, well worth reading about. Now that I think about it, the place it reminds me of is Marrakech. They're both a complete and utter sensory overload, just in very different ways (except for the heat and the dust). Anyway, I'm going way off track, sorry. I've been kicked out of the house for mother group and now I'm just rambling. 

Look at this great map showing how people from north London see the UK. I like that London is split - something that most of these kind of things forget to do, which is funny as the north/south divide within the city is probably more inherent than outside. 

If you're one of the millions (?) who is obsessed by that 50 Shades of Grey nonsense, then you might like this 50 Shades Text Generator. Actually you might like it regardless of whether or not you've read it/seen it. Here's a sample. For all I know this is an actual excerpt from the book.

Good Lord.

Save us Batman. 

This print advert from Lastminute.com is genius. Sorry about all the smut. 

If you didn't see this very silly collection of famous people and their names, you should see it now. 

Of course we can't go a week without space, so here's NASA's official poster for Expedition 45. It's quite unbelievable.