This is absolutely humbling: "The delicate workings at the heart of a 2,000-year-old analogue computer have been revealed by scientists.
...
Writing in Nature, the team says that the mechanism was "technically more complex than any known device for at least a millennium afterwards"." BBC
How cool is this?
If you were worried by the change in law last year that made it an 'offence to organise or take part in a demonstration in a public place within the "designated area" (up to 1 km around parliament)' but didn't know what to do about it, someone has done all the thinking for you. Just register your protest on the second Wednesday of every month and protest whatever you like on the third Wednesday of every month.
"A recent law has made it illegal to demonstrate anywhere near Parliament without official police permission, and Mark is organising MASS LONE DEMONSTRATIONS to highlight the danger and stupidity of having this law in a democracy."
I'm really not sure what prompted Blair to do this, but maybe John Howard will think apologising is cool now and say 'sorry'.
"Prime Minister Tony Blair has voiced his "deep sorrow" over Britain's role in the slave trade on Monday - a trade that helped Britain become one of the world's greatest powers in the 17th and 18th centuries."
Until I went to Waterford, Ireland, recently I had no idea Cromwell made Irish Catholics into slaves so it's interesting to see it mentioned here:
"The slaves included not only Africans but men arrested after a Royalist uprising in the West Country in 1655, and Irish Catholics captured by Oliver Cromwell." BBC
It's The Web 2.0 Bullshit Generator. It's funny cos it's true.
Working, working, working... but in a brief moment of procrastination (double checking spelling to send a greeting in Dutch to a colleague) I managed to discover this handy Welsh phrase for the English at the moment: Gêm ddwl yw criced.
And handy for me at all times: Mae bronnau ardderchog da hi.
From Unlikely phrases from real phrasebooks, via omniglot which has its own page of 'useful phrases'. I've often entertained myself trying to get the most innuendo out of innocuous phrasebooks or wondering how a particular phrase came to be included. Once in Turkey I had occasion to use the very very long word for 'you look like the kind of person who disapproves of others having fun'. Not to the guy's face, of course, not least because I wouldn't have a hope of saying it correctly.
I was sent this ages ago but never got around to blogging it. I don't agree with it all but it does raise some good points about opportunities that just aren't available in Australia. Personally one of the main reasons I left was that I couldn't face life under a Howard government and because I wanted to travel, but I can't imagine going back anytime soon.
"In this extract from his new book, Ryan Heath, author of Please Just F* Off, It's Our Turn Now, writes about the generation of young Australians who live overseas - why they leave and why they really hope to come back and what it means if they don't." Ful article in The Age
I've quoted lots of the article below because it sums up some of the thinking I've been doing recently. Between discussions of the normalisation of cosmetic surgery on shows like Extreme Makeover, female chauvinist pigs and the right of women to wear the veil, where do I stand? And what about the role of first world feminists in the cause of women's rights in developing countries, or under religious fundamentalism, Christian, Islamic or otherwise? I'm still working it out.
I miss the luxury of an arts degree that allows time for reading and theorising but there's no point waiting for the Germaine Greers, Marilyn Frenchs or Gloria Steinems, let alone the Judith Butlers, Julia Kristeva or Luce Irigarays - it's up to our generation to acknowledge and deal with these issues.
"It's anachronistic; no woman I know would unapologetically describe herself as a feminist. If the concept and importance of gender equality as an issue has crossed her mind, then there is only one acceptable way of communicating this: "I'm not a feminist, but..." for this read, "please don't think I'm a lesbian/man hater /being difficult..." In short, feminism is a dirty word, and only by denying it are we happy to use it in our vocabulary.
..
So why are we afraid to be seen as feminists? Because it is a now euphemism for being awkward, for pointing out difficult, uncomfortable things people don't want to hear.
...
This is where the battles remain - in the everyday way life is lived. To be a feminist now means challenging those around us, our family, friends and colleagues, to be aware of their behaviour. This is a notion that seems exhausting and intimidating. The risk of being ostracised for our beliefs feels all too real.
...
Empowerment shouldn't mean getting paid for being ogled. Empowerment should mean the liberation of men and women alike from false value systems."
Go Ken!
"Young people who play their music out loud on buses in London could be stripped of their free travel passes, the mayor has said." BBC
Then again, it probably wouldn't be such an issue if we still had conductors...
It's Buy Nothing Day on Saturday.
From the website: "It's a day where you challenge yourself, your family and friends to switch off from shopping and tune into life. Anyone can take part provided they spend a day without spending!
This year our message is simple, shop less - live more! The challenge is to try simple living for a day, spend time with family and friends, rather than spend money on them.
Buy Nothing Day also exposes the environmental and ethical consequences of consumerism. The developed countries - only 20% of the world population are consuming over 80% of the earth's natural resources, causing a disproportionate level of environmental damage and unfair distribution of wealth."
I'm not generally drinking alcohol at the moment, which makes it easier because the hard part would be getting through the different events I'm meant to be going to without buying someone a drink.
"Parents have forced a school trip to a mosque to be abandoned because they did not want their children exposed to a religion that was not their own.
...
But a number of parents withdrew their support saying their children were too young to learn about other faiths." BBC
It's not April 1 so this must be real. I know I was a precocious brat, but I'd rejected the Catholic church and become an atheist by seven or eight. How can ten year olds be too young to learn about other religions? What better time to teach them?
I don't know if my primary and secondary schools were unusual but we studied comparative religion the whole way through. (And I turned out just fine... oh, ok, fair enough.)
Today is exactly four years since the start of my first UK Work Permit, so if the legislation hadn't been changed retrospectively (not that I'm bitter, oh no) I could have applied for Indefinite Leave to Remain last month. This would have meant I could work for any company in the UK without worrying about work permits, and that a year later I could apply for a UK passport. More importantly, it would have provided some security and hopefully reduced sarcasm from Immigration officials.
Oh well. Overall, I'm still incredibly lucky to have grown up in first world country with enough education and the opportunity to travel and work overseas so I shouldn't whinge too much.
"The Natural History Museum in London is to repatriate the remains of 17 Tasmanian Aboriginal people to the Australian Government." 24 Hour Museum
"The Natural History Museum in London is to repatriate the remains of 17 Tasmanian Aboriginal people to the Australian Government." 24 Hour Museum
Apparently everyone who saw this on the recent trip to Berlin thought of me.
For the record, I won't fsck your girlfriend unless you both ask me very nicely. Your mother, on the other hand...
I went to Belfast as a tourist a few years ago, and almost every single person I encountered asked what on earth I was doing there. They couldn't believe that someone would voluntarily visit their city. I guess that's all about to change: NI is tipped as top travel spot.
People there were incredibly friendly, Belfast still felt like a big country town.
Scary stuff:
"Hiring a car can now mean leaving a fingerprint. And check-out staff are scanning the customers as well as the shopping. Biometrics are entering every day life." BBC
Getting music off your iPod onto your computer. Cos I'll need to do this sooner or later.
Sir Elton John says: "...the reality is that organised religion doesn't seem to work. It turns people into hateful lemmings and it's not really compassionate" (BBC) just in time for Wired to report a sighting of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Coincidence? You decide.
Interesting. Given the way Australian politics seem to have been swinging more and more to the right, I'm almost surprised by this:
"The right to a "fair go" is the thing almost all Australians put at the top of their list when it comes to values.
A survey released today shows 91 per cent of people believe a fair go is important, with most listing the need for rights to welfare, housing and indigenous reconciliation to make the country fairer."
This is kind of sad, considering people could take a 'fair go' into their own hands, but I guess at least it could be applied as a test to new legislation:
"The survey found 82 per cent believed it was government's responsibility to make the country fairer." Age
Check out record of the day, a great selection of clips of random new music.
Otoh, they do site launching Crazy Frog/Axel F in the UK as a 'success story'.
Poor old Melbourne. The water situation is so dire they're thinking about letting some of the exotic trees in parks die.
There's something hypnotic about these open web cameras viewed en masse.
"In Britain's hi-tech industries, barely one in five workers is female. Genevieve Roberts meets the bright sparks from last week's BlackBerry Women & Technology Awards to hear how they make their presence felt"
Worried about climate change? Check out the Big Ask.
It's been a week of goodbyes... Mum and Dad left on Tuesday and my cousin left this morning.
Before she left Mum actually managed to ask if I was seeing anyone. It might not sound like much but given we've spent the last however many years avoiding topics that might mean we have to talk about the gay thing, it's pretty brilliant.
While it was sad to see them go, especially as it's been cut short after the disastrous holiday in Ireland, it does mean I get to have a life again. Woo!
Generally anticipation of the joys of an English Christmas isn't exactly making up for the coming cold and dark but I guess I'll survive.
Not just in London, but wherever you are...
BLACKOUT LONDON
4th November 2006
Starting at Sunset
4.30 pm to 7.30 pm
You are invited to take part in the largest demonstration of People Power that London has ever seen on Saturday 4th November 2006, by turning off all your lights, and switching off all your non-essential electrical equipment at Sunset.
The principal cause of Global Warming is the rising Carbon Dioxide emissions into the atmosphere from the burning of Fossil Fuels, for electricity generation, transport, manufacturing, industry, space heating and air conditioning.
REMEMBER, REMEMBER, THE FOURTH OF NOVEMBER !
For one day in November, we are asking everyone who receives this message to think about what they can turn off, switch off and unplug, toshow support.
We want the power demand in the United Kingdom to reduce so much that the newspapers are obliged to report it. We want the lights to go out in London, so that on the evening of 4th November 2006, the dimming effect will be visible from space.
If you are at home, switch off your set-top boxes, pull all the chargers out of the wall sockets, turn off lights in any room you are not using, switch off any machine with a digital clock in it, unplug the hi-fi and the TV and the games console, de-frost your freezer, switch off your fridge for a couple of hours. Turn the central heating thermostat down to 16 degrees and put a woolly sweater/jumper on if you're cold.
http://www.workface-limited.co.uk/html/powercut.html
COME OFF IT !
Blackout London is being called in cooperation with Come Off It the
campaign from Dave Hampton, the Carbon Coach, as part of a series of regular events to produce negawatts - negative power demand - from the People's Power Station :- http://www.carboncoach.com/comeoffit/index.html
"Living in London prematurely ages your skin by three-and-a-half years, according to new research." (BBC)
Brilliant, thanks London.