[empire] Ben Hammersley: ‘Rome did not create a great Empire by organising committees and holding meetings…’

[spy] Tomlinson v MI6 — the blog of a former MI6 agent who has a long running dispute with the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service. ‘…readership has gone ballistic to the extent that I may run out of bandwidth this month. So suddenly, my long-standing dispute with MI6 is back in the public domain. Well MI6 have only themselves to blame for the creation of this blog…’ [via PeterCooper.co.uk]

[bb] Diamond Geezer nicely sums up the contestants on Big Brother 7. … On Shahbaz: ‘unemployable flirt. camp tactile nightmare. hysterical egomaniac.’

[nlp] Don’t worry, get Therapy — Jon Ronson profiles NLP, Paul McKenna and Richard Bandler … ‘Throughout the interview, I’m sitting on a low sofa with Bandler standing above me. Something suddenly dawns on me. “If I was standing and you were sitting,” I ask, “would I be forming different opinions of you?” “Yeah,” he says, “of course.” “So, are you deliberately positioning yourself in my hopes and desires eyeline?” I ask. There’s a silence. Bandler smiles to himself. “No,” he says. “My leg hurts. That’s why I’m standing up.”‘

[comics] Out-of-Context One Panel Theatre … ‘You’ve got to earn my ring, boy.’ [from scans_daily]

[comics] Free Scott Pilgrim — Brian Lee O’Malley’s comic for Free Comic Book Day available online. ‘SCOTT PILGRIM. PREPARE TO DIE.’ [via Do You Feel Loved]

[photos] London Daily Photo … ‘A London photo every day. Some pictures will be there for their own sake, some because they are places you may like to see, all because they are part of what makes London what it is.’ [via Diamond Geezer]

[id] Q. What could this boarding pass tell an identity fraudster about you? A. Way too much — the Guardian on personal data and identity fraud. ‘…surfing publicly available databases, we were able – within 15 minutes – to find out where Broer lived, who lived there with him, where he worked, which universities he had attended and even how much his house was worth when he bought it two years ago. (This was particularly easy given his unusual name, but it would have been possible even if his name had been John Smith. We now had his date of birth and passport number, so we would have known exactly which John Smith.)’

[radio] BBC Radio Streams … nice, simple lists of the BBC’s Radio output for the last week-or-so.

[comics] Top 50 Marvel Characters List — if I were to do a list my #1 Marvel character would be the legendary John Garrett (from Elektra: Assassin) … On Iron Man: ‘Tom Selleck in a can! With Bluetooth compatibility!’

[comics] Dave Sim Reads the Bible to Feed the Hungry … ‘No Preaching: Just the Scripture.’

[comics] 52 Pickup — a blog looking at DC’s new weekly comic series 52 (which is partially written by Grant Morrison). ‘Ralph Dibny believes himself to be hopelessly imperfect; he couldn’t save his wife, he couldn’t do much in the crisis, he’s a relic of the Silver Age, etc. Hence his near-suicide attempt. But he is a detective, after all, like Batman — and, actually, like Montoya. And what detectives thrive on is mysteries…’

[comics] Evan Dorkin: Did Someone Say “Pirate Monkey”?

[comics] He say Blade Runner — BeaucoupKevin posts a page from Marvel’s comic adaptation of Blade Runner.

[business] What does Amstrad actually do? … ‘[Paul Tulip], who said of himself, “I think I’m brilliant”, had not exactly done scrupulous research before going on the show. Quizzed on air about what Amstrad actually does, he replied with his usual stirring confidence. “Computers.” “Amstrad doesn’t actually make computers now,” came the reply. “They distribute them,” Paul tried, gamely. “They don’t.”‘

[belly] Why doesn’t my belly button heal over? — also answers the important medical conundrum: Where does belly button fuzz come from? … ‘Belly button fuzz (or lint) comes from the clothes you wear. Some fabrics shed more than others. Some shapes of belly buttons are better collectors. A hairy belly button will collect fuzz better than a hairless one.’

[ebay] A beginner’s guide to eBay: Confessions from an eBay store worker — many useful tips (especially if you’ve just starting eBaying). ‘…always remember these key facts: Items closing on Sunday do better, and items closing in the evening do better. Be sure to close your auction at a time when people get home from work, or are done eating dinner.’ [via Lifehacker]

[film] Top 10 Sci-fi Films — voted by a panel of scientists. Aubrey Manning on 2001: ‘…the brilliance of the simulations – still never done better despite all the modern computer graphics. The brilliance of using Brazilian tapirs as ‘prehistoric animals’. The brilliance of the cut from the stick as club, to the space shuttle. Kubrick declaring that once tool use begins – the rest is inevitable. Hal: the first of the super computers with its honeyed East-Coast-Establishment voice.’

[numbers] Ask Metafilter: How is this lame maths Trick Possible? …

1. Grab a calculator
2. Key in the first three digits of your phone number (NOT the area code)
3. Multiply by 80
4. Add 1
5. Multiply by 250
6. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number
7. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number again
8. Subtract 250
9. Divide number by 2

[comics] Sean Phillips has a Blog … ‘The Hardest Working Man In Comics…or a hack…U decide!’

[web] Hot Gossip — a profile of Popbitch from the Guardian… ‘[Popbitch] did introduce advertising on the site after three years and the annual revenue is now roughly £100,000, just about covering the costs of the server, technical support staff, legal fees and Camilla Wright’s salary.’

[lists] Borges’ List of Animals … ‘1. those that belong to the Emperor’ [via 43 Folders]

[money] Carol Vorderman Please Stop Doing Secured Loan Adverts! … ‘We the undersigned kindly ask Carol Vorderman to please stop doing adverts for secured loans. Advertising works, that’s why companies pay for it, and over time her powerful adverts will have contributed to the growing normalization of this form of borrowing. We believe this is truly worrying, as secured loans should only ever be seen as loans as last resort.’

[comics] Alan Moore Quotes: ‘Life isn’t divided into genres. It’s a horrifying, romantic, tragic, comical, science-fiction cowboy detective novel. You know, with a bit of pornography if you’re lucky.’

[comics] But Is It Art? — interview with Dan Clowes and Terry Zwigoff. Clowes on Conceptual Art: ‘I don’t want to come off like one of those Republicans picking on the NEA, like, “Oh this guy pissed on a crucifix and called it art.” That’s not what this is about. But when I was in art school, people literally were bringing in the tampon in the teacup.’ [via Robot Wisdom]

[comics] Superman Returns Trailer … ‘You’re Bald.’

[bullets] Worth Watching: A Video of Bullets Going Through Objects in Slow Motion. [via Metafilter]

[comics] Daniel Clowes Talks Confidential — Clowes interviewed regarding Art School Confidential … ‘I figured we’d work on (Ghost World footage) a bit and be done in two weeks. Cut to a year later and we are still struggling and rearranging scenes and changing the music and doing all of these drastic and subtle things. It made me realize how fluid the medium of film was. You can change a film entirely — you can give the two different editors the same footage and they’ll make two entirely different films…. It got me excited about trying to figure out how to edit and change comics after the fact.’

[web] cl1p.net — a useful internet clipboard. I’ve found it great for quickly moving bits of text and small files between two computers especially if they are on different networks or there is a firewall in the way.

[film] It Becomes a Self-fulfilling Thing — a discussion between Errol Morris and Adam Curtis … ‘Where people do set out to have conspiracies, they don’t ever end up like they’re supposed to. History is a series of unintended consequences resulting from confused actions, some of which are committed by people who may think they’re taking part in a conspiracy, but it never works out the way they intended.’ [via Kottke’s Links]