Top 50 signs of growing old

According to Engage Mutual research, As people get into their 50s and 60s, the reality of being older sinks in. But a third of people surveyed felt the signs of ageing between the ages of 21 and 29.

Here is the top 50 clues to becoming a crusty

1. Falling asleep in front of the TV

2. Feeling stiff

3. Groaning when you bend down

4. Losing your hair

5. Hating noisy pubs

6. Thinking teachers/policemen/ doctors look really young

7. Getting more hairy - ears, face, eyebrows, nose etc.

8. Struggling to use technology

9. Forgetting people's names

10. Not knowing songs in the Top 10

11. Choosing clothes and shoes for comfort rather than style

12. Driving slowly

13. Developing a fondness for sherry

14. Complaining more

15. Joining the Women's Institute

16. Misplacing glasses/bag car keys

17. Young colleagues

18. Listening to the Archers

19. Moving from Radio One to Radio Two

20. Allowing yourself a mid-afternoon nap

21. Joining the National Trust

22. Becoming a Parish Councillor

23. Complaining about the rubbish on television these days

24. Ears growing bigger

25. Preferring a Sunday walk to a lie-in

26. Being shocked by racy music videos

27. Going on a "no children" cruise

28. Taking a keen interest in the garden

29. You like getting asked for ID

30. Knowing your alcohol limit

31. Wearing corduroy trousers

32. Telling people exactly what you are thinking, even if it isn't polite

33. Owning a carriage clock

34. Falling asleep after one glass of wine

35. Taking an unnaturally keen interest in the local free newspaper

36. Applying for an allotment

37. Driving instead of drinking

38. Not being able to lose weight quickly

39. Never going out without a coat

40. Taking a keen interest in dressing for the weather

41. Taking a cushion to the football because the seats are uncomfortable

42. Putting everyday items in the wrong place

43. Choosing radio over television

44. Wearing cardigans

45. Booking train tickets in a quiet carriage

46. Buying newspapers every day

47. Watching adverts for vacuum cleaners

48. Give up reading broadsheets

49. Paying by cash or cheque

50. Wearing head-to-toe beige

https://plus.google.com/106404354758883120445

elgooG and Alice falling down a Rabbit hole

I came across elgooG (Google spelled backwards) really quite by accident. One of those - let me see what happens if I type Google backwards in the search engine we know well. To my genuine surprise not only did Google return something; but what it returned was amazing. The first thing that came into my mind was Alice falling down a rabbit hole and into a curious hall (Alice in Wonderland Chapter 1).

ElgooG is the literal mirror image of the Google search engine; not only is all of its content a reversal of Google, the search terms must also be written in reverse in order to give you the desired results.

It turns out this was originally created by All Too Flat "for fun", and it found practical use in the People's Republic of China after the domestic banning of Google, as it circumvented the government's firewalls.

Another important aspect is that because search terms in elgooG were typed in reverse, and the search results were also in reverse, it was harder for intermediates to track what users were searching for.

A bonus for me and those using computers in the 80’s will appreciate is the simulated terminal mode (see image). Not only does it take you back to ASCII based computer graphics of the day but the analog carrier signals simulated by a MODEM connection has to be seen and heard.

Just as an aside remember those early modems established a 300 baud rate (symbols per second) connection. Now you’re probably reading this blog on a network connection of say 9.5Mbps. That’s 9500000 times faster than the old 300-baud modems of the era. Try the modem at:

http://elgoog.im/terminal/

If these aren't so serious they would be funny

With all the April fool pranks at this time of year it’s sometimes hard to pick the prank. Here are some photos that I’m sorry to report aren’t pranks. If these didn’t represent such serious and dangerous situations they would actually be funny.

Image 1.

Here is a picture of Kim Jong-il's funeral procession. The state-run North Korean news agency released a stately, but otherwise mundane, photo of Kim's procession amid throngs of mourners (the bottom image).

But The New York Times compared the photo to one taken just a few seconds later by a Kyodo News photographer, and found that a group of six men, apparently part of a camera crew standing behind the crowd, were mysteriously omitted from the Korean version.

Upon closer analysis, the Times found evidence of digital editing – apparently the group had been erased from the periphery of the procession.

Perhaps with the men straggling around the sidelines, a certain martial perfection is lost. Without the men, the tight black bands of the crowd on either side look railroad straight.

Image 2a and 2b.

In 2008, Agence France-Presse released a photo, issued by Iran of a salvo of four missiles being test-launched by the Revolutionary Guard (2a).

Upon further inspection and when another photo of the same event came to light – it became clear that Iran had added an extra rocket and exhaust to cover up an apparently failed launch (2b).

Image 3.

Here is something from some remote county in China. A trio of local officials had just visited a newly paved road, but as the Wall Street Journal reports, the government official who photographed them decided the background wasn’t impressive enough and so superimposed the image of the officials on a prettier stretch of asphalt.

Unfortunately, the official's ambition outmatched his skill, and the result is a picture where the three men appear to hover above the road.