Claire will like this. Yesterday, SlashDot linked to Slate, where Steven E. Landsburg presented an economic argument for executing writers of computer viruses, worms and trojans.
28May04 — 1
28May04 — 2
Trouble With My ‘R’s
My computer keyboard is driving me insane. The ‘R’ key is alternately firing twice or not producing a character at all. In the past couple of days PooterrGeek has had “resevoir” for “reservoir” and “amed” for “armed”. My apologies. Some time this weekend I hope I’ll get a chance to fix it.
28May04 — 0
Wait A Minute, Mr Postman
The following is perfectly timed to coincide with this story (which the Normalizer commented on) and an item I heard on Radio 2 news today, about a Staffordshire postie who had 17 000 items of stolen mail stashed in his house.
This morning, I came downstairs to find in my post a thick envelope from a photo developing lab I use, wrapped inside a plastic container from the Royal Mail. The container was printed with a message from the same offering me their “SINCERE APOLOGIES” for any loss or damage that had “occurred” to the contents.
I scrabbled it open, thinking to myself “Christ, they’ve destroyed my Paris photos, the useless bastards“. The envelope was unsealed, battered and stained, and the film holder inside wasn’t holding any film or prints—if it ever had. All that was left was a bunch of ads from the lab and a covering letter apologizing for their not being able to enclose an up-to-date price list. Apparently they were still updating it when they sent the letter out—back in March 2002.
(In the same pile of letters were a VISA bill from 25Mar02 and an invitation to try out my old college’s alumni site posted on 12Aug02. I wonder when the rest of 2002’s post will arrive.)
28May04 — 0
Not Cricket
While I’m on the subject of The English Way of doing things, here’s a reflection upon former England cricket captain Nasser Hussain’s retirement. A photo of him playing is captioned
“Nasser Hussain: changed England’s culture of defeatism”
We wish.
27May04 — 0
Eurotrash
As one of those interestingly pigmented colonials myself, I can’t help remembering that, one afternoon in the late 90s, when I was being taken for an interview lunch by a representative of a drug company, Princess Michael of Kent was at the same excellent restaurant in Kensington too, eating at a nearby table. She wasn’t paying for her meal either 😉 .
27May04 — 5
The Fucking Nerve
Excuse my lack of coherence in this post, but this is the kind of thing that converts my brain tissue to water vapour and drives it out of my ears under high pressure. Some months ago, Amnesty exceeded the clear tems of its own statute by printing thousands of posters opposing the Iraq war, posters that bore (in inch-high capitals) the organization’s lies about the consequences of that war: “50 000 CASUALTIES”, “2 MILLION REFUGEES”. Hmm, acting illegally and lying to justify it, where have we heard accusations like that before?
While I might quibble about the philosophical worth of human rights “discourse”, the language of human rights can provide useful rules-of-thumb when tackling cruel regimes around the planet. Amnesty used to do a good job in highlighting and opposing abuses of such rights. Again, in contravention of its own stated principles, it has now become a political group with its own ideological agenda and—irony of ironies—it produces propaganda and misinformation of the kind that marks out the governments whose activities it criticizes.
I certainly disagree with many of the security policies adopted in the US and the UK since a War on Terror was declared, but the foreign policy strategy of these countries is none of Amnesty’s business, by Amnesty’s own definition of what its business is. Who is Irene Khan to say whether the World is a safer place or not as a result of Coalition military action? Who is she to say that those actions have not promoted liberty? Would she like to have taken her chances with the human rights prevailing in Afghanistan or Iraq before or after our military intervention in those countries? Would she like to explain her ultra vires pontificating to the people who have funded her activities?
Right now I feel the urge to stomp down the road to the Amnesty Bookshop and throw something through one of the windows, but I have to put my pyjamas on and go to bed.
27May04 — 0
Admitting Uncertainty
As well as being an interesting story about the ambiguity of PSA tests for prostate cancer, this is a solid, unhysterical piece of science reporting in a US newspaper, of the sort that appears in British papers during months with a letter “K” in their names.
This week, The Guardian contained a pull-out supplement on how you could have a “chemical-free garden”. It didn’t explain how you could cultivate imaginary plants in a high vacuum, the only way of achieving such a feat.
27May04 — 0
“Hmm. A wooden horse, you say?”
If you’re interested and don’t already know the story, today’s Guardian prints a swift run-through of the behind-the-scenes events leading to and from the Hutton Enquiry, as extracted from an expanded edition of Blair’s Wars. The substance of the account seems plausible, though I suspect some Gilliganesque decoration of the dialogue. Do you believe this quote, for example:
“As the inquiry was formally announced, Gavyn Davies, the BBC chairman, received a call from a senior figure urging him not to cooperate. ‘Hutton was selected by the government. He is close to the security services and anti-BBC,’ Davies was told. ‘It’s a trap.'”
?
26May04 — 0
Smokin’
No one will dispute my contention that IBM’s animated Linux penguins are cute and cool. Flap your wings to the fonky, fonky beats.
26May04 — 4
Joe Bloggs
The strangest things catch the imaginations of PooterGeekers. In this week’s ongoing debate about military theorists I have to admit Timbeaux and David Duff have me thoroughly out-read. Not since I ‘Blogged about The Passion of the Christ have the comment boxes been so busy. As if by appendix to the discussion, SlashDot pointed at a story in Wired yesterday about the high-tech effort to completely re-equip the American GI. There is one quote in it from a military consultant at GlobalSecurity.org that I have to draw to the attention of T and DD (who are currently detonating the charges they have attached to the door of my underground bunker) because it’s so relevant to my argument:
“Once you’re in an urban environment, it strips out a lot of (America’s) technology advantages. It puts you in a fair fight. And you don’t want to be in a fair fight.”
Writing as a physical coward, armed only with rolled up diplomas, I couldn’t agree more.
25May04 — 0
Have A Strepsil, Mate
Dave Diamond is an American voiceover artiste. He has a Website showcasing his talents. He is obviously very good at what he does. To sneery, snobby, ironic, English ears like mine, however, what he does is hilarious. There is no way I could keep a straight face long enough to deliver the script to the ad for Serve And Protect, let alone do so with the necessary dramatic conviction. Perhaps that’s one of his greatest talents. The MP3 of that particular performance is available for download. As the Americans say, “Enjoy!”
25May04 — 2
Ouch
When I argued with Timbeaux in the comments boxes that modern warfare was completely different from anything that had come before, I forgot that he had already drawn my attention to this incident.
25May04 — 0
Good Cop / Bad Cop
Mark Steyn cheekily suggests that there might be some lack of balance in reporting of the respective behaviour of US and UN peacekeepers:
“The 2002 Save the Children report on the UN’s cover-up of the sex-for-food scandal in West Africa provides grim details of peacekeepers’ demanding sexual favors from children as young as four in exchange for biscuits and cake powder. “What is particularly shocking and appalling is that those people who ought to be there protecting the local population have actually become perpetrators,” said Steve Crawshaw, the director of Human Rights Watch.
By now you’re maybe thinking, “Hmm. I must have been on holiday the week the papers ran all those stories about ‘The Shaming of the UN.'”
[WARNING: To read this story, you might need to register with the Jerusalem Post—and it’s probably run by… The Joooos!]
While we’re on the subject of balance and human rights abuses, you might want to scan this at Normenghast.
25May04 — 0
Watching
Leasey led me to this reservoir of weirdness. Leasey is a small, young woman and I am a larger, older man, so I’m not sure why she found the stalker’s “confession” Fancy Soup VI amusing and I thought it was creepy—further confirmation that I am a wuss?
25May04 — 0
Not A Day For Hanging Out Laundry
[WARNING: big download] This is another long overdue one that I didn’t see at the time of the original news story. Boggle at a photo of Mount Etna erupting taken from the European Space Station. There are more at NASA’s photo pages. Scroll down this page, click “Has a Caption”, type “Etna” into the “Caption Contains” box, and click “Submit” at the very bottom.
24May04 — 0
Splitting: The Difference
“During certain treaty negotiations with the United States, the British government went so far as to issue instructions to its representatives allowing them to make concessions on fishing rights and reparations, but forbidding them to accept a treaty in which an adverb separated ‘to’ from an infinitive.”
24May04 — 0
“…Which Was Nice.”
I wish my CV was as interesting as Captain Kirk’s. Sure, his starts with the usual stuff:
2264 — Promoted to captain, in command of U.S.S. Enterprise for five-year mission
, but then it progresses to entries like this:
2286 — Charged, convicted and reduced permanently to captain’s rank by the Federation Council for theft of Enterprise a year earlier, after saving Earth from alien onslaught by securing two extinct whales via time-traveling; given command of U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-A
24May04 — 11
The Art Of Wally
Just finished the latest Lee Child, slowed down by all the other stuff I’ve had to do lately. It’s a rattling good read and, although it spends more time developing institutional character, than personal characters—the US military machine is one of the main protagonists—it is full of brisk insights into human nature.
It appealed to me that, although the hero is relentlessly manly and martial, he sneers at a group of soldiers’ reverence for the The Art of War by Sun Tzu. No doubt, by “stopped watch” chance, this work contains the occasional truth or illuminating thought, but, as far as I’m concerned it’s a collection of hopelessly dated, “spiritual”, fake-wise aphorisms that men in suits can quote at each other in an effort to persuade themselves that pushing bits of paper around (or, indeed, just pushing bits around) is as important or brave as pushing ahead from a captured beachhead.
The book has been useful to me, however. The presence of this volume in a man’s office (and it’s always a man) is as sure an indication that he is a jerk as his wearing a blazer with a crest on it or owning an expensive, ugly watch.
23May04 — 0
Airport Crashes
Practically my first conversation on arrival in Paris last week was a long rant about how crap Charles De Gaulle airport is. I had no idea.
23May04 — 0
Instant India
The online Indian superstore, Memsaab, offers the complete Bollywood experience—“Ideal to create that Indian ambience in any home!”—in a box. For the giveaway price of £39.99 you too could be moving your head from side to side in time to the funky massed strings of the Transglobal Outsourcing Orchestra. According to their site, the contents include:
- Bindis
- Bangles
- Bollywood Film Music
- Embroided Saree (colour of your choice)
- Saree Blouse
- Saree Underskirt
- Gift Box of Spices and recipes
All contents as used by Britney Spears!
23May04 — 0
Further Statistics
To add to the the skepticism about the unemployment figures, if you’re a middle Englander, or a middle American, the inflation numbers are a bit suspect too.
23May04 — 0
Pots, Kettles, etc.
This story from the Chinese state newsagency presents us with so many layers of irony that we should wonder if the editor checked first with the Chinese authorities how many are permitted.
23May04 — 0
International Referee
Iraq’s football (soccer) team has qualified for the Olympics. I fancy their chances, after reading this headline.
22May04 — 0
Men Think With Their Temporal Lobes
If you’ve got Flash, the BBC can sex your brain. Apparently my brain is male. (Be brisk or you could get caught out by the time limits.) Alternatively, you can have your head scanned while you look at porn. If your mind is elsewhere, you are a woman.
22May04 — 0
Budding
Auriol emails to tell me her friend Rose George has a book out about asylum seekers. (I think) I’ve met Rose a couple of times and (if she is who I think she is) she’s bright and fun. Here’s the first part of something she did about what it’s like being a bus driver in Israel [part II].
22May04 — 0
The Benefits of Sickness
I was discussing unemployment with Leasey the other day and bragging about how low it was under Our Glorious Leader, Purple Tone. The statistics aren’t as good as they look, however.
21May04 — 0
Leaders Of The Pack
The dog genome is in. I should be ‘Blogging the potential benefits for genetic research of our being able to compare a whole collection of small, genetically isolated populations, but you want to read about the weirdness. It turns out that some pure breeds are ancient, close relatives of the wolf. This particular subgroup includes the Samoyed, the Siberian Husky, the Alaskan Malamute and, er, the Pekingese.
21May04 — 2
Magnifique!
Not having even seen Prague and Florence yet, I am hardly in a position to say that Paris is the most beautiful city in the World, but, if it isn’t, then I have some dazzling sights left to enjoy in my life. My goodness, the place lives up to the hype.
If you know me, you’ll know that this year has not been a good one chez PooterGeek, but today I returned safely from the most wonderful jaunt. The Berlinskis (père et fille), and the Levys (la famille entière) chased my blues through the streets of the City of Lights and, armed only with a small brown child, forced a whole gang of woes into cuffs. They handed them over to the authorities on the steps of the Palais de Justice where they are currently in a holding cell.
We shared one day so magical that Capra and Spielberg would have hesitated to print it, but my pictures will, I hope, appear around here later. Thank you, dear friends.
19May04 — 0
Old Lie/New Lie
Anti-scientific hysteria has “progressed” from people believing that autism is caused by uncaring mothers to their believing that it is caused by evil drug companies. Both beliefs have caused unnecessary suffering. Both beliefs are, of course, unfounded.
[Still on Black Triangle stand-in duty…]
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