British Library Turning the Pages

The British Library holds a copy of every book ever published in the UK, including some of the most priceless literary treasures in existence such as the Codex Sinaiticus (one of the oldest New Testaments). However, not everyone can get to the library in London to read these books.

An amazing new piece of software has been developed to utilise digitised pages of 15 of their most valuable works, "Turning the Pages", a browser-based WPF application that enables you to interact with these books in a virtual environment remotely. You can open a book on your desktop and by clicking on a page, turn it in a 3D environment. (note you will need Adobe Flash Player) you can zoom or pan around each of the pages. (Some secret shortcuts: use the mouse wheel to zoom, shift+drag to rotate the book, ctrl+drag to pan around the scene. Use the settings dialogue to open more than one book simultaneously, and then right-click on the desktop to add new books. Be aware that adding multiple books starts to impose a considerable load on the graphics hardware, so you'll need plenty of video RAM if you want to use this feature.)

Find out more about the application at this site that describes the project in more detail.

Try it out. I think its amazing (make sure you have .NET Framework 3.0 and the application also benefits from a DirectX 9-class graphics card.) my own personal favourite, Sketches by Leonoardo!

Happy Valentines Day (Ahhhh sweet)

( read while in a solemn mood, while shampooing your hair with a large bottle of tequila. don't forget the twist )

1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead.
Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow.

Do not walk beside me either.
Just pretty much leave me the hell alone.

2. It’s always darkest before dawn. So if you’re going to steal your neighbor’s newspaper, that’s the time to do it.

3. Sex is like air -- it’s not important unless you aren’t getting any.

4. No one is listening until you fart.

5. If you think nobody cares if you’re alive, try missing a couple of car payments.

6. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you’re a mile away, and you have their shoes.

7. If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you.

8. Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day.
Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

9. If you lend someone £20 and never see that person again, it might be worth it.

10. Don’t worry--It only seems kinky the first time.

11. A Good judgement comes from bad experience, and a lot of bad experience comes from bad judgement.

12. There are two theories about arguing with women. Neither one works.

13. Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it.

14. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night !!!

(PDF) Courtesy of Thames Valley Hang Gliding and Paragliding Clubs Volplane Jan '07

Cheers to Dave (Ayup Dave!) .. for pointing me in the direction of this super-cool website full of 90sec video clips.

DepicT! - the short film competition, This particular one cracks me up. Enjoy :) Non-Fat

test video
they stole my music!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!