Virtual Phill

Reckless labour, Prudent national.

2011-11-10T03:40:00.001-08:00

In response to a Facebook discussion on "who was to blame" dir various economic factors in new Zealand, I decided to consult some data, with respect to the common idea that labour governments have irresponsibly borrowed, exacerbating the financial crisis for kiwis.

I've graphed borrowing data, with blue and red highlights to indicate which party had formed the government at that time for about the last 15 years.
See the graph image below. Yellow line is government debt. Blue line is corporate debt.

The data inducates:
Government debt under Labour has been consistently lower (and more stable) than under national led governments.

Corporate borrowing has been consistently more accelerated under Labour governments and has generally been static under national governments.

Why the above trends? Does the political regime explain the corporate borrowing trends? Unlikely, for two reasons: 1. The corporate borrowing jump began in 1997, prior to the change of governments. It was likely a wider global market trend, rather than a NZ specific event. 2. The increase in corporate borrowing continued until mid 2008 – the global financial crisis. It seems corporate borrowing rates are more influenced by global market conditions, rather than local NZ politics.

OK, so let’s turn to government debt. The period 2000-2008 seems remarkable for low government borrowing. Whilst GDP was on the rise the whole time AND the private sector (corporate) was borrowing heavily, it seems the government was able to continue operating on static levels of debt, even lower levels that the previous conservative governments. Since the financial crisis, government borrowing has expanded to levels (in $) well above any period during the labour led governments. However, it must be noted that the cost of borrowing (interest) is likely to be lower now, so actual cash-flow impacts might be similar.

However the above data very strongly suggests that the myth of Labour led government borrowing, and National led government fiscal prudence might be just that - a myth.

Data source: New Zealand Reserve Bank http://rbnz.govt.nz/statistics/extfin/e3/he3.xls

Wryre Bash

2011-10-16T04:03:00.001-07:00

What good is honour anyways

2011-09-29T05:00:00.001-07:00

If you believe stuff.co,.nz.. (which is a whole other issue) Prime Minister John Key said this afternoon that New Zealand would not be honouring the deaths of Leon Smith, Doug Grant and Tim O'Donnell if New Zealand pulled its troops out.

In my opinion, this is what the Prime Minister of New Zealand should have said:
The New Zealand government does not enter into, and remain in conflicts for the sake of “honour”. There are specific geopolitical reasons why the New Zealand government chooses to enter into armed conflict, and these reasons are constantly reviewed with respect to continued participation in any operation theatre. Armed intervention should always be seen as a last resort, and not a course of action that is chosen based on saving face, avoiding shame or preserving “honour”, there is too much at stake in terms of human life, for us to pursue international politics on the basis of such things.

NTW coalition campaign; Britain.

2011-09-21T07:05:00.000-07:00

I've just recently started playing Napoleon Total War, its a vast improvement on the old empire total war. I thought I'd post some tips on my Britain campaign so far. I'm playing on medium-medium difficulty:

First moves

DIPLOMACY:

Gain trade agreements with anyone who will trade

Remove all buildings and disband army in Gibraltar

Give Gibraltar to

Spain

in exchange for peace treaty (which should last around 10-15 turns)

NAVY:

Consolidate the navy except for one single admiral into a single stack (including the fleet in the bay of Biscay) at the tip of Cornwall. Use the left-over ship to ferry your spy to France, who should roam about between Paris, Bretagne and Caen keeping an eye on French military movements.

Then move your large naval fleet down the French/Spanish cost and hunt down the French fleet there, and destroy it.

Take out the Batavian merchant fleet too, if you find it. But try to repair all ships between engagements, which means moving them back to the

(3 to 4 turns there and back). It’s best to this in order to keep them fighting fit.

Start building trade ships at your Irish-sea based ports (Scotland, Wales, Ireland). Use these, as your Atlantic Ccean naval supremacy grows, to fill up all the trade-routes along the western edge of the game map.

ARMY:

Consolidate all your Britain-based land units into one army at Portsmouth, but move/leave General Wellington in London.

After the couple of turns that it takes to form up your army in the UK, you should wait for your first mission “land army at Brittany” to be given – use this time to add a couple of infantry units to the army – built from London – but you won’t need a stack of more than 10 units so don’t spend too much money. Once the mission arrives, send your army to Brittany and capture that territory. When you capture it, select the option to make it a protectorate right away (it will then start to build its own army). As soon as this mission is complete, move your conquering army to Caen, and capture that territory as soon as you can. Take it as part of your empire. Now you have blocked off two of

France

’s seaports. Keep your army there, in a defensive posture, and allow it to reinforce. You might need it to fend off a rabble of unhappy citizens too, depending on how you manage the territory.

Start building a new army in London under the command of Wellington. Wellington’s army will soon land at Belgium, before sailing to Gibraltar. Once

Belgium

is taken, turn it into a protectorate also (it will build its own army). Now you have blocked off three of

France

’s western sea-ports.

Nelson’s fleet should, by now, have control of the Bay of Biscay and the Channel. Use this impunity to sail Wellington’s army (reinforced) to Gibraltar.

Capture Gibraltar and set up for the land campaign in Spain. Gibraltar should start building up a dry-dock capability now. It is the military link between England and Gibraltar (spearheaded by the navy) that will allow you the flexibility needed to move your army around. Your main ship-building should occur at Portsmouth and Gibraltar.

One last post - by request

2011-08-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

I’ve got no time for an introduction on this…so straight into it, read this first: LINK HERE

“It’s no coincidence that the primary target of rioters…was large retail warehouse stores that cling parasitically to neighbourhoods at the periphery of inner cities”

Where does Himmelblau source this observation with respect to “primary targets”? A disregard for actual data appears to have crept into this analysis. Which warehouse outlets were targeted? Name them? What was the ratio of “warehouse” stores burnt, or looted to small local retail outlets? Dr. Himmelblau provides a sum total of zero data to back up this assertion. How many Ikeas? Tesco stores? B&Q’s were attacked? These outlets do exist in Totttenham, Peckham, Brixton etc…One only needs to do a quick search on google maps to find that out.

One only needs to read the twitter history of the likes of @TheBrixtonite to see that the very people in these inner city periphery areas who oppose the invasion of property speculators and warehouse retail development, are the ones who were calling for, and participating in the cleanups.

What does Himmelblau make of the poor and migrant “communities” who joined in the cleanup in Hackney and Peckham?

Are these people suddenly thrown into the category of “illusionary community” just because they dared not to participate in the violence of the night before? Why has Himmelblau ignored their participation? Is it because the data does not fit neatly into her theory? A theory that does not take account of the data, is a weak theory indeed.

How does Himmelbalu account for the appeals to calm from Tariq Jahan, applauded for his appeal for communal peace, and the Muslims of Birmingham who cry out "united we stand, divided we fall"? – Is their insistence on peace and the safety for their community to be the next target of Himmelblau’s accusations of popular fascism?

Himmelblaue seems to think that the rioting was caused by “kids from the broom-bridgade's own neighbourhood". But Himmelblau jumped on this particular band wagon at the same time as;

1) ignoring the anecdotal evidence provided by the actual communittes affected (interviews with locals in media), and

2) passing up the opportunity to wait for some actual data to support her thesis. Unfortunately for Himmelbalu’s already waining alalysis, the data does note appear to be agreeing with her. The Police reporting that 70% of those arrested in this sample were from outside of the affected postcode. This concords with some other strong evidence in the form of the social networking communications that hint at very mobile riot activities, moving across the city in response to police presence.

Himmelblaus lack of basic logic is further demonstrated in her somewhat 19^th century understanding of urban georgqphy and mobility “when the rioting spread so far and so wide that the narrative claiming that it was all caused by “outsiders” and “trouble makers” from elsewhere coming into the area became untenable”

Himmelblau needs to explain just how it is that wide-spread activity immediately points towards localism. It seems to me that Himmelblau is unaware of such inventions as mobile phones, bicycles, public transport and cars. It also seems that Himmelblau has, once again, drafted (or should I say conjured) up a theory that is being undermined by the evidence. What is a 19 year old company director’s daughter for Orpington doing looting a shop in Highbury? http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/courts-sit-round-the-clock-to-administer-fasttrack-justice-2335675.html How does Alexis Bailey, 31, from Battersea fall into anything OTHER than the category of outsider with respect to riots in Croydon, a distance of 10 miles by bus?

“all of the twitter commentary that supposedly organised the cleanup events parroted the same ideological soundbytes… in doing so it established a discourse that serves primarily to divide those who have the right to the city from those who do not, but also from those who can expect to be treated as citizens under the rule of law, and those who are excluded by virtue of their status as non-citizens”.

This is one of the most poorly thought out paragraphs in the piece.

Himmelblau takes umbridge at the suggestion that the behaviour of rioters can be condemned as outside of the range of the acceptable. She seems to equate the rallycall for local pride and its corollary i.e. the condemnation of violence and destruction, with the removal of citizen’s rights. But this equation is confused. All Himemlblau has achieved, is the recasting of calls for justice (and the identification of criminality as unacceptable), as an attempt to thwart the rule of law. But, it is precisely the application of the rule of law that motivates the condemnation of the riots. It is the position as a citizen, a member of the wider body that places one under the hammer of justice. True scapegoating and misapplication of the rule of law blames the innocent, not the guilty. If Himmelblau really cared for the rule of law, she would see that the justice system must act against all criminality. Burning homes, looting businesses and running people over with cars is, as it turns out, not criminal.

What crimes, might I ask, can one commit before they cease to retain their full rights as citizens? Where, and on what basis, does Himmelblau draw the line? Rape perhaps? Would Himmelblau happily deny justice in the face of the rapists and child abuser? What about murder?

The piece is repleat with double talk and hypocrisy, particularly the concluding remarks

“We can surely unite in common struggle against forces that would seek to divide us”

It seems to me that theft, burning and killing is a clear and present example of divisive force, (unless of course, Dr. Himmelblau wishes to play fast and loose with the use of words). Why should the residents of Clapham be denied their right to unite against the forces of division? Or are we to exclude them from our social project, and write them off as “Bourgeoisie” casting them out as the oppressive other, simply for wanting to live in a safe and clean environment?

Himmelblau seems quite at home carrying out her own experiment in social exclusion and division.

“What we need is social solidarity that is non-exclusionary”

If that was truly the case, then why is Himmelblau at such pains to paint the residents of Clapham with incendiary terms such as “ex-progressives”and describing their actions as the closest thing to “popular fascism in London's leafy suburbs”. Are those who chose to offer up passive resistance to destruction and killing disbarred from this solidarity that Himmelblau calls for? Who's doing the excluding now? Why isolate those who are actually doing something to maintain urban fabric?

The cause of the poor and disenfranchised is not advanced by the tone and name calling of Himmelblau any more than it is by actions of the Doctor’s perceived enemies. Himmelblau plays exactly the same rhetorical game that she criticises in her piece. Identifying the actions of an entire social class as unworthy, whilst conveniently ignoring that fact that these “clean-up” actions were taken across social, ethnic and gender divides.

The fact that Himmelbalu seems to think that the looters and rioters really were local kids from oppressed and disenfranchised families shows up just how prejudiced and evil her thinking is. It’s clear from the records of those being processed by the justice system that these rioters came from many backgrounds some of whom had jobs and even fairly affluent backgrounds. For Himmelblau to assume that one must generally be poor to be “nuihilistically” violent shows us all that her brand of socialism has everything to do with taking all human virtue away from the poor, and transforming them into vile beasts at the same time as resenting others for doing the same.

Himmelblau’s is the worst kind of prejudice, the hypocritical kind.

Blog no more

2011-07-07T08:54:00.001-07:00

I shall not be writing to this blog anymore. I'm going to focus on my band, and I don't want my outrageous opinions being associated with z.electric.

I might drop links here now and then... But its unlikely.

Come follow me on Twitter instead @zelectric_band

Dear sky tv

2011-06-29T06:48:00.001-07:00

Dear Sky TV,

Your “moving home” package is being made a complete joke by your firm’s own apparent inability to actually follow through on your advertising claims. Far from being easy and expedient, we have spent numerous hours on the telephone to both Sky TV and your digital installers over the past 8 weeks since moving flat. Still we wait for our TV and internet utility to be installed. All of this has gone on, despite having originally agreed to move the contract with you to our new residence more than two months ago.

Between yourselves and LoveDigital you have managed to lose (or not even send, followed by lies) important customer communications. You have unhelpfully relied on the “data protection act” as a means to not proceed with making enquiries on our behalf. You have not demonstrated the ability or the interest in doing what you can to help now, even if that means leaving the harder parts until later (such as active the broadband now, and activate the Sky TV itself when an engineer is able to visit). You have persistently claimed things will take 10 to 14 days time, despite this now being an 8-week ongoing issue which should be expedited – time is cumulative, in case you are not aware. You have made it very difficult to contact you by phone, which is necessary given the complex and ongoing nature of this complaint. Each time we have had to call and re-explain the entire situation to your call centre staff, only after having endured your mindlessly long and customer unhelpful telephone menu system..

So far your firm has demonstrated that it is a perfect example of everything that is bad about customer service. Your slogan “believe in better” might have been a nice slick marketing exercise, but the problem is, in my experience, you simply don’t live up to it. Sky simply does not even seem to be able to live up to some very simply guidelines with respect to how it should treat its customer base.

...the coalition

2011-06-23T10:44:00.001-07:00

The Coalition Agreement stated "we will replace air passenger duty with a per flight duty". But the treasury's latest business plan says the commitment us to "explore the potential to replace APD with a per flight duty". And now the task has been "completed" with the treasury concluding the changecwas impossible. Thus an abandoned coalition promise becomes a completed departmental action -

sauce, the ends report

June 2nd - fun and bass

2011-05-24T07:12:00.001-07:00

I shall draw your attention to this mighty event.
http://zelectricband.blogspot.com/2011/05/fun-and-bass.html
Attend or die.

Dear Arsene Wenger

2011-05-24T03:23:00.000-07:00

Dear Mr Wenger,

Will Mr. Wilshire being playing part in Arsenal's tour of Asia this summer?

Kind regards
pstyle

Bethere Internet - worst customer service award?

2011-05-24T00:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the displeasure of a conversation with the particularly unhelpful “customer services” people hired by bethere.co.uk, and ISP here in London.

I’m staying at a friend’s place right now, and the broadband is supposed to be supplied by “bethere”. In the two weeks I’ve been at this property, I’ve had a total of three days of internet service. The modem is on, and properly connected. My PC is on and properly connected.

So I decided last evening to give bethere a call, just to let them know that their service was not working at this address. So I ring up and give the call centre guy the details of the property. Then has asks me for the account holder’s details. Obviously I don’t have these, so I can’t offer them up. Call centre operator then advises me that, because he can not verify my identity, he is unable to access the account holder’s details, citing the Data Protection Act.

Fair enough, I say, but I’m not interested in getting any details about the account. All I want to do is pass on information to the ISP about a service failure. Here’s where the conversation goes illogically bizarre;

Bethere: “ Sorry Sir, but I am unable to assist you unless you are the account holder”

Me: “But I’m not asking you to assist me, I’m just passing on information to you, about your services”

Bether: “ yes I appreciate that sir, but I cannot access the account unless I have the account holder’s permission”

Me: “But I’m, not asking you to access the account, all I’m asking you to do is pass on a fault to your technicians. Whether or not I am the account holder makes no difference to the fact that one of the properties you provide to is without service.”

Bethere: “Yes, I appreciate that sir, but I can only assist the account holder”

Me: “That’s irrelevant! Do you have email?”

Bether: “yes”

ME “ OK, now when this call is over, why don’t you open up your email programme and in the address line enter your bosses name, then in the subject line enter “customer complaint”. Then in the body of the email, why don’t you just advise your boss that you have spoken to someone claiming that the service at [xxpostcodexx] is down, but that the caller was unable to identify themselves as the accout holder. That would take about one and a half minutes”

Bethere: “I’m sorry sir, but as I explained before I can only assist the account holder”

Etc… etc.. until I hang up in frustration.

What is it with “customer service” staff that they are trained in such formulaic and nonsensical processes that they simply CANNOT see when a simple, easy measure would go a long way to making the firm they work for look reasonable and not like a bunch of belligerent twats.

Bether.co.uk, your customer service and staff training programme either sucks, or is being completely ignored by your staff. I suggest you spend less money and time on your tiwtter/ facebook accounts and invest some of it in hiring people with brains.

Super Injuctions - who's really the idiot here?

2011-05-24T00:24:00.000-07:00

So it's finally (and inevitably) come out that Ryan Giggs is the footballer at the center of allegations that he had extra-marital fun-and-games with Imogen Thomas. Now aside from the fact that "so what who gives a crap?", my real issue with this whole saga is as follows;

What kind of an idiot lawyer advises his/her client to take out a super injunction? Surely these lawyers know that a super injunction is all together quite un-super, and hardly injunct. It would only be a matter of days before the whole thing blew up, and anyone with a modem knows that you only have to add a dot-com to your web-search if you want to avoid UK privacy laws.

Giggs might be a fool for sleeping around, but his judgement is further questioned by his willingness to pay a lawyer with a seriously deficient damage control strategy.

well... it hasn't started... damnit!

2011-05-20T06:09:00.000-07:00

It's now officially May 21st in some parts of the world. And the rapture hasn't started.

No earthquake.

The E Monster

2011-05-14T00:22:00.001-07:00

Gobble Gobble Gobble - the monster is back!

Vestas Wind Turbine Manufacturing Plant - Sheerness

2011-05-12T03:10:00.000-07:00

More variously angled press articles on the recently announced plans by Vestas to construct a Wind Turbine production operation at the Port of Sheerness.

http://www.rechargenews.com/energy/wind/article255918.ece
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/may/11/vestas-jobs-energy-policy

Already public reactions are filtering through the comments section.

England - leave FIFA now!

2011-05-11T03:37:00.000-07:00

It’s time for England to leave Fifa! For once a Sport's Minister makes some sensible statements.

The Premier League, FA cup, domestic leagues and the national England XI should all be pulled out from under FIFAs money hungry mits. England should leave FIFA, establish a fairere and more transparent alternative and see how many other countries would be prepared to jump ship also.

I would expect that it would not take much to get the following nations to also separate:

USA
Australia
Germany
Canada

There must be a considerable amount of FIFAs revenue that is sourced from the TV audiences of these nations.

The main costs would be the following:

Players signed to nations remaining with FIFA would have to decide if they would rather continue playing for their home nations, or lose their national eligibility and become club-only players, in the breakaway countries – this might in fact sway more smaller nations also to break away
English clubs with heavy dependency on non-English players would suffer the most. But hasn’t the English game/pundits being crying out for reduced foreign players for years?
Champions League prestige and revenues would be lost. But with enough solid nations choosing to break away, a substitue competition would not be hard to set up
World Cup competition prestige and revenue would be lost. But, a see above. And many English fasn would happily admit that club comes first anyways. I know I’d support my club even if there was no English national team competitions to speak of. US baseball fans do with without a problem.

So I’m all behind the idea. Even th credible threat might be enough to reform the hideousness that is FIFA.

If only I was an auto-meachnic

2011-05-11T02:37:00.000-07:00

I would totally buy this car and restore it. What a sweet mamma baby jesus dolly honey!

Current condition:

What it could be:

Turbines are a go go!

2011-05-11T02:16:00.000-07:00

I'm pround to announce that one of the projects I am working on has gone public. More details can be read here, including a preliminary isometric view of the proposed site (not confirmed by the developer as far as I am aware), but here's a wee taster:

Dear Apple

2011-05-11T02:03:00.000-07:00

Dear Apple,

The iphone generally sucks for being slow and having crap reception most of the time. I won't be getting another one. The experience after about 3 months became more frustrating than anything else.

And please stop assuming you know what's best for me. Automatically adding software and synching before I can stop it and generally "updating" things without my control. You might think its helpful but to users like me it's a pain in the arse.

OKTHANKSBYE
phil_style

Dear Facebook Users

2011-05-09T09:07:00.000-07:00

dear FB users,

If you hadn't worked it out already, facebook is proof that most people really don't care about what you do or think.

thatisall.

Another new z.electric tune for you to listen to

2011-05-09T02:50:00.000-07:00

Ok, so you have to follow this link to the z.electric blog... but please do, and leave any feedback on the track there.

Here's the link: http://zelectricband.blogspot.com/2011/05/nobody-knows-new-demo-tune.html

Hot off the DAW - Enjoy.

New Zealand Football: Annual Report 2010

2011-05-04T07:27:00.000-07:00

A full version of New Zealand Football''s annual report for 2010 can be downloaded from this link.

Thanks to me for providing a download link when the traditional media are too lazy/incompetent to do so.

Is this justice?

2011-05-04T01:55:00.000-07:00

Read this post from WiT: http://witheology.wordpress.com/2011/05/02/was-it-worth-it/

And ponder this: "about 303 times as many people have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq than in the ghastly attacks of September 11, 2001,” and it is “more than 130 times as many people…[killed] than in all terrorist attacks in the world from 1993-2004, according to data compiled by the US State Department.”

I can't help but think that justice has not been done. Sure, a guy who killed loads of other people has been killed - but he would have died soon anyways, he was quite old.

His victims are still dead, their families still grieve. The organisation that he headed will continue, in all likelihood. "We" may have exacted a kind of vengeance, but justice demands something quite different.

z.electric demo tune

2011-05-03T15:12:00.000-07:00

this post is copied directly from my other blog here: http://zelectricband.blogspot.com/2011/05/lofi-demo-version-for-limited-time-only.html

OK, so here's a demo version of an instrumental track we first played a long long time ago, but never bothered to record anything of. Ed and I spent some time tonight laying down the initial guitar ideas, which will probably get replaced soon once we find we stashed the wah pedal.
So, for a limited time only (until we re-record the guitar) here is LoFi, courtesy of the z.electric soundlcoud page.

LoFi - demo version - lowres mp3 by z.electric
Any feedback you might offer is appreciated. I have a feeling that the basskick and snare track is a little bit too repetitive, like it needs a breakdown section or a funk-based drum sequence somewhere....

A Modern Monarchy? ...Giving the Press what they want..

2011-04-30T07:13:00.000-07:00

One of the common themes running through the British media and from the many fashion, wedding, culture and historical pundits spouting all their usual nonsense is this idea that somehow the wedding of Will and Kate represents hope for a "modernisation" of the monarchy.

Of course, none of these commentators have been able to tell any of us what they mean by this phrase. So in lieu of an explanation from the people that make this rubbish up, I'm going to offer a definition of my own.

Modernisation of the monarchy represents and reflects the practices, behaviours and attitudes of recent British culture.

With the above in mind, I would like to propose that the monarchy went through its modernisation already. The 1980's and 1990s gave us celebrity royals sleeping around, chasing the limelight and presenting a generally poor image of virtue and self control. Perfectly aligned, I would say, with modern values and practices. Poor old England, you HAD your modern monarchy, and it was such a good reflection of your own behaviour that you vomited it up.

What the United Kingdom really needs is not another example of how to be modern, but an example of how to practice virtue, love, patience, self control, consideration of the under-privileged and respect for privacy. Every time these pundits plead for modernisation I whisper a quiet "I hope bloody not".

One of the Coolest Photos ever..

2011-04-28T01:50:00.001-07:00

This photo shows the air turbulence caused by wind turbines operating in/above low cloud. Studies to determine the effect of these wakes on wind-farm efficiency are being carried out in the US. Very cool photo.

Obama releases Birth Certificate

2011-04-27T08:52:00.000-07:00

OK, so it won't pacify the "obama aint american" crowd, but Obama has publicly released his birth certificate to "prove" he was born in the US (uggh, however horrible that must be know about one's self).

The Guardian has been running the usual "live blog" crap that journalists love so much at the moment, and they did find a rather humorous quote:

Later today, Hillary Clinton will release a photo showing her not killing Vince Foster.-William K. Wolfrum

Jolly good show!

Buying Stuff over the Internet

2011-04-26T03:59:00.000-07:00

Why is it that buying stuff over the internet has become an increasingly complex process over the years?

The amount of information required now just to buy something pretty simply is insane. I must have been put off purchasing things as often as I've bought them online, simply because the page after page after page that needs to be viewed, read, filled out and submitted makes the whole activity a nightmare.

The net was supposed to make life easier. Turns out it's just another vehicle for badly run companies to promulgate their incompetence.

The Electoral Referendum

2011-04-21T07:48:00.000-07:00

As a bit of an MMP fan, I like the idea of moving away from FPP voting systems. In spite of this, I'm hardly motivated to vote in the upcoming UK electoral reform refurendum. Although I might be tempted to vote for AV, just to (hopefully) annoy clayboy and enjoy a series of post-referendum follow up post from his blog...

The Bible is DEAD (long live the bible)

2011-04-20T05:52:00.000-07:00

If you are in any way interested in the bible, then this article is worth a read. http://chronicle.com/article/The-Bible-Is-Dead-Long-Live/127099/

Some highlights;
The Bible is anything but univocal about anything. It is a cacophony of voices and perspectives, often in conflict with one another

The Bible canonizes contradiction. It holds together a tense diversity of perspectives and voices, difference and argument—even, and especially, when it comes to the profoundest questions of faith, questions that inevitably outlive all their answers. The Bible interprets itself, argues with itself, and perpetually frustrates any desire to reduce it to univocality

The Bible can atheist any book under the table on some pages. It presumes faith in God, yet it also often gives voice to the most profound and menacing doubts about the security of that faith. The Bible is not a book of answers but a library of questions.

A word from Jesus

2011-04-20T04:13:00.000-07:00

I asked Jesus if he could please provide me with a car park.
He replied "No, stop being such a selfish prat"

Cancer Research - some of this stuff really is amazing

2011-04-20T02:44:00.000-07:00

One of my most fun daily activities is checking the medical news on the science daily website (which, by the way, is the best place on the whole interwebs for learning about all the latest advances on just about any subject).

One area of research that continues to surprise, amaze and give hope is in cancer research. When researchers are comfortable using phrases such as "…a millionfold increase in efficiency over comparable methods employing liposomes alone -- without nanoparticles -- as drug carriers." and “mitigates toxic side effects expected from conventional chemotherapy” makes me applaud the efforts of these fine researchers.

What to do about Misrata?

2011-04-19T08:22:00.000-07:00

This article from Al Jazeera highlights the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Lybia, and in Misrata in particular. Now, I would say, is the time for NATO to show it's worth by a concerted food and medical supplies air-drop into the sieged rebel-held town.

So what if some of the supplies get rounded up by pro-ghaddafi troops...chalk it up as collateral aid... If they can drop bombs dead on the right military targets, they can sure as hell try to drop supplies next to the hospitals and school yards in the town centre. And surely there's enough intel available to know which parts of town are occupied by the rebels..

Where's the web-based pressure group pushing for an aid drop? Surely all the facebook fiends would be into "liking" this idea...

Wohoo! How cool is this?

2011-04-19T01:54:00.000-07:00

A win, hopefully, for eutrophied water bodies. Read how oxygenation could potentially restore the eco-systems of the Baltic sea.

Free Will - no such thing?

2011-04-19T01:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, whilst buying mustard, I spotted an interesting article on the front cover of this week’s “new scientist” magazine. The article continues the recent increasing conclusion from certain scientific inquirers that human free will is, in fact, and illusion.

I’ve often wondered about this. In a purely naturalistic world, the logical conclusion is that our minds, thoughts, emotions are simply the result of predictable natural forces at work. It makes sense at that level, and much of what goes on in our brain (if not all) has been demonstrated to be the interaction of forces. There are many examples from neurology where changes to the brain matter have resulted in turning on, or off, various parts of a person’s “personality”.

But the idea that we are not some kind of free-agent seems contrary to our own experience. Our conscious mind is so involved with itself, it hardly has the sensibility to really examine what the hell it, itself is. If free will is an illusion, it’s a pretty damned convincing one!

Web Lament

2011-04-18T09:27:00.000-07:00

Internet discussions far too quickly degenerate into defensiveness, offense, name calling and general poor communication.

The act of clarity and brevity itself becomes, quite quickly, the very activity that is the cause of mis-communication and mis-understanding.

One more reason to consider giving up reading blogs and blogging I suppose.

Oh Dear, Please, not another one

2011-04-18T07:32:00.000-07:00

On the first day of easter I read the BBC

The greatest find in archaeology

On the second day of easter I turned to the JP

Nails from his hands and the greatest find in archaeology

On the third day of easter I tried the AFP

Nameless Egyptian dating, nails from his hands and the greatest find in archaeology

Come Monday I found out it was all hoaxes and nonsense.

RISG on Agnosticism

2011-04-18T04:13:00.000-07:00

I draw your attention to this post, by RWZERO entitled "Agnosticism". As usual here's a wee taster, for those who might otherwise not click the link:

“Agnostic” always used to make me think of “Apathetic” (perhaps because it begins with A, ends in C, and denotes a state of mind wherein one is not committed to anything). This is not true in my case. I don’t think I have met anyone live and in the flesh who thinks more intensely, and intentionally, about this stuff than I do. Not even at the front of a lecture hall (though I studied engineering, so this doesn’t say much). Nor have I met anyone else who reports being a pale, nauseous, shivering wreck in the middle of a sunny day due to pure, unadulterated existential panic. In my experience most people just pick a few arbitrary beliefs, rules, and desires and stick with them without ever really questioning them in the same way that they question other people’s beliefs. I don’t blame them. I’m not sure there’s anything else we can do.

I'd only add that RWZERO's experience matches very close to my own. I experience quite alarming existential angst. Often. It is very distracting.

There are two ways out of this that I'm aware of:
1. Just quit thinking about it and live my life while I'm alive (thanks to Bon Jovi for this philosophical insight). Accept my own finiteness, the meaninglessness of existence and the temporary/fleeting nature of my life and, in fact, the entire universe.
2. Embrace faith and hope that everything will be all-right one day, and that my existential fear is, in fact, unfounded.

The first option is really hard to do. I'd like to be able to ignore/accept all of this and just get on with life, but my imagination and whatever else goes on in my brain just wont let me - I actually consider the implications of all of this existence business... far too regularly... when I should be working, or sleeping.. or enjoying the football game/and or the company of the people I love. The second option works (I know this). During the periods when I am able to embrace this kind of hope/faith I am immensely happy and confident of myself and the world around me. Only, I have no great confidence in the reality of the faith/hope position, which leads me back to the start.....

Consumerism under the microscope

2011-04-15T03:33:00.000-07:00

Really interesting study from the University of Missouri regarding the differences in consumer perceptions between people who spend beyond their means, and those who spend within.

Some highlights to whet your appetite:
Four broad reasons for consumerism are identified:

Transformation of the self is the belief that a purchase will change who you are and how people perceive you.
Transformation of relationships is the expectation that a purchase will give someone more or better relationships with others.
Hedonic transformation implies that a purchase will make life more fun.
Efficacy transformation is the expectation that purchases will make people more effective in their lives.

Does the Guardian have a point? Or are they just playing politics?

2011-04-15T02:54:00.000-07:00

The guardian poses the idea that "immigration is neither good nor bad" in an article today, by Zrinka Bralo.
This little section of the article, for me, summarises the important position that I broadly agree with: One thing that most politicians miss is that migration is neither good nor bad. It just is. Adding value judgments becomes problematic because when we talk about immigration, we are in fact talking about immigrants.

First of all, let's just clear up my potential bias - I'm a migrant.
OK, that said and done, I agree that migration is, as a phenomena taken in its entirety, neither good nor bad. However migration can, and does have both negative and positive effects for both the migrant and the receiving place (I say "place" because, let us recall that migration is both international and domestic in nature, and because migration's most noticeable effects occur at the local scale).

However, I think that Bralo overstates her case against the negative attitudes towards migration, when she concludes "Is it a surprise that people are so afraid of the other?". I don;t think "fear of the other" really is the main driver for negative attitudes to migration. In my opinion it is competition. Competition for resources, jobs and cultural influence.

Taking a rather Girardian approach to the situation, we can see how migration related issues play two roles in potential conflict making. The first role is undoubtedly in "perceived" rivalry. Migrants, soon after settling add to the competitive market place. They become rivals for work, space and other resources. It is not the yet-to-be migrant that is a rival, but the already arrived migrant. Girard might describe this as memetic rivalry.

The second function of the migrant, within a Girardian framework is the scapegoat. I would tentatively assign the scapegoat role to the yet-to-arrive migrant. Both the host and the already-arrived migrant can both become complicit in scapegoating the yet-to-arrive as the cause of their own intern rival-conflict.

So, does the Girardian framework help us to understand migration and migratory conflict?

Is this Britain's most evil woman?

2011-04-15T01:58:00.001-07:00

When Google Ads fail

2011-04-14T08:51:00.000-07:00

So I'm reading an article on the potential negative health impacts of coffee, associated with the heterocyclic organic compound "furan" when I notice that google ads, in all their intelligent wisdom, has decided to tray and sell me an espresso machine....

Do I need an excuse for a weekend trip to Cambridge?

2011-04-14T07:24:00.000-07:00

Cos if I did, I think I might have found it:

SURVIVING OUR ORIGINS: MAY 2011 PROGRAMME ANNOUNCED

A symposium at St John's College, Cambridge on 27-28 May 2011 will investigate "violence and the sacred in evolutionary-historical time." René Girard's groundbreaking "mimetic theory" of the foundational link between violence and the sacred provides a platform for posing big questions: What are the biological roots of human violence? How does society shape the human potential for violence? What control mechanisms have kept that violent potential in check? What is the relationship between religion and violence? If the origins of human culture are bound up in violent religion, what chance does humanity have to "survive our origins"?

Further details and the source of the above material are available here: http://www.imitatio.org/news-events/news-event-item/article/surviving-our-origins-may-2011-programme-announced.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=32&cHash=15067e89a1
and there's more info, including the lecture programme here: http://www.girarddarwin.org/symposium/Programme.html

Great Sadnesses of Life

2011-04-14T04:47:00.001-07:00

There are two great sadnesses in life:

1.Seeing the repressed
2. Knowing the dying

.

beamen geht nicht

2011-04-13T13:59:00.001-07:00

Thought for the day

2011-04-13T07:58:00.001-07:00

Sorry I wasn't listening, I've been too busy hiding people on facebook who have babies.

It disappoints me to announce that...

2011-04-13T04:40:00.000-07:00

I think Manchester City will take a top four spot in the EPL, at the expense of spurs, come the end of the season.

Looking at the two club's fixtures lists;
Man City: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/fixtures/default.stm

Spurs: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/tottenham_hotspur/fixtures/default.stm

I think the final dash favours ManShitty considerably.

what a shame...

The morality of nature conservation and the utility of ecological ethics

2011-04-13T02:36:00.000-07:00

I noticed a really interesting story in the New Zealand press today. The article quotes a scientist (from the university of Adelaide) who seems to be suggesting that efforts to save the Kakapo from extinction should be refocused elsewhere, on species that might be saved.

The Kakapo, for those who aren't familiar, is an iconic New Zealand parrot. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakapo There are less than 150 known to be alive.

There's a really interesting ethical question at stake here. How much effort should we put into apparently lost causes. Should we morally oblige ourselves to do everything we can to protect other species? Should we prioritise which species we try to save and which we leave to go extinct?

There are parallels with human medicine here which cannot be ignored. At what point do we give up on trying to prolong a human's life? To whom do we dedicate our efforts, when we have finite resources.

Despite all of the utilitatian argument that seems to suggest abandoning the Kakapo programme, I cannot help but think that the programme must continue, for these reasons;
1. Loss is, in all likelihood, permanent. How do we justify our knowing abandonment of this species to future generations?
2. All is not lost! The black robin programme has restored this once critically endangered species from a population of just 5! back to around 250.
3. The limited resources argument just shows how our ethical and resource priorities are messed up. We should not accept the fact that we aren't giving enough resources to saving these species - when it's well within our power to do so. The Department of Conservation spent only $NZ39 million last year on the threatened species programme which looks after a whole range of species, not just the Kakapo. That's a crop in the ocean relative to our overall society spending on clothes, cars, ipods, cigarettes, booze....

You can donate to the kakapo recovery programme here: http://www.kakaporecovery.org.nz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=112&Itemid=225

bearsighderwhine - #5 - St Peter's mild

2011-04-12T11:58:00.000-07:00

Right, it's time I got back to reviewing beers! tonight it's the turn of a fine British beverage - St Peter's Mild. Dropping in at a safe 3.7% this mild is surprisingly flavoured and coloured!

A dark cola hue, I thought I might be pouring a cola at first, but on closer inspection the slight flower reminded me that I was about to partake in one of humanities finest developments - certainly not the cola drink.

The first touch of this mild ale is coffee which quickly switches to dark chocolate before plunging into the a transition from a sweet middle of cola and on to astringent cherry. The swift trip is short, rounding off in a light bitterness. the afterglow is warm and inviting, so I pour another mouthful and gulpiddy gulp, down it goes.

This is a tasty ale that deserves to be enjoyed in good company. I'm giving it a solid 8 out of 10.

theodicy - asking the wrong questions?

2011-04-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

Warning, this post is a total random expulsion of thoughts from a ten minute walk home from work. It's most likely nonsense. You can tell where it transitions to "art" because I stop using capital letters. Don't be worried if it gets a bit wierd.

This little note was inspired whilst walking home, after reading and thinking some about a post at Scott McKnight's blog. The subject - theodicy - or how can a loving God allow suffering?

A friend once told me that attempts at theodicy are asking the wrong questions. I'm not really sure what he meant by that, and the questions of theodicy sure seem valid to me. Typical answers tend to follow these broad themes;
1. Suffering is the result of sin, it wasn't god's design for the world, but god had to curse the earth out of justice, to punish sin - ergo suffering
2. God works suffering together for good, ultimately
3. God's ways are inscrutable - he works mysteriously and we can't possible know what he's up to

All of these answers are unacceptable to me. In particular the first one, which is the most common from my past. To which I say: I cannot bring myself to blame “sin” for physics and chemistry. After all disease, disasters, injury etc. all boil down to the operation of physical forces and chemical reactions on/against the human environment. These very processes go on in places where there are no humans, and have gone on as long as, and before there were humans, and would simply continue along should all the humans disappear from the universe. It baffles me that we still entertain this idea that all the mechanisms that relate to the entire universe only affected us when humans first “disobeyed” god

But I've been thinking a bit more about this issue, and I've got some general thoughts brewing.

Suppose god is simply loving and relational by nature. The creating/sustaining (or whatever) of a universe apart from god's own self is simply an outworking of divine nature to relate to something else, as though it was inevitable - because the core character/nature of divinity is relational (maybe add creative in there too, but not sure it's necessary) . A reality had to exist outside of the divine, to which this relational nature is realised. It sounds like I'm saying god had no choice in the matter, like some irrational actor.. but does that matter, particularly for the christian? Do we have to have rational divinity foremost? even at the expense of the divine being love by its own nature - which is surely the principal christian claim...

some would argue that if god is constrained by his own nature, then morality is up for grabs because god doesn't have the capacity to make rational judgements. too bad! a nature founded in love and the desire to relate versus a rational set of moral laws and commands...poop-de-poop! what if god's requirements for morality (i hate that word) are simply founded in his characters of love and the desire to relate. one might care to chose another standard by which to live? so moral requirements are up for grabs, but the divine is mirrored in love and relationship

so why the suffering? because of physics! it's simply necessary - in order for this reality to produce life, whilst not being "part" of the divine itself. what if it's a non-divine reality, this universe? is that so hard to imagine.. seems pretty bloody obvious to me ;)

but why would a loving god make something that would experience pain, suffering and eventually be extinguished?
go back to the start - it's in the divine nature to relate and love. so what if the subject of that relationship is finite. do we humans not engage in relationship and love, knowing the the objects of our relating will suffer, and die? does that stop us from loving and relating? why should it stop the divine? i recall watching the movie good will hunting. What is it about that film that we know Will made the right choice to pursue his love, even though they would one day be separated by death? We know that Sean Maguire was right to ante-up again and take a risk on love, despite the prospect of pain....

as a side note, so often i get more "spiritual" fulfillment from art/films/music than from propositional thinking about this stuff...

maybe theodicy is asking the wrong questions? existing "other" from the divine reality is just the way it is, and it's necessary for us and god in order to relate. maybe god took a risk on love...

hypocrisy continues to thrive

2011-04-12T05:41:00.000-07:00

I often wonder why it seems that the most outspoken critics of a moral-evil are often later exposed as having been engaged in that very vice. Take for example this news of the Indonesian anti-porn legislator who was caught on video watching porn movies on his tablet-device.

I think the issue is more complex that my seemingly accurate observation though. First, we seldom hear of the non-hypocitical ones. The people who disagree with certain behaviours and who chose to not engage in them. Those people don't make the news.

There might be some folks who use the public crusade against a particular moral vice as an exercise in self-atonement. By advocating against this evil, they hope that they can dissuade others from it, even if they cannot dissuade themselves.

Green energy developments: catalysts

2011-04-12T01:45:00.000-07:00

Some great news coming from the journal 2nature chemistry" today. This summary of a research programme into bi-layered nano-crystal catalysts for energy production comes from science daily.

In a unique new bilyaer nanocatalyst system, single layers of metal and metal oxide nanocubes are deposited to create two distinct metal–metal oxide interfaces that allow for multiple, sequential catalytic reactions to be carried out selectively and in tandem. (Credit: Image courtesy of Yang group)

Tim Minchin's Storm Poem

2011-04-08T11:46:00.000-07:00

A great little video by Tim Minchin on the things people believe in that are really, really difficult to accept as "true".

Everything goes well with this video, and it quickly smashes through many of the myths that we perpetuate in order to maintain our beliefs in various things... until 7:25 when he asks "isn't this enough?"

Tim then launches into a masterful middle-class praise of the comfortable life, pressing for the conclusion that the world is great, nay wonderful and should be enjoyed. My problems with this are two fold.

1. It completely ignores the fact that for many of us humans, the world is a horrible, unjust place of suffering. We live less years than our ancestors, we don't get to share wine and curry with our middle class consumers in a flat in north London. There is no justice, no redemption, no final happiness, just a fleeting experience of loss, pain and deprivation preceded and followed by non-existence. I'm sorry Tim, bu the demand for justice is not "throwing perfume on the Violet", it's hoping that the Violet will survive for more than just the few lucky ones to enjoy.

2. Tim inadvertently strays very close to making one of the classic arguments for theism, which is (presumably) one of the philosophical positions he is trying to debunk, by pointing out that this world/universe is so wonderful in his eyes (best of all possible worlds)...

Still, it's a good video, quite fun ;)

Academics overstepping their bounds?

2011-04-08T09:04:00.000-07:00

Want a reason why historians do not make good town planners?

Just read this article from stuff.co.nz and you'll see why. Cities do not exceed based on this kind of intentionality, I'm sorry to say Dr. Pickles. I suggest some reading in Urban Geography and spatial planning before I go trying to rebuild a city.

quote of the day - electric cars

2011-04-08T02:21:00.001-07:00

This comes from a research summary at science daily:

The electric car was introduced by Edison as early as 1900. But, as we all know, Henry Ford's vehicle concept with a noisy, smelly combustion engine won the race to become people's most treasured individual means of transport, despite the fact that in principle, the combustion engine is hopeless

Solar Energy - leaps and bounds

2011-04-07T09:22:00.000-07:00

I note in numerous places on the inter-web how there's a massive crowd who constantly bemoan the apparent "under efficiency" of solar energy, and the seeming lack of progress of this technology towards providing our energy needs.

I wish these folks would take more notice of the science. Solar is moving on in leaps and bounds. IT's soon be a big deal, and you might be surprised to find out it's already powering homes near you.

Do I really have to believe all this stuff?

2011-04-07T06:36:00.000-07:00

Bob Cornwall has a blog article asking what are the fundamental things one must believe to be a "Christian". This is an interesting topic, and everyone who self identifies as a christian probably has a slightly differnt list of thinmgs that they think are "essentials". In light of the possible variation in answers I've decided to publish a list of all the things I expect I might need to believe to be a "christian" but I find it very hard to affirm. So here's my list of christian things I find almost impossible to accept.

Humans have a “spirit” – i.e. an immaterial soul
Even as a child this idea struck me as absurd. I always wanted to know exactly what part of me this “spirit” or “soul” was meant to be. I remember asking people when I was just a kid, but no-one seemed to know. They just assumed this thing existed, but no-one was really able to tell me what it was, or what it did. Neuroscience (and common sense) suggests that our personhood is a function of our brains, and when the right parts of the brain are turned off (unconsciousness ) our personhood is off too. There’s no special part of me that is “spirit”. I’m all body and mind.
Original Sin (and it’s effects) i.e. that the world is messed up because one day (ages ago) the first human sinned
This is just bizarre. All the death in the world only started with “adam”? There was no disease before this Adam character? There was no way to puncture human organs? If adam jumped off a cliff he wouldn’t have died? You can see where this is going…gravity didn’t affect humans?
The earth is only 10,00 years old and was created pretty much as-is (but minus the people dying bit).
I know this is only core-belief for a certain set of Christians, but I was once part of that set. If only we did’t know better, I might be able to believe this. But I know many chrsitians who don’t believe it, so it’s not really a biggie for me. But it seems that many other essential beliefs kinda flow out of this – or at least the justification for many other beiliefs do (original sin etc)
God had to punish Jesus for all human sin?
So god is so restricted by his own sense of justice that he can’t just “forgive”. Yet we’re expected to just forgive? The standards for us seem higher than for God do they not? Why punish Jesus at all?
When we die, we go to heaven or hell
Aside from the fact that this kind of thinking seems to rely on a “human spirit” (see point 1) the whole afterlife is just ridiculous. How can one be a person without a brain or a body? Is there gravity in either afterlife? Will we have bodies? Will we eat? If we eat, will we pooh? Where does the waste go? Will we eat vegetables? Will plants die? Will our bodies be spatial? Where does the space come from, for which our bodies will occupy? Will there be air to breathe? What if we stop breathing, will we go unconciouss?
Satan/ the Devil exists.
So apparently there’s a non-seeable, non-verifyable “person/thing” going around the world ordering demons to make mischief and convincing people to do evil thing. I’ve always wondered how big is this devil thing? The size of a person? Obviously Satan isn’t omnipresent right? So where is Satan hanging out?
Three million or so jews left Egypt in an exodus, during the pharaoh period
This whole story is unsupported by archaeology. There no archaeological evidence this ever occurred. No bones, no structures, no pottery, no animal carcasses. I just don’t think it actually happened.
God answers our prayers for pretty things (things we call “blessings”).
Why the hell did God give you a car-park, or show you where your favourite shoes were but he let thousands of people in Japan get smashed to death by a Tsunami? Or the millions that die of cancer each year, quite painfully in many cases?
Miracles.

I’ve never had anyone who’s claimed a miracle be able to produce any strong evidence that it actually happened, yet alone any actual proof. Nothing. Despite hearing about loads of miracles, no-one’s ever actually able to get me any data.

A single consistent God is described in the Bible
This really does seem like baloney. The god of the bible is all over the place. All sorts of different descriptions and behaviours of this God exist in the different parts of the bible. So many of them simply seem contradictory.
The Trinity.
I don’t even know how to describe the trinity. It’s non-sensical. A circular-square. One plus one is nine. How can I believe something that my brain cannot even describe. It’s pointless. I just don’t get it.
Jesus is/was actually God – for real, actually.
See the trinity one above. I don’t know about you but I see a mostly human person in the biblical writings (even if them texts are reliable). A few localised healings here and there indicate some special powers, but there’s really no proper Goddy behaviour going on. Certainly not the kind of goddy behaviour that goes on in the exodus stories…
Jesus was bodily resurrected.
But his body could go through walls? And he ate fish – how come the fish didn’t just fall right through him? And he sat around for a couple of weeks after he dies “teaching” the discipiles stuff, but none of them bothered to remember or write any of that post-resurrection teaching down?
Jesus’ resurrected body ascended to heaven
Huh? But there is no heaven up in the sky. Where did the body go? At what point during this invisible elevator ride upwards did the atomic structure of this body disappear/ dissolve? If his body went to heaven then heaven is a physical place right… with gravity? Otherwise how does Jesus stand up in heaven..? If a hammer fell on his head, would it cave his skull in? Does he still need food, like fish?

Introducing Journalist come Psychologist Victoria Moore

2011-04-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

I'd love to know what this hideous attempt at psychology is doing in the telegraph. How a "wine critic" (Victoria Moore) can assume to understand the character of a person based on some potentially throw away comments on wine preference is beyond me. But then again, we're dealing with the media here, a class of persons who don;t have a particularly strong record when it comes to producing material that is either well thought out, properly researched, or critically examined.

April 2011 - Blog hits through the roof

2011-04-06T04:07:00.000-07:00

this month has seen a massive spike in the number of visits and page views to my blog. Mostly due to this post here on the FBI code-in-the-pocket case. Here's a graph of my stats for the month which I must remind you all, is only 6 days old.

This month is proving to be by far the busiest in the past 12 months, and might be my busiest ever already.

However, thoughts of monetarisation must be kept in check for the following reasons:
1. It's a blip
2. The out-clicks indicate that most people (99%) leave the blog by either shutting down their browser, or back clicking. No one really clicks on any of the links provided on the blog.

Reporting on the Israel/Palestine conflict

2011-04-06T03:50:00.000-07:00

I notice that this article has gone largely un-noticed in the UK press...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/reconsidering-the-goldstone-report-on-israel-and-war-crimes/2011/04/01/AFg111JC_story.html

How interesting.

Libyan Oil is back on the Market...

2011-04-05T04:30:00.000-07:00

So it seems that folks are already queuing up to buy from an as-yet illegitimate, non-democratically elected armed group that has, by force, taken control of oil assets in Africa.

I’m no Gaddafi supporter, and I like the idea that suppressed peoples can rise up and overthrow insidious regimes, but I find all of this meddling in oil rich countries to be altogether confusing, morally stretched and dubious.

Who's buying this oil? At what price? Where will the sale's profits go?

Can Christians be trusted?

2011-04-04T10:01:00.000-07:00

Based on my paraphrase title line, this article might not be about what you think it's about. But it's good.

For those who need a taster before they click the link, here's some excerpts;

When missionaries came through town regaling us with tales of the miraculous from the darkest corners of Papua New Guinea, I knew they were telling the truth. When a Christian with scientific credentials taught us that the earth was young and the fossil record could be explained by Noah’s flood, I knew it must be true. When I read Christian apologetics books by Josh McDowell and Lee Strobel explaining that the Bible was demonstrably accurate and reliable, I knew I could trust them. They were in my camp. They were fellow Christians. And Christians, more than anyone, could be trusted to tell you the truth.

The article is written by blogger Chris Massey, and his story just about perfectly mirrors my own. I'm posting this in part to let Chris explain what I couldn't do so eloquently.

Of life, death and dying

2011-04-04T07:55:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Chesha in Motion for posting this blog article. http://cheshainmotion.blogspot.com/2011/04/paradox-now-and-forever.html

I think about death a whole lot. Sometimes I'm pretty terrified about the whole thing, it distracts me from work, keeps me up at night. Not fun really.

76 NCBE - some follow ups on the FBI code

2011-04-01T07:57:00.000-07:00

The full text of the FBI's unsolved code is reproduced below, first - some more thoughts on 76 NCBE etc...

Apparently 71,74,75 are all interstates in/around Cincinnati. This might be helpful, but it get's confused by 194.
The apostrophe at 194 WLD'S might infact be a tell tale giveaway of english grammar being used, or not. Is it possessive? Is WLD to be taken as an abbreviated proper noun?
The "E" is used alot. This is unhelpful I think, becuase E is already the most used letter in the english alphabet. Maybe it represents another character, or signifies a break in the code, like a space bar between words?
We can't even be sure the person who developed the code spoke English. What if the code is based on, say, Spanish?

Here's, a full copy of the text:
Document 1 - P1

 (MND MK NE* RSE-N-S-*-KNARE) (ACSM)
  *TFRNE NP*NSE NPBSE RCBBNSE NPRSE 1NC
  PRSE NM*SE *PREHLD WLDNCBE(TFXL* TCXL NCBE)
  AL-*RPPIT XLYPPIY NCBE M*KSEWCD RCBR NSE PRSE
  WLDRCBRNSE NT **NE*T*SE-CRSLE-CITRSE WLDNCBE
  ALWCPNCBETSME LRSE RLSE UR GLSNE AS N WLDNCBE
  (NOPFSE NLSRE NCBE) NTE GDDMNSENCURERCBRNE
  (TENE TFRNE NCBRTSENCBE 1NC)

  (FLRSE PRSE ONDE 71 NCBE)
  (CDNSE PRSE ONS*E 74 NCBE)
  (PR+SE PRSE ONREDE 75 NCBE)

  (TF N*CMSP SOLE MRDE LUSE TOTE WLD*WLDNCBE)
  (194 WLD'S NCBE)(TRFXL)

Document 2 - NOTES

  [ ALPNTE GLSE-SE ER+E
  YLSE MTSE-CTSE-WSE-FRTSE
  PNRTRSE ONPRSE WLD NCBE
  N WLD XLRCMSP NEWLD STS MEXL
  *ULMT * TUNSE NCBE ** ]

  [ (M*NSA*STEN MUNARSE)
  KLSE-LRSTE-TR SE-TRSE-M*SE *-MRSE
  (SAE*NSE SE N MRCE) ]

  [ NMNRCBRNSE PTE 2PTE WSR*B****
  36 MLSE 74SPRKS E 29KE NO*OLE 175 R*RSE
  35 SLE CLGSE *UNUT*E *KRSE PSESHLE
  651 MTCSE HTLSE NCUTCTRS NMRE
  99.84.5 *UNEPLSE NCRSE AO*TSE N S*SE N* SE
  N5REONSE PVTSE WLD NCBE (JXOR*) ]

  [ *NMSE NRSE 1N2 NTRCE RCB*NSE NTSRCR*N
  LSPNSE N GSPSE MKSE R BSE N CBE *XL*R

  HM CRE N MRE NCBE     1/2 MUN D DLSE ]

[ D-W-M14 *PL X*RLX ]

Text above provided by hacker news user (thinkalone). Due to the larger number of hits this thread has generated, please allow me to take this opportunity to shamelessly advertise my band "z.electric". z.electric can be found on soundcloud; and they're on facebook; and last fm.
--------------------------------------------------------
also, it's nice to see the folks at http://gaming.ngi.it getting some mileage out of this too ;) Look out for me on steam.

IL2 Cliff of Dover - one player's review #2 my first kill.. sort of

2011-04-01T03:40:00.000-07:00

So since downloading and installing IL2:CoD yesterday, and blogging my first impressions, I went back online to try and get the hang of it a little more. I suspect I’m going to have to only pla the game very sparingly due, in part to my fairly tame PC. It is, I fact quite hard to play the game with the kind of FPS I’m getting, even on very-low graphics settings.

Playing in 800 x 600 mode has helped a little bit, but the game window (not full screen) is tiny, resulting in a not-brilliant gaming experience.

Mission details:

I went up over the channel in a Spitfire IIa, one-on-one against a Dornier Do17. One thing I noticed right away is that you get speed rush at really close distances like never before in IL2. The other aircraft seems a long way off until you’re under 300m away,. Then suddenly you’re right on top of it veering to avoid the collision, even at a closing speed of what seems to be around 20-30m per second (based on the screen icon of the target).

Shooting is hard, and the weapon sounds seem a bit basic. I’d like to play on full audio quality, but the sounds aren’t as good as the mod packs for the older IL2 in terms of quality I don’t think. Engine throttling seems odd to. It might just be my configurations settings but it seems that only the first 10% of my throttle slide-control is being used. It’s almost a toggle full throttle on-off, and I seem unable to get a nice even spread of power across the range of my throttle control.

After closing on the Do17 head-on and getting some shots off, I pulled up high and carried out a wingover manoeuvre to get behind on his high six. Closing from Herr Dodo's rear I noticed a distinct lack of uber-accruate tail gunner fire hat one gets from the older IL2 games. The defensive fire is there, but it doesn’t follow you like it’s a string tied to your cockpit. You can wiggle away from it. The reverse side of this making the bomber gunners less venomous appears to be that the bomber is impervious to damage. I hit the thing a good number of times engines, wings, vertical stabiliser and fuselage, but it just kept on flying along like it was Heathrow approach on a Wednesday afternoon. But the reaper/scrap dealer finally showed up when I got frustrated enough to get too close, and accidentally rammed that German, and it went down, myself with it – for a nice cold bath in the North Sea. On exiting the mission, I noticed I had “invulnerable” set in the realism menu. I wonder if this setting made ALL aircraft invulnerable to fire, not just my own. Tonight I’m going to test this theory by replaying the mission, with vulnerability on.

IL2: Cliffs of Dover and the Conf.ini

2011-04-01T03:08:00.000-07:00

So I thought I post a quick guide on the IL2:CoD conf.ini, since I've had a few google search directs to this blog on the subject. this guide is for people who bought the game from steam. I don;t know how it works for CD bought games.

CoD will put TWO conf.ini files on your PC. One of them in the game folder (steamapps/il2 or wherever steam saved the game on your HD) and another one in your "mydocuments" folder, under a 1C users folder.

The conf.in that you want to edit, if you wish to make changes to your game, is the one under the relevant user name in the 1C folder of your mydocuments, NOT the conf.ini saved into the steamapps/il2 folder.

AND there's one more thing you'll need to do. Because steam, in reality, keeps a copy of your conf.ini online (in the steam cloud) you have to tell the game to NOT synchronise with the cloud-version of your conf.ini. If you don't do this, IL2 will overwrite your version of the conf.ini with the one it has online. To disable the synchronisation open your game library in steam. Right click on the IL2:CoD game and select proerties, then under one of the tabs (I forget which one) there is a check box for steam/game online synchronisation. Uncheck this.

Image comes from the 114th website. I presume they probably have a discussion on this topic, for further reading.

76 NCBE? What does it mean?

2011-04-01T02:57:00.001-07:00

I will give you a prize if you can work out what this is referring to:

76 NCBE

71 NCBE

194 WLD’S NCBE

Two Prizes if you can solve the meaning of "NCBE".

Or you can go here, and get stuck into some decoding.
.

IL2 Cliff of Dover - one player's review

2011-03-31T15:08:00.000-07:00

Today I recieved my copy of the long awaited WWII flight simulation game IL2: Cliffs of Dover. For those that don't know this game, it's a world war 2 flying game, set during the battle of britain. This game was supposed to come out about 6 years ago... and it finally got published and released in the last month.

I've played flight simulator games on and off quite a lot since 1991 - when SWOTL was the best game on the market. I've played many titles such as Aces over Europe, Overlord and now the IL2 (sturmovik 1946) series which has turned out to be by far the best flight combat game I've ever played. The latest, IL2 Cliffs of Dover is essentially the sequel to the IL2 game I've been playing for around 7 years.

So what is it like?
Firstly, it took me ages to get the actual mission part of the game working. I could go through the in-game menus OK, and the mission would load (I could hear it) I just coldn;t see it. Fortunately one of the nice chaps on the game's forums sorted me out. It turns out you need to tell the game to run in Direct X 9 mode - by editing the conf.ini file - BUT make sure you get the right one - the game writes two of them to your PC in very different location. Read through this thread for the solutions (big thanks to 312_Jura for helping us out)

Once loaded, the game runs quite poorly on my machine. That's no surprise it's a 1 year old laptop. The game is quite laggy, and I feel like I'm back flying IL2 for the first time - and suffice to say it; I suck.

The aircraft behave differently to their older IL2:1946 ancestors. I can't quite put my finger on it. Flying straight even is a little tough, and pointing the nose at a target long enough to get the shots off is nigh in impossible right now. The combination of some lag, plus the "unstable" flying seems to result in the target jumping aroudn the screen at the same second one presses the trigger. But I remember IL2 being like that when I started, so I'll soon get better no doubt. For now I'll have to stick to raking shots.

One nice touch, is that the game provides a nice little summary of your flight afterwards, even giving you your % ammunition hits on target. My last mission I flew a Hurricane against a lone HE-111. I came away with 0.2% hits... what's that, three rounds?

The main issue I have is that I don't think I'll be able to really appreciate the game until the slow FPS is sorted out, or I get a better machine. Graphically (due to having to run the game on fairly modest settings) it's been a step down from the older IL2. although I'm going to try the game in 800x600 resolution to see if that improves things a little bit.

Additionally, setting up my joystick took ages. I had to unplug/replug the thing befroe the game would even recognise it, then I had to transfer ALL the control settings over one by one - because for some reason the game was trying to source inputs from a 2nd joystick, when I only have one! I think the game was confused by the presence of my midi synth/keyboard, and mistook it for a game controller.

Anyways, more on this soon, and hopefully some screen shots too, so peeps can see how it looks on a modest system

UPDATES:
Further information on where the conf.ini files are (not were they were in older IL2)
Review number 2: my first kill...

my system:
windows 7
Hp notebook with
i7 processor (Q720 @ 1.6 Ghz)
GeForece GT 230M video
Novation NIO 2|4 soundcard

My lenten C25HOH fast - #3

2011-03-17T12:59:00.000-07:00

I just noticed today another blogger called Phill is also taking up the Lenten alchohol fast. Phil notes in his post that in Bavaria, monks used to fast from solid food, meaning that they consumed a LOT of beer during lent. Intrestingly, I'm going to be in Bavaria as of tomorrow night, and I've already decided in advance that I'm going to break my fast for the next couple of days. One cannot fast from beer whilst in Bavaria, that would simply be immoral!

Anyways, this week, week 2 of the fast, has actually been dead easy. Not a drop has passed my lips, and despite some moments of want (at the pub on the weekend was tough, and walking down Watling Street at 7:30pm yesterday wasn't easy either) I've help up remarkably well.

One of the reasons I'm fasting is to see if there will be any difference in my sleeping habits - which are not good. I find it hard to sleep, and am wondering if alchohol is a contributor. So far my experiment has been too influenced by my taking caffiene-filled panadol for a headache on monday - which was as bad as a hangover anyway! And by the subsequent herbal sleeping suppliments I took to return my sleep to normal. So has giving up alchohol helped? In can't say! too many vairables! the data is unreliable!

And so for me, it's off to Munich, for some beer!

Where's all the "nuclear power is safe" crowd gone?

2011-03-14T16:05:00.000-07:00

I would like to publish some comments from the great British public from 2009, when the BBC ran an article on the development of nuclear power generation :

Nuclear power is obviously the answer. …. There can be no more danger from these power stations than there was from all the fumes and smoke produced in the past from generating stations,factory chimneys,railway engines,etc.
Posted by: [democratic-al], York, United Kingdom

Nuclear is the only realistic solution, and despite what some uninformed people think, it really is remarkably green and eco-friendly.
Posted by: Chris K, London

People are justifiably concerned about incidents like Chernobyl, but it's important to remember that nuclear power stations have been redesigned since then to ensure that if humans fail in the process the reactor stops safely rather than continue to melt down.
Posted by: Paul, Herts

Nuclear Power is safe and proven and can provide a good proportion of our energy needs. The protestors should stop ignoring the evidence that nuclear power is safe.
Posted by: Graham, Yorkshire

My lenten C25HOH fast - #2

2011-03-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

5 days into my Lenten fast I thought I’d blog a wee update on how things are going.

Thursday night I had dinner with a mate at an Italian place on the south bank. Italian food should be good enough to hang up on it’s own without a glass of wine… but unfortunately our service was so slow and the food a little underwhelming, that I really missed the glass of pinot gris I would otherwise have had.

Friday night was much more bearable, as I decided to stay home and watch TV and/or play music and the odd video game. Not much of a Friday night, but at least I didn’t at all miss the booze.

Saturday night found me at the pub again. This time meeting up with my mates from z.electric (mel and Ed). We played a hearty round of monopoly. I was hoping that my sobriety might give me the upper hand, but the London School of Economics graduate Ed Cubitt managed to clean the board.

On Sunday I didn’t realise that there is a lenten break-fast that is observed. It wasn’t until 9pm that I realized I’d missed the chance to open a casual beer with dinner. But, I decided to store-up my break-fast day and use it next Saturday when I’m in Munich. Is that allowed? Too bad, I’m doing it.

So far I’ve not really missed the alchohol at all, which is good news. I’m certainly not dependent on it. Mum will be pleased.

35 days to go!

High Fives to the Zeffer Brewing Company

2011-03-10T13:53:00.000-08:00

Post my review of their Apple Cider, Zeffer have kindly linked the blog, on both their website and their facebook.

Good on you Zeffer, and keep the goodness coming. Although I'm back in the UK and I'm fasting for lent... so I won't be tasting any treats for a while.

My lenten C2H5OH fast - #1

2011-03-10T13:34:00.000-08:00

In possibly the shorted time possible after deciding I was going to start regular reviews of beer on this blog (here, here, here and here) I have now made the appalling and perhaps rather stupid decision to abstain from alchohol for the 40 day period of lent.

In order not to let the blogging slip during this time, I shall be diarising my fast, and blogging about it here.

Yesterday, Ash Wednesday, was day one of the fast. Day one should be pretty easy right? well it wasn't, damnit! And I have none other that Tottenham to thank for making abstinence a nightmare. I spent the evening at the Pavillion End watching what was probably the most stressful game of football I have ever seen, as Spurs ground out a might draw with AC Milan, and progression to the Champions League quarter finals.

It's not fun standing in the pub watching footy with a sickly sweet glass of coke in the hand. Why is it that sport is better with beer? Or is it that beer is better with sport?

And in other, not quite news;

More evidence has crossed my path today, confirming my suspicion that journalists are scum. A number of news-media have been running a story on the evolution of the human penis, which, no doubt has been capturing some readership.

Here’s the original scientific report from which the papers are getting that story on “penises”…
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110309131934.htm
I note that the journalists/ news media who ran with this story managed to basically ignore the WHOLE thing, except for the small mention of genetalia, which they’ve expanded into a slightly controversial, titillating piece of trivia fit only for facebook links, “likes” and 5pm pub jokes.

News media = ignoring the news since ages ago.

Bearsighderwhine - #4 Zeffer Apple Cider

2011-03-06T04:06:00.000-08:00

Zeffer Apple Cider (New Zealand)
Tasted: Feb 23, 2011
Time of day: Mi-day
Weather: Hot, clear 28 degrees C
Location: Outdoors Upper Hutt New Zealand

Since leaving New Zealand about 4 years ago, the cider market has exploded there. In 2007 you'd be lucky to get your hands on a bog-standard Bulmers, now there appears to be a nice range of pear and apple ciders from the main brewers, and smaller outfits alike. It seems New Zealand apple growers have finally found something to do with their apples besides supply the endless chain of crumble-dessert makers.

This pale yellow product is a little on the pricey side, but the proof of this pudding is most certainly in the pallette. Zeffer Apple Cider is a goodie. It's crisp and slightly tart. The apple is sweet, but not too autumnal. This is a good sign becasue an overly sweet cider doesn't endear itself to more than a single serve. Too often it seems that cider makers are trying to do the best they can with late, over-ripened apples that aren;t fit for the super market shelf. Zeffer certainly doesn't fall into that category of waste-products.

Once down the hatch, zeffer leaves a clipped smack of citrus, and finishes with a hint of bitterness. It's one of those ciders that reminds your mouth just how good summer can be.

My score out of 10: 8.5

Bearsighderwhine - #3 EPIC Pale Ale

2011-02-25T19:11:00.000-08:00

Epic Pale Ale (New Zealand)

Tasted: Feb 23, 2011
Time of day: Mi-day
Weather: Hot, clear 28 degrees C
Location: Outdoors Upper Hutt New Zealand

Epic Breweies' Pale Ale is a bright amber ale, moderately carbonated - with a bubbly personality. This ale sits at the citrus end of the scale which is a pleasant place for an ale to sit; perched somewhere between the strongly floral ales of the western USA, and the clean autumnal tones of an Indian Pale Ale.

The palette is long, long enough to savour but short enough to make summer drinking a treat. There's some nice hoppiness at the end too, which provides a little crescendo at the end of each supper's stansa.

I liked this little brew more than I thought I would, and more than the rather tacky word "EPIC" accross the bottle promised. If you're in New Zealand and you like your ales, it's time to put down that Tui and pick up an Epic.

My score out of 10; 7.5

Bearsighderwhine - #2 Rennaisance Stonecutter Scotch Ale

2011-02-23T13:51:00.000-08:00

Rennaisance Stonecutter Scotch Ale (New Zealand)

Tasted: Feb 23, 2011

Time of day: Evening

Weather: Clear 20 degrees C

Location: Indoors, Upper Hutt New Zealand

This is the first "scottish" styled NZ beer that I've tasted. This beer comes from the famous wine region of Malborough, at the northern tip of the South Island. It's nicely presented in a traditional British Ale Bottle, and its colour does not disappoint, complimented by a generously forming, creamy flower. The beer is dark and rich, promising deep roasted malts and long bitterness. But does it live up to the hue?

In most respects this is a good example of a northern British ale. There's some floral tones (heather perhaps) on the nose, but these are light, and are matched by smokiness and a touch of honey.

The flavours are malty, lightly bittered and a touch botanical. There's enough smoke in there to remind the drinker that the malt has been roasted, suggesting a cup of Lapsang Souchong tea, but one that's not going to cause any yellowing to the wallpaper. The beer isn't quite as long as it could be, the bitterness drops away quite quickly and the only way to keep the smoky sensation going is to either light up a cigar or take another sip. All told though, this is a nice brew.

My score out of 10: 7.5

Bearsighderwhine - #1 Green Man Organic Pilsener

2011-02-22T19:08:00.000-08:00

So the blog has been dormant for sometime. I'm sure the readership has all but disappeared. But in a bid to restore this little site to its former ingloriousness, I've decided to start writing up short reviews of beer, cider and wine. The idea struck me just yesterday, the reason being that I'm currently taking a three week vacation in New Zealand. Between trips to the beach (and the TV - to watch earthquake news or spurs loose) I've been indulging in some of the newer beverages that seem to have found their way onto the market place since I left New Zealand in 2007.

So, today, lucky beer number 1 is
GREEN MAN ORGANIC PILSENER

First up, I intend to start each review with a little notes section on where I was, and what the environment was like when I tried the drink. I'm of the opinion that the place you're in when you try a drink will influence how you respond to said beverage, so I like to be open about the possibility that climactic conditions may have influenced my tasting skills ;)

GREEN MAN ORGANIC PILSENER (New Zealand)

Tasted: Feb 22, 2011

Time of day: Evening
Weather: Cloudy, some rain, 18 degrees C
Location: Indoors, Upper Hutt New Zealand

So, this "organic" pilsener has a confident straw colour, influenced no doubt by it's lack of filtration, thus rendering it somewhat opaque. I got the impression (without sufficient cause) that the "unfiltered" element was a bit of a ruse to make the beer seem more "natural" than a filtered one. I was, as per the type (pilsener) expecting a filtered German/ Czech style lager.

The beer is bright and sweet. It doesn't have the sharp clarity of, say, a Bavarian Helles, nor does it have the long hoppy nature of the Czech varieties such as Büdweiser. In that respect, as a pilsener, it is a little bit underwhelming. The carbonation is relatively low, which leans the beer to all-whether consumption. However, in spite of its promised versatility, I got the feeling that I wouldn't be able to truly appreciate this brew unless I had just mowed the lawns under a hot sun and was really thirsty. However, it's far from a bland or dusty beer, and I'm happy to mark it out of 10 as a 6.5.

Social Networking is NOT the great modern liberator

2011-02-02T12:24:00.000-08:00

A week ago I watched on the BBC and various other news stations as a cocophany of "experts" and "academic" proudly announced the dawning of the new era of humanity. This new era, apparently invovles the wonderous use of internet based social networks for the emancipation of the "people". The mass public demonstratins in tunisia, Egypt and other states was cited as evidence that the citizens (cough cough) are enabled to noble self determination via socila networks.

Of course, all this turns out to be baloney. As anyone witnessing the current situation in Egypt can see. As it pans out, those who support the current government are now also organising themselves to meet head-on with the supposed "poeple". The clashes in the streets and continual voilence is simply evidence that the better we can organise ourselves, the easier it is to fight each other.

All that the internet does, is allow humans to organise their violence in new ways. Facebook is not the path to peace and emancipation. Social networks will not revolutinise society. All that this "stuff" does is enable us to find new ways of beating the crap out of each other.#

So where are all the "new media" experts now? Where's the praise for the wonders of internet based social networking? Nowhere to be seen... becasue their optomistic theories ignored human resolve to pursue conflict and violence. It's how we roll. No amount of facebooking is going to curb that.

Laugh or Die

2011-01-29T17:38:00.001-08:00

News to Hand

2011-01-28T12:44:00.001-08:00

Mal has been arrested!

Bored of the Bloody Blog

2011-01-28T12:05:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged for ages. I've been kinda bored with it. My more recent posts have been at the z.electric blog. I've been visiting loads of other blogs though, to name a few:
1. Undeception
2. Exploring out Matrix
3. Women in Theology
4. Ad-hoc christianity podcast

new music from z.electric

2011-01-11T12:47:00.000-08:00

z.electric have uploaded a new "work in progress" drum and bass track to their blog.

The direct link to listen is here:
Work in progress - reproduced 12 jan by z.electric

Aliens Schamlians

2011-01-11T04:18:00.000-08:00

James McGrath has a little round up of "what if" posts on the internet regarding human ocntact with aliens.

I say bah to all this talk! Talk of aliens turning up requires far too many coincidences for me to take seriously. Here's just a few of them;

1. Their planetary system(s) must have developed earlier/ faster than ours, allowing for live to have evovled to a more intelligent state.
2. Their planetary system(s) must not be hostile to the development of life, and intelligent life at that.
3. Their civilisation must have been lucky enough to have survived the development of technology and harnassing of energy required to build space-travelling devices
4. They must have picked earth's sun out of the millions/billions of star systems to visit.
5. The timing is a bit too convenient.. where were these aliens 1 million years ago? Why visit us now, just when we're smart enough to record it?

.. I'll probably think of some more....

Who's to say our planet isn't the first to have developed life to this point of diversity... and that all the other ones are someplace behind us?

southland Times . . . running out of news?

2011-01-07T07:54:00.000-08:00

The Southland Tiumes (reprinted by stuff.co.nz) published an article about... wait for it....

A woman not being sucked in by an email scam. WOW!

What a non-story. Everyone gets hundreds of these emails every year. Most of us ignore them. Where's the news here?

Russel Brand understands the media, and letter writers ;)

2011-01-07T07:29:00.001-08:00

How to support children's sport

2010-12-20T07:39:00.001-08:00

"Dragon's den" meets Casette Boy

2010-12-20T07:31:00.000-08:00

Another classic from Cassette boy:
"I should be clanged on the bottom, the minute we walk outside the den"

David Suzuki

2010-12-20T04:26:00.000-08:00

I've lifted this video from Byron's Blog - nothing new under the sun.

A little Gem form Daily Science

2010-12-16T07:24:00.001-08:00

From Daily Science comes this quote:

Doug Tough, chief executive of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc, said flavor enhancers are "in a word -- extremely important" to the industry now.

Dear Doug, "extremely important" are two words, not one.
Regards
phill

NotArt: A poem about student protestors

2010-12-15T08:01:00.000-08:00

Student protestors

the students are up to their elbows in it
the future is going to be horrible for all the students
and the kiddies
the big man is putting needles in their soft buttoxes
the students are in pain
such dear things

so they're out on the streets
it's the biggest thing since the BIIIIG FREEEEEEEEZE
but not as big as liz hurley dating shane warne

they're giong to throw golf balls at the police
then everyone is going to make up stories
that are obviuosly not fair
and yell at each other
and tell mummy on you, or the teacher

and then shane warne will post something on tiwtter

wikileadks - New Zealand in the leaks

2010-12-14T04:15:00.000-08:00

On decmber 5th Wikileaks released a cable stating that the following New Zealand locations are listed as "critical" overseas dependancies by the United States.
Southern Cross undersea cable landing, Whenuapai, NEW ZEALAND
Southern Cross undersea cable landing, Takapuna, NEW ZEALAND

This is sourced from cable 09STATE15113, REQUEST FOR INFORMATION:CRITICAL FOREIGN DEPENDENCIES (CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND KEY RESOURCES LOCATED ABROAD)

London's best live Music Nights?

2010-12-10T02:50:00.000-08:00

See this post over at the z.electric blog, introducing up-and-coming French music nights in London ;)

The trouble with the LibDems

2010-12-09T08:03:00.000-08:00

I expect many people voted for the LibDems becasue they hoped for was a centre-left answer to the failings of the incumbent Labour party. Unfortunately, what they got is a centre right supporting arch to the conservative agenda.

The result of this frustration is now being played out on the streets of Westminster.

Student protest and police tactics

2010-12-09T07:46:00.000-08:00

I just witnessed a very nicely orchestrated piece of police control at the trafalgar square protests.
In a seeming attempt to force the protest line back in towards Westminster Square, the police used a sort of "soft cavalry charge" to punch a hole in the protest group.

The standing line was very well organised, creating a gap for the horses that was charged before the protestors cuold do anything to counter the move.

I've made a wee MS paint schematic to show what went on.
Black = protestor
Green = standing police line
Blue = mounted police

It all went pretty smoothly, from the perspective of the aerial shots on TV. I wonder though, what would have happened if the protestors had stood their ground? Would the police have continued forward on horse? Would they have had time to reign in their horses to stop before they reached the protest line?

If this tactic is employed again, will the protestors learn to conter it? There's a 3 to 4 second (maybe less)window between when the standing line creates the gap, and when the horses arrive. I noticed that during this window, the protestors did not take the opportunity to surge into the gap. Had they done so, they might have completely countered the effectiveness of the charge, result instead, in a mass breakthrough of the line.

The BBC anchor described the horse charge inaaccurately as a phalanx of horses. In reality, is was a loose diamond shaped formation, about 3 abreast and prehaps 3 or 4 deep nose-to-tail.

Wikileaks - Credit Card Companies and their Lack of Morality

2010-12-09T05:44:00.000-08:00

Super little article here from Techdirt. Get this:

the Ku Klux Klan's website points you to a site that takes both MasterCard and Visa -- suggesting the pure arbitrariness of both credit card companies' decision here. It's a bad idea when firms start making decisions for political reasons. There are all sorts of companies out there that take credit cards to support objectionable (to many) activities. Is it really the credit card companies' job to pick and choose who they find objectionable to work with -- and if so, what basis does it use for saying "KKK is okay, but Wikileaks is not"

Can anyone explain this?
Perhaps Credit Card companies are worried about public perception, not moral decision making. It seems that morality is expendable when money is at stake

wikileaks - calbes archive online

2010-12-09T05:27:00.000-08:00

http://cablesearch.org/ has a searchable archive of all the currently released wikileaks cables. The current total is around 1218, which is reportedly only 1% of the total volume that is/will be available in the coming months.

Searchiung for "New Zealand" nothing major and/or controversial comes up. One mention in the document "09LONDON1385: COMMMONWEALTH ON FIJI, SRI LANKA, NIGERIA, QUEEN’S" makes specific mention of the wide known fact that NZ was pushing hard at Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group meeting for the suspension of Fiji from the commonwealth. Malaysia apparently was urging haste in the hope to "ensure that Fiji did not withdraw from the Commonwealth to pre-empt a full suspension a la Zimbabwe"

Nothing too controversial about that I suppose.

What this leak does show, is that at least in-so-far as this particular document is concerened, the information contained within is probably reliable.

What ever happened to altermodernity?

2010-12-06T12:32:00.000-08:00

Nothing. Thats' what.

Why?

Becuase Nicolas BOURRIAUD knows little of philosophy and just enough about marketing to make an invisible cloak. Sorry nick, but postmodernism (and modernism for that matter) are here with us for some time yet. Your little branding excercise is fun, but certainly not novel.

What's weirder, Foetus Jesus, or Jesus Foetus?

2010-12-04T04:50:00.000-08:00

I just reaslied that, for some reason, it seems wierd to describe Jesus as a foetus. Yet surely, before he was a baby ("baby jesus" which nobody seems to have a problems saying) he must have been a foetus.

Foetus Jesus?
Jesus Foetus?
There's probably a band called that...

The geopolitics of algae-based and other bio-fuels

2010-12-03T03:25:00.000-08:00

A collague sent me a link today outlining plans by Lufhansa to trial bio-fuels in future domestic route flights.

Besides the much-spoken-about environmental/sustainability issues associated with replacing fossil fuels with bio-based alternatives, I get the impression that a significant element of fuel development is being ignored by popular commentary on the subject.

The development of bio-fuels has the potential to significantly re-draw the map of global energy resource. What are the likely implications for the energy security of vast areas of the globe such as western europe? Sub-saharan west africa? Can the dominance of OPEC be challenged by nations with large land-masses such as Australia? Can the import/export balance for industrialised nations such as Germany, France, Britain be shifted, thus reducing the relative influence of OPEC on the economies of western Europe?

It's all very interesting.

2018 and 2022 World Cups - AWARD news

2010-12-02T08:39:00.000-08:00

Today FIFA announced the following:

2018 world cup is awarded to:

2022 world cup is awarded to:

Congratulations to each of these fossil fuels for their excellent bids.