Monthly Archives: April 2008

Saturday geek scraps

Posted on April 19, 2008 by acb

One function for a newspaper in the Internet age might be to edit the comments rather than the commenters. Having opinions is quite quick and easy, as is, for some people, writing them down. But ensuring that your comments section … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Which is ruder?

Posted on April 18, 2008 by acb

Some people send me emails that start “Dear Andrew” and have elegant signoffs, but no subjects. These madden me. I reply with emails that have subject lines, but no salutation or signoff — after all, their email program shows who … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather, Net stories | 1 Comment

Deliver us from Godwin, oh Lord, but not yet

Posted on April 17, 2008 by acb

I just found this unexpectedly lucid quote from Adolf Hitler when someone asked him why he was so anti-Semitic, when the Jews had benefitted Germany so much: “It is manifestly clear and has been proven in practice and by the … Continue reading →

Posted in God, War | Comments Off on Deliver us from Godwin, oh Lord, but not yet

Brief techie note

Posted on April 17, 2008 by acb

I have been playing with a 3G data modem, and I am completely converted. It’s often at least as fast as most communal wifi, and a great deal cheaper and more secure. I hate juggling with the the firewall every … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in nördig | 1 Comment

An omen on the lawn

Posted on April 17, 2008 by acb

It would be difficult to imagine a scene less adapted to brutal drama than the garden outside our kitchen window yet death does play there in front of our eyes. On Monday I was startled by a thump and a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | 2 Comments

Dumb as all the rocks you’d need to stone a harlot

Posted on April 14, 2008 by acb

I have just watched a documentary about Swedish jihadis, Det Svider i Hjärtat, which has not, so far as I know, been discussed in England, though it has been shown at the Barbican, something I only found out while posting. … Continue reading →

Posted in God, Sweden, War | 1 Comment

Fishing notes

Posted on April 14, 2008 by acb

No, not one, thanks for asking. A few pulls, one of which I really should have turned into a trout, but my fingers were numb and shaky after fishing through a hailstorm without gloves. Even on a day with a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Trouty things | 2 Comments

Fishing for real men

Posted on April 12, 2008 by acb

The subspecies of angler bloviatus montanus might be described from this specimen, writing under the pen-name “Tamarack” in Mary Orvis Marbury’s book Favourite Flies and the their histories, first published in 1892: During a residence of ten years in Montana, … Continue reading →

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At the Indie

Posted on April 11, 2008 by acb

The fucking editors come and go, talking about that c— Michaelangelo. Roger Alton, the new editor, has the distinction of being even more foul mouthed than Simon Kelner, th old one, was as a deputy sports editor, when he had … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism | Comments Off on At the Indie

Swedish creativity

Posted on April 10, 2008 by acb

I think that this is the strangest idea I have ever seen as reality TV: a Swedish production company is going around the Cannes TV festival with an idea for a show where pregnant single women look for stepfathers for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Sweden | 9 Comments