Monthly Archives: April 2008

Timewasting notes

Posted on April 10, 2008 by acb

A new hazard of technology: Roz Kaveney complains that every time she asks in a department store for a black beret, she is sent to the electronics department. A nice touch from Gideon Rachman’s FT blog: As we were assembling, … Continue reading →

Posted in Blather, God, Net stories, Science without worms, Trouty things | 3 Comments

A distinctive programme

Posted on April 9, 2008 by acb

I maintain in my own usage a distinction between “program” and “programme”. This doesn’t depend on whether I am writing to Americans or not. The distinction is between two referents (I nearly wrote “things”, but neither are tangible). A program … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Literature, nördig | 9 Comments

Readers more fluent in German than I

Posted on April 6, 2008 by acb

Should hurry to this essay on Joseph Weizenbaum (pdf, found through wikipedia). I don’t have any problem with accompanying biography, but the essay on his philosophical position is a bit much when I can’t find the dictionary. But it has … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Net stories | Comments Off on Readers more fluent in German than I

hymns for public execution

Posted on April 3, 2008 by acb

I note that Bishop Alan Wilson is celebrating an earlier Buckinghamshire Vicar who went mad but not before writing a hymn which was was thought suitable for public executions. What hymns would readers wish to hear at such a moment … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in God | Comments Off on hymns for public execution

Quicks and squicks

Posted on April 3, 2008 by acb

You know the little children who tug at you to try a different shop when you walk through a bazaar? Amazon just turned your cellphone into one of of these (I write “cellphone” because it seems to be a US … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Net stories | 4 Comments

What we learn from polls

Posted on April 2, 2008 by acb

via Crooked Timber, the purest possible illustration of the thesis that to many Americans “Muslim” means “dark and dangerous“, nothing more: There is little evidence that the recent news about Obama’s affiliation with the United Church of Christ has dispelled … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in USA | Comments Off on What we learn from polls

Kuka Mitä Häh?

Posted on April 1, 2008 by acb

The Leningrad Cowboys perform Sweet Home Alabama, backed by the Red Army Choir. The Leningrad Cowboys are the stars of the greatest film about America and Rock and Roll ever made; there is a clip from that on Youtube, too. Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | 1 Comment