chicken


Chicken	I had a race with an egg ~ we're not sure who came first

Blog
googleness ~ Saturday, January 29, 2005
As far as I'm concerned, google can take over the world. I love them. Gmail is annoying me a little at the moment, as it took 2 days for a few emails to come through and I will have to apologise to nice French girl who I shouted at via email for a comment she made about me not replying to her, and so I shouted back about her being the one not replying to me - I got her replies last night. oopsy. Other than that I'd have google's babies. And, so, the best thing since...um...gmail, is their new picture service called Picasa which has found everything on my PC and has many cool features such as being able to 'star' them like in gmail and the new and improved google groups, and do all manner of other things. All they need to release now is a instant messenger service and more features for blogger and I'll be the happiest little google chav there is. schweet

posted by chicken @ 2:58 PM 2 comments 2 Comments: At 12:16 AM, Martin said... I hear there's a Google-browser in the pipelines, too. Cheers At 10:14 PM, natalie biz said... chicken, just updating my blogroll - drop me a line when you get back... Post a Comment
plans and linkage ~ Wednesday, January 26, 2005
I need the motivation to get a move on and do things that just need to be done, and have needed to be done for some time. This year has seemed so lazy thus far though and I have done very little. I can't even be bothered reading, which is very unusual. I tell myself it's because I read so much over the Christmas period, devouring a book a day whilst in France, but that was a month ago already and no longer a valid excuse. So, a plan of action is needed, and I somehow need to stick to it without finding convenient things to play with, such as poker or silly flash games, until I suddenly find another evening or weekend is wasted away and I have achieved nothing that I wanted to. 1) In order to get on an do what I want to in the following items, I really must get all of my websites up and running again, properly. I was hit by the nasty Santy.A worm (clever little thing, really) just before Christmas and only have 3 of the sites up and running again properly, with another one semi-done and another still totally down. These must be fixed. 2) I found out yesterday that NetRiddle will be back up and running soon. Even though I probably won't be continuing with it, it does mean that my forum will start gaining traffic again. I need to fix the forum, possibly take it back to the murphyz.co.uk domain and find people to moderate it. I simply won't be able to moderate it if I am not doing the riddles anymore, and it used to average 4000 hits per day, which was bad enough when I was bored at work and could spend all day on it - now it would be impossible, although I doubt it will reach those figures again. 3) Start posting, properly, in the FarmyardMedia sites, which have been very neglected lately. The book forum is staying alive, just, with a few of the hardcore members posting every now and then - but it really is the posting of the admin/namesakes that keeps it running, as is with most small sites. The film and music side of the site is pretty much dead, but is also as promising as it ever was to get off the ground if I can put the time and energy into it. I have many plans for it, all of which will take time I need to find from somewhere. Again, I think delegation could be the key, and must assign moderators that are willing and able to keep discussion going, start new topics and gain more members, as well as doing more myself. 4) Get the a2z photography site up and running again and actually do something with it this time. 5) Make the time to enter more of the text and photoshop contests at Worth1000, which I really enjoy but have neglected along with everything else. 6) Catch up with people. I have actually made a start on this, but there are emails I need to send which haven't been done, and guilt starts to trickle in eventually because of it. 7) Start reading on the tube again. Actually force myself to, because I know when I hit a good book it'll get me out of the dry patch. I shall go and buy 'Small Island' by Andrea Levy which has just won the Whitbread Novel Award. Hopefully that'll be a good starting point. Hopefully, once this seven step process has been completed, I will feel a little more accomplished than I do right now.

posted by chicken @ 1:28 PM 1 comments 1 Comments: At 1:10 PM, Martin said... On the Farmyard stuff - I've been neglecting it, too, but I'll try to be a better boy and start posting there again (well, the movie- and booksite, that is). I'm game if you are. Cheers Post a Comment
Evolution ~ Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Can we force evolution? I don't mean 'we' as in you and I, but 'we' as in our generation and the next ten that follow. Imagine, if you will, this ridiculous scenario that I will use to get my point across. Everyone in the world comes to the conclusion that we will try to force evolution, for better or worse - and that this evolving step is to remove one eye from the population (okay, so that's really devolution, but it's a good example). Everyone in the world goes out tomorrow and has their left eye stitched closed. Everyone in the world can, therefore, only see out of one eye (not counting those already blind in one eye). Anyone born from this day forth has their eye immediately stitched up - or removed if that can be done safely...which I assume it can. They go through life with one eye and, to them, it's normal. This happens for every generation to come. Surely, somewhere down the line and through the reproductive scheme of things, the fact a person has never used their eye will eventually make that part of the body defunct. Eventually, children will be born without the eye. Genes would see to this as our brains adapt to the 'new way' and this is passed on. Perhaps. Through time humans and animals have always adapted to what they need, each species in different ways. If you follow Darwin's theory of evolution, we were once swimming in the sea and eventually became what we are today. It was gradual. It was natural. But it happened. I am sure we will evolve further in the future. I am also sure that evolution can be 'tricked' to some extent, such as in the above scenario. If this did ever happen, the removing of the eye thing, it also stands to reason that the way in which we would adapt to just one eye, is for it to become central on our face. This would be the natural evolutionary step for creatures with just one eye in order to have the best peripheral vision and adapt to the basic hunting/hiding rules of survival. We would become cyclops, and that would be normal. There would be fairytales written about children who were captured by nasty monsters that had an abnormal number of eyes, and serious discussions on whether humans evolved from that. Debates would be had on why two eyes are even necessary. It's only theory kids. Don't go sticking that needle near your eye now will ya?

posted by chicken @ 1:49 PM 5 comments 5 Comments: At 1:47 PM, Martin said... Very interesting idea, though - would make a great novel a la 'Oryx and Crake'. So, get writin', dude! Cheers At 1:53 PM, chicken said... That's funny - the Crakers actually came to mind whilst writing this. I don't have the time to write a novel I'm afraid. Very busy chicken that I am. :o) Mxx At 2:11 PM, Martin said... Less poker - more writing (and posting). Cheers At 2:15 PM, chicken said... I haven't been playing much poker lately. And to be honest, the only reason I posted here is because the email facility works now and I sent it to here and livejournal (come over to the dark side). Saying that...I did have to log in to both blogs to correct a spelling mistake :o( At 12:47 PM, Martin said... Stop tempting me, man! Sheesh! Cheers Post a Comment
The other blog... ~ Tuesday, January 18, 2005
So...this here email-an-entry thing works now - which is nice. I was going to abandon this blog as I trek over to livejournal but now I needn't bother as I should be able to email my entries to both blogs at the same time - which is nice. I could copy and paste, of course, but I am lazy. I'm only on LJ because I know so many people there and it makes sense to be there right now...keep track of them all and such like. It's kinda one of my new years resolutions to pay more attention to the friends that I have been neglecting. ...even if it is more trouble than it's worth sometimes.

posted by chicken @ 4:01 PM 0 comments 0 Comments: Post a Comment
Game on
I've just had a brief 'encounter' (hmm - that makes it sound sexual...it's not) with our HR manager about the fact she could smell burning. I had used the toaster, first time ever, in fact - and she blamed me for the smell. "I didn't burn anything"...I protested and then a few back and forth comments about whose job it was to actually clean the damned toaster thing - certainly not mine, that's for sure. In related news. Pop Tarts - still good. HR - still bad.

posted by chicken @ 11:44 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: Post a Comment
Final ~ Saturday, January 15, 2005
email test (for now anyway - it seems blogger is having a little problem with it all)

posted by chicken @ 8:42 PM 0 comments 0 Comments: Post a Comment
Don't judge a book... ~ Friday, January 14, 2005
I'm in an oddly good mood today. Perhaps because it's Friday, not sure, but I'm as happy as that guy named Larry and long may it continue. On the tube to wotk this morning I saw an old woman...tweed coat, grey hair, spectacles that made her look like she was a retired teacher - you know the sort. She was standing at the side of the carriage, eyes sparkling and a hint of a smile - obviously enjoying the book she was reading. I, being in the aforementioned good mood, decided I would be polite and offer my seat. Young nubile thing like myself can stand for 20 minutes - right? Then I saw what she was reading and enjoying so much. The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown. The image of a sweet retired school teacher left my mind immediately, replaced with that of an evil spinster who locks children in cupboards. If she had shown a little disgust at the tripe she was reading it would have been fine. As it stands, though, she really didn't deserve a seat.

posted by chicken @ 10:46 AM 4 comments 4 Comments: At 1:40 PM, Martin said... Oh come on - you're a literary snob and you know it. I bought 'Angels and Demons' and 'Digital Fortress' today - you gonna shun me, now? Cheers At 2:58 PM, chicken said... I'm sorry - do I know you? Mxx At 4:43 PM, Martin said... Haha .. You know, no matter how crap these books are, I'm gonna enjoy the shit out of them - just to annoy you. So there. Cheers At 6:00 PM, Anonymous said... Do you have discussion quetions for the Vinter's Luck? Thanks, Helene Post a Comment
Testing ~ Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Blog via email...

posted by chicken @ 2:23 AM 3 comments

3 Comments:

At 11:58 PM, Martin said...: Didn't work, did it?

Cheers
At 9:03 AM, chicken said...: I emailed 5 entries - this was the first one, and took about 6+ hours to appear...the others haven't shown up.

I have emailed blogger to seek advice...think their system is down.

Mxx
At 7:05 PM, Martin said...: Hmm, so I turned out to be right, too!

Cheers

Content copyright © 2004 Michael Murphy - Chicken best served daily