June 2009
30 posts
Secrets of Simplicity: rules for being simple and... →
Great set of slides on how to achieve simplicity in design, the general point being that a certain degree of complexity is always necessary, the trick is to provide simple tools the user can use to manage it.
Ning Exposed - Tech Company Ning Scams its Clients... →
This is most disheartening news. I followed Marc Andreesen’s blog while it was active, and he seemed to have lots of good advice and generally be quite smart. However, he stopped blogging just after Ning raised $60 million and just before the company started to behave quite badly (their behaviour is compared to a pyramid scheme in the article, the idea being to get unwitting clients to do...
China bans online 'gold farming' | Software,... →
It’s important to point out that it’s not gold farming itself they’re banning, it’s Real-money Trading that they’ve made illegal. So, even the likes of Eve Online who tolerate the process by letting users trade in-game currency for “timecards” that let users pay for access to the game (and thus earn more currency…) will be affected.
I can’t...
“It comes with a handy belt clip screwed on to the back, yet the weight of the...”
– BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Giving up my iPod for a Walkman
Back in my day, son, we didn’t wear no fancy combats, we wore jeans! And a belt! And we had to fade them ourselves! Sure they only had 4 pockets, but they did us fine. Nowadays you’ve more pockets than sense! Kids these days...
“The team knows that MyPolice edges a difficult line – how to provide feedback...”
– Kate Ho.com
MyPolice, (fair and) balanced journalism, and why,... →
Much more thorough and reasonable look at the Times article on mypolice.org. It’s interesting to hear what his perception of the police complaints procedure is and his breakdown of the flaws in the article is very helpful.
Cops Already Scared of mypolice.org? →
I’ve been watching the progress of mypolice.org almost since it’s conception as my good friend Kate Ho is a member of the team which helped the idea win sicamp. And all I know about it is that it will be a website that allows people to leave feedback after having dealt with the police. While I’m keen to see them do well and go on to big things, most projects of this type...
“I can’t help feel that we have a responsibility to look past our own...”
– Tiger Beatdown: Michael Jackson, Celebrity, Empathy, and the Culture of Silence
I’ve always found it strange how willing so many people were to ignore his incredibly questionable behaviour. While demonising him for it is no better, our society decided to tolerate his behaviour rather than...
“Title: Feeling Better
Author: likecharity
Pairing: Prince William/Prince...”
– Royal Slash
Argh. Rule 34 strikes again.
On Influenza A (H1N1) « bunnie's blog →
Very good exploration of how the flu virus compares with computer viruses, including a suggestion of how to make swine flu deadlier. Probably not advisiable reading if you don’t think in terms of computers though.
“Muffin-top” is a generally pejorative slang term used to describe the...”
– Muffin top - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I love you wikipedia.
“I now expect to remain continuously armed for the duration of the Iranian...”
– Armed and Dangerous
The extent of ESRs ego never fails to amaze. A country revolts against a totalitarian leader and he seems to think he’s the lynch-pin around which it all hangs.
John Graham-Cumming: Benford's Law and the Iranian... →
aaaaaaaand having just posted that, here’s some equally convincing statistics that suggest there’s nothing fishy going on. Lies, damned lies…
“The probability that a fair election would produce both too few non-adjacent...”
– The Devil Is in the Digits: Evidence That Iran’s Election Was Rigged - washingtonpost.com
Two NYU professors crunch the numbers and determine that it’s highly likely Iran’s election was rigged. Must remember to get a computer to generate the fake results when it’s time for...
“The UK is the most incredible powerhouse of skills and creativity,” Noble...”
– Engineering the future
“Green Dam is a new Chinese state censorship program mandated to be provided with...”
– Chinese Green Dam censorship system exploit, 22 Jun 2009 - Wikileaks
OOPS. In an attempt to control the kinds of dangerous ideas Chinese citizens can discover on the internet, they’ve accidentally opened up the possibility of mass subversion of their citizens private computing...
“Everybody wins if we focus attention, resources and money on changing the...”
– The struggle against global warming is really war on the poor
I’ve been following Fuller’s writings on Global Warming for a while now and he’s continually struck me as being well-informed, passionate yet also, most importantly, reasonable. It’s well worth checking out some...
“MUFFIN BLUFFING IS THE PATRIARCHY’S SUPPORT SYSTEM.”
– Tiger Beatdown: SEXIST BEATDOWN: Muffin-Bluffing Is A Feminist Issue Edition
I lolled. Also, check out the oh-so-tender acoustic version of Poker Face…
apophenia: Dionysus and the Amethyst Initiative →
Here’s an article that was going through my head when I wrote my last blog entry about Tesco’s Think 25 policy. Dana had been studying the social behaviours of teenagers for her PhD thesis when she wrote this, and it rings true with what I observed growing up. She describes the downward spiral of alcohol misuse in a much more detailed manner than I did, well worth a read.
Tesco's Think 25 Policy and Why Think N > 18... →
Last night I attempted to buy some beer as a flatwarming gift for some friends of mine [1]. With me was my wonderful girlfriend ianthe88 and our lovely friend …
Watchmerlin:
Human Giant: Mother and Son Moving Co.
You can’t have him, God! You can’t HAVE him! Take ME!
[Via Jesse or Adam, if memory serves.]
Facebook Nazis: Do We Need Social Media... →
Jessica is mostly agreeing with Arrington’s argument that Facebook should be censoring holocaust deniers and other anti-semites. Here’s my comment:
I disagree. Facebook is one of the leading public forums on the internet for communication and discussion of any sort, it one of the Internet’s main Town Sqaures. This means it’s not fair to compare facebook to the likes of Dominos when...
“While 67% of all boys rated computer science as a “very good” or...”
– apophenia: gender gap in perception of computer science
Who voted BNP and why? - Channel 4 News →
Perhaps now we can stop speculating about how not-racist the country actually is. What’s most worrying is how many people seem to think white people are getting a raw deal these days (40% of the public).
“The average British voter is more likely to think that discrimination afflicts white people than Muslim or non-white people. And only seven per cent of the public think white people...
