Humor Unnecessary people 10 Oct 2010 I was kind of musing on the road to ruination we are all skipping merrily down the other day when it occurred to me that there are some well-defined classes of people whose activities are the major reason why things are a mess. And the next thought was: who could… Continue Reading
Education Dicks, niceness and evil: a rant 29 Aug 2010 The ongoing blogbattle over whether to be nice or a dick skeptic continues. Phil Plait gave a speech suggesting that niceness works better. There was blowback, of course, which he discusses here and here. The Great Tone Debate seems to resolve down to those who think that minds are changed… Continue Reading
Education On non-cohort based education 8 Aug 2010 I’m going to rant for a bit; it’s Sunday here, so my Inner Preacher gets to play. Everyone is decrying the state of education, and how students know less and are unable to think, excel and so forth. Teachers, governments, and culture are all to blame, etc. It seems to… Continue Reading
Censorship The first casualty 26 Jul 2010 The increasing intention of western and non-western governments to censor the internet is usually put in terms of “child protection”, although it is very unlikely to be affected by censorship, merely by using uncensorable techniques like Torrents. But one has to wonder if the real reason is more to do… Continue Reading
Academe Herding cats, ethically 20 Jul 2010 There is a famous ad on Youtube in which cat wranglers herd cats to a final destination (for slaughtering? really?) as a metaphor for providing IT services. What is underpinning that humor is that domestic cats are not, typically, herd animals. They do not get along in large groups, although… Continue Reading
Australian stuff On recent developments, and a prospective 25 Jun 2010 So, we have a woman PM. I’m not particularly impressed by that – we should have had equal representation in the Parliament thirty years ago and it’s no great achievement to get a female executive now. We beat the US. Hoobloodyray. But that she is unashamedly unmarried, and took the… Continue Reading
Rant Demons! 17 May 2010 Doing the rounds are complaints. All sorts of complaints. Steve Jobs is controlling. Child porn is everywhere and will eat your children. Games on computers are destroying the moral fabric. And now Facebook is a threat to your safety. Take a deep breath and relax. These demons are not about… Continue Reading