…Then we’d all be dead. Concentrated venom, or what?
Year: 2006
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Unspeak Spotted
Steven Poole, over at his Unspeak blog, dissects the latest pronouncements of Donald Rumsfeld. I’ve just started on Poole’s book, also called Unspeak. So far, it’s proving a terrific read, and full of clear examples of how language is used to push agendas sotto voce. -
Oh Gawd…
So Angela met with Ratzinger and she thinks that the EU Constitution should enshrine "Christian values". Oh dear. She is reported as saying that: "We spoke about freedom of religion. We spoke about the role of Europe and I emphasised the need for a constitution and that it should refer to our Christian values."Look, Angela, what I’d really like is freedom from religion to be enshrined in the constitution if at all possible. If people want to believe in the sky fairy, then let them do it in the privacy of their own homes and preferably between consenting adults – no corruption of innocent children should be allowed. Just don’t make it part of the state, thank you very much. -
Not Such A Good Idea
Well, doubtless the restaurant’s owner thought that the name and theme were brilliant at the time. However, one can see why he might have come to a different conclusion after a period of reflection… -
Hybrid Animals
Someone obviously likes playing with Photoshop to produce animal hybrids. Some are less successful than others, but the best are pretty impressive. The cat shark is going to give me nightmares, I feel sure.(hat tip to PZ Myers over at Pharyngula) -
Get It While It’s Hot
Microsoft have released a pre-RC1 build of Windows Vista (build 5536) to a wider audience than just their registered beta testers. The build is available here. Once 100,000 copies have been downloaded from that page, Microsoft will pull the plug. So if you’re interested, you’d better move fast before they are all gone. Apparently, you’ll need a license key from one of the earlier builds (e.g. Beta2). Now, where did I put that key? -
Cutting Off Your Nose…
…to spite your face. An English saying that means "this will hurt you more than it hurts me". The "you" in this case would appear to be Microsoft. And why? Well, the pricing details on their upcoming Vista operating system are showing on Amazon.Com as:Edition
Regular Price
Additional License
Upgrade Price
Additional License
Ultimate $399.00
$359.00
$259.00
$233.00
Business $299.00
$269.00
$199.95
$179.00
Home Premium $239.00
$215.00
$159.00
$143.00
Home Basic $199.00
$179.00
$99.95
$89.95
Robert McClaws, over at the Longhorn Blog is not impressed ("pure and total crap" are his words). His rationale is that the price reduction on additional licenses is not sufficient to act as an incentive for people to buy them rather than pirate the software. He goes into more detail in a follow-up post here. I have to say that I have some sympathy for his argument. We have three computers here, all running legitinate copies of Windows XP Professional. If I were to upgrade them all to Vista Ulimate edition, then I’m looking at paying out $725 for the privilege (one upgrade of $259 plus two additional licenses at $233 each). Frankly, that doesn’t seem worth it. I suppose I could just upgrade one computer to Ultimate edition and leave the other two at Home Premium. Even so, I’m still looking at an outlay of $561. Hmm, I might just as well stick with Windows XP for two of the three computers for a few years more. -
The Commitment To Development Index
Ethan Zuckerman, over at the WorldChanging blog, draws our attention to the annual report from the Center for Global Development on how well countries commit to international development and global aid. It’s worth reading his take on the results. The overall leader, when measured against the various dimensions, is the Netherlands. However, as he points out, while it leads in many measures, it is only average in the measure of Migration (The movement of people from poor to rich countries provides unskilled immigrants with jobs, income and knowledge. This increases the flow of money sent home by migrants abroad and the transfer of skills when the migrants return). Worse still, its score on this measure has been falling rapidly over the past three years. Methinks I detect the baleful influence of the lovely Rita Verdonk at work here. -
It’s Not Just The Cold…
…that can make your penis shrink, apparently. There’s disturbing news for male polar bears – their genitals are shrinking because of industrial pollution. As if the cold weren’t enough… -
Geotagging Photos In Flickr
I see that Flickr (the online photo-sharing site that I use) now supports geotagging. It works best when the maps are high resolution (e.g. US cities). Around our way, in the wilds of The Netherlands, the resolution is pretty crappy, so while the idea is wonderful, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. Oh well… -
Positive Blasphemy
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The Green Machine From Flevobike
When we went to visit Zutphen a few weeks back, we travelled on the local train. This being The Netherlands, the trains have a space that can be used for bicycles. On that day, my attention was drawn to a bicycle that was occupying the space until the owner got out at Winterswijk. It was a recumbent bike, but of a design that I’d never seen before. The label on the bike said Flevobike, so I guessed it was a Dutch design (Flevoland is one of the Dutch provinces).I’ve now done a little scouting around the web, and the bike was one of the very latest designs from Flevobike – a Green Machine. I have to admit that it looks very stylish, and I wouldn’t mind trying one out. It turns out that there’s a dealer (ACE – Advanced Cycle Engineering) in Winterswijk, so I should go along one day and take a closer look. It’s possible to hire a recumbent bike for a day from ACE to try out.Mind you, if I do fall in love with the Green Machine, it could prove very damaging to the wallet. The bike costs a cool 3,420 Euros. Gulp. -
The Whereabouts Of The Wicker Man
I mentioned that great cult classic film The Wicker Man recently. What I did not realise at the time was that the film was actually shot in an area of Scotland that I know a little of, being that I’ve got family living there. Apparently, the remains of the Wicker Man’s legs can still be seen at Burrowhead. I must go and take a look for myself the next time I’m in Dumfries and Galloway. -
The Pope’s Brain May Be Missing
It appears as though the Pope is about to embrace the pseudoscience that is Intelligent Design. It wouldn’t surprise me if he did. Rational thinking hardly seems to be a strong point with him. -
The Definition Of Child Abuse
OK, so this is fourth hand; me quoting a journalist quoting a Microsoft manager who quoted a "Norwegian psychologist" as saying:“taking a mobile phone away from a teenage girl is the same as child abuse.”Um, hello, what planet of hyperbole is this person from? I feel my inner Victor Meldrew struggling to let rip. However, let me treat it with the disdain that it deserves and turn to the broader point that the Microsoft manager, Anne Kriah, was making. And that was that the upcoming generation of jobseekers expect, as of right, to have internet access at their place of work. If their prospective employer doesn’t offer this, then in her words:“These kids are saying: forget it! I don’t want to work with you. I don’t want to work at a place where I can’t be freely online during the day.”
I would say, let’s define the word "freely" pretty carefully. If I am at work and I have access to the internet in order to do my job effectively, then fine. But if I am simply surfing the net (or spending hours on the phone chatting with friends) instead of doing my job, then I am hardly fulfilling my side of the bargain with my employer. -
Twisty Faster – I’ll Have Some Of That
My favourite spinster aunt shows why she is the bee’s knees of lucid thinking. Nike and fashion – two words guaranteed to make me foam at the mouth. -
Hardening Of The Arteries
Being the atheist that I am, perhaps I shouldn’t be commenting on Dr. Rowan Williams recent interview with a Dutch journalist, but since he is commenting on gay people, I think that sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.On the one hand, I can agree with him when he says that "inclusion is not a value in itself". But if, as he now seems to be signalling, that he truly believes that it is against Christ’s teaching for two adult people who happen to be of the same sex to have a full and loving relationship, then, sorry, Dr. Williams, but your Christ’s teaching is flawed. It makes me glad that I haven’t bought into the religion meme, and sorry for those who have. -
The Mile High Club
And another vile pun that doesn’t so much tickle my funny bone, but makes it roll over and beg for mercy…Brilliant! -
Time Trumpet
I’d just like to plug Armando Iannucci’s new series on BBC Two once again.
Time Trumpet is excellent. It is very, very black humour. The usual suspects of the American Right (e.g. Michelle Malkin) certainly didn’t appreciate Iannucci’s treatment of terrorism (I consider that to be a point in its favour – my equivalent of Groucho Marx’s approach to clubs). Probably because Malkin et al failed to appreciate that it was the reaction to terrorism that was being lampooned. It was, if you will, Iannucci’s "The power of laughter" to be set alongside Adam Curtis’ "The Power of Nightmares" – a programme, I note, that has still not been shown on US television.
There’s now an external web site set up for Time Trumpet, and this has some clips from the show. However, my favourite collection seems to have been taken care of by this prime selection on YouTube. It includes another bravura piece of video editing: President Bush singing both "Imagine" and "Walk on the Wild Side" (and you can probably guess who is the coloured girl going "Doo, de-doo, de-doo"…). Oh, and there’s Tesco’s war on Denmark, and lots of other goodies… Go and watch it.
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Gondelvaart In Bredevoort
We live quite close to the village of Bredevoort. As well as being a village stuffed to the gills with bookshops, it also organises a "Gondelvaart" several times in the year. The Slinge river, which flows through the region, feeds an ox-bow lake on the outskirts of the village, and on summer nights that is where the Gondelvaart takes place. It’s a parade of boats, illuminated only by thousands of tiny lights, usually creating an image. The parade is rounded off with a firework display.We went there last night with two friends, and it was really charming to see it. The floats are built by enthusiastic amateurs, some as young as 10 years old, and were very good. More photos can be seen here.
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