January 2011
45 posts
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“Almost every developing species had a creation myth buried somewhere in its...”
– Iain M. Banks - Surface Detail
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White Lies - Bigger Than Us
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Rereading Books
In the past I used to reread books quite a lot, but I’ve rather fallen out of the habit recently. Partly I think it is because I’ve been reading fewer books, so I tend to prioritize reading new things. But there is still something particularly nice about revisiting an old favourite, and more often than not I’ve found that the books I like hold up to a second reading. One of my...
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The 2010 “Editing Wikipedia From Inside... →
Here’s a fact: Wikipedia stores the IP addresses of anonymous users. Here’s another fact: all of the web traffic from the Houses of Parliament is sent through one of two proxy servers — which means that every anonymous edit to Wikipedia from within Parliament is attributed to one of just two IP addresses. I’m sure you can see where this is going.
Although the non-political...
The 2010 “Editing Wikipedia From Inside... →
Here’s a fact: Wikipedia stores the IP addresses of anonymous users. Here’s another fact: all of the web traffic from the Houses of Parliament is sent through one of two proxy servers — which means that every anonymous edit to Wikipedia from within Parliament is attributed to one of just two IP addresses. I’m sure you can see where this is going.
Although the non-political...
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“He is thinking about asymmetry. This is a world, he is thinking, where you can...”
– Skippy Dies - Paul Murray
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“He is thinking about asymmetry. This is a world, he is thinking, where you can...”
– Skippy Dies - Paul Murray
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The Shins - Australia
Facing the android’s...
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The Shins - Australia
Facing the android’s...
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Random Calendar Thoughts
I recently had a conversation about how the supposed apocalypse in 2012 is of course just a misunderstanding of the Mayan calendar system and the fact that that’s when the long count calendar completes its current cycle.
I particularly like this explanation from NASA:
‘Just as the calendar you have on your kitchen wall does not cease to exist after December 31, the Mayan calendar...
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Predictions For What Will Be The Top Science... →
Highlights include:
More adjustments will be made to the periodic table when it emerges that xenon lied about being a noble gas in order to impress its parents.
NASA will hold a press conference in order to announce the date of their upcoming press conference.
The singularity arrives, but due to compatibility issues with MS Windows goes largely unnoticed.
After years of speculation,...
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Wolf Gang - Lions in Cages
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Random Calendar Thoughts
I recently had a conversation about how the supposed apocalypse in 2012 is of course just a misunderstanding of the Mayan calendar system and the fact that that’s when the long count calendar completes its current cycle.
I particularly like this explanation from NASA:
‘Just as the calendar you have on your kitchen wall does not cease to exist after December 31, the Mayan calendar...
1 tag
Predictions For What Will Be The Top Science... →
Highlights include:
More adjustments will be made to the periodic table when it emerges that xenon lied about being a noble gas in order to impress its parents.
NASA will hold a press conference in order to announce the date of their upcoming press conference.
The singularity arrives, but due to compatibility issues with MS Windows goes largely unnoticed.
After years of speculation,...
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Reasons To Be Cheerful →
Writer Charles Stross considers the question of whether anything good actually happened in the last decade. The answer, unsurprisingly, is yes.
For example:
Between 2000 and 2010, AIDS somehow turned into a non-fatal-if-treated chronic medical condition, and the drugs got cheap enough that even developing world countries can afford them; and despite the huge epidemic, AIDS is no longer...
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Reasons To Be Cheerful →
Writer Charles Stross considers the question of whether anything good actually happened in the last decade. The answer, unsurprisingly, is yes.
For example:
Between 2000 and 2010, AIDS somehow turned into a non-fatal-if-treated chronic medical condition, and the drugs got cheap enough that even developing world countries can afford them; and despite the huge epidemic, AIDS is no longer...
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imstillinbeta asked: Where does "The Android's Conundrum" title for your tumblog come from?
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Best of 2010: Music
This year I’ve listened to more music, and purchased more music, than in any previous year. But still, I’d hesitate to say I’m any kind of music nerd, and my enjoyment of music is restricted to listening to it (compared to my obsessive interest in other areas of popular culture). But there have definitely been some good albums from the past year that I’ve added to my collection, and here are my...
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Best of 2010: Books
As always, very few of the books that I read are new to this year, so this isn’t so much a list of the best books of 2010 that I read, but rather the best books that I read in 2010. (All of the links go to my own reviews).
I’ve read quite a lot of non-fiction books this year, the best of which, by far, was the wonderful The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes. I also particularly enjoyed Bad Medicine...
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Best of 2010: Film
Looking at various ‘best of’ lists that have now appeared online, I’m embarrassed by how few films I saw this year. The past few years I’ve been quite a film geek, but this year I’ve been overtaken by a kind of pop culture ennui, and my film viewing has been most affected. There are plenty of good films I’ve missed at the cinema because I couldn’t be...
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“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope...”
– Neil Gaiman
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“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope...”
– Neil Gaiman