Beer Viking is back

New look and new content over on sister site BeerViking. Worth a read just for fun – adding it to the blogroll.

RateBeer – this is both fun & useful!

Thanks to LifeHacker I was pointed to RateBeer the other day. RateBeer is a good site with a really simply concept. Let people rate beer! Love it… In order to pad out this post here is the “about us” blurb from RateBeer:

RateBeer is widely recognized as the most accurate and *most-visited source for beer information. RateBeer is an independent world site for craft beer enthusiasts and is dedicated to serving the entire craft beer community through beer education, promotion and outreach.

RateBeer was founded in May 2000 by Bill Buchanan as a forum for beer lovers to come together and share their opinions of beer and breweries. Established and maintained by dedicated volunteers, RateBeer has become the premier resource for consumer-driven beer ratings, features on beer culture and industry events, weekly beer-related editorials, and an internationally recognized, semi-annual RateBeer Best competition. The community now has thousands of members from more than 60 countries who have rated tens of thousands of beers from around the world. Our mission is to provide independent, unbiased, consumer-driven information about beer and breweries and to enhance the image and worldwide appreciation of beer.

This also reminds me that simple ideas are often the best one. Which should be simple enough to remember but easy to forget… Hey, I know what was I doing reading Lifehacker? Well its sort of the Heat magazine of the blogosphere and even I like a little mind numbing brain candy.

NOTICE OF REVOCATION OF US INDEPENDENCE

Of course not. But get ready for April Fool’s Day (a nice post of RWW worth on the subject) on the web. I wonder what version 2008 will have in store for us and the USA? btw – this is just me trying to pad out the number of posts for the month of March. Enjoy.

Lego Sites

This week’s Guardian Guide has a fun list of a variety lego related sites (half way down the page). Which reminds me of one of the funniest videos I’ve seen on You Tube, so here it is (Note: have the sound on and it invovled swearing by Eddy Izzard! - all money):




We Tell Stories – fun from Penguin books

This looks like a fun way to spend some spring days in London (if I had the time!) – Penguin has crossed stroies + online game/contest + Google maps = We Tell Stories. Check it out if you have time.

BEAR GRYLLS – MISSION EVEREST

I’ve gotta watch this show – BEAR GRYLLS – MISSION EVEREST – if he makes it up over the top of Mt Everest with basically a large fan as a motor then total respect!

Google’s Zurich Offices – nice place to work

I think working at Google’s Zurich offices would be very cool. Check out this fun video tour over on the BBC!

Videos for the Weekend

A funny and yet disturbing video from BBtv:

Boing Boing tv, surreal shorts about food and drink, in a two-part showcase of works from filmmaker Stefan Nadelman. First, “Food Fight,” a stop-animation piece that provides an abridged history of war, told through the foods of the countries in conflict (Ed.: the original work has been edited for time, and captions have been added to assist the history-impaired). Next, “My Dog Impersonating Orson Welles,” in which a pooch clutches a bottle of champagne, and attempts to form sentences.





Plus, Will is at it again with Semi-pro:




Plus here’s one from MSFT insider Tina at on10.net – about life at Microsoft. I am not sure its really funny or just trying really hard to be funny? You decide.

Komodo Dragons – the stuff of myth and legend

Someone sent me a link to this very intersting piece in NYT on Komodo Dragons: Birds Do It. Bees Do It. Dragons Don’t Need To. Basically, to many people’s surprise Komodo Dragon females can produce virgin births.

Judging from similar occurrences over the past two years in Britain, it appears that these lizards [Komodo Dragons] sometimes use a form of virgin birth in which eggs hatch without conception. The embryos are genetic clones of the mother.

…

And that is the point. Biology is about variation. Without variation, the world would be static and unchangeable, and species would gradually disappear as they failed to meet challenges like changing climates and environments. So as we continue our very necessary debates over ethical issues, let’s bear in mind that morality is a concept limited to our species. The natural world is a fuzzy place that doesn’t always accommodate our decidedly human need to find cut-and-dried categories.

Thinking about Summer Holidays – vw camper vans

Today is a sunny, mild and bluster spring like day in London. We had a big rain storm blow through last night. For what ever reason I’ve been thinking about summer and holidays. Which reminded me about this travel piece I read in the Guardian ages ago about a company that rents VW Camper Vans – Seven Degree West – that have been fully kitted and sound way cool. Maybe this is just the ticket for our summer holiday. I hope that VW vans become available all over the world for holiday rentals and to inspire the beach bum in all of us.