Friday Link Love

T'S FRIDAY, and despite murderous pressure of work, that still means, always means, that it's Playtime of the Blogs. Today is the day we look to our movie links to find-out which terrific new movies we will not be able to watch at a theater this weekend, and more importantly, to discover which new DVD's are being released so we can at least watch something together on Saturday Night that will not cost us the $100 it usually does to take the five blossoming parasites to the movies?

Today is also the day when we somehow must take time out of our busy employment schedules to cruise the links; to chop some new jungly pathways towards the undiscovered interior of the web? Thus we nascent Magellans or Mercators, pilots all, follow the rutters and charts of our fellow navigators. I suspect that many of us, readers and writers, have some kind of Friday method, some deep-scan algorithm that we prefer to follow as we play "Googly" on our lonesome, some stepwise methodology for discovering new and interesting links without recourse to Google itself?

My own method, it happens, was unfortunately codified some months ago by the otherwise estimable Norman Geras: he called it "Six Degrees of Blogximity". Huff! Puff! Now, when I follow that plan, which was my plan too, dammit, I have to acknowledge that it's His, not mine! I am but Scott of the Antarctic to his cheater Amundsen. I'm just going out... I may be some time...

I would not normally blog about my Friday Webwändern but bloody Blogger has been down for the past two days so I'm determined to write something-anything while I can?

Part, the First

We'll begin with DarkoV at Verging on Pertinence, who is presently suffering an enchantment of Iceland, but who earned his Discoverer badge when he led us to here - to the Museum of Harmony and the Golden Ration (dammit! DAMMIT! - I can not be the only one, surely, to always type "ration" when he means "ratio", can I? Especially - especially - when the correct word is "Section">) Not to mention that he linked me this week, so I owe him reciprocation.

Anyway, for today's Six Degrees of Newdom - where entries are selected solely on the Name of the Blog, which must be somehow sound interesting to me since I always judge a book by its cover - today's six degrees proceed as follows:

1. From Me. But you don't need that link.
   
2. To DarkoV, whose messy book piles so closely resemble my own;
   
3. To Hiding in Plain Sight, who has video of commando bell ringers;
   
4. To Stregoneria, who has discovered that compassion is an evolutionary trait;
   
5. To Lady Poverty, who offers a "Gentleman's guide to Career, Romance, and Nation Building". See for yourself;
   
6. To A Troublemaker's Handbook, for Unions in a Unionless world. I used to be a member of a Union, so we have that in common?
   

Disclaimer: I had no idea where I was walking. Somewhere the likes of me would be eaten, I'm thinking?

I was tempted to follow The Manolo Speaks of The Shoes but have instead chosen to forward that link to my Beloved, who shares the Manolo's passion.

Part, the Second

For my own contribution towards The Illumination of my Readers I offer some links on nautical navigation. I used to know this stuff, back when I was designing Periscope and Ships Bridge simulators:

• The Rules of the Road, of which I had to pay particular attention to the use of lanterns and "symbols" for signalling, and the rules of buoyage. Did you know, for example, that America, being America, just had to reverse the direction of buoyage? A Port-hand buoy ("stay to port of me!"), bright red, will be stationed to Port on your way out of port, not in to port as it is in civilized countries? Bloody Yanks - insufferable! Like it isn't enough that they have to drive on the wrong side of the road in their cars...
  
• Fixing your Position - how to use a compass, a chart, and a parallel ruler to triangulate your position at sea. I used to love doing this... made me feel so Piloty... but beware - when you are preparing a visual representation of a coastline and harbour that "must be recognisable to a pilot familiar with the area" that does not mean that you'll get away with an, er, impressionist rendering of it? No: it means that the bastards will expect your display to include Old Archie's Caravan which is usually parked up a hill on the side of the Gare Loch, or Missus Bertram's Sweetie Shoppe on the way into Portsmouth Harbour?
  
• Finally, my favorite Nautical Cove. Remember: Keep a weather-eye out for a seafarin' man with one leg!
  

Enjoy! And there'll be no tippin' me the spot for my choices!