bad My TalkTalk nightmare enters its second year. It is now exactly one year since my troubles with TalkTalk began. In a nutshell, they came to door offering to match the price of my existing service. I was interested and gave them some details. It turned out they couldn't give me a better deal so I
science Life, Unbounded: All you need to know about 2,000 years of astrobiology Caleb Scharf has just finished his superb sequence of the ten most important question in astrobiology. They are all good, but the end is a good place to begin: Metrodoru, the first astrobiologist? From Pergammon, Berlin, Image via WikipediaMetrodorus of ChiosDemocritus"To consider the Earth as the only populated
words Library emptied in life and literature. Life has sadly imitated art as Stony Stratford Library steals the plot of "The case of the missing books" by Ian Samson. The fact: The library in Stony Stratford near Threatened library gets its patrons to clear the shelves - Boing Boing.The fiction: Amazon.co.uk -
good And if you haven't, you should. What person hasn’t escaped to the bathroom during a business meeting and made a weird face in the mirror to say to the world: “You don’t know I’m doing this right now. Oh there’s so much you don’t know.” No other moment can so clearly
science Sterile Motherfather Mary and Intergalactic Jesus http://www.flickr.com/49503002139@N01/83937429/ created on 2006-01-08 13:46:18 Ari MooreCC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Searching through some old emails for reflections on the topic of absurdity.. I found a wonderfully topical article from Dec 2001 edition of the London Review of Books. Jerry Coyne was reviewing
good The 2020's - Decade of the aliens? [caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"] [/caption] With the twenty noughties truly over and the twenty teens picking up steam. What will we call all these decades be best know for? The noughties seem to have been the
good Le Chat, C'est Moi [caption id="attachment_1216" align="alignnone" width="700" caption="Le Chat - 2010-12-09"] [/caption] I have just discovered Philippe Geluck's magnifique comique Le Chat. It's formidable. Philippe Geluck - Le Chat - Home.
images Charlotte's Web BibliOdyssey has some absolutely gorgeous scans of the original artwork from Charlotte's Web. BibliOdyssey: Charlotte's Web.
images Aglianico, The flavour of stewed prunes From a time before Google translate, 1996 was a very year for Aglianico. I will spare you ALL CAPS. This wine is entirely made from Aglianico cultivated in the zone Sannitica on the soil, clayey, calcereous and aged in oak barrels through about six months. Deep ruby red with violet
comics xkcd: Five-Minute Comic That most geekscellent of webcomics xkcd is on a little break. Some bleak reality intruding on author Randall Munroe's rich fantasy life. How rich? While he's away he's giving us a glimpse into his notebooks. Here are some five minute sketches that never made
bad How to complain effectively: a case study. TalkTalk never listen to me on the phone so I am having to write them a letter. Without any sense of irony, they have an article on their site instructing you on how best to complain when you have dealings with shitty companies. When things go wrong after you’ve
good Papal Ice Nine I thought this recent Facebook vignette is worth saving for posterity or pitching to Roland Emmerich. Although, since it was on Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg now owns alls rights to this idea so it's his call. Caspar Addyman is wondering if the pope is always on duty. and if
life All I want for Christmas will fit in one small bag Every year my family ask me what I want for Christmas. Every year I put them to the test. This year is no different but it is a different test. This is an email I´ve just sent them from Berlin. In a break with my traditionally unhelpful request for
good Finally, I'm an Official Iron Maiden Fan Club member Yes, i've chosen to make my favourite tattooed millionaire a little richer. And it's about time too. * They were the band of my teens. * They are my favourite live band * Three of their concerts are in my all time top 10. * This summer I drove 3000
good Hannes Caspar : babydult and other works I am rather liking Hannes Caspar's photographs http://www.babydult.com. http://www.hannescaspar.com/
video Something for the weekend A third instalment of normal days from Thomas Becker and Sebastian Stahlhofen: [youtube JjBPTP0iaEk] It's a bit like Morecambe and Wise with less jokes but better stunts: [youtube EFgdhZGLJrY] via Blame it on the Voices I often try to throw my tea bag into the teacup from the
good Fresh brains attack the zombie problem The future of zombie researchIt's about time there were fresh brains in zombie research. So, it's great to see that once again neuroscience is breathing new life into a topic that has had the life sucked out of it by philosophers. For too long, large brained
images Resistance gallery: Beauty in Decay A new exhibition of stunning photos of urban decay open tomorrow at the Resistance gallery (265 Poyser Street, London, E2 9RF), to promote a forthcoming book of photos in the same theme. Beauty in Decaymore details at Wooster Collective
science Artificial dumbness Carnegie Mellon are trying to make artificial intelligence by having a computer read the internet. I doubt they are Carnegie Mellon University has taught a computer how to read and learn from the internet. According to Dennis Baron at the Oxford University press blog, the computer is called NELL and
good I wonder what he was praying for? No, this isn’t some fancy Photoshop trick, these are real human footprints ingrained in a hardwood floor. 70 year-old Buddhist monk Hua Chi has been praying in the same spot at his temple in Tongren, China for over 20 years. His footprints, which are up to 1.2 inches
good 100 'best' opening lines The American Book Review has a cynical traffic generating list of the best 100 opening lines from literature. I just read the whole thing so you don't have to and to be honest I don't think you have to. They don't really get it.
bad I'm sorry Alice Maybe it is the recent experience of protesting against the pope that has me seeing paedophilia everywhere. Or, without knowing it, i've become a Daily Mail reader. Which gives much the same effect from completely opposite causes. Anyhow, somehow my mind has been poisoned and I see peedos
