Interesting. I remember thinking when I saw John Gosden explaining reassuringly “freakish, but it happens (painlessly?) all the time” as he tended to Rewilding, being put-down at Ascot in July, that race horses must have fragile cannon-bones. In fact not being interested in horses I had to look up cannon-bones on-line at the time. (Only [...]
Entries from November 2011
Inbred to Destruction ?
0
November 29, 2011 at 10:12am
by Psybertron
Yes & No
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November 29, 2011 at 8:35am
by Psybertron
Should they illuminate Stonehenge at night ? Why does this have to be a dichotomous, binary question ? Why not illuminate it Wednesday to Friday nights, in darkness with minimal starlight pollution Saturday to Tuesday ? Or alternate nights, or … before and after midnight, or …
M1 for Marmite
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November 29, 2011 at 8:32am
by Psybertron
Oops. Plenty of puns in response.
Talking of Memes
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November 28, 2011 at 10:45am
by Psybertron
Sarah Lund’s sweater. Loving the second series as much as the first. Even though the relentless plot twists and red-herrings are infuriatingly, yet somehow predictably unpredictable, with motives and suspects ten-a-penny, a la Morse, it is still gripping stuff. Forget the knitting patterns, the question is – is it always necessary to cross the bridge [...]
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Understanding Computers
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November 28, 2011 at 8:44am
by Psybertron
Interesting to hear this morning’s news item on Google and Microsoft pointing out to the UK Government that knowing how computers work is more than learning “office and social network tools” – those are purely functional ICT skills anyone should have. Slightly worrying that people don’t see anything between “code” and “office tools” – there’s [...]
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What are Arabs ?
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November 24, 2011 at 10:22am
by Psybertron
I’m reading The Arabs – A History by Eugene Rogan – lots of positive reviews by the likes of Max Hastings for example as well as Arab speakers. I’m only 90-odd pages in (out of 600ish), but I’m baffled. There are less than 10 pages from 1200 to 1500, and by page 90 we’re already [...]
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Beer Myth
2
November 18, 2011 at 1:13pm
by Psybertron
There is a British myth that, apart from perhaps Belgian beers, British “real ale” is the the best beer there is. Now much as I do love traditional English ales, in all their varieties (Ordinary/Sessions, Specials, Extra-Specials, in a beer garden, by the river, on a summer’s day, etc.), there is so much more to [...]
Oppenheimer Recommends Feynman
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November 17, 2011 at 3:38pm
by Psybertron
A letter from Robert Oppenheimer recommending Richard Feynman for work at UCAL Berkeley posted by “Letters of Note“. (Via Jorn Barger) “He is a second Dirac, only this time he’s human.” Has to be the pick of the quotes (used in the blog post title in fact). Graham Farmelo’s biography of Paul Dirac is entitled [...]
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I Don’t Believe It !
1
November 16, 2011 at 5:18pm
by Psybertron
Listening now to Laurie Taylor’s Thinking Allowed … quoting Emily Dickinson’s “Brain is Wider than the Sky”. Not an original idea, but Bryan Appleyard uses it as the title of his latest work. A veritable meme. Actually drawn to this edition of TA by Laurie’s introduction: “Bryan Appleyard and John Gray on why simple solutions [...]
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Daniel Kahneman
2
November 16, 2011 at 10:50am
by Psybertron
Excellent short interview by Claudia Hammond (BBC-R4 All in the Mind) with economics-psychologist Daniel Kahneman. (Also in the same edition another twist on the many studies of real-life abnormal brain lesions contributing to the understanding of normal brain-mind functions. A pair of conjoined-twins with separate-but-connected brains – 4-half-brains having more possibilities than the usual two. [...]
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Technocracy
8
November 14, 2011 at 9:03am
by Psybertron
So in practice the working rule is, when times are easy popular democracy is OK, when the going gets tough what we need is a meritocracy of peer-appointed technical experts. I’m good with that. In practice, as I keep pointing out to over-confident UK electoral reform people, we need a balance of both. Both houses [...]
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Morphogenetic Fields
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November 14, 2011 at 4:43am
by Psybertron
Sheldrake’s conception of socio-cultural & intellectual fields which influence and are influenced by the living things within them – and contain that socio-culturo-intellectual memory. Doesn’t seem in the slightest contentious – memes & memeplexes, Pirsigian levels of static patterns (of quality). Doesn’t seem in the slightest undermined by a holistic computer / machine / system [...]
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Nautis Project
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November 14, 2011 at 4:21am
by Psybertron
The project for navigators (through life). Interesting blog, but can’t work out who “Matthew” is.
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Life on Europa
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November 14, 2011 at 3:31am
by Psybertron
Interesting little BBC Radio 4 programme on space mission following Arthur C Clarke’s 2010 Odyssey Two thesis of life in Europa’s sub-glacial oceans ? (No podcast, no idea if that kind of link is permanent.) [Post Note - also this article is relevant. Has Europa as only 4th favourite location for extra-terrestrial life.]
Bobdobrorock
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November 14, 2011 at 3:24am
by Psybertron
Interesting del.ici.ous aggregation on Pirsigian philosophical topics – no idea who it is.
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That Bloody Picture
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November 9, 2011 at 4:40am
by Psybertron
Jeez. Who says they’re “being callous” ? They’re probably doing what half the world was doing at that point, in front of their TV’s, reflecting with whoever was close to them on the awe-full significance of the event a few hours earlier in front of them. They just happen to have a ring-side seat.
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A Myth Too Far
1
November 8, 2011 at 3:31am
by Psybertron
In an effort to debunk brain myths, Claudia Hammond at the Beeb attempts to play down the significance left-right brain effects. Of course boiling anything down to two “objects” is absurd reductionism. Of course left and right brain are hugely connected. But as the final sentence admits they work in complementary ways, their behaviour and [...]
