Archive for December, 2011
Would you like to receive my Thought For The Week?
December 17th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
I’be been sending out an e-mail Thought For The Week for around 13 years now – short, positive aphorisms. It started with a dozen colleagues at work and the circulation has grown and grown, so that this week it reached 1,800 all around the world. You can check out all my previous Thoughts here. If […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
My night in prison
December 16th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
This morning, I attended a meeting of the Nominet Policy Stakeholder Committee on which I represent consumer interests. The meeting took place in the Saïd Business School in Oxford and we were accommodated in the city overnight. The venue for the overnight stay was the Malmaison Hotel at Oxford Castle which used to be a […]
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Two reviews of “Love And Other …”
December 16th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
In the last couple of years, there have ben two American films with titles using the same first three words. The first was “Love And Other Impossible Pursuits” which I’ve reviewed here. Then came “Love And Other Drugs” which I’ve reviewed here. I recommend both.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
What have we been searching for in 2011?
December 15th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
Google UK has issued top ten lists for search categories in the past year. Check out the Google Zeitgeist here.
Posted in Internet | Comments (0)
The disenfranchisement of voters
December 14th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
On my web site, I describe the political systems of some 11 nations. Sometimes i am asked which country has the most democratic system. This is not a question that one can really answer, but one day I intend to write an essay for my web site setting out the criteria one would adopt in […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
A new twist on cow-based economics
December 14th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
SOCIALISM You have 2 cows. You give one to your neighbour. COMMUNISM You have 2 cows. The State takes both and gives you some milk. FASCISM You have 2 cows. The State takes both and sells you some milk. BUREAUCRATISM You have 2 cows. The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then […]
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (3)
Have we found the Higgs boson particle? (2)
December 13th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
A few days ago, I did a posting explaining that today there would be some sort of announcement about the current state of the search for the elusive Higgs boson particle which is predicted to exist in the Standard Model exposition of how sub-atomic particles interact with one another. So what did the scientists have […]
Posted in Science & technology | Comments (0)
How did I get into computing?
December 13th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
The short answer is: slowly. I’ve just up-dated the longer answer which you can read here.
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
What’s going to disappear next?
December 12th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
I remember when the Post Office announced the end of the telegram. There were outraged protests: suppose grandma dropped dead and the relatives did not have a telephone, how could one advise them of the funeral? Somehow we managed. Today the “Daily Express” has a whimsical piece about other things that the advance of technology […]
Posted in Science & technology | Comments (0)
Just how bad are things economically?
December 12th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
“A year ago, it was assumed 2011 would see life return to normal. Europe would sort out its little local difficulties, China and India would power along, and Barack Obama would use a resurgent US economy as the springboard for his re-election campaign. … Instead, 2011 ends with the euro fighting for its life, Britain […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)