Tom Morris: 2006-01-14

2006.01.14

Gordon Brown is currently revealing his tedious old ideas about British unity and the possibility of setting up "British Day" - in the spirit of America's Fourth of July celebrations. He has a tendency when things aren't going well or things are rather boring in politics to draw this card out. He already wrote about it in Prospect magazine a few months back. Part of what gets me is that he has the gall to use the words "freedom" and "liberty", when he has served on a government which has ransacked Britain of any of it's traditional liberties. We are set to have a law which will threaten the liberty of free speech. We've seen drastic increases in police powers. This is a government that has locked people up without trial and dismissed due process as a nineteenth century technicality. Why, exactly, should anyone take Mr Brown seriously when he uses the word liberty? 2006-01-14T20:32:44Z

David Aaronovitch is discussing Mr Galloway's antics in the Celebrity Big Brother house. He's come in for some criticism for getting paid to lounge around and do nothing. But I would prefer if we could get a few more politicians in to the BB house. Might stop them passing such shitty and bureaucratic laws. 2006-01-14T20:15:56Z

This kind of thing doesn't affect me. Why would I be fiddling with my portable modem while driving? It's not like anyone rings me on my portable modem. It just has that capability. 2006-01-14T19:24:22Z

They don't get it. Computer games aren't "educational" in any way except for the fact that they often help one to pass the time at school instead of going along with the supposedly educational experience you have at that loathsome institution. 2006-01-14T19:21:05Z

Scoble is sayin' that Microsoft won't be supporting Windows Media for OS X. Great. I never use WMA/WMV. I consciously avoid it. It's one of the worst formats I've ever encountered. It sucks on Windows, and it sucks twice as much on Mac. I'd rather like it, in fact, if every single bit of Windows Media content disappeared with the click of my fingers. Might encourage people to release stuff in a non-suck format. 2006-01-14T19:14:24Z

MetaFilter are reporting that Henry Rollins has a blog. Here it is. First off, it's not a blog, it's a journal. And second, I can't read it. Doesn't have RSS. 2006-01-14T18:49:29Z

P. Z. on Dembski: "Dembski really doesn't get it, does he? The game should be about finding evidence and backing up your claims, not rummaging around to find the catchiest slogan." Since when has that sort of thing affected the ID folks? Like Kodak, the rule for the unenlightened is simple: we don't do products, we do logos (in both senses of the word). 2006-01-14T18:44:14Z

Ask MetaFilter are discussing organisation for non-fiction. Dude, it's called an outline. 2006-01-14T18:41:48Z

Spot the Persecution. I shall now undertake a pre-emptive persecution of American fundamentalists: "Although it is currently January, I wish you a happy holidays in advance for 2006". Pwned! 2006-01-14T18:39:43Z

How to write good headlines 2006-01-14T18:38:39Z

This story is so unbelievably fucked up and one of the reasons why marijuana should be completely legalised at the earliest opportunity. 2006-01-14T18:30:59Z

We sure know how to improve schools. We don't hire better teachers or improve the curriculum. We just stop stupid people taking exams. Magic! 2006-01-14T18:18:34Z

Well, of course blogs aren't objective. We don't pretend to be. We also don't do things like get a creationist and a scientist to stand on a platform together and call that objective because you got 'both sides' of a story. What's offensive about weblogs isn't that they claim to be objective and aren't. They just show up those who do claim to be and aren't. We cover every 'side' of the story. We get it wrong. But unlike your media, where your readers can shout at their television or grumble at their papers, we can write back. You hate us because we enjoy what we do. Now get the fuck over it. 2006-01-14T16:48:02Z

It's only taken until 2006, but the truth is now out there. 2006-01-14T04:41:00Z

I'm going to give you a link which should do three things: (1) show you how chronically stupid MySpace users are, (2) show you why comments pages need strict moderation and (3) make you enter a sstate of despair over what the Internet is to become. I direct you to a comments thread over on Randy Charles Morin's blog. Warning, may crash lesser computer's browsers due to overload of meaningless shit by illiterate MySpace idiots. 2006-01-14T04:28:39Z

I finally understood what I was carrying around with me today. I'm not carrying a mobile phone (tr: cellphone). I'm carrying a portable, battery-powered modem that doesn't require a wire. It also has some primitive, if occasionally useful, functions such as the ability to make synchronous voice calls and send short notifications through SMS. Both have major downsides, especially when used in a public location. When I got ADSL, I thought I'd never have to use a modem ever again. I now use dial-up every day. I just use it while whizzing in to London at 70mph. GPRS really is the saving grace for mobile phones in a way that WAP never was. Now, if only the mobile companies could get their pricing straight and set it at an affordable level. I'm about fine with £1 a day, but others should really get the benefit too. 2006-01-14T01:01:30Z

FlickrBlog has some very pretty dogs surrounded by Americana. 2006-01-14T00:07:27Z

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No. 86

Tom Morris tom@tommorris.org

Currently in: East Sussex, England

Usually in: East Sussex, United Kingdom

AIM: tommorris
YIM: tom.morris

I am a vegetarian, an atheist, like to code in Python and noodle about with microformats and the Semantic Web. I also have a BA in philosophy from London, and am studying for an MA. My philosophical interests are in Victorian-era German philosophy, Kierkegaard, Robert Nozick, hermeneutics and current approaches to the demarcation problem in the philosophy of science. Musically, I like jazz fusion, soul and P-Funk. My musical nirvana would be a mixture of Beethoven, Miles Davis and George Clinton topped with a side-serving of Erykah, Jill and Angie.

I also write for the Citizendium, an online encyclopedia project. If you know about stuff, you should join in.

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