Photoshop Disasters is great fun if you want to see just how warped software can make people (well, women usually) look – think missing limbs, plastic skin and banana-shaped spines – but these images are easy to detect because they’re just obviously wrong. How do you spot the Photoshop work that isn’t a disaster? This postContinue reading “How can you tell if an image has been Photoshopped?”
Author Archives: Alex
Added to the wishlist: PIXEL!
[Game] PIXEL!, an Xbox 360 Arcade title, recommended by Jean Snow’s new Game blog: “The third entry in the ‘Arkedo Series’ of retro inspired games, PIXEL! is a mostly straightforward take on the platforming genre, mixing 8-bit visuals with a current gen sheen. Arkedo still manages to give the game a very modern look, withContinue reading “Added to the wishlist: PIXEL!”
Alternatives to wrapping paper
Couldn’t find any wrapping paper I liked for Mrs Jester’s presents – something of a dilemma, given that I was shopping in my lunch hour on the 23rd and fully intended to get to the pub after work. The answer came when I gave up and ended up, as is often the case with me,Continue reading “Alternatives to wrapping paper”
Nowhere Boy
Hopefully I’ll get to the cinema over the Christmas break – Avatar in 3D looks set to be monumental and I’d like to see Where the Wild Things Are on a big screen, too – but perhaps top of my list is Nowhere Boy, the movie about John Lennon’s teenage years. It’s out on BoxingContinue reading “Nowhere Boy”
Added to the wishlist: The Alchemy of Stone
[Book] via io9’s 20 Best Science Fiction Books of the Decade, The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia: With a face made of porcelain, a wind-up heart, and a talent for alchemy, Mattie is hardly a typical science fictional robot. While most novels about robots focus on how these humanoid machines are stronger and smarterContinue reading “Added to the wishlist: The Alchemy of Stone”
Garden photography
Since I’ve got family nearby, I’ve visited Wakehurst Place in West Sussex a couple of times this year. It’s lovely; it combines an Elizabethan country house with extensive gardens and the Millennium Seedbank, the world’s largest seed conservation project. Earlier in the Autumn, the gardens featured an exhibition of photos from the International Garden PhotographerContinue reading “Garden photography”
Free iPhone apps throughout December
No, this is not a spam post1. Throughout December, you can grab an iPhone app (all games so far) for free, from the wincingly named Appvent Calendar site. Update: Fixed a wrong link. Thanks, Richard! 1 Although arguably it is Google-bait. Perhaps I should have used an obscure song lyric or pun that Google can’tContinue reading “Free iPhone apps throughout December”
TS Eliot’s Facebook status
“Eliot’s description of himself as ‘within measurable distance of the end of my tether’ combines distress with elegance,” says a review of the new volume of the poet’s letters. Had Eliot had the chance to use Facebook or Twitter, that kind of remark would make a perfect update. [via terrific book blog, The Second Pass]
Desert Island Discs podcast
Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs is now available as a podcast1. The show is shorter than the radio version as it only includes samples of the chosen songs. Still, it’s often the case that the interview is as interesting as the music so this isn’t too much of a hardship. In fact, in the caseContinue reading “Desert Island Discs podcast”
Added to the wishlist: The Cello Suites
[Book] Via the indomitable Tyler Cowen’s short but sweet Books of the Year post: “A very good gift book is Eric Siblin’s new The Cello Suites: J.S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece. It signals the sophistication of both the giver and receiver and yet it is short and entertaining enoughContinue reading “Added to the wishlist: The Cello Suites”
The Wired Jester 