Monthly Archives: November 2005

A Jack Vance Restaurant

I was introduced yesterday to the most absurd and delightful Chinese patisserie in Soho, possibly in Europe. The exterior walls are sheets of blue glass; even the urinals seem made from slabs of blue perspex, with a stepped slate trough … Continue reading

Posted in Travel notes | 1 Comment

Gmail is not a word processor

I was bewildered by Vic Keegan’s article on gmail as a word processor; I should have been illuminated. It shows how many journalists still use a computer as a typewriter with fancy formatting. He wants a fast and lightweight program … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Journalism | 12 Comments

Another patent story I missed

OK – I only found it after the deadline. But some idiot in the US Patent Office has approved one for “a flying saucer which depends on antigravity.” In a way, that’s almost more shocking than patents on hyperlinks.

Posted in nördig | 4 Comments

That Sony rootkit

I have a big piece on IP going into Saturday’s Guardian. I’m not very happy about it, because I think it misses an important point about Sony’s rootkit, one of the most egregious examples of corporates taking ownership of things … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in nördig | 2 Comments

Different from Kipling, how?

There is a long plug/interview with Robert Kaplan in the Atlantic Monthly online (not sure if it’s paywalled) which fills me with a soft despair. Here’s why: Instead of the oppressive colonial domination that characterized other empires, Kaplan describes America … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in War | Comments Off on Different from Kipling, how?

The Wall Street Journal comes out for torture

The Wall Street Journal has come out for torture in its leader on Saturday: “Yet according to many Bush Administration critics, the aggressive and stressful questioning techniques used successfully against the likes of KSM put the U.S. on a slippery … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in War | Comments Off on The Wall Street Journal comes out for torture

Showing the instruments

Call me sentimental but I would like to believe that if Mr Bush and Mr Cheney had actually run for office on a programme of legalising torture, they might have lost the 2000 election. Possibly they had no strong opinions … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in War | 1 Comment

Sex and slavery

There was a glorious story in an Australian-owned tabloid about two teachers meeting in Queensland, where brothels have just been legalised. One of them had gone as a customer; the other was working there in her spare time. I don’t … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Journalism | Comments Off on Sex and slavery

A Phlegmagogue for the Elaphure

I’ve been dithering about what to put in this slot. In a linkier and shorter place I would simply put the two delightful words I found while cheating at the FT crossword yesterday — elaphure and phlegmagogue. An elaphure is … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Blather | 7 Comments

Serendipity

The next entry on this blog will be the thousandth. I’m not sure how I should commemorate this milestone — perhaps proclaim a year of Jubilee? — but in the meantime, here’s a twelve sting guitar and a curiously shaped … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Pictures | 2 Comments