cutting edge science

The Ig Nobel prizes - I think my favourite is probably the prize for literature, awarded to 'The many Nigerians who introduced millions of e-mail users to a "cast of rich characters... each of whom requires just a small amount of expense money so as to obtain access to the great wealth to which they are entitled".'

quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

BBC News: Lords condemn anti-terror plans: "'Experience shows that governments frequently ask for more powers than they need and when they get those powers they abuse them from time to time,' he [Lord Steyn] said."

What would we do without the House of Lords? They are frequently (and ironically) the last bastion of common sense. The government have effectively abolished the right of habeas corpus, and now they want to abolish the freedom of speech as well. How on earth are they going to define "the glorification of terrorism"? Or indeed the modified version, now that they have climbed down on that, where it will be an offence to glorify terrorism with the intent to incite someone else to commit a terrorist act. So how are they going to determine whether the intent to incite terrorism was present? And three months' detention without trial - that's far too long, and I can't see it being exercised with restraint and caution - let's face it, it didn't work with the shoot-to-kill policy, did it?

them furry things

Curse of the Were-Rabbit spooks island

Posters for the new Wallace and Gromit film in Portland Bill will not feature the word 'rabbit' due to local quarry-men's superstitious avoidance of the word. They'll have to be careful in most fishing communities as well, then, as they have a thing about rabbits as well. But what are they going to do, produce a version called "Curse of the Were-Furry-Thing" and dub the soundtrack specially to avoid mentioning rabbits? And anyway I don't see the connection with quarrying - with fishing the mythological connection is that the Moon rules the sea and rabbits and hares are associated with the Moon - but where does quarrying fit in? Oh well, whoever said superstitions were supposed to be logical?

ad parodies

These are funny...

Banner Ads #1
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Banner Ads #5
Banner Ads #6

This is my favourite:

Howl's Moving Castle

We went to see Howl's Moving Castle last night, it was brilliant. I would like to read the book now. The characterisation was excellent, and the scenery was beautiful. There's a particularly good bit where Sophie is looking at the waves lapping on the shore of a lake, and the water comes in, then as the wave recedes, the sand takes longer to dry out. It's beautiful. The fire demon, Calcifer, was really well done as well - it's amazing how much character you can get into a fiery blob. The characters were complex and interesting, especially Howl. I loved his shamanic transformations into a big bird of prey.

Rumour has it that Miyazaki is going to adapt The Wizard of Earthsea next. That would be brilliant. I'm sure he will do an infinitely better job than the ridiculous SciFi Channel version.

cat of character

Fat cat photo by Hugh Janis - I have an incriminating photo of my cat in this posture. It's not the most dignified way for a cat to be caught on camera, is it?

intelligent design?

Intelligent design - a camp version of the creation story.

(Courtesy of mevennen's and nineweaving's Livejournals)

sleep... mmm

Top 10 things to say if you get caught sleeping at your desk - this is very appropriate today, as I need caffeine. That number one best thing to say still cracks me up, even though it would probably only work in America.

10. "They told me at the blood bank this might happen."
9. "This is just a 15 minute power-nap like they raved about in that time management course you sent me to."
8. "Whew! Guess I left the top off the White-Out. You probably got here just in time!"
7. "I wasn't sleeping! I was meditating on the mission statement and envisioning a new paradigm."
6. "I was testing my keyboard for drool resistance."
5. "I was doing a highly specific Yoga exercise to relieve work-related stress. Are you discriminating against people who do Yoga?"
4. "Why did you interrupt me? I had almost figured out a solution to our biggest problem."
3. "The coffee machine is broken..."
2. "Someone must've put decaf in the wrong pot!
And the #1 best thing to say if you get caught sleeping at your desk:

..............." in Jesus Name, Amen."

quantum optics

The 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to three physicists. Roy Glauber has apparently reconciled the particle-wave duality with his contribution to the quantum theory of optical coherence. The other two winners have increased the accuracy of measuring light frequencies, which means increased accuracy of GPS and clock technology.

Kansas State University has "Explorations of the Quantum World for non-science students" which looks very interesting and accessible.

paradigm shift

Nobel prize for stomach ulcer discovery.

Excellent. Robin Warren and Barry Marshall, the scientists who discovered that Helicobacter pylori is responsible for stomach ulcers, have been given the Nobel prize. I watched a TV documentary about this about ten years ago, when the scientific establishment didn't believe them, and it seemed extremely convincing at the time. So I'm really pleased they have got the recognition they deserve.

product placement

BBC News: Politics: Cameron is a political iPod, says Bremner. Meanwhile the other candidates claim to be Coke (the Real Thing), Heineken (reaching the parts that other beers do not reach - a bit out-of-date, that one), and a Hamlet cigar. What is this, the commodification of politics?

unbelievable

heckler ejected

So farewell then, free speech. If an 82-year-old man who is clearly not a security threat cannot heckle a speech at a party political conference without being manhandled out of the hall by huge bouncers, then it is clearly a death-knell for free speech, especially when he is subsequently held by the police under the new anti-terrorism legislation.

...the prominent anti-war campaigner Alice Mahon also witnessed the incident.

She said: "We were listening to Jack talking about Iraq. This gentleman shouted 'That's rubbish, that's a lie'.

"Two or three of the security people dived on him. This other chap a couple of rows in front turned round and said 'You must be joking', because this was simple political heckling. He wasn't threatening anybody.

"He got manhandled out as well. I think they were really over the top." [BBC article]

See also: Guardian article

Just did a quick search on Walter Wolfgang (the heckler) - he is a veteran campaigner for Labour CND and a member of the Stop the War Coalition Steering Committee, and widely respected for it. So it's hardly surprising that he should have strong feelings about what Jack Straw was saying about Iraq.

sham 24/7

Can it be right that politicians can hijack music for their own ends? It is a rather dubious honour for any musician to have their cherished composition used to bolster the fast-fading image of Tony Blair. His latest attempt to harness the power of popular culture, in using Sham 69's If The Kids Are United seems especially cheesy given the divisive and repressive tactics he is using to promote his neo-conservative agenda. As a left-wing stalwart quipped, "More like sham 24/7."