Jaron Lanier nails it: Some of the youngest, brightest minds have been trapped in a 1970s intellectual framework because they are hypnotized into accepting old software designs as if they were facts of nature. Linux is a superbly polished copy of an antique, shinier than the original, perhaps, but still defined by it. However the…
Read More The truth about LinuxFrom Stephen Law: According to today’s Observer (p5), the Catholic Bishop of Lancaster, Patrick O’Donoghue (illustrated), has said in a document written for schools in his diocese that: “Under no circumstances should any outside authority or agency that is not fully qualified to speak on behalf of the Catholic Church ever be allowed to speak…
Read More More evidence that it's time to ban ALL faith-based schools in the UKPatrick “Ask the Pilot” Smith blasts the stupidity of the charade of airport security: The truth is, regardless of how many pointy tools and shampoo bottles we confiscate, there shall remain an unlimited number of ways to smuggle dangerous items onto a plane. The precise shape, form and substance of those items is irrelevant. We…
Read More The Airport Security FolliesShucks. I wish I could be in England in mid-January, so I could attend the first conference being organized by the Center for Inquiry in London. The theme is “Secularism in the Multicultural Society: The Civil Limits of Tolerance.” The roster of speakers is impressive: Paul Kurtz, Julian Baggini, Stephen Law, Polly Toynbee, Nigel Warburton…
Read More CFI London2007 turned out to be a very good year for new music – new to me, at any rate. I discovered several artists that I had inexplicably overlooked, picked up excellent new albums from some of my long-time favourites, and encountered some great new talent. So let’s take a look. The year started and ended…
Read More Music of 2007A suggestion: pop over to the no-man page at Myspace and listen to four of their tracks. Then click through to Tim Bowness and listen to some of his solo work (especially “last year’s tattoo”) (and there’s a downloadable track here). Enjoy.
Read More no-man & tim bownessIt’s been a wintry Christmas Day here in Seattle, and so my cunning plan was to curl up in front of the TV and watch all three Lord of the Rings DVDs, back to back – the extended versions. Unfortunately when I turned on my DVD player, it emitted a ghoulish death-rattle and refused to…
Read More Wintry Christmas plans foiled by technologyIt’s been a cold and wet weekend here in Seattle, and my PowerBook has been acting up again. I thought of taking it to the Apple store over in Bellevue, but I couldn’t face the prospect of going to a mall just before Christmas. I’ll keep my fingers crossed, double-check the Time Machine backups, and…
Read More Power glitches, rain, blood, razors, and meat piesIt is probably the most negative book review ever written. Or if there is a worse one, do let me know. “This book runs the full gamut from the mediocre to the ludicrous to the merely bad,” begins Colin McGinn‘s review of On Consciousness by Ted Honderich. “It is painful to read, poorly thought out,…
Read More The worst book review ever writtenOne of my colleagues has received his XO laptop and brought it in to show us. Now I’m even more impatient for mine to arrive – it’s quite fascinating (in the xkcd sense).
Read More XO sighted