THE NEW PLANET JON WEBLOG
I have moved the 'blog to a new page hosted on my own site. Please visit and see what's new

Domain Names
I have just signed up with these guys for a bargain £10.55. I now have my own domain (www.planet-jon.co.uk) paid for two years. You get registration, email diversion and basic web diversion for this price. You can pay an extra £30 to remove the web page header they insert on the basic package.

Guide to the Pub
This is a marvellous, serious guide to how to behave in a British pub. It seems like it is aimed at tourists from other countries, and is published at the Social Issues Research Centre. As for why such a guide is necessary : "A village publican running a particularly pleasant pub called The Red Lion was told by an American tourist that his pub was "much nicer than the other pubs I have visited in the Red Lion chain".

Donkey Kong Game and Watch
I'm back from holiday in Portugal with a cracker of a link - this java app PERFECTLY emulates an old Donkey Kong Game and Watch. It's like having a real one in front of you.

FBN Associates
This is so subtle that I almost missed the joke. Sophisticated Y2K humour.

alt.culture archives
Confused by those odd terms? Wonder what a Trustafarian is? Well, puzzle no more - the alt.culture database is here to help. Containing thousands of entries, it is interesting just to browse through to see what you can find. Kind of a "Chronicle of the 20th Century" for 90s Pop Culture.

Go and see Go!
I'm usually a bit skeptical of films that compare themselves to Pulp Fiction, but this one is worthy of the moniker. The story is about a drug deal gone bad, and it's told in three parts, each spanning the same evening. It's in UK cinemas now. I watched the DVD, which is one of the best I've come across yet. It contains deleted scenes, music videos, cast bios, and refreshingly, a directors commentary that doesn't take itself too seriously.

Ho Ho
This made me laugh - but there are serious undertones for online trading here. As the article says, a test case may arise from this incident.

Download Accelerator
This is a superb bit of free software. It speeds up downloads by opening multiple connections to the same file - then joins them together when completed. I did some tests with this, using a connection monitor, and it really does work.

Javascript Games
This and the next three entries are examples of how powerful Dynamic HTML is. The reproductions of classic arcade games are almost perfect. Just right for whiling away those tedious lunch hours! You'll need either IE4 or Netscape 4 or above to see this site.

Frogger
Requires a DHTML web broswer

Galaxians
Requires a DHTML web browser

Pacman
Requires a DHTML capable web browser.

Internet Addiction
According to this BBC news item, 6% of Internet users are driven by some kind of addiction. "More satisfying than my Husband" quotes one woman.

Anaylize THIS!
Watched this film last night - my first DVD from the US, which arrived that morning. It has Robert Deniro as a mobster who is suffering from stress. He ropes in psychologist Billy Crystal to help him. It's a funny film, but I'm not sure when it's out in the UK. The link above is a quiz from the movie's website. It tells you what kind of mobster you are.

Hart Scientific's Unofficial Y2K FAQ
"Even if our accounting software stops working on January 3, 2000, you can count on us finding a way to bill you for whatever you bought from us prior to Armageddon. Even if we have to write your invoice on the back of bubble gum wrappers, we're going to bill you. This is the promise our lawyers made to us and it's the same promise we're going to make to you. It's the only thing we're going to guarantee you-- but at least we're guaranteeing something. "

Adbusters
A Wired news story today reminded me to put this into the 'blog. They have some wicked satires on popular advert campaigns. McDonalds, Calvin Klein, and Camel all get the once over.

Toddler Issued Credit Card
This BBC news story backs up everything I think about credit card companies. Nuff said.

Wildtangent DirectX Plugin
This is pretty cool! It's a driver plugin for Netscape or Internet Explorer that presents DirectX Games and demos within the web browser. This requires Windows 95,98 or NT4.0 SP3. You'll probably need a beefy connection, but they say a 28.8 modem is fast enough. Via Memepool.com

Pre Y2K jitters?
Ausust 21st will be an interesting day for those who rely on GPS (Global Positioning System) to find out where they are. On this date the Satellites, which were timed for 1024 weeks from 1980, roll over to zero. If your device does not handle this properly, then you may be in trouble!

http;//www.hed.co.uk
Continuing in the same vein as the next entry, these guys offer some of the best prices going, including some that my Dad cannot beat at trade rates. This one is perfectly safe to shop from, as you fill in a form, and a salesperson will phone you back. I purchased a JVC J75R from them last week. It'll be here on Monday (it's on backorder), but from looking in Tempo I've saved myself about £60. Did I mention the free delivery? ****Footnote - the stereo has arrived, and its great! - I unreservedly reccommend these guys!

Books, CDs, DVDs, and more
I'm impressed. I'm just starting to get into buying stuff online. So far I've only bought books, but recently I discovered this site. You can buy DVDs from about £9.59 with the right loyalty code, and CD's up to £6 cheaper than in the shops. Their service has been excellent - my DVDs arrived the day after placing the order. My only worry now is the state of my bank balance!

Springfield Nuclear Power Plant
A must for all die hard Simpsons fans. Especially good are the collaborative episode capsules. There's also news, FAQs and links to the best Simpsons websites.

Drew's Script-o-Rama
This is good stuff for the movie fan. There are a few different types of script here. Firstly, the transcript, where some dedicated soul writes the dialogue down as he watches the film. Secondly there's the kosher script - some are full scripts, and some are first drafts. First drafts will usually differ greatly from the finished. There's also some Television scripts too.

Eaton Weblog Portal
Whoohoo! I've been linked from the weblog portal. In case you never followed the link to the left, go here for a comprehensive list of other (usually much better) weblogs.

Phil does it again!
How does he do it? He seems to be able to insult whole nations without even realising it. Top stuff your Highness!

ASCII Music Videos
Now this is just WEIRD. I remember years ago when I had my TI99/4A singing Daisy Daisy from the plug-on-the-side voice synthesiser. That was kind of creepy. This chap has got hold of some classic MIDIs, and set the voice synth to match the tone. Even manages the stuttering in "My Generation". Take a look. Requires Real Audio player. via. kempa.com

Amused.com
This is a huge link site containing funny, diverting, and often downright weird stuff. There's a whole page devoted to the "Dancing" craze that started with those ruddy hamsters. Games, quizzes - it's all here.

The Straight Dope
Cecil Adams is unknown in this country, but he has many books and a syndicated column in the States. This is the website containing an archive of his work, which is answering all your questions! Nothing is too obscure for "Uncle Cece". When your done here, there is a similar site below, and two Usenet newsgroups - alt.fan.cecil-adams and misc.facts.straight-dope.

The Last Word
Why is the sky blue? Why do ants survive microwaving? Why bother? These and many other questions are answered in the New Scientist's questions page. One for the curious

BBC News Website
This is a very high quality news site that is frequently updated

ITV's Formula One Website
This is updated often, and is fairly good (when they have enough bandwidth that is!)

Up My Street
This lets you compare crime rates, ambulance response times, and many other factors that affect house prices in your area. UK only.