I cursed the bastards at Madame Tussauds when they pulled the plug on the London Planetarium in favour of celebrity pursuit. However, Diamond Geezer warms the cockles of my heart by telling us that Greenwich has stepped up and filled the gap in London’s heart with the Peter Harrison Planetarium.
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Wi-Fi Scaremongering
The BBC has a current affairs programme that’s been running for decades: Panorama. Most of the time, the stories presented under the Panorama banner are worthy, interesting, and well researched. Just occasionally, however, one slips through that is so completely the opposite that one wonders what on earth the programme editors were thinking.We’ve just had a perfect example: Panorama’s programme on the "dangers" of Wi-Fi. A programme so full of bad science and selective use of data that it’s given Dr. Ben Goldacre, over at Bad Science, something to really get his teeth into.Leave a comment
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Happy Belated Birthday, Carolus!
I’ve been so busy, I forgot that on May 23rd, it was the 300th birthday of Carolus Linnaeus. Sorry about that. He deserves a tip of the hat for his achievements. I see that that the Linnean Society of London has published a major book – Order Out Of Chaos – on the day by way of celebration. I am salivating over this book, but at £80 a copy, that’s about all that I can afford to do…Leave a comment
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The Hay Festival
Just a reminder to say that the Hay Festival is once again in full swing. Thankfully, I shall be able to make a vicarious attendance by going to the audio/video library web page.Leave a comment
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Ballard On Dalí
Today’s Guardian Review carries an article by JG Ballard celebrating the life and work of Salvador Dalí. Worth reading. I see that the sub-editors also had a little fun with the title as well.Leave a comment
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International Wine Challenge
I see that the results of the International Wine Challenge for 2007 have been announced. I must see if I can find some of the wines locally. Depressingly enough, the search facility on the IWC web site assures me that just three of the nearly 3,000 wines that won a commendation are available here in The Netherlands. I suspect (and hope) that that is an error on the web site…2 responses to “International Wine Challenge”
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Remarkably, there appear to be 28 medals going to wines from England; all this warmer weather has at least some compensation.
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The poor old Netherlands didn’t even get a single commendation this year. There are a growing number of vineyards springing up in our area. Hopefully they’ll get on the map in the years to come.
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Taking Liberties
This documentary, which opens next month, looks as though it could be thought-provoking…More from Rachel here.Leave a comment
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Er, Hello?
So there is an article in yesterday’s FT which is about the ambitions of the folks in Google; where they want to take it. And I read this:Asked how Google might look in five years’ time, Mr Schmidt said: “We are very early in the total information we have within Google. The algorithms will get better and we will get better at personalisation.“The goal is to enable Google users to be able to ask the question such as ‘What shall I do tomorrow?’ and ‘What job shall I take?’ ”I’m sorry, but if the day ever dawns when I shall ask a fucking computer service "what shall I do tomorrow?" and "what job shall I take", then that is the time for me to depart this life. I swear, I sometimes think that the pod people are already amongst us. Doubtless, because it’s someone from Google saying this tripe, then others will think it is marvellous. Equally doubtless, had it been someone from Microsoft saying it, then the very same people would be first in line to denounce it for the crap that it is.2 responses to “Er, Hello?”
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Absolutely. And they pay this guy how much?!?
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Cool! Like having a magic 8-ball! Imagine never having to ask "so whaddya want for dinner?" ever again! just google it!
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One Less Tourist Destination
I admit that Pakistan was never very high on my list of places to visit before I die, but news that the Minister for Tourism has offered her resignation because she hugged her elderly instructor after completing a parachute jump for charity is reason enough to strike it off.There’s a serious message behind this, as Ophelia quite rightly opines:So petty tyrannical spiteful controlling interfering clerics get their way and yet another woman is prevented from working, living her life, having ordinary grown-up interactions, having fun, expressing joy and exuberance. The world is made just a little safer for narrowness and deprivation and general nothingness.Leave a comment
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Dell Tablet PC
I see that Dell have announced that they will be introducing a Tablet PC later this year. At the link you can watch a video of a Dell Senior VP, Jeff Clarke, talking about it. I’ve often thought that the next machine I invest in should be a Tablet PC. The idea of the ultra-portable form factor with the ability to use it as a notepad and pen has a certain appeal. Much more convenient than a laptop, I’ve always thought. To date, though, PC manufacturers have not positioned their Tablet offerings at the consumer market, but at the corporate market instead. With Dell finally throwing their hat into the Tablet PC ring, I thought there was a chance for a new dawn. Alas, I noted that Clarke said:"it is designed for the education, health care, and corporate marketplace".In other words, it ain’t going to be a consumer device, just another higher-priced corporate offering. And that, I think, is a shame. I would really like to see a major manufacturer position a Tablet PC fairly and squarely at the consumer market. I think it would open up a new niche and bring some competition in. Dell would have been my bet to do this. But it looks as though they’re not ready to step up to the plate.Leave a comment
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Climate Change – Myths and Misconceptions
I see that NewScientist has published a handy-dandy guide to the 26 most common myths and misconceptions about Climate Change. Very useful.Leave a comment
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Perfect What?
I’m sorry, I think my jaw has just hit the table and my brains have dropped out. Perfect Petzzz? Alright, I know that I had a hankering for an Aibo – but that was ironical, OK? Somehow, I don’t think irony enters into this. I think that everyone (including Tom and Katie) are deadly, deadly serious. That’s the point at which I want the cockroaches to take over. We’ve clearly lost our minds.2 responses to “Perfect What?”
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kinda sad, and such a comment on life today.
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Yup, it wouldn’t surprise me if the world of Aldiss’ Super-Toys Last All Summer Long comes upon us. Part of the motivation of the Japanese fascination with humanoid robots is apparently with an eye on the market for companions for the elderly – shades of Bradbury’s title story from I Sing The Body Electric…
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The What?
No comment. Somehow Easter eggs seem a trifle more innocent.2 responses to “The What?”
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Ohh, and such a pretty little box too! I just about busted a gut laughing at this. What worries me most is, was it cast from a real butt? If so, whose? I demand to know. I may have to pinch this for my blog – the world needs to know in time for easter.
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For the proctologist who has everything
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Bye Bye…
Hilzoy, over at Obsidian Wings, writes what is probably the perfect summing-up of the Paul Wolfowitz debacle at the World Bank.Leave a comment
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A Double Life
I mentioned, back in February, that a new biography of Alice B. Sheldon had been published. I’ve just finished it, and can heartily recommend it. Alice Sheldon/James Tiptree Jr. has found a most sensitive biographer in Julie Phillips, and James Tiptree, Jr. is a triumph of the biographer’s art. Very, very good indeed.I see, from the dustjacket blurb, that Julie Phillips may be living in Amsterdam at the moment. Here’s an interview with her from last year that confirms it. Perhaps I may even bump into her one day and be able to say in person that her biography of the human known as Alice/James/Racoona was simply stunning.Leave a comment
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A Day Out
We went for a day out yesterday with two friends. They took us first to the vantage point known as the Posbank in the Dutch National Park of the Veluwezoom, and then we went on to visit the grounds of Kasteel Rosendael (Rosendael Castle).
There’s been a castle on this spot in Rozendaal since the 14th century, but it was in the early 18th century when the grounds, the formal gardens and fountains were landscaped and built.
The most famous fountains are the "bedriegertjes" (little tricks). Everybody, except me of course, knew about them. The guide was telling our small party about the origins of the fountains and their shell sculptures.
Meanwhile, I was busy trying to take an arty shot of the castle framed by one of the small fountains.
And naturally, while I was crouching down taking the photo, the guide revealed the bedriegertjes "surprise". She threw a lever which diverts the water from the main jets to a set of hidden jets placed in the tiled surround. The entire area becomes a fountain – including the part where I was crouching. Much merriment from the rest of the party, who had retired to a safe distance. My, did I laugh. Not.
And then, to add insult to injury, she turned off the hidden jets, waved me across to join the rest of the party and, as I stepped onto the tiled area, threw the lever again. As you can imagine, I was most amused. Tee-hee. I studiously ignored her for the rest of the tour and contented myself by taking photos.
3 responses to “A Day Out”
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and always such beautiful photos. It’s so rewarding to provide amusement for your fellows isn’t it. I went out with the team from my new job last thurs. and slipped up on the bowling alley – I did a Tom and Jerry running in space before landing on my arse. I turned to find them in stitches and taking photos of me. Thanks guys.
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I wanna see them photos!!!
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Me too…
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The Nature of the Infection
Neil Gaiman has reposted a terrific article called "The Nature of the Infection" on his blog. It’s about how ideas influence us in a viral fashion. For him, Dr Who has been a huge influence on how he perceives the world. He mentions a particular story – The War Games – as being instrumental in shaping his reality. I remember that story too, and can appreciate what it has done to Gaiman:These days, as a middle-aged and respectable author, I still feel a sense of indeterminate but infinite possibility on entering a lift, particularly a small one with white walls. That to date the doors that have opened have always done so in the same time, and world, and even the same building in which I started out seems merely fortuitous – evidence only of a lack of imagination on the part of the rest of the universe.I know exactly what he means – I have caught the same virus – but I can date the point of infection to long before Dr Who.It dates from growing up in my parent’s hotel. In the off-season, I had the run of the place. When I was six or seven, I used to shut myself in some of the large assortment of cupboards and wardrobes that were scattered through the bedrooms. I was quite convinced that when I came out of a cupboard I would be in a room that looked the same as the one which I had just left but that it was, in some mysterious fashion, totally different. And that beyond the room lay a hotel that was not the one I was in just a few moments ago…Leave a comment
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Waste
A sad, but typically thought-provoking post from Teju Cole over at Modal Minority. And I was reading it while listening to Rufus Wainwright’s Nobody’s Off The Hook from Release The Stars. Oh boy…Leave a comment
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Not Just Wrong
Ophelia makes a very good point about why people who invoke a higher authority are often mad, bad and dangerous to know.One response to “Not Just Wrong”
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This is an interesting point yes. The beef about women priests amused me a few years ago because both sides were claiming that God had revealed to them the truth of the matter – and amazingly God seemed to agree with what both sides thought. Yeah. I agree. I addressed it a bit in one of my fave entries ‘losing my religion’. Being a believer, I don’t draw from it the conclusion that there is, therefore, no God, just that some people cannot see past the possibility that they are wrong in some way. I myself, of course, am always right, and never need to bother God about my views anyway!
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The Mouse Wheel
I think it’s only right that we should pay tribute to Eric Michelman and his invention of the mouse wheel. It’s one of those "why didn’t I think of that" slaps to the forehead.Leave a comment
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