great big pest

Have you ever seen garden pests like this before? They're huge, and I think they look rather chic. They were in a neighbour's garden, and only on a specific species of plant. 

The blue one is an interloper. I think we all know how he feels.

In the second picture, they're on a bin beside the plant, perhaps waiting their turn on the leaves.

passing the time / water

In the jazz club last night, while waiting for the concert to start, people were fiddling with their phones. To fit in, I reacquainted myself with the first app I ever downloaded, called Urinal Challenge.

The aim is to answer all 25 questions correctly. The first few are easy.

The first answer is obvious. You should choose the free urinal at far right.

Most of the questions are common sense if you're a normal male like myself. For example, question 7.

By the time you get to question 14 you have to think really carefully. I messed up. After I guessed wrong, the green arrow revealed the official correct choice:

I had chosen the position next to it. Can you understand my reasoning? My personal best is 22 out of 25, equivalent to 88%. At university that's a Distinction.

conference extremes

This week I went to a conference, probably the last one I'll ever attend. Very enjoyable, the complete opposite of my first-ever conference. It all balances out.

My first one was half a lifetime ago in Cambridge, where I had to deliver a half-hearted and vacuous paper in front of about 600 clever and critical tech-heads. Stressful as eff.

If that was my most inhumane conference, this week's was the opposite. A roomful of like-minded geeks, communicating by tweets, with no need for small talk and other annoyances. All tweets, questions and interjections from the floor were actually on-topic!