HONEST ARROGANCE

Blue Grey Sky.

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:32:12 +0100

So after a hiatus due to no interconnectivity in my new flat I have returned.

Paul Catherall demonstrates his lino prints of London that were commissioned by the TFL. Gorgeous results and it’s a pleasure to see how they are created.

Pitchfork reviews music.

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:19:34 +0100

Pitchfork reviews music.:

An oldie but a goodie.

Schreiber’s semi-favorable review, which begins in earnest after a six-paragraph preamble comprising a long list of baroquely rendered, seemingly unrelated anecdotes peppered with obscure references, summarizes music as a “solid but uninspired effort.”

I also am a fan of the end quote. Perfectly encapsulates my feelings towards half the music/lifestyle/design blogs I’ve been reading recently.

“overwrought, masturbatory posturing intended to make insecure hipsters feel as if they’re part of some imagined elite beau monde.”

Libel laws in Britain.

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:11:27 +0100

Libel laws in Britain. :

One of the most frustrating things I come across as a law student is how occasionally you have to examine facts as if in a vacuum, isolated from reality to gain an impartial view. In this case, Simon Singh criticised The British Chiropractic Association who responded by suing him. The article was nothing more than opinion, however as usual things got far more complicated.

The case at present hinges on the meaning of “bogus.” In a preliminary hearing, the judge ruled that bogus means deliberately dishonest, rather than a lack of evidence; he also ruled that Singh had written a statement of fact, not opinion, something that will make the case much harder to defend.

Do you have a better chance of becoming a millionaire via the Lottery or X-Factor?

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:28:11 +0100

Do you have a better chance of becoming a millionaire via the Lottery or X-Factor?:

Lone Gunman does the maths and concludes that:

The chances of winning the lottery (with average jackpot winnings of £2,053,984) is 1 in 13,983,816. You would therefore need to buy £64 of tickets for a slightly better chance of winning the jackpot than becoming a millionaire through winning the X-Factor.

The London Review of Breakfasts

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:47:39 +0100

The London Review of Breakfasts:

For when nothing else except the perfect breakfast will do, The London Review of Breakfasts is sure to guide to full english heaven.

We hate bad breakfasts. We hate nudging limp forks at greasy microwaved sausages, miserable pink bacon and the clear and runny white of an unloved fried egg. We hate beans that are room temperature and bread that’s only toasted on one side. We despise cold hard tomatoes. Hate it when we order tap water and it never comes and we don’t know what to say to each other and we have a relationship crisis and suddenly everything seems too cramped and stuffy and the night before embarrassing.

Reddit Asks..

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 18:55:28 +0100

Reddit Asks..:

Why are superheroes inhumanely strong and fast while the bad villains are “evil geniuses”? My favourite answers are:

Partly to appeal to the average person, who can wrap their mind around the concept of faster and/or stronger, but will never really understand genius without being one, and partly because people reading/watching escapist media would prefer to speed or smash things to vent their frustration, rather than think about their problems.
Because then the hero would have to save the world using his genius brain, and comic book writers aren’t smart enough to come up with the kind of solutions a genius would. So it boils down to intellectual laziness on the part of the comic writers. So much easier to just show your hero smashing something than it is to come up with a compelling plot that requires the use of brainpower to work out.
Though Professor X is a genius, his mental abilities are pretty much brute force. He forces his mind onto others and controls them, or manipulates their memories, or reads their thoughts. That’s not really an application of intelligence. It doesn’t take a genius to read someone’s mind.

In fact, most mental abilities have nothing at all to do with intelligence.

A Unified London.

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 11:51:35 +0100

A Unified London.:

Branding a city has always been a bit of a funny one, designers seem to panic and end up creating another ~~shit~~ uncontroversial brushstroke logo.

London is in the lucky but difficult position where people already have ideas of what London is. The London underground sign is far to iconic to ever be forgotten and must either be integrated into the design or left behind. With the problems that came with the 2012 Olympic launch it will be essential London gets this right.

Creative Review give the subject a thorough examination.

Computers are faster than they were in 1995.

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 11:36:07 +0100

Computers are faster than they were in 1995.:

The WSJ talks to Disney about the new Toy Story re-release. They discover that rendering speeds are now 86400 times faster than they were 14 years ago which conjures up an initial feeling of ‘no shit’ followed by a realisation of just how quick that is. Scary stuff.

The process of rendering the films — or translating computer data into images — was vastly accelerated by current technology. Where the original “Toy Story” required an hour per frame to create, Mr. Lasseter said, rendering the new 3-D version took less than 1/24th of a second per frame.

(via Watching Apple)

I don't understand Patents.

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 11:25:53 +0100

I don't understand Patents.:

The more I read the more I get confused and wonder how on earth we ended up with such a pernicious system. Reuters tells us of the latest fuck up.

On Friday a U.S. court of appeals overturned a $358 million damages award against software maker Microsoft Corp in a long-running patent dispute with French telecoms equipment firm Alcatel-Lucent.

Featuring 3 of my favourite things; bikes, no cars on the road...

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 11:05:00 +0100

Featuring 3 of my favourite things; bikes, no cars on the road and looking damn cool while doing it. (via yatzer.com)

The Inconvenience Threshold

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 11:03:00 +0100

The Inconvenience Threshold:

How bad do things have to get before you take action against them? Jordan Barber examines his inconvenience threshold, and concludes that N_total > Inconvenience Threshold (IT) when N = (R+M)*W.

Guess you’re going to have to read the article to find out exactly what that means.

Marginal Revolution considers the case for honorary doctorates.

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 10:51:00 +0100

Marginal Revolution considers the case for honorary doctorates.:

Without thinking about it too much I had always assumed it was for mostly political reasons, to have a prestigious academic associated with their institution is a clear incentive for the university. MR hit the same problem as I did - why do people accept them?

…there is a saturation limit. I’ve started to turn down about half of the honorary degree invitations. I feel badly about it, but each one takes at least three days, including travel, and I am starting to feel anxious about the few years I have left to accomplish things that I want to do.

Scanwiches

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 10:46:00 +0100

Scanwiches:

When you are hungry and need inspiration, look no further than my new favourite website Scanwiches.

Boxers, before and after fights.

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 10:41:00 +0100

Boxers, before and after fights.:

I have an interesting relationship with boxing. I love the idea of boxing; some grotty underground club with old leather bags creaking as you deliver a right hook before prancing around shadow boxing. However the idea of getting repeatedly punched in the face, and the lasting damage that it causes does not appeal. Looks like it’s Wii boxing for me.. except I hate video games. (via Kottke)

Lego is still cool.. kinda.

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 10:34:19 +0100

Lego is still cool.. kinda.:

This one article has both impressed and disappointed me. Lego doesn’t have a single factory in China, and instead produced every brick in country of birth - Denmark. What’s less cool is that the majority of their profits now come one off lego kits such as a Star Wars death star.

Lego has increasingly focused on toys that many parents wouldn’t recognize from their own childhood. Hollywood themes are commanding more shelf space, a far cry from the idealistic, purely imagination-oriented play that drove Lego for years and was as much a religion as a business strategy in Billund.

However I loved finding out that Lego have just opened a concept store that runs birthday parties and classes with master builders. A lego birthday party would be awesome.

Gordon Brown Apologises.

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 10:20:00 +0100

Gordon Brown Apologises.:

So online petitions do actually work sometimes. Who knew?

Turing was a quite brilliant mathematician, most famous for his work on breaking the German Enigma codes. It is no exaggeration to say that, without his outstanding contribution, the history of World War Two could well have been very different.

Nothing is private on the internet.

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 10:10:00 +0100

Nothing is private on the internet.:

A misconfigured facebook webserver has leaked notes for 16,000 accounts with privacy settings turned on. Should be common sense by now but just reiterates the assumption that anything you put on the internet can be seen by everyone.

Operation Northwoods

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:25:05 +0100

Operation Northwoods:

In 1962 a plan was proposed that called for CIA operatives to commit apparent acts of terrorism within the US to drum up public support for a war against Cuba. It was drafted by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and was sent to the Secretary of Defence. Although never officially accepted or executed (it was personally rejected by JFK) General Lemnitzer had plans for creating plausible pretexts to use force. James Mamford summarises:

Operation Northwoods, which had the written approval of the Chairman and every member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called for innocent people to be shot on American streets; for boats carrying refugees fleeing Cuba to be sunk on the high seas; for a wave of violent terrorism to be launched in Washington, D.C., Miami, and elsewhere. People would be framed for bombings they did not commit; planes would be hijacked. Using phony evidence, all of it would be blamed on Castro, thus giving Lemnitzer and his cabal the excuse, as well as the public and international backing, they needed to launch their war.

Why Do You Hate Me?

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 23:58:00 +0100

Why Do You Hate Me?:

A gay man tries to find out why anti gay rights campaigners hate him so much. Some of the quote’s scare the shit out of me. I struggle to know how to frame my feelings on homophobes. If their fact’s were wrong, if they had somehow confused themselves and got lost in their hatred I might understand; those are problems that can be addressed. I have yet to find an approach that works when sound reason and considered opinion is not the basis of their argument.

It is easy to conclude that this is nothing more than stupid people supporting stupid ideologies, but I think that is too simplistic and instead illustrates how people just don’t think in the same manner I do. It’s clear they have a emotional responses to me, my feeling is that they simply cannot translate into a clear and logical response, so they don’t bother. It’s more emotionally satisfying not to re-examine your premises, and easier to ignore the difference between logic and your emotional response to continue comfortable thoughts.

That still doesn’t sit well with me, but until I can think about it some more, that’s what I’m going with.

In fact, I have - I am sorry to say - I have a sister who is involved in that lifestyle,” she says. “But deep down in her heart, she knows it is wrong.”

I want a bike.

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 23:35:30 +0100

I want a bike.