Number 10 and Wordpress

UK Politics, Wordpress August 13th, 2008

Number 10 has modified their site to use wordpress, and it does look good.

At first.

Unfortunately, they’re not using the full power of wordpress - I note in particular that comments are switched off for everything at the same time that they’re talking about ‘dialogue’.

What I find particularly amusing is that the first, most obvious link on their homepage, which promises us “Number10TV” and the ability to “watch the PM’s introductory film.” gives this result:

I think the phrase they need is ‘Whoops’.

Epic Fail. Says it all really.

Original heads-up from ocaoimh.ie

When starting from scratch (as opposed to migrating a site over from another URL or software system), there is really little excuse for broken links in wordpress, especially when you’re paying developers to manage it for you. Hundreds of thousands of people, if not millions, manage it quite comfortably…. and there is especially no excuse for a broken link on something that takes up half the screen on the homepage - the first thing people see.

Update: The 404 has been fixed.

The New Magnets are Here!

Video August 10th, 2008

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Say no more….

See Poncegear, from Josh ‘The Ponceman’ Perry.

The Dark Knight

Film August 10th, 2008

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This post may contain spoilers.

Last night we saw ‘The Dark Knight’ with Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine. The short version is ‘very enjoyable, a few minor annoyances’.

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Women’s Road Racing

Cycling August 10th, 2008

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I’m watching the end of the Olympics Women’s road racing - that weather is foul! The men had a much drier day, but probably hotter.

I was about to post, but I’ve decided to put a break in here, in case anyone wanted to watch it on iplayer.

The rest of this was typed as the last few km happened - you have a little way to go before real spoilers, but if you wanted to watch it, move on now.

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Random Browsing Connections

Video August 9th, 2008

I thought I’d write a little post talking about some of my more interconnected browsing….

Browsing youtube, I came across a series of amusing videos by a guy called Greg Benson under the banner of ‘mediocre films‘. Classics like ‘Sexy Panda‘, ‘Phone Call to God‘, ‘Batty Bat-Bat!‘ (best seen for its post-credit analysis), The Kidnapping and ‘Warren‘.

Later, I stumbled across ‘The Retarded Policeman‘. This series stars the legend that is Josh “Ponceman” Perry… don’t worry, he knows what’s going on and he is hilarious. Hang on a second. It’s produced by ‘mediocre films‘. Huh, small world.

On another day I was browsing around and discovered ‘Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show‘ with Kim Evey as Kiko. Episode 1 throws you straight in at the deep end (talk to the hotdog, it can read your mind). It was only later that I discovered that Kim Evey was Ming Li in ‘Sexy Panda‘ (remember ‘Sexy Panda‘?)

Then I saw a post on WWdN saying that Wil Wheaton was in ‘Retarded Policeman’. Heh, cool. (Yep, That’s Wil Wheaton of WWdN and TNG fame).

Wil’s post tied everything together for me - I had seen these series ‘in random browsing’ and hadn’t really twigged that they were related. Yep, the ‘related videos’ links should have been a giveaway. Recently he had a freakout moment about seeing Randall Munro, the author of xkcd - another of my favourite sites. This is all feeling very circular!

Anyway. Wil’s post also introduced me to ‘The Guild‘, written by Felicia Day and produced by Kim Evey. Felicia Day was a face that looked familiar, I wasn’t sure where from, but eventually the penny dropped - Buffy (she played ‘Vi’, the one with the woollen hat). She’s also been in ‘The Retarded Fish‘ for the April 1st installment of ‘Retarded Policeman’.

The Guild is a webseries about online gaming, and launches us straight in with what, at first, looks like a standard youtube ‘talk to camera’. Felicia’s series has been so popular that she’s found out the hard way about address labels and mass mailings.

The Guild is produced by Kim Evey, who also stars in the very funny ‘Two Hot Girls in the Shower‘ (must have been in a related video from one of the above - I wouldn’t have searched for that… honest!).’Two Hot Girls’ is co-written by Kim Evey and Julie Wittner, who appears through the output of ‘mediocre films‘, from ‘Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show‘ to WWJD.

And look who appears in the latest episode: it’s Josh “Ponceman” Perry! So that’s nice and circular.

Now? Well, Zaboo from ‘The Guild‘ has written his own series called ‘The Legend of Neil‘, episode 3 of which stars Felicia Day.

I heard tell that Joss Whedon had a summer project, something to keep him occupied during the writers’ strike. This became Doctor Horrible, which was an absolute phenomenon, for a time it caused the web hosting companies to crash. It starred Nathon Fillion (Firefly and Serenity), Neil Patrick Harris and…. Felicia Day. Felicia’s Geek Cred Status is rocketting by the minute! (She knew Joss Whedon through her work on Buffy). Doctor Horrible can, as I write, be seen here (advertising supported), it can also be downloaded on itunes.

It’s scary just how many of these things are all interconnected. It’s got to the stage now that if it’s been produced by Greg or Kim from ‘mediocre films‘, by Felicia Day, or if it stars Josh “Ponceman” Perry - or someone connected with them - it’s probably going to be worth a look… and that’s without following the links from Nathon Fillion to Jewel Staite to David Hewlett (and there’s a whole other world of independent production goodness there with ‘A Dog’s Breakfast‘ - a fun film).

You know, some days, I browse the net and I seem to go in circles. The net can sometimes feel like a small kinda place.

That’s a small world architecture for you.

(The above may not be chronologically accurate, it’s tough reconstructing things after the event).