GCHQ goes public, sort of
GCHQ grew out of the WW2 code-breaking group based at Bletchly Park and is the British equivalent of the NSA. Recently it was announced that GCHQ will start offering its expertise to private...
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Ever gone looking for the answer to a technical question online?
This xkcd installment is amazingly accurate, at least based on my experiences: Wisdom of the Ancients Remember to mouse-over the cartoon: you’re missing at least half the humour if you don’t read the...
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“[Fill-in-the-blank] is now a clear and present danger”
Andrew Orlowski explains how we keep falling for junk science through media exposure: Firstly. An obscure researcher or scientist will make a dramatic claim. The media picks up on this, and a reporter...
View ArticleThis explains why Google dropped out of my “referer site” log
John Leyden explains how a change in the way Google handled search requests was reflected in my blog’s referer log by Bing suddenly becoming the top search engine for folks visiting Quotulatiousness:...
View ArticleJourneyQuest virtues: Forgiveness and Eloquence
Related posts: JourneyQuest virtues: Compassion, Honour, and Courage JourneyQuest, Episode 1
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This week in Guild Wars 2 news
I’ve been accumulating news snippets about the as-yet-to-be-formally-scheduled release of Guild Wars 2 for an email newsletter I send out to my friends and acquaintances in the Guild Wars community....
View ArticleDaniel Hannan on how the “Occupy” movement misunderstands the right
In his latest column in the Telegraph, Daniel Hannan lists ten mistaken beliefs that the “Occupy” folks seem to have about conservatives: 1. Free-marketeers resent the bank bailouts. This might seem...
View ArticleTV commercials don’t have to be irritating
Scott Jordan Harris explains that the purpose of TV advertising isn’t — despite all the evidence to the contrary — to irritate the hell out of viewers: Many of the best short films I see each year are...
View ArticleIncentives matter, especially in policing
Radley Balko looks at how federal government incentives to local police departments are encouraging them to concentrate on minor drug offenders instead of helping the victims of violent crime:...
View ArticleGary Johnson as the Libertarian Party candidate
Reason is asking their readers if they’d support Gary Johnson as the US Libertarian Party’s presidential candidate: Former two-term Gov. Gary Johnson (R-N.M.) tells the Santa Fe New Mexican that he...
View ArticleNFL week 12 predictions
I did well on Thursday’s picks, going 3 of 3 (2 of 3 against the spread). I hope that trend continues with today’s games. Early game results: √ Green Bay 27 @Detroit 15 √ @Dallas 20 Miami 19 √...
View ArticleThe F-22 continues to get more expensive
After all the F-35 bashing around here lately, it’s only fair that we give equal time to the other hyper-expensive fighter, the F-22: The U.S. Air Force is upgrading its F-22 fighters, at a cost of $39...
View ArticleScalzi tweets the Lord of the Rings movies
Stream of consciousness tweets as John Scalzi has an at-home movie marathon: “The Mimes of Moria” is the name of my next band. Wife is at a rock concert tonight. I’m watching cable TV at home. Thus are...
View ArticleChina to address the surplus of unemployable university graduates
No, not the old fashioned way of “re-education”, but by reviewing the university programs and eliminating the ones that produce the largest number of graduates who cannot find jobs: Much like the U.S.,...
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Vikings fall short (again) against the Atlanta Falcons
Yesterday’s game had some great work by Percy Harvin, fewer rookie mistakes from Christian Ponder, and random guys pulled in off the street playing in the Vikings’ secondary. Okay, that last part isn’t...
View ArticleMegan McArdle reviews some recent scolding books on thrift
Megan McArdle admits right up front that she recently splurged on a very spendy kitchen appliance, so you know she does not number herself among the community of scolds on the topic of thrift: For...
View ArticleThe real reason the German bond auction failed
Tyler Cowen explains: If Germany and a few other, smaller AAA countries were to guarantee or monetize the debts of Italy, Spain, and possibly France and Belgium, never mind Greece and Portugal, Germany...
View ArticleCharles Stross on worldbuilding for SF stories
This is the sort of thing that more science fiction authors should take into account before they write, but not enough seem to do: So here are some rules of thumb I use, tending towards an increasingly...
View ArticleWho won the War of 1812?
According to an American historian quoted in the National Post, Canada won: In a relatively rare admission for an American scholar, a leading U.S. historian who authored a provocative new tome about...
View Article“Newt may be a poor fit for the role of ‘anti-Romney,’ but … he knows how to...
Gene Healy isn’t a fan of Newt Gingrich as the GOP nominee: Has it really come to this? Newt Gingrich as the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney? That’s what many in the punditocracy have...
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