roysworld: the world according to roy

20 September 2007

Cool instructables post about converting an old radio into a dvd player. This is interesting to me, as I'm considering modding an old XBox running xbmc into and old bakelite radio from my collection.

30 August 2007

I guess the scan above gives it away but I can finally release the news that we are going to be having another baby!

It's due next February and will increase the RoysWorld clan to five including me and P. As well as the usual spell of nest making, we are looking at which new car would be suitable for carrying us all. Billy had a dream (before we told him) that he had a new baby sister, so it remains to see whether his prediction of its sex is correct.

29 August 2007

We've just return from a 4 night break at Moores Farm in Somerset; it's a "Featherdown Farm" which means you stay in one of their tents pictured above. Now I say tent, but they're really more like a log cabin with canvas roof and sides. It can sleep six, has running (cold) water, a toilet, and wood-burning stove that you can use to boil up water and cook on. In the center of our group of tents (there are only five and they're spread apart) was a paddock with a few hens, goats and sheep. The kids loved chasing the animals and searching for eggs: so much so that we had plenty to do at the farm that we didn't bother with our trips to Longleat and Cheddar (including a good hour spent chasing a tricky sheep that the kids let out of the paddock). We cooked all the meals on the stove (that was fun in itself) and had a fantastic time. My only regret was that we didn't stay for the week. We will definitely be back next year, and I would highly recommend it to anyone with kids.

15 August 2007

James pointed me to XKCD: a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language. Loads of the cartoons made me laugh, but I particularly liked this one:

11 July 2007

Billy and me are really enjoying the Sorcerer's Apprentice on BBC1. The premise is that 14 apprentices are taught the art of magic by magician Max Somerset, whittling them down to a single apprentice by the end of the series. Sanders the Great has a good set of reviews of the series for you to enjoy.

02 July 2007

Check out this great new magic website SandersTheGreat. It has only just gone live, but already has some interesting magic news and some pretty cool vintage magic adverts.

19 June 2007

After finishing work, I glanced out of my window to see this mysterious crop-circle that has appeared in my garden. What could it be...?

18 June 2007

I like the odd pint of Guinness, and I like their advertising. Here's one that's new to me

18 June 2007

We took the kids to the park this weekend and they wanted to play hide and seek. I suggested that we played a game that we called "ackee ackee 1-2-3" when I was at school, but is more commonly know as kick the can. We ended up having a great time hiding behind trees and in leaves. Unfortunately when I returned home I realised my hiding out in long grass had resulted in numerous insect bites on my arms and face, and as I always react badly to insect bites, my face feels like it's ballooning even as we speak. Lifehacker had a few ideas as to how to conquer the itch, so I may have to get some toothpaste out this afternoon.

08 June 2007

Tonight we go and see Derren Brown's 2007 live tour entitled Derren Brown Mind Reader (review to follow). I managed to find a copy of the cover of this years tour programme and it looks great. It's a wonderful tribute to the 1920's Egyptian Hall style posters that I love. Take a look at this Carter The Great poster that it bears more than a passing resemblance to:

04 June 2007

Further to my previous post on a chocolate Dalek, this Dalek cake was spotted in a cake shop in York.

24 May 2007

I'm a big fan of open-source: I use an open-source OS, MP3 server and edit this website using and open-source blogging tool. This is a first for me though: an open source recipe for cola called, you guessed it, OpenCola. Here's what they say:

While Pepsi and Coca-Cola (and others) closely guard their secrets to making cola beverages, several organizations have released their own recipes. Here is the recipe for homemade "OpenCola," an open-source cola beverage that invites makers to create and modify their recipe to achieve a better beverage. It is licensed under the GNU General Public License.

I love the way it is under GNU GPL and notice on the same page are links to other open-source beverages such as cherry-cola and ginger ale.

24 May 2007

We went to a fancy dress party a couple of weeks ago and I went as Gene Simmons from KISS. When I mentioned to Paula's Mum that I was going dressed as Gene Simmons I got a very puzzled look. She was thinking of Jean Simmons who looks like this:

... rather than Gene Simmons who looks like this:Anyway, here's my version makeup courtesy of Paula.

21 May 2007

Just found this great instructables post showing how to mod an old Nintendo NES into a fully working games emulator. He has it emulating the following consoles:- NES - Super NES - Sega Mega Drive / Genesis - Sega Master System - MAME (Arcade) - Game Boy (Color) - Game Boy Advance - Sega Game Gear - Turbo-Grafx 16 / PC-Engine - Sony Playstation (games run from CD drive) - Nintendo 64

18 May 2007

Back in the distant past (well the 80's) I had an Atari 2600. I loved my Atari 2600. I was lucky to have an Atari 2600. The problem was I didn't have any money to buy games. I remember convincing my Mum to let me buy Yars Revenge from her Kays catalogue at 20p a week for about 15 years. She said "Yes". It was rubbish. About the same time, I really REALLY wanted to buy ET the Game, but as I had already committed my pocket money to the repayments for Yars Revenge I couldn't and didn't get it. Looks like I escaped lightly as guardiane's YouTube movie points out. Looks like video games with movie tie-ins have always been a bit dodgy.

15 May 2007

There is a lot of buzz about Doctor Who at the moment as to who Mister Saxon is. We know he is to be played by John Simm, and has been name-dropped more times than Tom Jones name-drops Elvis. Mister Saxon is an anagram of "Master No Six", so is he the Master? (there is debate as to whether there have or haven't been five previous Masters) Several Vote Saxon sites have popped up, and you can even buy Vote Saxon tshirts. Is this the worst kept secret since the cybermen? We will soon see (assuming there is no further disruption by footy and song contests).

15 May 2007

Remember the whole Kreed Kafer debacle? Well, chiefsluke has worked out the odds of it being chance, and created the following movie.

04 May 2007

Have you ever fancied modding your toaster to make Pacman or Space Invader decorated toast? Yes? Then take a look at this instructables tutorial and it will show you how to fix stainless steel 1980's iconography to the grill plates of your regular toaster. Pop in some regular bread, press the button, and end up with the hippest toast on the planet. Wacca-wacca-wacca...

04 May 2007

I've noticed a lot more chatter about Derren from "over the pond" recently, as it appears the Americans are starting to notice him. needcoffee.com has published "7 Safety Tips For Dealing With Derren Brown" that made me laugh. The article has justification for each tip, but in summary they are:- Don't deal with Derren Brown. - Don't go to the United Kingdom. - If you suddenly find yourself in the UK, and Derren approaches, don't look at him. - If you cannot escape him, do not let him touch you. - If he manages to touch you, At least keep him from taking hold of your wrist. - If he manages to take hold of your wrist, for the love of baby Jesus don't let him put your hand over your face. - Even if he doesn't touch you, don't let him not touch you either.

01 May 2007

So, we are three episodes into the new Derren Brown TV series Trick or Treat. I must say I've been a little disappointed. As you know I am a big fan of Derren's but I am just finding this series a little too gimmicky. He's relying too much on the hypnosis side of his act for my taste, and I can't help thinking that the subjects of his tricks and treats are just playing along. I've always been a bit suspicious of hypnosis generally, and my gut feeling is that a mixture of "wanting to please" and "expected social behaviour" accounts for a lot. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the contract that the subjects sign at the beginning of each episode actually says "just play along with me will you, and I'll put you on the telly"; this after all is a technique Derren has been known to use before (see the description in the chapter on Zamiels Card in Derren's pre-fame book Pure Effect - a must read for all Derren fans). It's not all bad news though, the bits where he plays tricks on the celebrities has been great, I particularly liked the League of Gentlemen versus Razor-bladed chocolate rolls, and the general styling of the show is superb.

And so onto the ambigram. I thought the way Derren was forcing the Trick or Treat cards was really obvious, but I've read several times on t'internet how people are totally puzzled by it. One post was saying that he'd frozen the video several times, and was convinced the Treat card was picked. I don't feel I'm ruining the surprise with this one in saying that each card is actually an ambigram (or more correctly a perceptual shift ambigram) allowing Derren to show each card as either a Trick or a Treat. Derren will no doubt come clean on this trick before the series ends, as he can't expect us not to notice.