Computer Cleaning...

I got given £30 today! I spent two nights cleaning up her computer and installing some nice new free softwares for them. PCWorld wouldn't touch it. Because they're stupid and said they couldn't do it. They could do a full system restore, but they'd lose all their stuff. Which is retarded, so I offered to fix it for them.

Thankfully, the virus they had was a mild version of that copyright one I had. Took me a couple of hours to rip it out and then I spent another 10 hours cleaning up over a third of their harddrive space, reclaiming programmes and junking crap. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I've sent them off with ClamWin, Adaware, WinDirStat, OpenOffice, Chrome, CCleaner - piles and piles of stuff. And I left them a nice little present too. I found a lovely picture of their son, had Himself photoshop it and clean it up, and set it as their background.

After that I spent the afternoon doing maintenance, cleanup and bloggage on my miniature machine - it might be cheap, it might be small, but it's pocket sized and reliable! We also took the dragons for a walk down to the shop to pick up some milk, and scared the bejaysus out of the half-asleep guy on the tills at Tesco. "Just these two." I said, handing up my wicker basket. He went to pick up my "items" and only then clocked the lizards smiling up at him.

Related Quote: "Hah, I thought for a moment, 'Hang on, we don't sell those... do we?' and then I figured not... Still made me think though!" - Tesco guy Elliott

Washersplode!

Nuthin' much today.

Builders in, making a mess.

Dragons snoozing now.

Have a mini-film.

Should have made that a Haiku.

Oh well, never mind.

Love the Language

I love languages. There's just something about the shapes of letters, sounds of words, that keeps me fascinated (though not as much as this guy. Enjoy, it's a sweet article!). I'm not particularly GOOD at languages, but I do know some bizarre phrases... I got another one for my collection; My lizard fell down the back of the sofa again is "mijn hagedis is weer achter de bank gevallen..." in Nederland Dutch.

I can ask for "rød grød med fløde" which is red berry compote and cream in Danish, or likewise inform somene that "Jeg har spilde kaffe på myreslugeren"- I spilt coffee on the anteater. I can give sage advice in German "Kluge kleine Katzen kratzen keine Krokodile." - Clever little cats don't scratch crocodiles. I can also tell a joke to computers: 010101000110100001100101011100100110010100100000011000010111001001

10010100100000001100010011000000100000011101000111100101110000011

001010111001100100000011011110110011000100000011100000110010101101

111011100000110110001100101001000000110100101101110001000000111010

0011010000110100101110011001000000111011101101111011100100110110001

100100001011100010000001010100011010000110111101110011011001010010

000001110100011010000110000101110100001000000111010101101110011001

000110010101110010011100110111010001100001011011100110010000100000

010000100110100101101110011000010111001001111001001011000000110100

001010011000010110111001100100001000000111010001101000011011110111

00110110010100100000011101000110100001100001011101000010000001100

1000110111101101110001001110111010000101110- "

There are 10 types of people in this world. Those that understand Binary, and those that don't."

But my favourite sentence in the whole world is one from our very own, awkward language, purely for the dual way it can be read, and the visuals that accompany it: "Fruit flies like a banana!"

Which is why it makes me SO angry to see so many people letting it slide. "No ow u feel or wen ppl luk dwn at me al the tym lyk im stupid or sumit u k hun x" - the writer will remain unnamed, but f'jazus! People look at you like you're stupid because you WRITE like you're stupid. It takes me twice as long to decipher the nonsense you type all over my reading space! Is it really SO hard to write in PROPER sentences? Or izit 2 hrd 4 u 2 cmprhnd?Real words and sentences, grammar and punctuation marks

are not difficult!

Do your children a favour and become a role model for them to aspire to, please! If you have THAT much a hard time with the English language, try THIS out for size: 四是四，十是十，十四是十四，四十是四十，四十四隻不試字之石獅子是死的. Pronounced: sì shí sì, shí shì shí, shísì shí shísì, sìshí shí sìshí, sìshísì zhi bùshízǐ zhi shíshīzǐ shì sǐ de. Translated, it means "4 is 4, 10 is 10, 14 is 14, 40 is 40, 44 illiterate stone lions are dead." How appropriate.

Today's Quotage Quota: An excerpt from a conversation:

"G" - says His Lordship. He wanted to type you a letter.
Shrombie says: "That's sweet. I'll be sure to write a letter to him too - M."
Me: "I like M."
S: "It's a good color, that it is."
Me: "How would you describe it?"
S: "With interpretive dance."
Me: "You'll have to send me a diagram some time. He says He's sure it would taste wonderful."
S: "I'll have my people on that and working on pie charts as well. It's all about the points."
Me: "Mmmm. Pie."

S: "Oh, that reminds me. I'm a professional bum and part-time prostitute now, 'cept the second job isn't really getting off the ground."

I'll give him that - he keeps you on your toes.

Dragon Dubstep

Today's been a bit of a giggle. Tsam managed to get a bit too interested in his string last night - he pulled it off and promptly got the sticky bits glued to himself. I nearly wet myself laughing because I found him there, wide eyed, going "The bright things have got me, the bright things have got me!" I should have got a picture really, but I felt sorry for him. Silly bugger has left them well alone since I put them back up.

My brother got Fraped (for those not in the know, that's when someone gets into your social networking account on FaceBook and does horrible things to it) and all his stats set for dating men. They must have spent ages signing him up to all these Gay Pride fan pages - poor kid. Mum is apparently delighted with the new concept word and describes being lick-attacked by the dogs as being "Draped". Hehehehe. More on "Fraped" HERE. Caution - some language may be mildly offensive.

Things didn't get any better for poor Tsam, as we cleaned Eden Snek's tank out. Eden happily climbed into the giant hamster ball whilst I took apart her tank and pulled out the rubbish. Tsam saw Eden in the ball and went on a ballistic "AUUUUGGHH!" flight of insanity - almost literally running across his ceiling he was that far up the walls. I'd have taken a picture, but I was too busy trying to calm the poor boy down. Took an hour for him to get to the stage where he was brave enough to bob, and another to go charging round the house "reclaiming his territory".

After that, he was clearly feeling better. His Lordship was playing some dubstep, bobbing and nodding along to the music... and it turns out that dragons are hardwired for dubstep beats! The rhythm of his nodding constituted a serious, though baffling threat to Tsam's territory, so he threw a great and confused wobbly. Marvellous really, as Tsam was bobbing and stamping nicely in time to the music.

The appropriately named: "The Dragon Is Chasing You!" dubstep track. The top level bass is rather juicily cut up, though simplistic.

The Dragon Is Chasing You! by Grimey Bastard

Later on, I was telling S about it (He doesn't run by his real name, and wanted an extra level of mystique, so "S" it is.) and he was amazed: "Oh, that's what that means. Would explain why the lizard, didn't really get a good look, just kinda looked at me and started dancing. I was drunk so I just said 'Eh, you do your thing, I'll do mine.' Yeah, well little did he know I have mad dance skillz yo. I can river dance and Macarena like the best of em." I adore S. He lives on a completely different freakin' world to the rest of us...

Quote of the Day: We were watching a programme about useless husbands and wondered what it was we had in common with each other. "We like computers. We like grapes. We like the same sorts of food. We like the Moon. We really like our wegetables..." Yeah. That'll do for us.

Lizard Lights!

I could not ASK for better! That is lush. I mean, really, that's made my day that has - and it's a Friday where I get the weekend off, for goodness sake! :D

*coughs* Sorry. Now I'm over that nerdgasm of OMGTHATSAWESOME, I'll be a bit more rational. His Lordship says "Yarbles", which is an agreement into their funktastical appearance.

I have to admit, I nearly smacked myself in the nose when I picked up the box - I was expecting it to be a bit heavier, and I was surprised when I opened it - I was expecting something much clunkier! I was expecting a chunky laptop style transformer, so that was quite good too as it takes up much less room, and I don't have to worry about where to fit it in my plug-shelves.

That's actually perfect though - flexible and thin for fitting, it's only wired up one end to a wee dinky transformer which makes life SO much easier and the colour of the light is delicious. It's brought a healthy, late afternoon sunshine feel to their tanks at last.

Kyle was so astonished, she's actually come out of her tunnel of her own accord and has been sat looking at the pretty new lights (bottom tank picture, sat on the hut). More than that though, she actually looks happy about it. She's a grumpy girl at the best of times, but that's just her way. Tsam, my male lizard, was thoroughly bemused (top tank, looking confused). He's now sat on his hut to take a closer look and pull faces at them, which is always a good sign with Tsam.

Brilliant Butterfly

I saw a rather extraordinary insect about a week ago, and promptly went mental trying to find out what it was. After literal hours of poring over guide of butterflies of the UK and then moving on to butterflies of the world, picture after picture after picture, I finally discovered what this creature was!

It turned out to be a MOTH of all things - a Magpie Moth.

As you can see, I found one today flutting round the garden - until His Lordship's father accidentally stood on the poor bugger. Thankfully he didn't do too much damage to the insect's wings as it managed to squeeze between two large stones at JUST the right moment - very lucky indeed. I scooped it up gently and took it inside to grab a picture or two.

The pretty little creature fluttered off my hand, flooted a neat circle and came back again. As luck would have it, I already had some nectar mix made up with added calcium as a treat for Terry and the dragons. Better yet, calcium is GOOD for butterflies (and moths, in this case)!

Hahahahah! I just found out this pretty little creature that I just rescued, fed and released is the little sod may very well have been behind the destruction of my gooseberry bush! It must have been a lucky escapee from the earlier infestations. Hah. Well, I have fruit, just no leaves on my poor, beleaguered plant. I won't complain though, what with such a pretty insect!

Developing Dragon Lights!

If you're a reptile keeper, you'll know we all have the problem of struggling with the right lighting - I don't trust Mercury Vapours as they are too unstable for my liking, tungsten bulbs are getting rare and aren't energy efficient, and fluor 10.0 tubes are too dim to be ideal for doing the job of lighting alone... (Pic: example of dim UV lighting. Model - Tsam.)

However, after hours of research, I've finally sorted my favourite combination into the PERFECT combination. I'm using ceramics on thermostats for energy efficient heating, 10.0s for UV - and DoneDeal1966 on eBay has been helping me customise an ideal compliment to brighten up the tanks.

We've developed a modular parallel LED striplight system. Yup, you got me. Warm white for nearer daylight colours to complement the UV fluors, sensible cable lengths for stacked or close together tanks, multiple strips from the one transformer for efficiency and cost effectiveness. We've even worked out how to have the strips "disconnectable", so if you're like me and only currently have two tanks and a third being built, you can unplug one until you're ready. Also, it will help SO much with fitting the lighting strips (which by the way have adhesive cushion backs for easy fixing!) - no more dangerous cutting of cables, simply unplug from the transformer, run the cable through the hole or vent, fix and plug it in - the ultimate plug and play lighting!

I'm really pleased with the £45 ($70 USD approx) price, bearing in mind it was fully customised for my requirements and can be for your exact needs too! Mine's 3x 1M of Warm White Waterproof LED strips (60 LED's per Metre), each with 1M power tails and "disconnecting plugs" going to the 110-240 transformer with nearly 2M of flex to the 12Volt Plug. Better yet, because it's a 110-240V self alternating transformer, it's going to work for you good folks in the US too, all you'd need is a travel adapter to sort the plug to fit your wall socket! :)

I haven't got pictures yet, as he's only just began building it, but I hope to have it by the end of the week, upon which date pictures and installation story will be unveiled on this here thread :D *excited*

If you're interested - and fancy a bit of discount whilst you're at it! - have a word with DoneDeal1966 on eBay and mention "indigobluefish". With a bit of work, you'll have a happy dragon like this! (Pic: Happy dragon. Model - Kyle.)

I may have looked like I was slacking since the Bearded Dragon Soap testing, but I'm still hard at work! Shame I haven't been able to crack the UV LED puzzle yet - then we'd be really set.

MOVIE NITE '84 - BEST OF!

Himself could not believe that I'd never seen "The NeverEnding Story". No, really, the original 1984 classic? Never seen it. In fairness, I haven't seen Labyrinth either. His Lordship swore at me because I haven't seen that OR Dark Crystal. He then swore profusely when he discovered I hadn't seen "Labyrinth" either. I was promptly seated to watch a marathon movie session and...

I swear to goodness, if you're a weirdazoid like me whom also hasn't see "The NeverEnding Story" (or any of the other "classics" for that matter) - do yourself a favour and find a copy. Don't bother reading the reviews (I'm not going to say much about it) and don't bother swatting up on the storyline - you don't want to go spoiling the pleasure! So go on and treat yourself with a fresh and open mind for a change, even if it it just this time.

"The NeverEnding Story" was cheesy, the animatronics dated and clunky by today's standards and no CGI whatsoever - but that's all part of the wonderfully quirky charm. The mere fact that there's no computer imagery at all makes is astonishing - the detail and the sheer work put into the puppets and scenery is truly beautiful and timeless. I particularly liked the walls in the ivory tower - I can only imagine how long it took to shape and laquer them into their pristine, curlicued glory!

A thought on Labyrinth: I was thinking earlier to myself: how DO you judge your own self worth? I worked out that you're worth more than they pay you, but not as much as your mother thinks you should be paid. Anyhow, I carefully browsed for feedback on the sequels, and was glad I trusted my instinct - apparently they ruin the originals for you for life. So yes - avoid the sequels, but please, watch the originals - and enjoy.

"Falkor - it's Woooooonderful!"

Terry-fied!

Well, my folks found out about my hobby and I got a phonecall from my grandmother. She said she was hurt... but only because she nearly fell off her chair laughing at my blog! My mum on the other hand went "hmmm", much to my worry. "We'll have to think of a proper stripper name for you then, won't we?" she goes! Mind you, when I had my tattoo done, the first thing she said was "COOL! Let's look then!"

What can I say, my family are pretty damn cool.

I bought Terry a new plant today. Now, I'd heard the rumour that geckos don't much like it when you change their territory, but I hadn't realised just how true this was. He spent the first 15 minutes sat carefully at the far edge of his bed-plant, looking at it. Then he approached it with extreme caution and sat with great trepidation on his bendy vine to examine it. With braver bounds, he shot up the back wall to glare at the intruder. From a safe distance of course. He's been stalking round it, muttering to himself and is currently creeping up on it glacier-style along the top edge of his corkbark along the ceiling. Correction - he's just leapt on it with a resolute "CRASH" and is trying it out for size. These bigger leaves appear to be quite comfortable to reptilian behinds once you stop panting fit to burst and get used to the idea that the invader isn't actually dangerous.

I did grab this lovely photo (again with the ancient phone) just after he'd had a massive drink. He'd noticed the vine was damp and so was licking off the residual wet. Yep, he climbs up on his branch first every evening to watch what we're doing, then climbs to a U in the vine where he lazes, hammock-style to watch TV.

Is it the End of the World?

Jesper Grønne in Denmark snapped this beauty happening last night, and manage to grab some wonderful footage of the initial shockwave, as shown on YouTube here! Jesper also has a website full of his stunning pictures over here at: http://www.groenne.eu/ Please, check it out - he has a magnificent eye for colour and form caught in nature including dazzling snowflakes in sharp, magnified focus, and the extraordinary bullion blocks of natural brown sugar in deep definition. Mr Grønne, I'm impressed! More please!

Shawn Malone did a wonderful job with a specially set up Canon camera in Michigan.

Make a note for the 12th though, as the Perseid Meteor Shower is making it's return around the planet, and you may be able to see some shooting stars occasionally throughout most of this month. We'll be able to see the best ones from around 11pm on the 12th, becoming more dense the later it gets towards dawn on the 13th, developing into a veritable fireworks display. The new moon means you stand a good chance of seeing even more of these fast shooting stars than usual! Fingers crossed none come through or hit anyone - it is Friday 13th after all!

Oooh, pretty! Look at that star ripple! At least we have the ability to say that we've lived through the biggest solar storm of this generation. The reason they were worried about blackouts and powercuts is because these particles are unusually high in energy, with the potential that it might knock out power stations with massive power surges.

Here the sky a lovely teal for quite some time on the east (the opposite of sun set, I did get it right!), but nothing spectacularly visible from my house, more's the pity. We didn't lose the internet though. My friend in America, panicked when he heard about two massive explosions occurring on the sun and thought the world was going to end, bless him. Soon calmed down when he realised it was just going to make pretty lights in the sky and it wasn't the blazing swords of avenging angels...

This Week's Weirdness...

We discovered a rather unusual nightclub that promotes Green Thinking and eco-friendliness. Not only do Surya use solar power and turbines, but they've developed a piezoelectric floor that bounces on a combination of generator springs and crystals to create its own electricity. When packed, this club generates over 60% of it's own power requirement - from the people dancing. Yep, you heard me. Dancing makes this club awesome!

Actually, talking of solar power, we may be set for a solar blackout here in the UK, as NASA have it. Apparently we're in for a once of a generation space storm tonight, as sunspot 1092 has produced an extremely rare double magnetic eruption, pointed directly at Earth - and the major wave is heading on in. The Solar Dynamics Observatory predict that it will trigger off some spectacular and amazing aurorae (I'll keep watching for pictures when it hits) and they're a bit concerned as to what effect it's going to have on communications satellites and that there mau be powercuts. (Img: SDO's picture of current sun activity in high frequency UV.) Have a look HERE for a wicked cool movie and pictures of the storm as captured by solar satellites. It's nice and clear - apparently we'll be able to see the aurorastorm tonight if you're in a dark enough area! Woot!

Today I had to laugh. I came downstairs looking for His Lordship, to find him in the middle of our "temporary kitchen" whisking away at a bowl of yellow mush. After promptly splopping egg everywhere and looking round for a bowl to pour his creation in, he suddenly stopped. "Aw FECK. I forgot to put flour in my cake!" I nearly wet myself laughing - how do you forget to put flour in a cake?! Apparently it's a finely tuned technique all to do with how you read your own handwritten recipe - if you get one bit and do one bit at a time, it's very easy to accidentally skip a skip a line. And that, my love, is why you should always read a recipe in full before starting!

Never mind sweetie, I found your favourite clip for you!


We also got a new word registered on the UrbanDictionary - Spob: to spob; the act of bouncing a spoon of soup or similar liquids to reduce chance of spillage, with the drip hopefully falling back into the bowl from whence it came.

"I spobbed the spoon, and the soup droplet clinging to the bottom dripped off."