Archive for the 'Humans' Category

Choice paralysis

Friday, March 2nd, 2007

Today I watched an excellent Google lecture on the paradox of choice – why more is less, by Barry Schwarz (who’s book I’ve just bought). I’m in the middle of designing an interface where this issue is particularly relevant, so finding this vid (via governomics) was perfectly timed. It’s fascinating. In a nutshell, the more […]

Pet hates III

Thursday, September 7th, 2006

Men who dress all in black under the mistaken belief that they are Johnny Cash Drizabone full-length wax jackets. A matching outback style hat wins special hate multiplier points Bluetooth headsets. Every single person who sees you will think you’re a dobber. Although on rare occassions they can be acceptable People who read out phone […]

You’re alright mate, you’re alright

Wednesday, September 6th, 2006

I had to doubletake BBC news on Monday morning. Steve Irwin dead? No way. I emailed Lara. She’d already texted me. Irwin was a cult figure in the Robotperson household. So much so that when we visited the Sunshine Coast in 2001, I insisted that we see the Australia Zoo. We arrived late and missed […]

Air con

Monday, February 20th, 2006

The world is divided in two. Not by skin colour, or income, or even religious ideology – but by those who want the air conditioning on, and those who want it off. There can be no compromise, no dilution of philosophy. No “how about we leave it on, but set it a bit lower?”. Mankind […]

Pet Hates II

Friday, February 17th, 2006

It’s been a while coming (here’s Pet Hates I) – I must be less misanthropic than I thought: Women who don’t remove the stickers from the soles of their shoes. Ladies, those white rectangles are the #1 way to ruin an otherwise immaculate, brand-new outfit. Worse, the half-removed torn-sticker look that says “I tried, but […]

Dropping stones down the infinite well

Tuesday, February 14th, 2006

“Dropping stones down the infinite well” [phrase] Definition: The experience of delivering a piece of work that you’re particularly satisfied with, but realise that you’re unlikely to ever hear any feedback about. Just as you wait for the splash of it hitting the bottom after you let go of a stone, you wait to hear […]

Cloning experiment

Sunday, January 22nd, 2006

I am pleased to announce that phase I of my latest project, an experiment in homebrew genetics, is now complete. Having successfully introduced a quanta of my DNA into a compatible host medium, my plan to create a robotperson semi-clone has now entered phase II. The semi-clone is currently leeching resources from it’s host, and […]

Celebs

Sunday, November 13th, 2005

I’ve made a long overdue update of the celebrity spot page. Well over a dozen (i.e. 14) famous faces have been added to our gallery of glam, so why not pull up a stool, order a cosmopolitan, and peruse the (newly promoted to main navigation, thanks Google) celebrity section.

Time preciousness index

Thursday, November 3rd, 2005

When my brother needs to get in touch, he likes to call rather than email because it takes him a long time to type (he is, in his own words, a “left-sided hemiplegic stroke surviving mother*******”). I, on the other hand, generally prefer him to email because I can reply to emails whenever I’ve got […]

Rita

Monday, September 26th, 2005

It must be perculiarly annoying to find out that someone has named an enormous, water-saturated volume of high velocity, low pressure oxygen and (mostly) nitrogen after you. However, exactly this has happened with my mother and hurricane Rita. Alternatively it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to snip hilarious headlines and stick them to your pin-board, like “Monster […]