Another triplet of cuts...

[venta]

Want to know how to disrupt utterly a room full of people, using nothing more than a tub of Pringles ?

Challenge someone to fit an entire Pringle into their mouth, between their lips and their teeth, without it breaking. (It is possible: portrait is easy, landscape is more difficult).

I'm not sure quite what it is about challenges like this. Someone mentions it, and suddenly everyone in the room is reaching for the Pringles, and making complete idiots of themselves.

Today, my mobile did something (briefly) that I didn't think was possible.

Today I picked up my new mobile. (People who care: my number hasn't changed.) I'm changing networks, from a Virgin pay-as-you-go phone to a Vodafone contract. The chap in the shop told me I'd know that my new phone would be working because my old one would stop.

And he was kind of right. But my old phone continued to do outgoing calls for some time after it stopped receiving incoming ones.

So, if I used oldphone to ring newphone, by dialling my own number, it worked. But the number displayed on newphone as the caller was also my own number...

Yesterday included another of Andrew Duncan's walks through London.

It was meant to be the Lambeth to Embankment Walk, but if you follow the route backwards instead of forwards, manage to get yourself locked out of one of the parks because it's dark, and then decide the end looks dull and go to the pub instead, I'm not sure you can really be said to have done the walk, as such.

Still, we trotted up one side of the Thames to Lambeth, then back down through Whitehall. Which was great, actually, as I've not really seen all the famous bits of Whitehall before. And the views up and down the Thames, particularly at sunset and dusk, when things are starting to light up, are really quite impressive. I should do it again with a camera.

I was also quite impressed by the memorial to Arthur Sullivan in Embankment Gardens, which I think displays remarkable humour for a Victorian-era tribute.

Good conversation, nice beer and a moping nymph. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon...

Comments

[zotz]

There's a better way to disrupt a room. You don't need any Pringles, but it's very unkind and only works on women. Last time I tried it I specifically warned everyone that it was a con and they shouldn't rise to it, but they insisted on doing so anyway.

Most strange.

Well go *on* then...

[venta.livejournal.com]

What is it ?

Re: Well go *on* then...

[zotz]

It has to be explained in person. Anyone who's seen this discussed will back me up on this.

Phone Oddity

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

Actually not too surprising if you think about it.

Somewhere, there has to be a database which, when you dial a number, works out which phone to ring (possibly with some intermediate stages). This database has been updated. It could never have resulted in more than one phone ringing anyway.

However, to dial out from your old phone only requires that your old provider recognises it as valid. Since it's pay-as-you-whatever it's not particularly good PR for them to shut if off early just to save themselves a few pence. When you call out from it, some kind of reverse lookup is required to let the other end know who's calling. This reverse lookup goes via your old provider who map it to your phone number... because that's the only number they've ever had for you.

I'm making this all up as I go along, of course. But my point is that the effect you observe is pretty much what I'd expect to see.

Hmm..

[venta.livejournal.com]

Are you part of this putative[*] Camgoth venture to Intrusion tomorrow ?

If so, I demand to have it explained :)

[*]Well, it was mentioned to me by davefish, so possibly there was no puting involved.

Re: Phone Oddity

[venta.livejournal.com]

Yeah, put like that it all sounds perfectly reasonable. I think I just have an entrenched notion that phone numbers should be unique :)

Plus I wasn't thinking about everything being managed at a distance - I was vageuly surprised that newphone didn't throw a loop on being run by 'itself', but I suppose there's no real need for a phone to know its own number...

Re: Hmm..

[zotz]

Apparently so.

More fun things to do with Pringles

[ericklendl.livejournal.com]

With just a yard or so of spare desk space, an ordinary desk fan, a tube of Pringles and a set of felt tip pens (preferably non-toxic, unless you're not intending to subsequently eat the Pringles) you have the instant betting opportunity that is Pringle Racing.

Rather fun, and very disruptive. :-)

Re: Phone Oddity

[ieyasu.livejournal.com]

Isn't it that the phone broadcasts its own number when it dials out? Hence both phones will broadcast the same number until the first one is disconnected, because it's sent out from the phone?

I seem to remember the signal working this way, but I could be wrong.

[zotz]

I'd like to take this opportunity to point out yet again that the oven Pringles are baked in was designed by renowned SF author Gene Wolfe.

Re: More fun things to do with Pringles

[venta.livejournal.com]

s-p-a-r-e d-e-s-k s-p-a-c-e...

No, don't think I understand, I'm afraid.

Re: More fun things to do with Pringles

[jiggery-pokery.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a Banzai bet, but needs a better name. The Perplexing Pringles Poser? The Extortionately expensive potato-based snack wager? (I'll bet on the one in the middle.)

BETTING ENDS!

Re: More fun things to do with Pringles

[ericklendl.livejournal.com]

The simplest way is to redesignate part of the unused floor area as a temporary file holding system.

Failing that, just dump a load of stuff under the desk to make room.

Re: More fun things to do with Pringles

[venta.livejournal.com]

Er, yeah, done them.

The only clear space in my room at the moment is an area on the bed, slightly larger than I am. And I already have a use for that...

I'm now at work, though, and things look slightly more promising if I can just find a fan...