Monthly Archives: August 2009

If you type “recursion” into Google, it asks, “Did you mean: recursion.” John Rentoul.

‘I am kindly and old. But I am not harmless’ Tony Benn

Very sad: Sam, the Australian koala who became an international symbol of hope in the aftermath of the “Black Saturday” bushfires earlier this year, has died in Melbourne. [...]David Tree, the Country Fire Authority volunteer who was photographed giving the … Continue reading →

This is a good one, even by the high standards of The Guardian: This article was amended on 28 July 2009. Due to editing changes, the original said that the dragonfly family “has more species than any other mammal”. This … Continue reading →

In Afghanistan: The war is serious here; earlier in the day, another soldier from 2 Rifles had been killed upriver at Kajaki. Though morale in the U.K. seems to be slipping, I see no evidence of low morale among the … Continue reading →

Jack Nicholson, at 72. (Thanks, Kes, for the swimming pic)

Interesting 15 minute talk here from Professor David Skelly. His study of the Cane Toad in Australia suggests that very rapid evolutionary changes since its introduction as a foreign species in 1935 account for its unanticipated ability to spread to … Continue reading →

… recent evidence suggests that America’s hard-working hometown legislators are feeling the pinch from a fickle and increasingly out-of-touch voter class who no longer serves our needs. Iowahawk.

In On Liberty, Mill argued that the only acceptable reason for interfering with the freedom of another person was to prevent harm, either in self defence or on behalf of a third party; interfering to prevent harm to the person … Continue reading →

This is more of a feature than a bug: The latest crime-fighting gadget, a cigar-sized camera attached to a police helmet, has gone up in smoke after problems with its batteries setting* on fire. *Isn’t that rather tortured syntax? “Batteries … Continue reading →