Should I stay or should I blog?
30 July 2004
UN-altered REPRODUCTION and DISSEMINATION of this IMPORTANT Information is ENCOURAGED
09:26 From http://preparingforemergencies.co.uk/;
Look, it's an emergency. How are you supposed to prepare for it? It's in the bloody dictionary. " A serious situation or occurrence that happens unexpectedly and demands immediate action." If you expect it, it's not an emergency, is it? Honestly.
I'm off on holiday tomorrow. See you in two weeks' time.
26 July 2004
Vrrrom
11:40 Rode pillion on my sister's new bike at the weekend. Damn, but I think I have my mid-life crisis roadmap now.
16 July 2004
It's all Greek to me
22:13 Our Arabic-speaking friends might be interested in these two sites from AWM.
16 July 2004
Conclusive proof
13:29 Incontrovertible evidence that the moon landings were faked. I see no way out of this one. (The link at the bottom of that page will appear to the reader of a certain age . . .)
14 July 2004
Johnny Nomates
10:14 The Armed Forces have, outside the constituency of ordinary British people who admire and support their Servicemen, no friends.
Coming from a Services background myself, I understand the sentiment in this thought-provoking article. In my day job especially, where it seems you are expected to be a liberal (if not completely left-wing), pacifist and completely spineless love-hippy, supporting the Armed Services is not done. But bollocks to that, frankly. We need them now more than ever, and I'll nuke anyone who says otherwise (joke).
What hope do we have when the Chancellor appears to be proud that he does not understand Defence (Gordon is a moron) and the Prime Minister displays a similar lack of understanding? Especially, as the article says, the Armed Services (unlike, say, Health and Education) actually deliver on their responsibilities. Blair expects their functions to be on tap whenever he wants. He does not wonder how the regiments that serve his government, when sent to Bosnia or Kosovo or Iraq, achieve what they do.
I'm also anti-St Patrick's Day. But that's another story.
14 July 2004
Homeland racism
09:58 I'm glad it's not my homeland, and not my security. Because when an ordinary citizen cannot take pictures of a landmark without being victimized it is time to stand up and ask whether you want to be a part of it.
Bringing this nearer to (my) home for a bit, there's a letter on that site which has a bearing on the current ID card hoo-hah. I quote:
An authentic "bad guy/spy" isn't likely to be carrying "ID" that actually identifies them, are they. The value of "taking ID" depends on people following the rules. Surprise: bad guys don't follow the rules. So, the only legitimate ID the spooks will get will be from... legitimate people! Result? Ordinary citizens pursuing legal activities are bullied, harassed and cowed. Bad guys (if there even are any in these locations) will happily carry out their spying, invisible to the spooks and their crude "profiling" methods.
14 July 2004
Nothing new
09:55 The furore - if that's the right word - that the 'music industry' (spit) is making over the iPod and the iTMS and all that downloading music thang, is nothing new. Remember how they got equally worked up over tapes? (1983)
12 July 2004
Soul man
12:57 'Twas our 'versary on Sunday. Bought Kate a CD of the Blind Boys of Alabama. Cracking stuff. Highlight? Amazing Grace . . . to the tune of House of the Rising Sun.
09 July 2004
. . . and a deafening report
15:17 Whilst satisfying my curiosity about E. E. 'Doc' Smith (man, I devoured those books when I was a tee nager) I came across a Mac version of Spacewar. Wild. And an article in Rolling Stone from December 1972!
08 July 2004
I have no opinion about that
13:59 This article just about sums up my unease about 'Blinded Justice' Blunkett's proposed anti-hate legislation. Where's it going to stop?
08 July 2004
This way up
13:54 First pic, look at the writing. Heheheheh.
06 July 2004
Smack
11:28 You know, this is probably politically incorrect on two counts (good . . .) but I'm going to say that, for once, I think the US has its head screwed on straight: in so far as the corporal punishment does not meet the individual state's definition of child abuse. I'll stick my neck out further and say I don't really think that there is merely a thin line between smacking and child abuse. Everyone knows what smacking is, and what child abuse is should be similarly evident, and I do not believe that banning one will have any effect on the other. Just look at gun-related crime figures in this country after handguns were banned, if you don't believe me.
28 June 2004
Porn de la langosta
13:51 A big shout out to the reader wherever you are (the IP address is Mountain View, California - but that's Google itself), who has been translating the BioLOG into Spanish. Similarly, someone else (AFAICT in Amsterdam) found me in Google. In Arabic.
I didn't realize the BioLOG was appreciated in such cosmopolitan circles. I should also stop reading my logs.
28 June 2004
ImmunoZap
11:13 The Beeb ran an article on a boy with leukaemia, who has managed to get a video game made, inspired by his experience and treatment. It's still in Beta, but mad props to Eric at LucasArts for making it Mac-compatible! Free to download, I'm going to have a look tonight and see if it's got any edutainment value for the Gerblettes.
28 June 2004
Glitterati
16:17 Thanks to Kooij, I have a gmail addy. W00t. I think.
10 June 2004
Lobster porn
09:01 Gave my departmental seminar today (which reminds me, must update CV as have solved another structure. W00t) and someone asked about lobster sperm (it's a long, sordid tale. . .). Hmm. I think my research has to take a new direction. Apparently the Barrier Reef has good lobster.
Purely for research purposes, natürlich. Now where did I put that mayo recipe?
10 June 2004
Explo1t0wn3d
16:15 The Safari PoC thing has been fixed. See Software Update. That's cleared up, then.
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