Recommending a web host
I get a lot of questions from friends asking for web hosting recommendations. I normally just recommend them the web host that I use personally, as I know what they offer, how much it all costs, and besides, I get to give them a referral code and make some dough out of the deal!
A lot of the time, though, my web host is probably overkill for them. They don't need unlimited databases, unlimited disk space, ssh access, crontabs, or anything fancy. They just need a small plot of cyberspace to pop their wedding photos onto. So, maybe they should be recommened to another host?
If they should, I don't know which one. Enter Web hosting geeks, then. They'll recommend a bunch of different hosts depending on different criteria: by price (if you just want cheap hosting), by what type of site you have, and even by host speed. Very handy.
The Dark Knight
The Dark Night in a conundrum, and it's a flick I'm still undecided about, twenty four hours later. If you haven't seen it yet, spoilers follow...
Continue reading 'The Dark Knight'...
Mahjong is the new Poker?
I talked about an online Poker championship a while back. I figured it'd be a good idea, because I'm pretty sure the number of people playing poker these days outweighs the number of people who don't. It's simple maths for a very simple person.
My maths don't always hold up to scrutiny, so with that in mind, I'm offering a post which fulfils the opposite theory: the number of people who don't play Mahjong is less than the people who do play Mahjong online.
That last sentence has left me feeling a bit confused, and it seems that my grammar holds up to even less scrutiny than my maths. Regardless, lets keep talking about Mahjong. Here's a snappy fact about it: did you know that you can play it online, and for money? How about an even more radical fact: there's even a World Series of Mahjong! Incredible, I know.
Now, I'm not a big player of the game, and to be honest, I don't even know the rules. The fine people over at Mahjong Time do though, and are happy to show you the ropes if you're interested. They even have a mascot in the shape of a Mahjong piece.
Here's a quick video with a rundown on what it's all about:
Interested? Give it a whirl! If anything, it'll be good to learn how it works so you have a few Mahjong based puns in your arsenal. I'm sure you can come up with a bit of innuendo that goes hand in hand with the phrase 'honour piece'.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Arrgh! Avoid avoid avoid avoid avoid avoid avoid avoid avoid avoid avoid avoid avoid avoid.
Read more about the films I've watched on my movies page.
Hancock
Woo! Watch it watch it watch it watch it watch it watch it watch it watch it.*
*Maybe don't watch the last hour, but certainly watch the first.
Read more about the films I've watched on my movies page.
2008 Poker Championships and Last Man Standing
I'm enjoying the Euro 2008 championships at the moment. Like most people who've been watching the competition unfold, I've now got my money on Holland to win. It's the safe money given how well they've been playing. It's been a great tournament so far, and there's been a game on in the background of our living room every day since it started. I keep seeing adverts on the TV for betting-in-play, where you can place bets during matches on a bunch of different things like the final score, and how many yellow and red cards will be presented amongst other things. It's a good idea, and I might give it a whirl tonight or tomorrow.
If Football-betting isn't your thing, you could always get some practice of a different sort of game over at bet365 poker. They've got their very own 2008 competition in their 2008 Poker Championship, with $60,000 up for grabs. Even with the exchange rate being what it is, that's not a bad haul. They're also hosting a Last Man Standing competition with the top prize being entry into the World Series of Poker Main Event! You could be the proud owner of a WSOP bracelet if you can keep your poker face going long enough.
So even if you don't like football, there's still plenty of bet on this summer! See after the jump for the full press release:
Continue reading '2008 Poker Championships and Last Man Standing'...
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Summer's the season of the Hollywood blockbuster, and during it you're guaranteed to have at least one great experience in the cinema, while you're cooling off in the air-conditioned confines of a cavernous Cineworld or Odeon.
But either Hollywood's having a very bad summer, or they're making us wait until the last few weeks of it to bring out the goods. Personally it's been a terrible season so far, and it all started with the new Indiana Jones film.
I won't talk about it, other than to say I really didn't enjoy it, and that there was a massive overuse of special effects in lieu of some really solid writing. It's a film I've decided to demote to the Temple of Doom in my brain, and to never mention it to anyone, ever.
Read more about the films I've watched on my movies page.
Almost holiday time
It's almost holiday time! We'll be taking a break soon, and will have a week of sun, sea, and copious amounts of reading to look forward to. I doubt I'll ever get used to going on an aeroplane: it's just not natural for a land-mammal such as myself to be 37,000 feet in the air, strapped to a chair.
The last time I went away somewhere sunny was around five years ago: Bolan and I spent two weeks in Greece doing absolutely nothing except getting sunburnt, reading, and drinking Ouzo. It was a good holiday. I managed to read a very funny book while I was away: it was the autobiography of the wrestler, The Rock.
Hopefully we won't have to wait too long for our next trip away - with the exchange rate being so favourable for the British, it'd be worth trying to get some cheap flights to USA. If I went back though, I'd want to do the whole lot, starting on the East coast, sweeping down south to Florida, heading along the border, all the way to the West coast. From there, north, and then back east, to complete the full circle. I better get saving.
What I learned last week, part one
Part one of a Kottke-cribbed series: what I learned this week.
- There's one known type of script that was written bottom to top, right to left. It's called Orkhon.
- David Blaine recently broke the world record for holding your breath underwater. His time: 17 minutes, 4.4 seconds.
- Garfield comics, minus Garfield can be very surreal.
- How to find and replace using MySQL. Nerdy, but handy.
- 14th May, 2008
- What-i-learned-this-week.
AVP on DVD
As much as I try not to give it away, I'm a bit of a Sci-fi fan. I rarely watch the genre, but when I do it's always exciting, and the combination of well-worn-in genres and technical innovation that typifies them is something that I always find comforting.
With this in mind, Alien v Predator : Requiem is out on DVD soon. It's a film I didn't manage to see at the cinema (from what I remember Cineworld in Brighton only had it on for a few days). It received some pretty scathing reviews, but I'm willing to ignore them and check it out. I always root for the Aliens, even though they'd gobble me up without a second thought.
