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Monthly Archives: December 2004

Europe’s empty crusade

Published in the Financial Times, December 27 2004  (Registration required) 
Earlier this month, Britain’s Archbishop of York lamented that he would be hard-pushed to describe Britain as a Christian country any more. A week later, a study published by the British Economic and Social Research Council found that Britain’s big cities were “godless places”. “Whatever people are [...]

Renewable Energy - The Next Opportunity for Silicon Valley [O'Reilly]

“There are striking parallels between the renewable energy industry today and the personal computing industry circa 1980. Much of the basic technology required for personal computing was already in place and was on the verge of becoming economical for mass production. The personal computer hardware and software industry was characterized at that time by small, [...]

How the French navy spied for Saddam’s Iraq [Five Fleets]

They spied on UN over fly missions and the US warships that were enforcing the no-fly zone.

The days are getting longer now

We passed the winter solstice today. Here comes spring!

Dry Quicksand

“Sand supports weight. Force chains are known to play a prominent role therein. We considerably weaken the force chain structure by letting air flow through very fine sand. Even when the air is turned off and the bed has settled, the prepared sand does not support weight: Balls sink into the sand up to five [...]

Length-boosting surgery for ‘micro-penises’ [New Scientist]

“A new surgical procedure has allowed men with abnormally short penises to enjoy a full sex life and urinate standing up, some for the first time. Tiny “micro-penises” have been enlarged to normal size without losing any erogenous sensation, say UK doctors.”
So friends (male friends), the ones who sit to pee “on principle”, I know [...]

Foiled but brilliant IED attack

From StrategyPage.com:
“In Iraq 22 155-mm rounds where Daisy chained with det cord to create an IED with a 380 m “kill zone”. Rounds buried by perpetrators shown excavated.”
I wondered when this would be used. Most IED attacks use single devices that damage one or two vehicles. This could have destroyed and entire convoy. I suppose the [...]

The horror of Germany’s war

I have a fascination with the horrors inflicted on Germany towards the end of World War II. I find the whole subjected oddly upsetting and grimly compelling.
I have posted before (here and here) on the horrors of Dresden, W. G. Sebald’s book “On the Natural History of Destruction“, and “Crabwalk” by Gunter Grass, about the [...]

Blunkett should have joined Fathers for Justice

Now he knows what it is like to be a father denied access to his child by a scheming, ruthless and unprincipled woman who will happily destroy his career to deny a man his human right he has to share his child’s life.
Whilst carrying out her vicious and obviously malicious attack, she still managed to get get public [...]

The Hidden (in Plain Sight) Persuaders [NYT Mag]

Let me introduce Gabriella, a BzzAgent, promting a near random food product:
“At one grocery store, Gabriella asked a manager why there was no Al Fresco sausage available. At a second store, she dropped a card touting the product into the suggestion box. At a third, she talked a stranger into buying a package. She suggested that [...]