Astonishing photos of an defunct Soviet submarine base here – the scale and scope are staggering, and the 'sets' genuinely look like they're from a big-budget movie. [Via BoingBoing]

(Puts me in mind of the flood system in place under Tokyo.)

In the absence of time or inspiration, here, for your continued delight, is a small collection of some of the best bits of the web I've seen recently and treasured for y'all.

Useless information
I ♥ useless information, and this site sure lives up to its name. Quite therapeutic; you can learn without having to take anything in.

How to help someone use a computer
Friends and family will take great delight in the knowledge that I plan to study and digest this advice.

Check your typing speed
I got about 65wpm on the first attempt, but let me have another go...

Birthday calculator
Tells you all sorts of stuff about your birthday, including probable date of conception.

Cursor kite
I know, I know, I'm a geek, but do us both a favour and click the link: I dare you to tell me it's not a teensy bit cool.

The camera does lie
History of the early days of manipulating photographs and daguerreotypes to show scenes different from how they appeared in front of the lens.

I took a call from a reader the other day who had the most glorious accent. I can describe it perfectly when I say that it was a flawless mix of Bill Paterson and Brian Sewell. Utter, utter genius of an accent; I may try to cultivate it as a party trick.

Couple of things before I go: I know 'humour' and 'IT' are rarely happy bedfellows, but a few gags in this list managed to raise a smile. Also, doing these Polaroid transfers looks like a bundle of fun. I want the time to do this kind of stuff, dammit.

Also, isn't this a pretty picture? Taken with my beloved cameraphone, and totally un-retouched, it's my good lady holding a glass of mint tea.



* Wanky post title, only to be understood by colleagues of a certain vintage – perhaps the originator of the story would like to tell it chez lui?

I've just lost all my work email, so here's a tip to ensure nobody else makes the same mistake.

My account was playing up, and in an attempt to track down the problem, I created another account with exactly the same settings. The original problem remained, so I trashed this second, 'duplicate' account. Because of the way Mail differentiates accounts – they're held in folders with names built from account details, such as POP-chris.phin@pop.dennis.co.uk – trashing an account with the same details also immediately erased all the mail held in my original work inbox. It's irretrievable except by rebuilding the directories with a data rescue tool.

The moral of the story: Don't create an account with the same settings as an existing account, or you run the risk of interfering with mail held in the original account.

I do have a backup, never fear, and as it's only a couple of weeks old, the interim mail should still be on the server ready to be pulled down once I've replaced the local mail folders with those from my backup, but it's inconvenient to say the least.

I'm quite used to seeing my surname misspelled – pity my poor wife – but never yet have I seen someone so comprehensively fuck up the spelling of my first name. They've changed the C to a P, kept the H in place, swapped the R for an I, and, while they've replaced the I with an L, the S has been dropped off entirely. Tut, tut, tut...

Not that I'm in any way objecting to the name, but it did amuse me...