...is more than just a buzzword. Or so I hope.
Recently, I've been working on doing it better. I've not been very busy this year, work-wise, and I've had plenty of interesting, non-work related things to to; all very nice, but I figured it's about time I invest a bit of energy in getting some nice projects in the future.

( Here's what I did... )

Remember when gummihuhn , aka_phoenix , Raffizack, stoneshop  and I went to the Chaos Communication Camp in Finowfurt, in 2007, and set up a temporary OBCZ there?
Well, maybe not. Here's an article on the BookCrossing site to refresh your memory.

We had a wonderful time, handed out a lot of books and made new friends and members from all over the world. So this year, we're doing it again.
This year's version of the conference is called Hacking At Random 2009, and it's going to be held in Vierhouten, the Netherlands, from August 13 to 16.
We're likely to be with a smaller group of BookCrossers this time, but Raffi is coming, so that's good. And we'll be bringing our laptops, lots of obsolete-but-fun hardware, and plenty of nonsense with LEDs on it. Oh, and books.

Ticket presale is open until July 20th, so if you want to get in for the lower presale price, you'd better start packing. The event's website can be found here.

Okay, I haven't been updating lately... so now that I get The Urge, I'll hurry up and type it down while it lasts.
Here goes:

( This got longish )

No matter how much we like to complain about today's society, people are still doing fun and creative things. Some of my favourites (see BookCrossing) use one of the 'old' activities and combine it with teh internets somehow. Nice new ideas sprout from that union all the time.
One you may or may not have heard of is yarnbombing. That's a kind of knitted graffity: people knit (or crotchet, I suppose) something to display in the public space. Like a colourful, cosy pyjama for a tree or traffic sign.
Sounds funny, I hear you say. Do people actually do that? Well, it appears they do and here's proof: a yarnbomb that I spotted in my city.

Don't you love it when people just get out there and do something to make their own environment more friendly? I sure do.

I used to have Adobe Acrobat Reader on my laptop, to open and view PDF files with. But lately the program is getting rather bloated, with not much visible reason. After all, it still does the same things, with some new bells and whistles (and honestly I couldn't name one of those new featues to save my life).
The download for the latest version, version 9, was a whopping 41.1 MB. Wow, does it really need to be so big?
So I checked out older, and much smaller, versions on Oldversion.com. They had an interesting little list:   

    * Acrobat Reader 2 (1.4 MB)
    * Acrobat Reader 3 (3.9 MB)
    * Acrobat Reader 4 (5.2 MB)
    * Acrobat Reader 4.05 (5.5 MB)
    * Acrobat Reader 5.0 (8.4 MB)
    * Acrobat Reader 5.0.5 (8.6 MB)
    * Acrobat Reader 5.1 (13.0 MB)
    * Acrobat Reader 6.0 (15.9 MB)
    * Acrobat Reader 6.01 (16.3 MB)
    * Acrobat Reader 7.05 (31.5 MB)
    * Acrobat Reader 7.07 (20.2 MB)
    * Acrobat Reader 7.08 (20.3 MB)
    * Acrobat Reader 7.0.9 (20.2 MB)
    * Acrobat Reader 8.11 (22.3 MB)

Oops! Looks like you've really let yourself go there, darling!

But wait. Surely there are other options. Of course, I still want to be able to read, save and print PDFs, but I really don't need much more.
So I tried Foxit reader. It's like Acrobat on Slimfast!
A download size of 3,65 MB, it installs easily, and it starts up much faster. I haven't been able to find any features missing yet.
Yep, looks like this one is on my harddisk to stay.
But don't take my word for it, read some reviews if you're interested.

Bored or feeling down?
Here are some funny blogs to keep you busy and bring a smile or a snicker.

Cakewrecks. When cakes go horribly wrong

Engrish. Vely wlong but vely fun.

Passive aggressive (or just plain aggressive) notes

Notalwaysright. Yes, the customer can be very, very wrong.

And, of course, the place for all things fail.

You'll love this one. Found it on fuzzy_dolts journal.
( click to watch )

You'll love this one. Found it on fuzzy_dolts journal on LJ.
( click to watch )

I'm testing a client for posting to LiveJournal, because I want to find out if it can simultaneously post to LJ and Scribbld. This is a test, feel free to ignore.

Edited to add: it can! It just did. How very convenient!
In case anyone wants to try it, it's called Semagic and I found it here.

I'm testing a client for posting to LiveJournal, because I want to find out if it can simultaneously post to LJ and Scribbld. This is a test, feel free to ignore.

Edited to add: it can! It just did. How very convenient!
In case anyone wants to try it, it's called Semagic and I found it here.

...will not be a review of the year past, or a list of resolutions or plans for the year coming.
Instead, it's about a website that's both funny and immensely useful. It's the very best answer when someone asks you something that he or she could have found out by his- or herself in half the time it took to formulate the question.
It's slightly snarky. But really only slightly so. And it does actually lead people to the real answers.

'The capital of Burkina Faso? The lifespan of gold fish? Who wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls? Hmmm... Let Me Google That For You.'

Be sure to bookmark. You're going to want to use it sooner or later. Probably sooner.
Have a splendid New Year, my friends and lurkers!

...taken from the artist's own MySpace, so you don't have to enter into that hellhole, and corrected to what he's actually singing. For the most part.
( When I say Oo, you say: Long )

gummihuhn  infected me with this one, so it's all his fault. I generally don't like rap at all but this is just funny! Tea lovers, enjoy. ( When I say 'Earl Grey', you say 'yes please'. )

Well they're not... it's Australia. And it's censorship.

As Sugaryfun wrote on the BookCrossing forum:
"Our government is bringing in a new system to filter out content deemed unsuitable for children or illegal. There is no 'opt out' allowed, it is compulsory, even in homes where there are no children. The filters tested will slow down broadband speeds and incorrectly block thousands of websites. The plan is wrongheaded and a total waste of public money."

I totally agree with her, and that is why I'm showing my support by posting this banner that links to a site about this issue:

But I haven't because I generally don't watch TV. And I love it.
The funny thing is, I first saw a much-used LJ icon which clearly was made from a XKCD comic; it looked like this.( Behind a cut. Because. )

Last year, stoneshop, gummihuhn and I went to Finowfurt, Germany, on a nerdy version of summer camp. (Some of you may remember that.)
Since we were volunteering to help running things (they called us Chaos Angels... doesn't that sound nice?) I made several cardboard signs, telling people not to climb the bunkers, not to step on the fiberoptic cables or not to let their dogs (which shouldn't have been there in the first place) roam the site and pee on people's tents.

Now all of a sudden this picture of one of the signs I made pops up on a 'funny stuff found all over the internets' site, and is spotted by someone who then posts it on a motorcycling forum I read.
I never intended this sign for the internet. it was simply a sign, made for practical reasons, and I tried to make it a bit silly so people would notice it more and not think we were nagging about the rules.
This must be how memes are born.

These are for you!
Two LJ comunities you may enjoy:

library_mofo
libpatronssuck

Somehow I have a feeling that you'll fit right in!
Hope they may help you feel a bit better.
The rest of us may enjoy reading them. I know I will.

Okay, we've seen memes before... but this one is certainly different enough for me to be amused. I hope you like it, too.

Here's a quick pointer: check out Kukuburi if you haven't already. It's full of vibrant colours, great illustration and delightful weirdness. Updates every Tuesday.