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| Sunday |
the Seventeenth of August, 2003 |
Seen in a shop; magnetic
wall paint for children's bedrooms -
it's not actually magnetic at all (you can't stick heretical loose change
to it), but contains iron particles which you can stick magnets to. It's ferrofluid!
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I've idly written a zombie infection simulation, using the
effortless Proce55ing.
With only a few simple rules for zombies and humans (zombies are slow
and lurch towards other moving objects; humans are fast and turn around
if they see a zombie), a nice amount of drama and advice emerges - the
effectiveness of the zombie horde, the vulnerability of a panicked
human crowd, the grim effectiveness of alleyway pincer movements, and - best
of all - the importance of looking around corners.
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| Friday |
the Fifteenth |
The Sci-Fi Channel
cancels
an Arnold Schwarzenegger day for fear of rival political
candidates demanding equal airtime. And presumably the same goes
for the porn star's work. They should get some sort of "equal airtime within the same context and genre" amendment in, for clarity and voter entertainment.
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| Thursday |
the Fourteenth |
More unsettling wrongness: the classically irritating standard
Nokia ringtone is, says
the Guardian, actually taken from a piece of 19th century classical
guitar music; Gran Vals by Francisco Tarrega. Listen to
a
tinkly MIDI file of it.
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"Using their strong sense of smell to lead the way, newly
transformed zombies will instinctively gravitate to other zombies.
Solitary zombies are very rare. Within days of the onset of a plague,
packs made up of dozens of zombies will have formed. [...] it is
actually disadvantageous for zombies to pack together. It makes them
more conspicuous, as well as making it more difficult for all to get to
feed."
A gloriously deadpan study of the biology and sociology of the undead, from
the Federal
Vampire & Zombie Agency, only a day or two after I was discussing
zombie flocking algorithms with Adam. Zombie ecology fascinates me
endlessly (to the point of failing to write a novel about it); I'd try
simulating a world of interacting zombies, humans and vampires
if I could get Starlogo
working properly. [via Joh]
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| Tuesday |
the Twelfth |
Wanted: Scheming but loyal Grand Vizier to join
fledgling technological dictatorship. You will be alert enough to foil attempts
against the incumbent government, but sufficiently satisified or
disinterested not to attempt insurrection. Must have experience
of security camera systems; must have own weblog. Salary negotiable.
Apply within BlogNomic.
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| Monday |
the Eleventh |
Have 2p and 1p pieces really been magnetically attractable
since (experimenting with my change jar) 1992? Or did the
government retroactively replace them all while I was out of the
country? This seems deeply and fundamentally wrong.
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France. Pointillist traffic lights. Roadside bouquets of bold,
plain supermarket signs leading to warehouses of products from the
1980s. Priorité à Gauche. Decimal-point village distances. Les vaches.
Dead animal heads. Jesus versus the Robots. The fascinatingly emergent
properties of barbecue coals, and ultimately the oven. Trust in alien
cashpoint machines. Cheap, good, clichéd food and drink. Staring orange
chicken eyes. Pedalling absently over the depths of a lake. "To be
drunk on water is noble and ecstatic." The road to Rouen. The
importance of booking hotel rooms. Peacock tails and flamingo pinks and
other meaningless self-perpetuating traits of sexual selection. A Seacat
without a Royal Bengal tiger, of any description. Calm international
waters, where cigarettes are cheap and superfluous, and credit-card
validation modems don't work. Home. Sleep. An unexpected day off work.
Vague reaquaintance with this "Internet" thing. Hello.
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