This must be messing with children's minds

There's an ad on TV at the moment for a toilet freshener, can't remember which one. Anyway, I find it a bit disturbing. It's the one where the little boy needs a 'poo' but can't do it at his own house. It seems he feels compelled to go and do his poo at someone else's house. Is he going to post it through the letter box, make a dirty protest or what? In fact, no it's none of these things. He's simply attracted by the odour at his friend's house. This means he's already done a poo at his friend's house and experienced toilet odour nirvana.
Now I know this advert is aimed at adults since they form the bulk of Britain's toilet freshener purchasers, but where does this leave our children, or at least those who chance upon this ad? I think some might find it traumatic and not be able to vocalise the anxiety they feel over toilet related issues. For goodness sakes it's not beyond the realms of possibility that some children do have issues with toilet smells. Does this ad help these children or reinforce their anxieties or am I reading far too much into this? I don't know but if at least three people suggest I am, then I'm prepared to go with the flow.
On a more general point, this ad looks like one of these strange 'Euro ads'. You know the type that are used across Europe with a bit of dubbing and questionable lip sync. Kinder ads are just the same. Not that that makes them bad ads. Well yes it does actually.

Almost unique

I just did a Google search of the word argiferous. It produced four results and three of them are links to this blog. The genuine use of the word appears on a site which tells the story of mining in Leadhills and Wanlockhead. When I say genuine use what I really mean is typo since argiferous is just a word I made up. I think what they mean is argilliferous which is an adjective for a type of rock that contains clay.

I challenge anyone to explain what's really so great about mind mapping software

Call me old fashioned. Call me a luddite. Call me a man who is finding it hard to accept that computers are the greatest invention since the Panasonic breadmaker and have made our lives easier than sliding down a slippy pole on the slippiest day of your life whilst clothed in a vest of slugs. Do so and you would be thrice wrong for I am none of these things. But - I can't see the value of mind mapping software. I can do the same thing with a pencil and some parchment. In fact I can draw many more interesting shapes and introduce themes (I'm thinking animals, denim accessory collections, car parts and so on) which add colour and interest. Of course I can't make it interactive, add links to documents and URL's and share it with the world very easily. But what I can do is think. And it doesn't matter whether I use a pencil or a mouse, I can still think the same. Software doesn't make you better at thinking. Only thinking, listening, experiencing, reading etc makes you better at thinking. So when a colleague thinks about developing mind mapping software I have to question the validity of that enterprise. Surely before going ahead with such an endeavour you have to explore all the possibilities through, say, a mind mapping session? Eh? Where's my pencil?

What do I do now I know this?

I was reading through the site of a major UK house builder today and came across the fact that "Coatbridge is Scotland's 23rd largest town". It made me stop and think. Why would anyone want to know this? Is it possible that someone's house purchase criteria includes the stipulation that their domestic residence must be situated in a town with a size ranking in the low twenties? What troubles me now is which town is 22nd and which is 24th. If I had that sort of data I would be a king or something, or some kind of guy with low self awareness maybe. I'm left thinking it's a code. An answer or a question in some sort of Da Vinci way, though I suspect I'll go to my grave never knowing.

I'm not really happy

It really just struck me recently. All this blogging stuff is fundamentally a bad idea, for everyone on the planet I mean, not just me. The reason, simple. Too few of us have anything significant to say. You think I'm wrong? Then ask yourself this question - "When did I last read a blog which had an impact on my life or my beliefs?". OK some of them may "challenge" you but so what, that doesn't make the blogger the new Nelson Mandela.
We're not going to change the world with blogging folks but we could try to introduce some minimum standards. Imagine you were sitting on a train and you could hear what all the other passengers were thinking. That might be alright if you were sharing a carriage with Stephen Hawking and his brother (I assume) Stephen Fry but otherwise no. So lets raise the level of content a bit and think before we write any old inane rubbish that would only be appreciated by doting and tolerant parents - and even then probably only superficially.

This has been bugging me

I can't believe that I set this thing up with the intention of making regular meaningful contributions and then forgot not only my user name and password but also the name of the site. It's taken me fully six months to figure it out but I remember now.

This is what I always wanted

Well I always wanted to have my own site but I really don't know what for. I figured I could maybe write some clever interesting stuff - you know, that stuff that's not really relevant but makes you seem knowledgable and conversant with popular culture - but I don't know where to start.
I will resolve to solve this issue before another century passes me by.