Monthly Archives: March 2006

Why are people arseholes online?

Posted on March 31, 2006 by acb

The other day someone sent me an email that was jeering, mean-spirited and pompous all at once. This had in fact been intended for publication, but the newspaper to which it was addressed declined, so the writer sent it on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Net stories | 9 Comments

Incest and journalism

Posted on March 31, 2006 by acb

About three weeks ago, I was asked (along with others) to contribute questions and suggestions for Alan Rusbridger’s interview with Rowan Williams. This morning I was talking to Paul Handley, who is to interview Rusbridger for the _Church Times._ Do … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism | 1 Comment

online transciption service

Posted on March 31, 2006 by acb

Could “this”:http://www.evoca.com (found through [“John Naughton”:http://memex.naughtons.org/archives/2006/03/31/2691]) be an actually useful Web 2.0 app? I can’t see the use, if you have learned to read and write, of private podcasting, which is the main selling point — essentially, this service is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism | 1 Comment

Wednesday random letter

Posted on March 29, 2006 by acb

I’ve just thought of this: sort your music alphabetically by the first letter of the artist. Now choose one letter to take to your desert island. Without much thought, I vote, from my collection, for “R” * Rachmaninov, Sergei * … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | 1 Comment

Rural excitements

Posted on March 29, 2006 by acb

Supper with Michael Ruse on Monday evening, at which I did not shine, since I had a cold whose unpleasantness, fortunately, was almost entirely internal. Got back about quarter to midnight; spent the next day in bed, reading variously To … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | Comments Off on Rural excitements

Louise and the venomous snails

Posted on March 26, 2006 by acb

“This is wonderful!”:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4846504.stm Our learned commentator has finally got her snails on air. These are carnivorous beasties which live on coral reefs. Now, if you’re a snail, there is not much hope of running your prey down, or even following … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Science without worms | 1 Comment

The Onion and the neocon

Posted on March 24, 2006 by acb

OK — here are two quotes. “One is from”:http://www.theonion.com/content/node/46450 the _Onion_ this week, and “the other”:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/23/AR2006032301157.html is from Charles Krauthammer’s column in today’s _Washington Post._ The hard thing is to decide which is which. Vote in the comments, please. bq. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in War | 4 Comments

Mac advice needed

Posted on March 24, 2006 by acb

Dear lazyweb, (may I call you lazy?) When I hook my mother’s imac up to a broadband connection next week what kind of security measures should I take? I assume there is a built-in firewall in OSX, which will be … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in nördig | 3 Comments

Rowan, PZ, creationism

Posted on March 22, 2006 by acb

Very interesting piece of decontextualisation “over at pharyngula.”:http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2006/03/archbishop_of_canterbury_antic.php PZ picked up on a _Register_ piece claiming that ABC “put the smackdown” on creationism. This was indeed the lead that the rather desperate _Guardian_ put on the news story of their … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in God | 1 Comment

All downhill since Hume

Posted on March 21, 2006 by acb

I was brought up to suppose that Western philosophy is just a series of footnotes to Plato — not that this led me to learn enough Greek to read him. But Hume had the taste to write in English; and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | 1 Comment