flotsam and jetsam

A New Post using Windows Live Writer

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 17:26:14 GMT

Well it's been a long time since I posted anything here. Anybody still around? Noelle??? Adobe???

I just downloaded the new beta version of Windows Live Writer and I'm composing this blog in it at this very moment.

This strikes me as a very good idea. Unfortunately it doesn't work with MySpace yet. But it's nice to have all these buttons for inserting links, pictures, tables, maps, tags and videos though. What bliss to be able to compose away from the inconsistencies of web dialog boxes and all those useful error messages like, "An unexpected error has occurred. The MySpace team has been notified."

So without further ado here is a link to my latest home recording effort.

Bodge Job Take Two It's 3.41 seconds long and 8.45MB at 320kbps mp3

Yes, I know 8.45MB is about twice the file size you'd expect for an mp3 but I'm having technical problems. I have to record my project to an analogue audio cassette and then re-record it back into the computer. This really mushes up the sound quality. At 128kbps you might as well not bother it's that bad.

And still in a spirit of adventure and trial, here's a funny picture.

Lament

Sat, 17 Feb 2007 23:26:02 GMT

OK, this is me playing the guitar.
It's a 4.9MB mp3 and it's 3.36 minutes long.

I've called it, Lament, for want of a better name.

SHIFT & left click should open your default media player.

Or right click and, "Save Target As".

Here's the Mrs. laying down a rhythmn track.

Things Overheard From A 13th Floor Window

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 21:58:17 GMT

Well, not a lot to report. I don't come here very often these days.
I'm not going to delete this space because there are lots of links here.
Stuff by me and others that I may need in the future.
This place is just SO damned clunky. I can't be doing with it!

Here's an animation I've not posted here before.
You can find me at http://blog.myspace.com/worldwidewardy if you like.

Subliminal Message

Tue, 12 Dec 2006 22:15:43 GMT

I don't think I ever posted this little .GIF animation on here before.

I posted it on MySpace and Blogspot but not here.

I'm sick of looking at all that heavy writing below so just to keep the silliness

quotient up here it is. This is Windows Live Spaces after all.

Not the place to change the world eh?

Child Support Agency Proposals

Sun, 10 Dec 2006 16:45:52 GMT

Child Support Agency and John Hutton's Proposals

I have just heard about the Labour MP, Mr. John Hutton's proposals about the Child Support Agency on BBC Radio 4's news programme, "The World This Weekend" and what he is saying strikes me as criminal.

You can read about it on one of the BBC's news pages here

His claim that, "When they don't pay, we have to pay, and that is not a proper thing to happen," is a dirty black lie!
In reality the CSA takes a third of the absent parents income and gives £10, yes that's right £10 in additional benefit to the parent with custody of the child/ren.
Where does he think we're living? Communist Russia? The man is living on another planet!

I have just sent the following message to him via his website and I urge any one with even the most rudimentary sense of justice to send some thing similar. The website above is aimed at his constituents in Barrow In Furness so if you know of a better way of getting to him in his capacity as Secretary Of State For Work & Pensions please use it and please let me know the address.

This is what I sent to him:

Sunday 10 December 2006.

Dear Mr. Hutton,

I have just heard about your proposals regarding The Child Support Agency on Radio 4's The World This Weekend this lunchtime.

I really could not believe what I was hearing. The CSA has been in a morally indefensible position since it's conception, and you are proposing to get even tougher?

How can you justify taking a third of a mans earnings and paying only £10 or £20 pounds additional benefit to that man's ex-wife and mother of his children. Where does the rest of the money go???

A man kicked out of the family home, living in rented accommodation, grieving about his children's welfare and perhaps taking home £800 to £1,100 per month has absolutely no incentive to work at all if you take a third of that meagre income away AND DON'T EVEN GIVE IT TO HIS CHILDREN!!!

The CSA ignores previously legal agreements between ex-spouses. (e.g. Man donates family home and car etc).

Have you any idea how many men have been driven to suicide by this, and how many men choose to go to prison rather than submit to this immoral state intervention???

These are OLD, OLD arguments and what you propose is CRIMINAL and leads directly to suicide!

Your proposals are little short of MURDER!

You are either sadly misguided or a cold hearted cynic!

I for one would wear your attempt to name and shame me as a badge of honour and link it to every web space I have access to.

You present only half the picture Mr. Hutton and it is utterly shameful of you to play politics with people's deepest feelings in this way.

I have voted Labour all my life. I have had my doubts about the Iraq war and Student Loans, but this takes the biscuit.

From here on in I will be actively campaigning against your lying and cynical party.

Yours faithfully,

Mark Ward

Sorry, no picture. This is beyond a joke.

Sundry Items

Fri, 10 Nov 2006 21:49:43 GMT

'lo people,

Just to let you know that;

1- My Computer is in pieces and I'm on a temporary machine for a while.

2- I seem to be becoming a serial blogger.

Third blog at following URL http://blog.myspace.com/worldwidewardy

3- I'd recommend following the link to Grinderman You don't have to sign in to hear the music.

It's by Nick Cave and will offend some people.

Personally, I can see where he's coming from and I applaud it.

What do you think?

Answers on a post card please ;¬)

The Rhythm Is Gonna Get You

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 15:46:47 GMT

Well, I said I must animate this picture and I have.

Albeit in a rather half-arsed way.

Perhaps I'll try again and get some expression in the face.

Even the B3tards seemed to find it amusing although
I suspect it was my dodgy spellering that got them going!

Read my thread here (SHIFT & Click).

Gunpowder, Treason & Plot

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 16:01:26 GMT

Here are some photos taken in a London friends, "Japanese Garden" earlier this week.

Get out the chestnuts and baked potatoes and wave goodbye to the Houses Of Parliament!

I'm a bit early for Bonfire Night. Forgive me.

SHIFT & Click here for a Flash based slide show.

Obo Plays The Drums

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 22:02:55 GMT

Obo has sent me a lot of abstract pictures made in Photo Shop recently.

This one looked so much like a drum kit, I couldn't resist adding a little

detail of my own.

SHIFT & Click the pic for the full version in a new window..

I must animate this!

Edit: Click the thumb below for Obo's elegant return.

15 - 30: Wardy to serve then?

Trying out the Firefox browser

Sun, 03 Sep 2006 17:25:48 GMT

I've had a couple of viruses recently, a Trojan and a 'sploit, despite being meticulous about security updates
anti-virus, firewall, and using the usual anti-spyware programs, Ad-Aware and Spybot - Search and Destroy.

I'm typing this blog using Firefox now and I have to say I'm pretty impressed!
It tells you a lot more about the web pages you're looking at than Internut Exploder which has been crashing
on me for a couple of weeks now.
I can see now why IE kept crashing everytime I tried to view Jolie Mae's space and why these spaces are so
slow to load...
Man, these spaces are pulling in data from 1001 different sources and use loads of scripts.
I like how Firefox tells you when a script has stopped running, which they often do here on Spaces, and gives
you the option to terminate it. It's a better option than an IE crash dude!

As I recall, Firefox was deeply trendy in some circles a year or so ago, so to some people this will be nothing
new, and others will have no idea what I'm banging on about!
Funnily enough, yesterday, Bob mentioned it in the comments to the blog below, AND I struck up a conversation
with a shop assistant in ASDA who has a degree in computer science, (go figure ;-) and when I told him about my
problems he said, "I use Firefox because it's not Microsoft coding so it gets ignored by viruses".
Makes a lot of sense I reckon.

A couple of downsides:
1 - BG Sound* doesn't work in Firefox. (You're quite right Bob!)
* the html code in the blog below that plays background music
2 - Spybot Search and Destroy doesn't seem to like it, but if Firefox is as good as I hope it is, I won't need
Spybot anymore :)

All in all, so far so good.
I'd recommend it! It's free, it's under 5MB to download and it's amazingly quick and easy to install.
Degree in Computer Science definitely NOT REQUIRED!!!

The Good, The Bad and The BG Music

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 22:13:15 GMT

Here's a little GIF animation that speaks volumes Spacers ;¬)

All my grievances condensed into 43kb!

On the UPside: Did you know you can add background music
to your space by pasting the following code into any blog?

Thanks to http://noellesnightclub.spaces.live.com/ for the tip.

Pasted mine in the Sandbox. It works there too!

brb ;¬)

White Shoe Shuffle

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 14:10:37 GMT

I was in two minds whether to post this third recording.
Then Obo made me dance in Flash so I thought I'd better bite the bullet.

1,992kb Flash Movie Here

Obo is never going to let me live down my stylistic aberration
of wearing white shoes with black jeans and T - Shirt.

Recording into the computer via USB

Sat, 19 Aug 2006 20:09:19 GMT

Well scrub the last post.

I can now record directly into my computer via a USB port!

I can even multi-track in a limited way by going into sound properties and selecting

my "USB Device" as the preferred recording and playback option.

W00t!!!

Despite the quoted system requirements and all the blah I've installed Cubase LE on here OK.

I never could understand the sodding thing when I saw it in recording studios so I've just done a

couple of sample recordings using Audacity.

Here's my first attempt. A bluesy 799kb mp3 file entitled Only XP My Arse
The more musically astute amongst you may notice the structure is slightly wrong
but it loops perfectly if you set your media player on repeat!

Here's my slightly more ambitious second attempt involving 3 track recording.
A shit kicking 1,044kb mp3 entitled Pointless 8 Beat Shuffle

Apologies for the ropey playing on both.
I'm desperately out of practice but having loads of fun.

.

Tue, 01 Aug 2006 20:49:07 GMT

Whoops, just deleted the next two posts... Oh Well..

Telly Doc wins the race... Hurrah!

Mon, 17 Jul 2006 21:26:23 GMT

It looks like Telly Doc wins the race by default as Obo

got abducted by a Furtive Polar Bear before it finished.

SHIFT & click here for 399kb finale.

The music is Marlene by Kevin Coyne from the 1970(ish)

album called Marjorie Razorblade.

Obo & Telly Doc Racing

Mon, 10 Jul 2006 20:34:01 GMT

To the uninitiated this little Flash movie might look pretty similar to the previous two.

But there is progress here..

1- I made a made scrolling background.

2- I made "Tweening" and, "Transform motion" work.

SHIFT and click here for a 520kb Flash Movie.

1 minute, 18 seconds long.

The Right Stuff

Sun, 02 Jul 2006 11:33:25 GMT

Well I'm still messing about trying to make Obo fly

using the power of Flash.

SHIFT & click to Watch His Trail

372kb Flash

Captain Obo & The Starfighters

Wed, 28 Jun 2006 22:04:40 GMT

SHIFT and click to open in a new window

Obo Starfighter 684kb Flash

Obo needs to eject..

Me Flying My Plane 378kb Flash

Obo replies from his magic carpet...

Listen to Obo being interviewed for the position of, "Starfighter Pilot".

1070kb mp3 - 3 mins 45 secs

Sound nicked from:

Captain Lockheed & The Starfighters

Music Links

Wed, 14 Jun 2006 21:26:21 GMT

Thanks to the marvels of the interweb and comments from the lovely people below here are some Ben Folds videos.

The songs get updated periodically I've noticed.

And here is The Bees website with videos and audio.

(Needs Flash 5 plug in or above).

Shift & click people..

New Guest Book

Mon, 29 May 2006 07:51:38 GMT

I'm quite pleased with this guest book because it lets you copy and paste

code into the entries and use HTML to post pictures and links.

As usual it's a good idea to press SHIFT while you click the button

but the HOME button will bring you back here if you forget.

I've already stuck a few things in there, but what I'd really like

is some input from you gentle reader.

Just pop in and say, "Hello", or if you're feeling more ambitious,

post me a picture, a link or even a radiant muffin of your own design.

Photo Album: Oboshops

Sun, 16 Apr 2006 23:55:46 GMT

Oboshops

brokeback-mountain-bigonly

brokeback-mountain-both_combined

brokeback-mountain-poster

Daddy_serenades_TD

Stick em up boys

Telly Doctor on the beach

Unforgiven_Obo

TD glowing

The boys are back in town .... yer the lady boys ...

Ted drops his oranges

More Photos...

Photo Album: Photoshops

Mon, 10 Apr 2006 22:13:24 GMT

Photoshops

earth_pope_tellydoc

extreme_survival

Obo_Wan

perky2mice

smallpaper_200Beattie

Agent_Beattie_Rain

a badger with an anvil throwing sparklers at the pope

spiderman

tesco_value_lion

yay_verily

More Photos...

Custom List: My Other Blogs

Mon, 11 Dec 2006 21:26:38 GMT

My Other Blogs

Flotsam & Jetsam Relocated
Blogspot blog
World Wide Wardy
MySpace blog

Custom List: Flash

Mon, 11 Dec 2006 18:42:39 GMT

Flash

Telly Doc Adventure 1.1mb
It's really a huge gif animation with sound added in flash
Obo On The Shore 842kb
Vader has mastered the pink flute but Obo is still mellow
Profcorn 1.2mb
Best thing on this blog with out a doubt. If you don't click anything else, CLICK THIS! Or the Media Player for a tiny version.
Pogles Wood 856kb
I added a spacky visual to Obo's music. Warning: Flashing Images.
Obo Tweenie 1158kb
See Obo dance
The Right Stuff 372kb
Obo flying a Lockheed F104G. Watch his trail...
Obo and Telly Doc racing 521kb
Complete with scrolling background.
Telly Doc wins the race 399kb
Obo is heped away by a furtive polar bear

Custom List: GIF Animations

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 18:58:49 GMT

GIF Animations

Dan & Daisy
paranoid cats
Vermeer
the astronomer
The Transit of Venus 2004
what really happened
Furtive Guitarist
j mascis spong
Spooky Forest
simple blink
Fear the paw
bastardization of lazygamer's original
Out
follow up to, "New Cell Mate"
Blunkett's New Cell Mate
won't make sense if you haven't seen, "New Cell Mate"
New Cell Mate
stupid joke in very poor taste
Goattie wall of hair
goattie morphs into phil spector
Le Badger
goattie morphs into a badger
Obo bin Laden
obo morphs into osama bin laden
The one that went wrong
probably the best
Charlie Blair
perpetual loop
Where's Obo?
Peepo! Here he is...
Live Long & Prosper
A message from Condi Rice
Reclaim The Streets
You talking to me?
The Rhythm Is Gonna Get You
Obo Drums in 6 frames

Custom List: Interesting Spaces

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 16:40:23 GMT

Interesting Spaces

Storm's Space Of Spaces
What it says on the tin really. Check 'em out.
ERDEMLİ İNSAN
Ferhat Topal's bi-lingual space from Turkey
Dolby Art
Painting, music and more
Spirit Of Turpentine
I love this person's paintings
ҳ̸Ҳ̸ҳfємαℓє gυιтαяιѕтҳ̸Ҳ̸ҳ
wê cånt åll bê hê®øes sum pêøplê håvê 2 sit øn thê cu®b & clåp
UK Mad & Bad Society
Having fun without hurting people

Custom List: Obo's Corner

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 17:09:23 GMT

Obo's Corner

Pogles Wood MP3
Obo's original 769kb mp3
Obo+Blind Melon Hawking
1170KB mp3 - Obo on guitar-Steven Hawking on vocals.
Hypno Obo
Obo recommends viewing full screen. I recommend a tin foil helmet before clicking this 700kb flash
Brokeback Mountain
Gay cowboys by Obo. JPEG
Vader's Chips
Darth Vader wants a Happy Meal. GIF Animation
Obo's Time Machine
Obo The Victorian Inventor. Big JPEG
Obo in a time bubble
Full 300kb JPEG with no extra blue.
Windows
Artistic JPEG
Spitfire flying out of the mist
No source picture involved. JPEG
Telly Doc Glowing
in the moonlight. Wait! That's no moon... JPEG
Ted drops his oranges
in the face of Telly Doc's astounding beauty presumably JPEG
Pogles Fancy Version
1091kb Flash - More frames
Me Flying My Plane
Obo's riposte in 378kb of Flash. HTML is for wimps Obo says. He likes things big!
Headbanging with the ladyboys and girls and The Quo
3.5MB Flash hosted by b3ta/cr3ation for free

Custom List: mp3

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 19:35:09 GMT

mp3

Nog Deejay 869kb mp3
Noggin The Nog meets Alice Deejay
Profcorn 1.2mb mp3
With apologies to Aphex Twin
B minor idea processed 928kb
Two real guitars manipulated in Wave Pad and Audacity
The Telly Doc Song
My little ditty about Telly Doc
Obiliscous Song
My song about Obo. At Merlot time he has a little drink and reinstalls Windows
Only XP My Arse
Bluesy Snippet 799kb mp3
Eight Beat Shuffle
1,044kb mp3 Just a try out. Multitrack recording using Audacity.

Custom List: Some good links

Thu, 08 Jun 2006 21:06:22 GMT

Some good links

2dudes
funniest toon ever
2dudes2
until this one ;)
Cactus&Son
sweary cactus
Strindberg + Helium
dark humour
matazone
excellent flash anims
Semaphore Ninja
send ninja e-mails
fitness to practice
crazy med students sing
The IRC Bible
techie irreverance
Salad Fingers
Very strange series of Flash movies. Best viewed in order.

Custom List: Helpful spaces

Sun, 28 May 2006 12:39:33 GMT

Helpful spaces

India's Hive Of Industry
How to do almost anything with your MSN Space. Marvelous stuff.
The Space Craft
MSN Team Official Blog. Lots of useful stuff
D3VMax - Hack MSN Spaces
Customization info, tutorials & much more