100 things we didn’t know this time last year
Just in time for New Year’s Eve, here are 100 things we didn’t know this time last year.
Jump
Courtesy of killsometime.com, please enjoy this short montage of various people and animals involved in scaring the bejeesus out of each other.
Uber Breakout II
I’ve not come across Uber Breakout I yet but if it’s anything like as tricky as Uber Breakout II then it must be pretty hard.
Merry Christmas Everybody!
From everyone at gromblog, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Viridian -> Crimson -> White Room
You will undoubtably remember the pain and frustration of playing the ‘Escape from the Viridian room game and the follow-up, Escape from the Crimson Room (both available from here. There’s a new follow-up Escape from the White Chamber to annoy you over Xmas. The site is very flaky at the moment so be patient (you may have to come back later) but as usual it’s worth it. No Spoilers yet as I’m still having trouble getting into the site.
‘Grow’ Christmas Tree Puzzle
We’ve posted some of the excellent ‘Grow‘ games before and Good News! – there’s a new one especially for Xmas. This one is a mini-’grow’ to build a Christmas Tree. If you haven’t come across these games before, they’re very simple – you just have to click on the boxes in the correct order – it doesn’t look like much until you get it right and a cute sequence of events is triggered. I know how infuriating these are so I’ll stick a spoiler in the comments (& this time I’ll try to hide the answer so I don’t ruin it for everyone).
HiDownload & URL Helper – Recommended
Bit of P1mpage for a couple of cool programs that I’ve been making a lot of usage of recently. Both from a company called StreamingStar, firstly I got a copy of HiDownload after a seemingly never-ending quest to find a decent piece of software that would allow me to grab/rip/download online radio shows and concerts including ones from the BBC radio player. To put this into perspective, I’ve tried more than 10 different programs to try to grab streams and this is by far and away the best I’ve found so far.
Next up, I found URL Helper, also from the same company which allows you to see the (normally hidden) URL of the streams that you’d like to rip. I have other tools to do this but this is a very simple piece of kit that integrates superbly with HI-Download which would allow me to grab tricky files such as the entire Gorillaz concert that is on AOL at the moment. Not that I’d do such a thing as it’s probably not entirely legal. (It is good though!)
Child pr0n collector gets virus, turns self in
Out of all the news I’ve heard recently, the story about the kiddie pr0n collector who received a spam mail with a virus attached with a message saying that the FBI had logged his address, who then handed himself in to the authorities in Germany made my day. Classic.
Playboy. In Braille.
From our ‘Things you never knew there was a market for’ dept.: Playboy. In Braille. (no, really!).
Photo Retouching
We’ve posted a few before/after shots from magazines before showing the retouch work but this example shows the transformation in stages.
‘Popstars’ self-portraits
Here’s a collection of ‘Popstars’ self portraits. (I used quotes around popstars as the link is to a German site and thus the definition of popstar is wildly different to any non-german idea of musical taste and ability).
Geek Gifts
I know it’s far too late for this year but I wanted to post this so I could find it after Xmas as I love science nerd toys like the ones they sell on here – everything is science based but they’re still cool toys regardless.
The Cat Pictures of Louis Wain
The name Louis Wain is new to me but it seems he was a celebrated artist of cat pictures (stay with me, it’s not that bad!). I was fascinated to see the effect of his schizophrenia on his drawings. Just look at the cat pictures and see the shift from smooth, images with personification of cats for newspapers and childrens books to the sharp, spikey, fractal-like images later on in his life. It’s a superb insight into schizophrenia and mental disease.
via LinkMachineGo
Don’t try this at home kids
As much fun as this Homemade Water Bottle Jet Pack looks, you probably shouldn’t try it yourself.
Using Google as a proxy to get round company firewalls
Here’s a very handy google Hack which will allow you to get round company firewalls that would normally block sites. Just bear in mind that your IP address isn’t hidden so although it lets you see pages that might normally be blocked, it doesn’t hide you from being traced.
Shift – a Samorost-type of game
If you liked Samorost2 (and any sane person must like it), then you might like to check out Shift – another game in the same vein, beautiful to look at, chilled music and pleasant puzzles to attempt (non too tricky really).
Photo Contest – National Wildlife Magazine
Wildlife photography at its best
Is this the most expensive lego set?
Currently up to $30,000, this must surely be the world’s most expensive lego set. But it’s way more cooler than that – it’s a George Lucas certifed 8ft replica of a Rebel Attack Cruiser from Star Wars ep3 and it’s for charity.
Macintosh Speaks for Itself
It was only 21 years ago but we’ve come a long way in computing. You can tell from the audience’s reaction (a thousand pairs of mittens applauding) how revolutionary the Mac Classic was back in January 1984.
Mind you, 21 years later and Mac have only recently added a second mouse button.
thanks Dan
Gorillaz Game
Gorillaz are well known not only as a good pop band but also for having one of the best band websites ever to driblle out onto the web. The latest addition to the site is another cool game to advertise their Dirty Harry single. Enjoy.
What’s your favourite insult?
I don’t know why or when it started but I seem to regularly use the insult ‘C0cksmith’ at people who annoy me these days. Just out of interest, what’s your favourite insult – I don’t mind if it’s one word or a beautifully crafted insult along the lines of Blackadder. Stick ‘em in the comments below.
C0cksmith.
PSP 2.01 firmware cracked – Homebrew Ahoy!
The news that many of us have been waiting for is that the PSP 2.01 firmware has been cracked which will finally allow many loyal PSP customers to use the PSP to it’s full potential. I still fail to understand why Sony consistently try to stop users from using one of the key selling points of their systems – it’s a waste of their money which could be better spent in other areas.
Child’s Play Charity
We don’t do many charity calls here on pri.me.uk but if you do feel seasonally generous then please consider giving to Child’s Play Charity – the charity for gamers set up by those marvellous Penny-Arcade people. This year they’re almost up to $250,000 raised and their reach has expanded to include, not just the USA, but also Canada and the UK – you can contibute directly to any children’s hospital involved so if you are a UK reader, you can specify the Alder Hey Hospital. Remember, by doing this, you’re giving gamers a good name (and almost more importantly, p1ssing off Jack Thompson).
PocketChapel
Why not set aside a section of your hard drive for god with your very own PocketChapel designed to your own custom spec. Not exactly my cup of tea but I can’t fault the artwork and sometimes bizarre additions like the USB Memory stick/cross.
Fantastic Blog Design
Luis Santi jr. is the author behind phatterism and deserves a big round of applause for the most excellently designed blog I’ve seen so far. The innovative design doesn’t feel intrusive or slow to load as I’d expect something this bandwidth heavy to be. Just brilliant.
Lookalikes
You’ll have to forgive the American slant on this Lookalike selection but it’s worth posting just for the Tootsie, Queen, Karl Marx & Kim Jong Il ones.
Card Throwing game
Neat little card throwing game to waste 3 minutes of your life on.
Cute Overload!
Whether it’s a kitten, a lizard or a knitted toilet paper cosy, if it’s cute it’s on CuteOverload.com… althogether now… AAAAAaaawwwwww!!! 
home repair
A nice demonstration of the standard of my DIY.
