Yearly Archives: 2004

Spam is the price of freedom

Posted on January 7, 2004 by acb

I mean this in a very precise and technical sense. The other day I was complaining that there is no spam detection software that could distinguish random nonsense — quite a lot of the spam I now get has a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Software | 2 Comments

a failure of voice

Posted on January 6, 2004 by acb

My current profile is Dan Dennett, so I’m rereading his books, and once more filled with irritation at the idea of memes. I really don’t see how it adds anything except a specious impression of precision to what we already … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Science without worms | 2 Comments

Home again

Posted on January 4, 2004 by acb

Well, here we are again, back on Pair, after a two-year excursion to Cornerhost. I have spent all morning reviving a sick database, and making sure that everything works after being moved across the atlantic twice. Do let me know … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | 6 Comments

Foreigners may think this funny

Posted on January 2, 2004 by acb

From the Telegraph’s obituary of a distinguished spook, who spent most of the war as a PoW, before joining MI5. “Simkins endured no great hardship as a prisoner, regarding camp life as relatively easy after the privations of Marlborough .” Continue reading →

Posted in Travel notes | Comments Off

Your Christmas was better than this

Posted on January 1, 2004 by acb

Presumably this story is all over the better tabloids but I only have the Times, which is not a good tabloid. Once upon a time (1944) there was a girl No Better Than She Ought To Be, who had an … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | Comments Off