A reminder for people who know us in real life (and for nice people whom would like to know us in real life) tomorrow Lettice and I are having a bit of a delayed house warming day at our new(-ish) flat.

Come and marvel at views over south east London, gasp as the floor trembles when lorries drive past, ponder on how two people can generate so much mess.

There will be drink, food, dinosaurs and knitting. And lots and lots of wedding / honeymoon photos.

Saturday October 1st. 12 noon onwards, come early or late, come and go as you like, bring kids, bring booze, if the weather’s good bring maybe bring deckchairs.

E-mail one of us if you need directions.

Three way tie between Wash, Kaylee and River. (Decided by the dinosaurs of course). Hmm. Not sure about that - the Kaylee and River parts, but I am so totally Wash.

You scored as Hoban ‘Wash’ Washburne. The Pilot. You are a leaf on the wind, see how you soar. You have a good job, and a stunning wife who loves you (and can kill people). Life is good, which is why you can’t help smiling. Now if you can just get people to actually listen to your opinion things would be perfect.

Kaylee Frye		75%
River Tam		75%
Hoban 'Wash' Washburne		75%
Zoe Alleyne Washburne		69%
The Operative		69%
Capt. Mal Reynolds		56%
Inara Serra		56%
Simon Tam		44%
Shepherd Derrial Book		38%
Jayne Cobb		25%

Which Serenity character are you?
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In the October issue of .net magazine there’s a fairly pointless, and in my opinion misleading, article about the “hot skills” needed to launch a successful career as a web designer.

At one point the article interviews a creative director about what he looks for in a designer. He says:

“Of course, all candidates must have good skills in all the usual design packages such as Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash.”

It’s good to see that he has learnt from the mistakes of others and his own experience. Back in the late ’90s the company I worked for hired him, fresh out of college. He didn’t last very long. At least in part because he had almost no skills at all with any of the ‘usual design packages’.

I wonder if he still ends every sentence with ‘innit’?

The ever excellent Back of Beyond Times has a gallery of very nicely painted dinosaur miniatures. They’re all from the 1/35 Tamiya Mesozoic Creatures set (unless the T-Rex and Oviraptor are the Copplestone Casting clones, but I don’t think so).

We got a very nice daylight bulb lamp plus magnifier thingy as a wedding present. I must find the time and space to do some painting. Time and space. Sigh.

And even if I did my efforts wouldn’t be as nice as these. Double sigh.

Dear Sir/Madam:

Can you Please provide the name of the person
in charge of your marketing or sales department,
phone number, or e-mail address.
...

Really, don’t tempt me.

Two OOP HLBS Giraffes of eBay for £4.39.

One Star Wars Universe booster in Canada for $25 which is about £12.

One issue of Polymancer for $6.95 which is about £3.30.

Running total is now £663.83

Polymancer is a new independent RPG magazine from Quebec. In some ways it’s a blast from the past as apart from the glossy paper and CGI cover artwork it could have come from the 1980s - articles on when to kill off PCs; on running swashbuckling games; on using dictatorships as backgrounds; on giving incidental NPCs personalities.

The main feature is a scenario based around an alternative history where World War II came to a stalemate due to the combined use of airships and nukes. The actual scenario is just another trip down the familiar ‘HQ loses contact with isolated base and sends PCs to investigate’ lane but the background is somewhat interesting. The magazine promises more background on their web site but I can’t find it. In fact the website - www.polymancerstudios.com isn’t very good at all. But with the current exchange rate the magazine itself may be worth another look.

I wonder who will like this?

…. he became an e-mail spammer

From: 	"Sue A. Bentley"
To: 	stephen@pugh.net
Date: 	Fri, 23 Sep 2005 11:46:05 +0000
Subject: 	Alpha male

Finally!

I have always worried about the size of my penis.
When I have sex, even though she says that the
sex is good, I know that what she really wants
is an extra inch!

Apologies to the real Sue A. Bentley whose name and e-mail address have most likely been stolen by an anonymous spammer.

Timelord
Congratulations! You scored 88%!

Well, you are obviously a fan, but not as obsessed as some. Don’t worry, that’s a good thing, but you may want to avoid talking so much about the damn show in mixed company. And stop with the fake British accent!

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 99% on docwho

Link: The Doctor Who Test written by johnharker on Ok Cupid

You Are A: Bear Cub!

Bears are strong and independent creatures who roam in the forest in search of food. Bears are usually gentle, but anger one and be prepared for their full fury! You’re big, you’re tough, you have a bit of a temper — classic attributes of a bear. Intelligent and resourceful, though lazy at times, you are a fascinating creature of the wild.

You were almost a: Kitten or a Duck
You are least like a: Mouse or a Chipmunk

What Cute Animal Are You?

You are a
Social Liberal
(76% permissive)
and an…
Economic Liberal
(18% permissive)

You are best described as a:
Socialist

You exhibit a very well-developed sense of Right and Wrong and believe in economic fairness.

Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid Free Online Dating

You scored as Loki.

Loki		70%
Balder		70%
Frigg		60%
Freya		60%
Bragi		60%
Freyr		50%
Thor		50%
Odin		50%
Njord		40%
Sif		30%
Heimdall		30%
Skadi		30%
Hel		20%
Tyr		20%

Which Pagan God or Goddess are you most like?
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Version 8.50 of Opera is out and is totally free. No more ads, no more registration fee, no one-off deals like the birthday deal a little while back, the best web browser is now totally free.

If you really want to pay for it, consider sending me some money because as a registered user of Opera since version 3 I’ve helped to pay for all the development that has led to this point.