I just spent a lot of time trying to parse some UTF-8 xml and put parts of it into a mysql database with python.The parsing in UTF-8 I already had done, but getting MySQLdb to use UTF-8 instead of latin1 was very annoying. I did this with MySQL-python-1.2.1_p2 and MySQL 4.1.21.
The first thing […]

I recieved a few emails recently about my Amazon.co.uk Filler Item website. Apparently it was mentioned on Radio 2 by Martin, and it was mentioned on the BBC programme Working Lunch. I would love to see/hear these clips, so if anyone recorded them or knows how to get a copy let me know.
Update: […]

Most supermarkets have “savings cards” which they offer to customers to get discounts on certain items. I hate these cards because these cards dont really save me money, needlessly invade my privacy, and take up space in my wallet. However, if you don’t use these cards you are overpaying for your groceries. My […]

One of my sites, filleritem.com has been on some well trafficked sites recently. Lifehacker recently made a post about it, and the number of people adding it to the del.icio.us bookmark site put it on to the front page of del.icio.us briefly. Then moneysavingexpert.com sent out the uk version of the site in […]

Netflix is running a contest to improve there movie suggestions.  The prize: one million dollars.  The suggestions only have to improve by 10% to recieve the prize.
I think I will see how well I can do.  I think predicting all 4’s will work.
There current system uses “Straightforward statistical linear models with a lot of data […]

I have a website that finds filler items for a few online stores that offer free shipping. The amazon.com version is the only one that generates consistant traffic. A few days ago the buy.com version of the site recieved its first sale. The surprise is that the sale was for $799.99 which gets […]

I just finished importing all my entries from my simple homebrew blog into wordpress. This should make everything a lot easier. I also installed a crossposting plugin, so this should show up on livejournal too.  I haven’t migrated everything over to wordpress yet, so it isn’t quite ready…but it wil be soon!

I am using a new music player, and in the preferences there was an option to enable audioscrobbler. I had no clue what audioscrobbler was, so I went to last.fm and found out it was a sort of social music recommendation website. Great, I have found another addiction. […]

I recently installed Ubuntu Linux and I don’t think I am ever going back. It is much faster than Windows for me, and starting up is much less of a pain. I have all the software than I need, and I got it all for free. The ease of installing and upgrading software is so […]

I am addicted to many things on the Internet. I visit these site multiple times a day. Here is the list:
1. youtube.com 2. answers.yahoo.com […]