Coursera : Universities are Dead
The last time I was this enthusiastic about a new thing it was Amazon, in the days when no-one had heard of Amazon but it had just allowed me to buy in seconds a rare book that I'd been looking for for...
View ArticleWhy does Evolution look like Intelligent Design?
When an engineer designs something, he tends to think in a hierarchy of parts.For instance, a car is thought of as an engine, transmission, wheels, chassis and bodywork.The engine is a self-contained...
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Petrov Day
On September 26, 1983, when I was thirteen years old, I nearly died. So did you.1983 was a terrifying time.A child with an active imagination, I would often look through the big picture window, across...
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Baby Steps
This is little Cameron Dawson, Gareth and Lisa's son:He is just learning to walk, and has taken to using me as a sort of intelligent zimmer frame. His joy in this is extraordinary.Today Gareth and I...
View ArticleGis Job (£500 reward)
Anyone in Cambridge need a programmer? I'll give you £500 if you can find me a job that I want.CV at http://www.aspden.comI make my usual promise, which I have paid out on several times:If, within the...
View ArticleTwo Modern Operas
The Nose (Shostakovich, Metropolitan Opera Live Broadcast, don't bother it's awful)Over the last few years, I've started to notice that the operas which I'm least looking forward to turn out to be the...
View ArticleGravity (3D) (Film)
A beautiful and thrilling special-effects spacefest. I have certain concerns related to angular momentum. Five stars anyway.
View ArticleBlue Jasmine (Film)
Unbelievably good. Rivetingly edge of seat heart-tearingly good. A masterpiece. I only went to see this on the off-chance. Someone told me that it was a remake of A Streetcar Named Desire. It's not....
View ArticleTruth Tables
Summary: There's a short program that can run all possible programs, OMGAlternative Summary: Just about any universe that can exist must contain ours, OMG.I was thinking about diagonalization...
View ArticleCutting Cunts
Gentle reader, I want you to imagine what it is like to really badly hurt a woman, in such a way that she will never recover. You are going to have to knock her out or tie her down. There is no way she...
View ArticleBurning Down the House
In 1834, Catholics finally succeeded in burning down the parliament."History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce".https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_ParliamentDickens is...
View ArticleOutwitted by an Idiot
So I am sitting in the Wetherspoons, and in front of me are a couple of fruit machines. The sound is turned off, since Wetherspoons values peace and quiet.The fruit machines, far from being annoying,...
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Physics 001
Little Cameron again. Not quite up to speaking yet, but fascinated by the bouncing ball bearings and pointing out interesting details thereof.
View ArticleThe Falsifiability of Classical Mechanics
So I am currently enjoying an argument with Smiling Dave on his excellent blog:http://smilingdavesblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/16/top-ten-economic-blunders-according-to-mises, and it has wandered around,...
View ArticleInto How Many Regions Can Six Planes Divide Space?
I recently misread an easy recreational puzzle as 'Into how many regions can six planes divide space?'.It took me about half an hour to get an answer. (Which was the correct answer to the wrong...
View ArticleThe Fountain Of Doubt
This is my favourite from Less Wrong's 'Rationality Quotes':From a BBC interview with a retiring Oxford Don:Don: "Up until the age of 25, I believed that 'invective' was a synonym for 'urine'."BBC:...
View ArticleAtomic Man
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance is the ability of atomic nuclei to absorb radio waves in a magnetic field.It leads to an imaging technique (ironically using TV frequencies) called NMRI, that can be used,...
View ArticleI Hate Sport
In a recent electrical conversation with a friend, the fact that it was once possible for an Olympic athlete to be accused of 'training' came up.I've been sporty for most of my adult life, and I know...
View ArticleOxford English Dictionary
Hey, the OED's online: www.oed.comThe real thing! And they've put back all the ancient greek roots in real greek letters that were what I loved about it when I was a child, and which they took out in...
View ArticleFavourite Posts
I got all nostalgic and re-read my whole blog. While I was doing it I made a list of all the things I enjoyed reading again. And tried to link to it in the right hand corner above the photo. I don't...
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