Holidays
So, terpsichore1980 and I are back from an exciting almost-a-week touring Emilia-Romagna and eating lots of big dinners. You may, if you so wish, peruse my photos, which contain some pretty landscapes,...
View ArticleRespect
I join you fresh from the celebration of rjw1's birthday. Any Circle Line pub crawl is inevitably something of a bacchanalian excess, but rjw1 is the first person I know of to have completed it on...
View ArticleA disappointment of stellar proportions
So, it seems that the Star has gone downhill again. The beer is still fine, but there's no way that Fullers would risk the reputation of a pub that's been in every edition of the Good Beer Guide, so...
View ArticleArticle 21
Any fans out there of theories of everything?I've never been good enough at HEP theory to do more than skim this stuff, but I particularly liked the end of section 5: "The theory has no free...
View ArticleDemoralisation 101
This article talking about Google's plans (or otherwise) for the upcoming 700MHz spectrum auction in the US has the fantastic line, "Google has hired game-theory specialists to help plot its auction...
View ArticleNet Neutrality
"For that reason, net neutrality is a pipe-dream. We believe it is vital to put the customer in control of what takes priority on their line and we're already developing that capability," he said.No,...
View ArticleContact details
Hello,Something that's been bothering me for a while (but particularly around Christmas) is that I don't have a sensible way to store contact details for people. I had an address book at one point, but...
View ArticleHOFs in Google Spreadsheets
I discovered the delightful inclusion of a "map" function ("ARRAYFORMULA") in Google Spreadsheets today. Those of you with experience programming in functional languages will appreciate the elegance of...
View ArticleNew Year Dinner Party
Starter: Croziflette with mixed-leaf salad and balsamic plum dressing.Croziflette is a Savoyard recipe - like Tartiflette, only with "crozets" (tiny square bits of pasta, essentially) instead of...
View ArticleAero-hmmmm
"The worker also said the pilot had told him all the electronics had also failed."But the 777 uses fly-by-wire.The full reasons for the crash will emerge in due course, no doubt.
View ArticleReasons not to buy a Dolphin bathroom.
Since we (well, terpsichore1980 purchased a new bathroom from Dolphin, which was installed just before Easter 2007, the following things have happened:The grout and adhesive securing one of the floor...
View ArticleMarket Oddities
So, it seems to be universally agreed that the 0.75% base rate cut announced today by the US Federal Reserve Bank was an attempt to stop global stock markets from continuing their recent sharp downward...
View ArticleArticle 12
WTF? Surely if you want an environmentally-friendly boat, you should just pick one with a sail?
View ArticleThe Physiology of Taste
Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin is a legendary figure in gastronomical literature; a cursory scan through my cookery shelf sees him cited by Harold McGee, Hervé This and Jeffrey Steingarten, to name the...
View ArticleWedding Cheese
So, my blushing fiancée and I went to The Teddington Cheese to build a prototype wedding cakecheese pile. I took some photos for the benefit of florists, parents, future in-laws etc, and so I thought...
View ArticleOcado Password Autocompletion
So, I finally got sufficiently annoyed by Ocado arbitrarily deciding to stop me choosing whether or not to store the password for their website to write a trivial Greasemonkey script to enable the...
View ArticleWhat's up with the RSC?
Is it just me, or have the Royal Society of Chemistry got a new publicity officer or something? First it was perfect Yorkshire Pudding*, last week it was that exam standards are eroding, and today it's...
View ArticleContinuing my theme of supercilious posts
One of these gas energy savers recently came into my possession, and I have to say - don't bother getting one. I tested mine using the Awesome Power of Science(tm) and can confirm that using it makes...
View ArticleThis actually happened.
So, this week I have been cooking Sri Lankan food from Charmaine Solomon's excellent book. I had some delicious pork curry leftover, and ate it at my desk for lunch. These two things then happened:1....
View ArticleCalifornia in unordered lists
Forms of transport: Jumbo JetAirtrainPartially-electric carTrain (with wine!)BicyclePartially-electric busFootNarrow-gauge steam trainTaxiBARTBusCable-car (all three lines)Vintage tramFerryMinibus...
View ArticleTr^H^HPolltastic
View Poll: SpeciosityClearly there are many more moral positions on these subjects than those implied here.
View ArticleEh?
Dear Royal Mail,Given that you get to choose what address your automated system sends emails from, WTF?Bonus points for the 20-line signature, including translation into Welsh.
View ArticleExpenses challenge
The ChallengeMake best use of my £16 dinner allowance when traveling on expenses, making best use of the amenities in my hotel room. Room service prices started at about £12.50, with a £5 cover charge....
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