Doesn’t it feel good to be back where we all belong here on BrightMeadow.co.uk? I feel good about it and as I’m moderately hungover, it’s a miracle I can feel good about anything. Before I forget, everyone wish happy (ever so slightly belated) birthday to Neko and Bibby and say hello to fulnic who promised me last night that he would start reading again. He also mentioned being awe of me, but sadly it turns out that awe can’t survive rocking out to Bon Jovi. C’est la vie.

What else is new in the world of Cas? Well, I have short hair again. Properly short. I haven’t taken any pictures yet but when I do, rest assured that I shall share. Why cut it all off? I got bored. The last time I got it bobbed it didn’t work properly and I just got so fed up with it I booked an emergency appointment on Saturday. I probably won’t keep it this short, though it is so ridiculously easy to manage right now, but it is nice not to have to worry about it getting in my eyes and I can legitimately fiddle with it because it’s called “styling”. Felt weird dancing last night though. No hair to head-bang!

It turns out Penguin don’t want me *sniff* I lack the experience they require. It does make you wonder how the frack you are supposed to get the experience in the first place, but hey, I wasn’t expecting this to be easy. The next round of applications are being prepared even now.

Which brings us in our usual circuitous fashion to the roast for this week. Yummy linky goodness.

Got a piece of technology designed for a kid to use? Why not be novel and let the kids review it

Sadly rebooting Bright Meadow has lost me my stats history so I can’t share all the weird and wacky search terms that have brought people to this blog (though Christian Chiropractors does stick in the memory). What are your oddest search terms?

I gave up on my dream of being an astronaut a long time ago (health issues disqualify me if nothing else) but I still secretly cherish the belief that one day I will be in space. Have you got the right stuff, seeing as how there is a shortage of astronauts in the EU.

It has been a little over four months since I sat on my first Razr, necessitating a replacement. At the time, I had only had it a week and I loved it - it was so slim, it fit in my wallet, it had a satisfying cthliunk when you closed it, the keypad was all sci-fi-y. Now I’ve lived with it and I loathe the bloody thing. Yes, it still fits in my wallet and has a satisfying cthliunk, but that sci-fi-y keypad gets up my nose. It has no memory so it is stupidly sluggish to run, when it wants to run at all. It randomly decides to change things (like a whole week where it didn’t let me know when I had a missed call or voicemail - I was wondering why no one seemed to love me that week, till I checked my messages!) and the menu system is just the most unintuitive thing this side of the Fasthosts control panel! But I can’t get rid of the damn thing because there is no phone out there that does all that I want it to (and that I can afford). Not that the Razr does what I want it to either, but it (more or less) lets me make calls and texts. So I totally agree with this article. Completely and wholeheartedly.

I get a bit of schtick at work because I rely on my paper to-do lists at the same time as banning post-it notes and insisting that people email phone messages and jobs to do. I just know that I plan my day better on paper, whilst if people keep giving me things to do on scraps of paper, they get lost. The blend of electronic and paper works for me. Could it work for you too?

I remember the day the CCM brought two of these beauties home. Yes, two! And you could join them with a cable to duel at Tetris! Talking of Tetris, does anyone know if you can get it on the newer Nintendo models? My mum is a Tetris fiend, but she can’t use our old Gameboy (yes, it still works) any more because it is too heavy and big for her RSI.

JK Rowling is wrong - a decent analysis the lawsuit Rowling brought against the print version of the online Potter Lexicon.

Their stupidity at not hiring me withstanding, Penguin are doing some pretty sexy things at the moment playing with the idea of literature on the internet. The last “We Tell Stories” story, ‘The (Former) General’ by Mohsin Hamid is probably my favourite. Not strictly for the story itself, but for the approach. I have this really exciting idea to take the week 1 idea with Google maps, and mash it up with the multi-linearity of week 6, bringing in other multimedia (pictures, video, external websites, etc). Sadly I lack the technical skill or time to do this, but is there anyone out there who might take the challenge up? Please?

If you could get OSX on non-proprietary hardware, would you ditch Windows? Yes. In a heartbeat. I love the look of my PocketCalculator, but it is getting to the end of its life, and I just can’t afford to get a new Mac. I refuse to go back to Windows so I’m in a bit of a fix!

Mac Slocum has hit the nail on the head when he calls for ergonomic design of ebook readers. Note Scoble’s rant at the “flappy paddle thingies” for how irritating bad design can be.

Confused with all the different sorts of ebook formats and readers? I know I frelling am! Here’s a handy guide

The other week I twittered my sheer exasperation that I couldn’t find any good new blogs. I was trying to step outside the 9rules family because I don’t want to the run the risk of getting a blinkered view of what’s out there, but found I was drowning in the sheer amount of crap that is out there.
Steve Lawson jumped right in with some great suggestions including -
David Byrne’s Journal
Where Did It All Go Right? by Andrew Collins
Thanks Steve!

I could bang on for hours for the reasons behind the work I do, but I won’t because this isn’t the time or the place. This article should give you some context though

Just two trailers this time, so Abi, try and ration them Henry Poole is Here
War Inc

Which brings me to the end of the rag bag of links I have found this week. I am off to drown my hangover in endless cups of tea - you sit back, have a lovely weekend, and why not share fun stuff you’ve found in the comments as well?