- 2.8 Release Jazzes Themes and Widgets – I just upgraded ZX81 to the latest version of WordPress. Let me know if you see anything that’s not working properly!
- Chinese troops out in force for 20th anniversary of ‘nothing happening’ – “Many people who were in the area in 1989 were expected to observe the anniversary by staying at home and doing nothing special, much as they did 20 years ago.”
- Behind the Scenes: Tank Man of Tiananmen – “Few images are more recognizable or more evocative. Known simply as ’tank man,’ it is one of the most famous photographs in recent history.”
Tag: News
- Birds show off their dance moves – Funny video, fascinating science, bad music…
- Intelligent Design Sort – It would seem that intelligent design has “uses” outside explaining the diversity of nature. It works for Computer Science too. Who’d have thought it?
- Scrap ID cards now, say Cabinet rebels – Maybe there is some benefit in the dire state of the economy…
- Three Cheers for Afghan Women – it’s a little depressing to think that, as the article notes, this is actually progress.
- Audio slideshow: Sir Clement Freud – I only really know Clement Freud for his contribution to Just A Minute. I remember that I wasn’t sure what to make of him when I first heard his lists and slow, deliberate delivery, but that changed pretty quickly. It won’t be the same without him.
- Laptop Hunters: Homeless Frank – If you’ve not seen Microsoft’s new adverts this probably won’t make much sense. If you have, you’ll realise that Frank’s analysis of the PCs is more nuanced that the supposedly “real” people in the original videos.
- Objectified – New documentary from the people that gave you Helvetica. Looks interesting.
- Georgia recalls Soviet crackdown – I visited ten years after this. It’s a really beautiful country and such a shame that it keeps descending into civil war or getting into a scuffle with its northern neighbour.
- Odds of Dying in a Terrorist Attack – “You are eight times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist.” Maybe the government should start protecting us from the police instead? (via Kottke.org)
- Does University Challenge really test intelligence? – No. Knowing a bunch of obscure facts isn’t intelligence. If that’s the measure, then Wikipedia is way smarter than Einstein or Newton or Gauss or Darwin.
- Review: Canon EOS 5D Mark II – If anyone wants to buy 5000 copies of Yummy so that I can afford one of these I’d very much appreciate it.
- Creationists are still denying Darwin. Stephen Moss asks why – “What worries me about many of her fellow creationists is that they begin with the Bible and then start looking for scientific evidence to back up what their faith tells them is true.” That and the fact that they keep coming up with the same arguments.
- Pro-God buses for London streets – Anyone feel like complaining about these Christian ads on the ground that they make unsubstantiated claims?
- House Approves Whitelist of People Who Aren’t Terrorists – The solution to the errors and inconvenience of the no-fly list is… drum roll… another database! How could that possibly go wrong?
- Exclusive: ID cards are here – but police can’t read them – After spending shed-loads of money on ID cards, apparently the police and immigration officers can’t read them.
- China ‘Strikes Hard’ in Tibet – Not good.
- Creativity and stretching the sweatshirt – “For me, creativity is the stuff you do at the edges. But the edges are different for everyone, and the edges change over time.”
- Red Dwarf voyages back to Earth – I’ve been watching the reruns and, well, the episodes I’ve seen so far just haven’t been as good as I remembered them to be. I’ll probably still watch the new ones of course…
- Banks now refusing to lend pens – Only funny because it’s true. Ish.
- NetNewsWire and iPhone-Sized Data – “Lesson learned: It’s not enough for an iPhone app to sport an iPhone-optimized user interface. It needs iPhone-sized data, too.” I agree with this in principle but I’ve been thinking how I’d apply it to my iPhone application, Yummy, and coming up with a blank. How can you decide in advance which bookmarks you’ll want to see? Most recent? Those with a particular tag? I can’t think of an option other than ‘all.’
- The Inauguration of President Barack Obama – In case you’re not sick of the inauguration already, here are some great images of the day.
- Gordon Brown withdraws plan to keep details of MPs’ expenses secret – “The PM said proposals for reforms of MPs’ expenses would provide ‘more transparency’ than in most other parliaments around the world.” I’m not convinced that this is a standard we should aspire to. Let’s face it, our parliament is more open that North Korea and less tyrannical than Iran’s but really that’s not much of an achievement.
- Withnail tourism – Must head up to the lakes, or at the very least dig out my DVD.
- Bush Street Renamed Obama Street in San Francisco – Welcome to the White House, President Obama!
- Bush: ‘Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over’ – On the eve of Obama’s inauguration it’s instructive to look back to Bush’s 2001 speech…
- 6 days to stop MPs concealing their expenses – I’m appalled that they’re trying to stop the public finding out how they’re spending our money! How about some accountability?
- Yummy 2.0 Quick Overview – New version of my iPhone delicious.com client. Lots of new features, including a web preview, integration with various Twitter clients, view by tag, improved search, streamlined bookmark editing… the list goes on!
- If you’ve nothing to hide… – Double standards from MPs. Who’d have thought?