OddThinking

There’s an advertising campaign at the moment showing a blonde model wearing nothing but white underwear. Every day, I pass this image on a billboard. Every day, I double-take and look again in shock. Finally, I shake my head at the standards of today’s advertising.

“I will read your mind!” boasted the mentalist. “You can pick a colour, or a flower, or an element of the periodic table, write it down, show it to the audience and seal it in an envelope. Then I will read your mind and predict what it says! In fact, you could write any English word, and I will predict it.”

“Why is it,” I have muttered for many years, “that we still have so many hand-basins with two spouts – one hot and one cold! It’s 2006! Surely, we have mastered the technology by now to have two taps leading to one spout? We shouldn’t have to choose between running scalding hot or freezing cold water over our hands. Instead, we should be able to choose a pleasant mixture of body-temperature warm water.”

In 1999, the PC I used had required a 200W power supply.
In 2005, the PC I used had required a 380W power supply.

Making some simple assumptions, I was soon able to plot the graph and make a prediction.

I want to go on the record with a prediction.

Within 5 years, the first Australian TV station will realise that they are missing an opportunity for product placement.

Now, girls and boys, if you are all sitting comfortably, I will tell you a story from a long, long time ago. This was an age before mobile phones! This was an age before message waiting lights. This was an age before the PABX knew your name! This is a story about an old corporate phone system I used to use.

OddThinking will be operating on a skeleton staff for about a month. During this time, there will be fewer articles than usual. I will also not be responding to comments very rapidly, so you should notice no change in service levels there. Very occasionally, spam sneaks through the Spam Karma spam filters. I was worried […]

Late one night, I pondered my life, logically.

I didn’t much like what I proved.

I learnt today that Switzerland has its own mains plug standard different to the rest of Europe.

I think the difference is because, on Swiss plugs, all three pins are neutral.

Bloglines, a web-based feed-aggregator has invited people to blog their feedback on their application (and on other products).

I’ll take the bait. I’ll admit to using Bloglines, and provide some feedback here.