Category Archives: Blather

How computers improve life

or not: an occasional series. This entry comes from lifehacker: Calendar: Track Time Between Haircuts with Google Calendar and Spreadsheet Googler Matt Cutts uses Google Calendar and Google Spreadsheets to keep track of how long he’s gone between haircuts—a good … Continue reading

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Byways of modern scholarship

Looking for references to the Byron quote in the previous post, I came across two unlikely biographical sites on the net: this one seems to have taken the early Wikipedian route of lifting large chunks from out of copyright reference … Continue reading

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This is just silly

It is now possible to measure distances on Google Maps. The trick is fairly well hidden, under “Dig a Hole through the Earth” on the featured content sidebar, but if you find it a bewildering collection of geeky measurements become … Continue reading

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Some weeks the bullets come thudding in

And this has been one of them. I just heard from one friend that she has been diagnosed with MS in her very early thirties; another writes this afternoon to say that his ex, with whom he shares the custody … Continue reading

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Random notes

Everything seems to be running fine to judge from the error logs: a few robots complaining that they find themselves hors texte, a place that structuralists believed could not exist; I have meanwhile been running around when not writing nonsense … Continue reading

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Raptor ready

I’m pretty certain I saw a peregrine falcon yesterday, even though we are on the limits of their range as reported by the RSPB: in any case, a fairly large falcon with pointed, scimitar-shaped wings and a long, largely straight … Continue reading

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A fair sex trade mark

I was browsing through the small ads for prostitutes in the local paper when I had an idea that could transform the industry and dispel the unease which might afflict potential customers who think it is something degrading to everyone … Continue reading

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For the Duck who has everything

Queen Anne is one of the most sought-after architectural styles. Now your ducks, too, can enjoy it … From The Field, which curiously fails to report that the firm describes the duckhouse (a floating nesting box) as “inspired by Country … Continue reading

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Bad Sex

I have just reread, for the first time in years, David Lodge’s novel of the breakup of pre-conciliar Catholicism in England How Far Can you Go? It is probably the book of the worst sex ever written: that is to … Continue reading Continue reading

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Students

The use of “Students” in the following story seemed to me to make an important point about higher education today: Sion Hardy, 24, a town planning student at Liverpool University, had been enjoying a night out at a club in … Continue reading Continue reading

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