January 2009
37 posts
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“Top of the heap in this kind of London probably comes News from Nowhere by the...”
– via headlessness: Alternate Londons in fiction by Ian R. MacLeod in which fictional British capitals are discussed.
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WatchA much-needed touch of lovely (via straup).
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Never 404
That part of the internet that spends much of its time examining its own navel has been examining the new whitehouse.gov robots.txt file.
I find it interesting that very few people have complained about the fact that all the old pages are now vanished. For example, there’s no longer a page at whitehouse.gov/911/
So much for “never forget”, eh? (Mind you, I’m sure there...
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On Expenses and MPs
Over the last couple of days, I feel like I’ve been assailed by people insisting I write to my MP and complain about changes that are being proposed, taking MPs expenses out of the scope of the Freedom of Information Act.
I don’t know how much of this is sheer bloodymindedness at being repeatedly told what to think and do, and how much of it is a considered response, but I’m not...
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Don't Change Your Voice
I follow the overheadatmoo twitter feed because, when it started, it was full of amusing snippets that were, well, overheard at the Moo offices. However, since the start of the Christmas holidays, its voice has completely changed. Without warning, the number of quotes from the office has dropped to maybe one every couple of days.
The feed’s far from quiet, though. Instead, it’s been...
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iTunes DRM free files watermarked | Slashdot →
headlessness:
“A report published by CNet highlights the fact that the account information and email address of the iTunes account holder is hidden inside each and every DRM-free download. I checked, and I found I couldn’t access the information using an ID3 tag editor, but using Notepad I found my email address stored inside the audio file itself.”
Slashdot | iTunes DRM-Free Files Contain...
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A Victoria Line Closure Calendar
Another year, and another set of Victoria line closures are announced. Unlike the last two years, there aren’t any evening early closures; the major works needed for the new rolling stock (due to be rolled out during the next three years) are presumably done now. However, there’s still more work to come:
The work is the first part of an eight-year overhaul of the line costing hundreds...
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The Science Of Tea Cosies
A friend on Twitter (who has protected their updates, and thus gets to be anonymous) asked this morning:
Do tea cosies actually work? My physics brain say ‘not much’, but my British brain says ‘WHY WOULD YOU QUESTION THE WAY THINGS ARE?’
My response on Twitter was straightforward:
Why not do science? Get an oven thermometer, stick it down the spout, and let hot water cool...
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“They don’t encounter as much stress as these feral strains, because...”
– Kevin Verstrepen, in a Seed article on yeast, evolution and co-operation.
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“One metro line carries as many people as a 20-lane freeway.”
– Elizabeth Farrelly, in an opinion piece for the Sydney Morning Herald called Choking To Death In The Suburbs (via cityofsound).
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Bargain Basement Britain
MacBook, 13”, 2.0GHz, US price: $1,299
MacBook, 13”, 2.0GHz, UK price: £929
At the current exchange rates, and taking into account the fact that the UK headline price includes 15% VAT, the equivalent US price comes out as £1,019. So if you buy your MacBook in bargain basement Britain, you’re saving nearly 10%! (Or, to put it another way, even if you smuggle in a MacBook from...
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2008
A running total as I tot up my online activity throught the year. Hopefully all of this will turn into pretty over the next day or so.
Status updates on Twitter: 1218 (on 347 distinct days)
Links posted to deilicous: 856 (includes non-shared)
Photos posted to Flickr: 492 Photos marked as a favourite on Flickr: 714 Flickr photos where I added a comment or note: (tricky)
Images posted to...
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“Taleb is scathing about the value of daily newspapers in general, recommending a...”
– Dan Hill, himself quoting from the book by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Swan. I must admit, I do often think I’d be better off ignoring day-to-day news and just using the Economist (although I’d love a similarly meaty alternative to it).
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An Icelandic success | The Economist
From their 16-page special on the sea, here’s The Economist contrasting Icelandic and European Union fishing policies:
Iceland offers lessons for other countries. The essential elements of its policies are to give fishermen rights that offer a reasonable expectation of profitable long-term fishing by encouraging the conservation of stocks. The system is clear, open and fairly simple, and it...