ajft

After all these years of spotting the swooping magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen) just in time, or hearing the whoosh as the go for the back of the head, today my luck ran out.

Damn! Ouch.

I was cruising home slowly up the Dandenong road service lane, no point in exerting yourself when the temperature is up around 35°C, somewhere alongside the sports oval where the old men play boules there came out of the blue a completely unexpected smack on the side of the head. What the #@#$%@$^@! was my immediate thought, some kid's thrown a ball at me, then glanced around to see the culprit spiralling up for another attack run. Madly waving my arm above my head I rode on, out of range, out of the nesting territory.

One bleeding ear, one bruised ego. One satisfied magpie.

Have you ever tried to take a macro photo in the mirror of your own ear? No, I didn't think so. Go and try it, that'll explain why there's no photographic proof of the damage done.

Adding to the meme, and courtesy of the ABC news, by way of the AFP, a list of the Most ridiculous British laws. I'm wary of these, how many times have we heard so called “laws” that turn out to be apocryphal? Anyway, here they are together with the percentage of surveyed people who thought it was the most riduclous:

Most ridiculous British laws

1. It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament (27 per cent)
2. It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British monarch upside down (7 per cent)
3. In Liverpool, it is illegal for a woman to be topless except as a clerk in a tropical fish store (6 per cent)
4. Mince pies cannot be eaten on Christmas Day (5 per cent)
5. In Scotland, if someone knocks on your door and requires the use of your toilet, you must let them enter (3 per cent)
6. A pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants, including in a policeman's helmet (4 per cent)
7. The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the king, and the tail belongs to the queen (3.5 percent)
8. It is illegal to avoid telling the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing (3 per cent)
9. It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament in a suit of armour (3 per cent)
10. In the city of York it is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow (2 per cent)

So, slashdot is good for something sometime!

The story New Robots Hunt Pirates by Sea, linking to a Popular Mechanics article is interesting enough, but as always, it is the comments that make the story. A quick read and the two that had me spraying coffee are:

  Pirate Dread

“We are the Dread Pirate Robots. There will be no survivors.”

If only we had a remotely-operated wheelbarrow... That would be something!

  I feel safer already

What could possibly go wrong? I mean, I'd love my cruise ship to get checked out by the naval equivalent of ED-209.

“YOU HAVE 10 SECONDS TO COMPLY”