The blogger edition of this diary is on hold

See the HuSi or K5 versions instead.

Speak and Spell

Video. Cuntry Boner [NSFWFUP] Sketchpad [NSFWFUP] A Clark on the Wild Side (only intelligible to Kenneth Clark's Civilisation fans). Rammstein translated. Run DMC on Reading Rainbow. [:o]

Tech. How users read on the web. Applescript too Englishlike [:(]

Economics. The dollar slide. Lateness. [:(]

Articles. Max Hastings on Cameron [(UK)] China Mieville on libertarian utopias. Gender differences in communication are negligible. [:(]

In almost every case, the overall difference made by gender is either small or close to zero. Two items, spelling accuracy and frequency of smiling, show a larger effect - but it is still only moderate.
...
If it does not reflect reality, why is the folk-belief that women talk more than men so persistent? The feminist Dale Spender once suggested an explanation: she said that people overestimate how much women talk because they think that, ideally, women would not talk at all. While that may be rather sweeping, it is true that belief in female loquacity is generally combined with disapproval of it. The statement "women talk more than men" tends to imply the judgment "women talk too much". (As one old proverb charmingly puts it: "Many women, many words; many geese, many turds.")
...
The folk-belief that women talk more than men persists because it provides a justification for an ingrained social prejudice.

That's a paddlin'

Software: defending the big ball of mud. Joel on web apps: "The developers who put a lot of effort into optimizing things and making them tight and fast will wake up to discover that effort was, more or less, wasted." Extraneous fun at work is bad. [JR :(]

Science. Cannabis reduces educational attainment. But is Epidemiology fundamentally flawed? [:o]

Games, Ouroboros snake. Ramp puzzles. Island. [*]

Pics. Celebrities act out their names. NYC photos. Death masks. Largest terrestrial crustacean. Soviet Woman With Paddle statues. [:o]

Misc. Long EU article [:(] Mozart's "Lick Me in the Arse". Ghetto capitalism. Toki Pona is a cutesy made-up language. [:o] [:(]

He likes the sun

Guy builds big solar dish, cooks stuff. [S2MM :o]

Economics. Fair use worth more than copyright (PDF) [/.]. An additional $1 in real gasoline prices would reduce obesity in the U.S. by 15% after five years (PDF) Development. VoxEU: Did cultural diversity lead to Europe developing first? Why did the Industrial Revolution come to England? Terrorism: "...the supply of terrorists is fairly elastic. Remove one perceived source of grievance, and there are still many others willing to pursue their grievances with violent means."

ViolentAcres: The Pentecostal Church and The Holy Ghost Want You To Wear Pig Panties [:o]

Rule 34: Model train crushing porn [:o NSFWFUP]

Supply of terrorists? Subgenius art condoms. [:o]

Troll of the day: Osama bin Laden, blogger with bombs. [:o]

Knopf rejected books [:(]

Prostitution and the proposal to criminalise men who pay for sex.

Only a small percentage of women involved in prostitution work on the streets. Most of this group have chaotic heroin and crack habits and are working primarily to support them. The majority of sex workers are based off the streets, in flats or saunas or as escorts. Generally they are not addicted to drugs. In some parts of the UK, up to 80% of the women working indoors are from other countries, but only a minority of them are trafficked. According to Lithuanian anti-trafficking police, even trafficked women often know that they are coming to the UK to work in the sex industry. They make the decision to come because they are living in poverty. What they do not know is that once they arrive they will be subjected to enormous cruelty by their traffickers and deprived of their liberty and earnings.

Ideologically unpalatable though it may be to some, the majority of women involved in prostitution have made a choice to sell sex, because they see no alternative way of earning what can sometimes be substantial sums of money. Undocumented migrants in particular have few options available to earn money. The twilight world of prostitution in a rich western country is one. Their goal is to lift themselves and their families out of poverty, and they see this as one of the few ways they can do it.

UK's violent crime rise is real (PDF)

At the same time as Balls was unconsciously repeating the theories of Eighties' academics, the impeccably liberal Centre for Crime and Justice Studies issued a grim report on homicide. The number of murders and the rate of murder have both doubled in the past 35 years, it said. Overwhelmingly, the victims and perpetrators lived in the modern equivalent of the slums.

Richard Garside, the centre's director, was contemptuous of the notion that inner-city residents have been duped by the media or false memories of an imaginary golden age into barricading themselves into their homes. 'Commentators who live in prosperous areas don't understand that their fears aren't panic attacks but the result of objective experience,' he said.

The blackness would hit me and the void would be calling

Economics. Most capital is human: "solid goods amount to only about 20 percent of the wealth of rich nations and 40 percent of the wealth of poor countries". Marxist economics: Why Henryk Grossman still matters. CARE abandons food aid. Niall Ferguson on the Marshall Plan. China needs an independent central bank. [:(]

Video. Maximizing happiness: Tokyo wave pool. First 6 minutes of Kenneth Clark's Civilisation: A Personal View. Star Trek crew do the Time Warp... [:) S2MM]

Howto. Study on Ritalin. Do a book reading. Join a software team.[:(]

Pics. Celebrities as kids. Daily Soviet poster. Figurines being smashed [:o]

Science: Paedophiles may have brain differences. Cosmology: science or folktale? [:(]

38 and a "Pow"

Pics. Crimeboss magazine covers include Reform school girl. Alcoholics anonymous comics [MeFi :o]

Optimum copyright 14 years (long PDF) [:( BB]

Youtube. The Wire's fucking crime scene investigation. [:o]

Tech. Troll or real? Managing programmers [reddit :o].

News. Americans saved from half-millimeter penis. This bun tastes like cardboard. [:(]

Never a frown

Brown stops briefing journalists in advance of Parliament, [:( (UK)]

Youtube animations. Censored 11: Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs [7min] GUIDOLON The Giant Space Chicken [11min] Kill the Wabbit [7min] [:o]

Senator, you're no Bill Clinton. Differences between Hillary and Bill on free trade. [:]

Help, help, I'm being repressed: penis pillars, lesbian-centric exam questions. [:(]

Pics. Baby shower cake [NSFW] Neutrino observatory. International icon tarot.

You can't get the wood

Wood. San Francisco fire ladders NYC's water tanks [:(]

Crime. No law-abiding majority. British Crime Survey underestimates. [:(]

The First Person Shooter Suit. Froo froo menu generator. [:o S2MM]

Google. Web syntax highligher. Dare reports on Google conference: Large datasets. Usability.

Every second counts

5 second food rule may be correct [:o]

Development. Coping with poor requirements. Women in tech communities. Browser UI is superior to desktop. [:(]

Problems of the French Left: better in office than opposition. Via Dani Rodrik [:(]

GCSE coursework axed due to cheating [(UK) :(]

Misc. Croc costume used to study them[:p]. YouTube: Quentin Tarantino's Penny Dreadful[:o 1min]. Windows and Mac font smoothing[:(]. Steam man of the plains interpreted[:o]. Lesbians' top 100[:o].

Round and round and round we go

Economist on recycling [MeFi :(]

Michael Moore bails out critic [:(]

Volcano plume on Io [/. :o]

Paris Hilton was the exception: normally dubious psychiatry keeps people in jail. [:(]

100 words you ought to know [:(]

Bad science roundup. Mock exam followup to the new physics. Patrick Holford hops on WiFi menace bandwagon. Goats blood treatment for MS. Vaccines under threat from autism lawsuit? [:(]

Trout are freshwater fish and have underwater weapons

Improvement. London book project to share books on the Tube. Happy Planet Index ranks nations by Life satisfaction * Life expectancy / Ecological Footprint [:(]

Future tech. Underwater guns. Future House: eco-friendly living. Robobaby, video [:(]

Past tech. Crowd control at Pompeii stadium. Gap between Roman and Saxon London narrowed to 90 years. [:(]

Video. Unicorn vs Narwhal animation[4 min] Steam Trek: The Moving Picture[10 min] [:)]

IP lawsuits and the decline of Levis [:(]

I'm silver and shiny

Pics. Flag colour pie charts. How to carry a chicken. Pacman skull [:o]

Youtube. Movie numbers from 100 to 1 [:o]. Art history: female portraits morphed together [:(] Phone sex pranks include Clippy. [:o NSFW]

Economics. Libertarian paternalism Is there a neoclassical mafia? [:(]

My free implants connects women who want implants with men who want to pay for them. [:o]

Put away those fiery biscuits

Video. Fire thing [:o REC 4min] International development statistics [20 min :(] Alternate Pyongyang [:o 3min]

Vinegar bot [BB :o]

Pubic hair dying, shaving, wigs [:o $ )]

Climate change myths [:(]

Passive-aggressive notes [:o BB]

Fred is dying

Games. Bunny surgery. Merge the ladybirds [*]

Youtube. Biker skeleton scares Brazilians. Guy mimes argument to jazz. [:o]

Science. Most attractiveness comes from face not body, (making oil muscle injections pointless?). Japanese and Americans read faces differently, shows in emoticons. [:(]

Overview of the economics of patents (26-page PDF). Should we be exporting IP laws as free trade? [Via Dani Rodrik]

I can leave if I choose to

Video. Here be Tigers: Russian animation of Bradbury story [:( 10 min] Kitchen of the future[:o 3 min] Airbus evacuation [:( 1 min]

Readable code: form should reflect the result. [:(]

Pics. Sumo wrestlers make babies cry [:o] Nautilus eats crab (bigger) [:(]

History of the laugh track [:( MeFi]

Blair legacy [:( (UK)]

Graph. Taxation as a share of GDP by country (bigger) [:(]

More gourmet dishes to view with your diet cellulose

Video. J.G. Ballard's A Guide to Virtual Death [3min :( NSFWFUP]. Nazi robots pt 1 pt 2 [13min total :o]. Muppet computer monster. [3 min]

Economics. Scottish independence could work. Globalization popular in poorer nations. [:(]

Oversimplification of neurotheology, mirror neurons.[:(]

Bottled water out of fashion [:(]

Mind the gap

Video. Animated Bayeux tapestry [:o 4min] Kevin Smith talks on being involved with the Superman movie [19 min :(] Campest bits of 300 edited to "It's Raining Men" [5min :o LL]

SF. Charles Stross novella Missile Gap now online. [:( BB]

The economics of Harry Potter books tells us about popular preconceptions [.PDF ToM :o]

Politics No such thing as Blairism [(UK)]. Envying the French and the Scottish elections [(UK)]. Why we'll miss Chirac [:(].

Freaky Dancing

Youtube. Dancing guidos, cosplayers. Tech support standup. [:o]

Armless maiden myths [:(]

Tech: Avoid soft coding as well as hard coding.

2.0 crap. Are you tired of smug successful people expanding their fame and success by publishing articles about how to become successful? 30 apparent reasons you started your startup [;)]

UK-centrism. Grindhouse movie to be split into two for UK release. Max Hastings on Blair and Major. [(UK) :(]

Didn't they go out of fashion before they came in?

Video. Deep dive into Mandelbrot set [:o 3 min] Web 2.0 supermarket [;) 5 min]

Improved bomber tech means jet fighters are an obsolete boondoggle. [:(]

New report says drug rape is a significant problem, despite earlier study saying most cases "just drunk". [:( (UK)]

Usability. Study says green on yellow text is most readable. [:(]

Taking the Mickey

Developers. Don't be too productive. Dear DBA... Choosing a product name [:(]

50 foot Michael Jackson to shoot lasers from eyes. [:o]

Pics. 7-storey gangster house, slideshow. After the French riots: audio slideshow. China builds 13 mile dragon. Light bulbs. [:(]

Shark fishing kills off shellfish [:(]

Youtube. Guy skis down escalator. Slo-mo samurai sword slashing. [:o]

Kathy go home

Notoriously annoying Kathy Sierra cancels conference after getting threatening comments. No word from Kat Herding [:o S2MM]

How do you prove photography to a blind man [MeFi :(]

Youtube. Pratt jet engine bird impact test [2 min 30 :(] Coffee made with laser [3 min :(] Yoga action squad [4 min ;)] Hamster eats broccoli [1 min 30 :)]

Should there be a moratorium on biofuel incentives? [:(]

John K on the cartoon business in the 1980s [:(]

Is it live or is it memex?

UK politics. UK commemorates slavery by reintroducing it. Targets and local democracy [:( (UK)]

Pics. Playboy cartoons. Nymphs and satyrs. [:o NSFW]

Yay, it's long economics article day! Euro economics book review, extract. Empirical research on development economics [:(]

Youtube: Dog chases virtual ball [:o]

Tech. Top 6 List of Programming Top 10 Lists. 1945 scientist ponders future of information technology [:(]

Consider a future device for individual use, which is a sort of mechanized private file and library. It needs a name, and to coin one at random, ``memex'' will do. A memex is a device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. It is an enlarged intimate supplement to his memory.

It consists of a desk, and while it can presumably be operated from a distance, it is primarily the piece of furniture at which he works. On the top are slanting translucent screens, on which material can be projected for convenient reading. There is a keyboard, and sets of buttons and levers. Otherwise it looks like an ordinary desk.

In one end is the stored material. The matter of bulk is well taken care of by improved microfilm. Only a small part of the interior of the memex is devoted to storage, the rest to mechanism. Yet if the user inserted 5000 pages of material a day it would take him hundreds of years to fill the repository, so he can be profligate and enter material freely.
...
Wholly new forms of encyclopedias will appear, ready-made with a mesh of associative trails running through them, ready to be dropped into the memex and there amplified. The lawyer has at his touch the associated opinions and decisions of his whole experience, and of the experience of friends and authorities. The patent attorney has on call the millions of issued patents, with familiar trails to every point of his client's interest. The physician, puzzled by its patient's reactions, strikes the trail established in studying an earlier similar case, and runs rapidly through analogous case histories, with side references to the classics for the pertinent anatomy and histology. The chemist, struggling with the synthesis of an organic compound, has all the chemical literature before him in his laboratory, with trails following the analogies of compounds, and side trails to their physical and chemical behavior.

Feel the beat from the tambourine

Dancing robots could help HCI, video. Body language sensing computers, .mov video. [:o]

Brain damage can create utilitarian moralists.[:(]

Youtube. David O. Russell, Lily Tomlin argue on set [MeFi :(]

Article. Veteran misses the war [:( MeFi]

Kurt Vonnegut: Eight rules for writing fiction [:(]

Pass the wine, please. I want to become crazy.

Virtual Guantanamo cell [:( BB]

VS.NET. Always implement ToString [:(]

Geekery. Star Trek particles. Star Wars concept art [:o]

How kids see grownups [;)]

Eye tracking Artists scan pictures differently. Men look at crotches more. [:( BB]

Mad World

Articles. Modern Drunkard on Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Dan Savage on male and female libidos. [:(]

Life-size whale in your browser, about. [) :o]

Economics. Should CO2 reduction be through taxes or permit trading. US and EU attitudes to regulation. [:(]

Pedal-powered rollercoaster [:o]

History of the barefoot mailmen [:( MeFi]

When did Channel 4 turn evil?

Pics. LA Fire Department pics. You park like an asshole. Shipping posters. [:o]

UK politics. Flaws in C4 climate change doc. 59 things revealed by FoI act. [:( (UK)]

Technology videos. Toilet paper dispenser. Squirrel twirler [:o]

HTML 5 [:(]

Commons. Doc Smith's Triplanetary on Project Gutenberg. Jonathon Lethem offers film rights. EFF on DVB standard. [:(]

Quiet on the set

Comic book insecurity: Coagula vs. Codpiece [NSFWFUP :o]

Portillo on Lords reform [:( (UK)]

Youtube. Cat videos to Bjork soundtrack [:o 3min] What sign language means [:o 1min]

Healthcare. Report: websites with personal anecdotes most trusted. [:(]

Speed dating for the rich [:o]

Non-human traffic

Is a site blocked in China? K5 is, /. isn't [:(]

Teddy Babes are like plush RealDolls [LL :o NSFW]

UK, LA traffic maps [:(]

Rejected petitions [(UK) LL :o]

Video. Surreal neo-Mickey Mouse animation [:o]

Misc. Problems with UK rail privatisation [:( (UK) LL] Do you need an emotional workflow system? [:o] Cyborg animals [:o] Portable mass spectrometer [:(] Conservapedia to balance Wikipedia bias.

Rocket pen

YouTube. Thumbs up [5 sec :)] 1938 World's Fair promo [8 min:( BB]

In China, it's easy being green [:o]

The Mozart of porn soundtracks [:o BB NSFWFUP]

Sarcasm. Lore on HDTV. Second Life: "Imagine that every time you bought a shirt from a store, you had to install Windows on your torso". [;)]

Misc. Soviet desk set [:o] Guy with sword attempts to rescue porn soundtrack [;)] Remote-controlled kneelock for prisoners [:o] Donald Knuth's desktop screenshot [:(]

At my school, that would have been a threat

School project: coffin for dying teacher [:o BB]

Inside the Iraq reconstruction: part 1, part 2. "Two CPA staffers said that they were asked if they supported Roe v Wade." [:(]

Prisoners of YouTube. "Afroninja's real name is Mark A. Hicks. He's a seasoned and successful Los Angeles-based stuntman with credits in more than 40 films and 60 commercials. He served as stunt-double to Chris Tucker in the Rush Hour films, and won the Best Fight category at the 2002 World Stunt Awards." [:(]

Does computer language success depend on the coolness of the name? [;)]

Painted planes, apartment blocks [:o]