The link to view the LHC (which thankfully didn’t kill us yesterday) is now online and has been floating around various places, but if you haven’t seen it, check out the webcams over here and keep up to date with the biggest Particle Accelerator the world has ever seen. You might even be lucky enough to catch some particles whizzing around.

Oh yes. Some Lego junkies from Hong Kong have gone crazy with over 300,000 bricks and created the Olympic Village - in Lego! The display includes a massive 4,500 minifigures scattered around the display, bring a sense of life to everything. Perhaps the most amazing thing they have built is the Birds Nest Stadium itself, complete with the crazy metalwork on the outside. Inside the stadium there is a football field and is also full with people in the crowds.

Other amazing builds are the famous Water Cube which looks just as good inside as it does from out. They even went ahead and created the smaller places, such as ping pong tables, volleyball court, tennis court, and even roads for the mini cyclists!

I’ve added a gallery bellow of the images that came from the Daily Mail. Unsurprisingly, there is one comment that you would expect:

What about the Lego troops throwing people out of their homes or Lego troops arresting and deporting anyone who mentions Tibet?

- Mickey, Cumbria, 18/8/2008 10:05

You can’t please everyone.

Uncanny looking...

Any person following the doings of Amy Winhouse know she is a troubled old soul - which makes her a great target for everyone to pick on. Along with countless tabloids and celebrity blogs, the latest person to jump on the bandwagon are the makers of a new film, Disaster Movie. Now I am sure this will be a completely rubbish movie, like last years Epic Movie, but they have gone ahead and made a very enjoyable game featuring Amy Winhouse as the lead character, shouting obscenities and headbutting people.

Sadly, it doesn’t last long and the sneering and shouting soon become tiring, but it’s your chance to be Amy Crackhouse for once. Good bit of viral marketing there, Disaster Movie people.

To be honest with you, I am not sure where “IT”S OVER NINE THOUSAND!!!111″ came from, probably from the murky depths of /b/ on 4chan. But it can effect any place of the internet with a mere mention of something that is over 9000 whatever’s. A classic example is this article by the Telegraph on a tree that is over 9000 year’s old. The title is “World’s oldest living tree over 9,000 years old”. Perfect to attract anyone who want’s to get in on a piece of the action. As if Digg comments weren’t bad enough, at least it had some relevance to the story.

Bearing in mind this article was posted back in April, there have been numerous posts already in August. There were some well made out comments at the bottom though, before the memes took hold.

Never before has such an intelligence drop in one place been witnessed. I ROFL’d.

So now Google has got the go ahead to start Street View in the UK, the Daily Mail has jumped on the chance to declare how evil and dastardly Google’s “Orwellian” plan is. Aside from describing it as “Big Brother” and a “Burglar Charter”, this misinformation has sadly passed on to some of the people in the comments section of the article.

Let’s just clarify firstly that taking pictures of people’s streets or houses in the UK is not illegal. Nor is it illegal for someone to walk up and look at your house. Google are not doing anything more than this.

Idiots such as Chris from Southampton think-

So first they have to reveal everyone’s browsing history
Now we have them photographing houses….
I just can’t wait until they have it all linked up, banking details, insurance details, browsing history, shopping history, the online catalogue for identity and other theft at the click of a button.
Save any housing problems too by linking holiday company booking details and the squatters website.
- as soon as my house appears on line I think I will change the front door and windows and fit a new alarm system

Firstly, they are not revealing everyone’s browsing history. It was a court ruling which meant they had to hand over the history of YouTube visitors, not THEIR choice. And that was later anonymised to protect users. Secondly, Google can’t get all that info you talked about. Oh well, let’s just let Chris be ignorant.

Other comments which widely over exaggerate what Google are doing, such as Laura from Derbyshire-

I’m looking forward to making a claim for trespassing. You would have to trespass in order to take the picture of my front door.

Aren’t aerial views enough for Google? Do you really need to see someone’s front door? We’ve recently changed our front door. If they had taken a picture of my previous front door, would Google be anyway liable for not updating its records under the Data Protection Act?

Another idiot. They aren’t going down your driveway and taking a photograph! They are going down streets and taking pictures of what they can see and not bloody driveways.

Some people have the right idea however-

Perhaps I am being naive, but I don’t consider my front door particularly ‘private’. If anyone want to photograph it or admire it from afar they are welcome to do so.

Ali, London, UK

What is wrong with people? Do they have something to hide?
Anybody can walk down any street and look at your garden, your house, your car, your kids toys strewn about, etc., etc., and there are more CCTV cameras in this country than you can shake a stick at.
SO WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?

Google Earth is a fascinating addition to anyone’s browsing pleasure, so good on you Google for making it even better.

And if you are concerned that you will be photographed doing something you shouldn’t, don’t do it.

- Joe King, Lancs, 11/7/2008 7:48

I think this is a awesome idea. Especially if they can incorporate it into a mobile version. How many of us have been getting directions to a family party and been told to look out for “the red thing next to the play park on the corner of whats-it-called street”, with this new concept, you can see ahead, make changes, turn around and double back and take alternative routes without even moving your car.
The Google team (not techno freaks) know the laws, so just let them finish the thing before we as a public start slating it.

- Shane Wakefield, Milton Keynes, 10/7/2008 22:56

How can a photo taken from a public place be considered an invasion of privacy?

How can photos taken of celebrities taken when they are clearly in private be used for profit while essentially random pictures taken from a moving car cannot?

Hard luck to those who have something to hide and roll on the digital revolution!

- John Whittaker, Livingston, UK, 10/7/2008 18:25

It seems not everyone is stupid. Good luck to those who have decided they are emigrating because of this, by the way.

I, with many others, have recently been converted from an evil, “grubby little man” to a life of wondrous joy where downloading anything is a sin, thanks to the highly successful “Knock-Off Nigel” campaign.

Oh yes. I realize that to an American reader, or in fact anyone from somewhere other than the UK, will not have a clue what the hell is going on in this ad. We here almost didn’t know until they rudely interrupted poor old Nigel’s life and ruined his reputation by singing a jolly old song. This IS the UK’s best attempt at combating piracy. Some bloke who looks like he recently came of the cast of “Life On Mars” or “Ashes to Ashes” strolls up and starts singing in some daft way as the whole office join in behind him.

Every time this advert makes it’s way on to my TV, I fail to see how it has stopped anyone from continuing to download or “knock-off” illegally. At all. It is just so badly done. Nothing like, “STOP - Piracy is a crime” or “Would you steal a car? Would you steal a movie?”. Just a message that has been poorly conceived by some idiots on some ad agency somewhere.

What’s worse is that this was probably funded by the UK Government, which means our money has been spent on producing this tripe. Still, I suppose on the bright side, you can get a quick kick out of just how devastatingly bad they really are.

And if you want to know more (I hope to God you don’t), check out Nigel’s very own site.