Category Archives: Misc

Harry Harrison dead

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

Yesterday, apparently. A fine science fiction writer whose works were, according to IMDB, barely represented in the movie stakes. His only novel to make it to the big screen was Make Room! Make Room!, which became Soylent Green with Charlton … Continue reading →

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Heinlein

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

Robert Heinlein was by far my favourite science fiction author. That he he hasn’t been well represented on the big screen is a real pity. The dreadful efforts represented by Starship Troopers and The Puppet Masters shouldn’t be taken to … Continue reading →

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Constants approximated

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

Goodness gracious me. XKCD’s author has come up with a list of approximations for all sorts of constants and numerical values using all kinds of unintuitive formulations. For example, he offers as a close (1 part in 25,000) approximation of … Continue reading →

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I’m now translated

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

My woefully out of of date Dictionary of Home Entertainment has been translated into Finnish (with my permission). See it at www.designcontest.com/show/dictionary-hifi-fi. antibiotika-online.com

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Free speech

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

The Australian government seems somewhat inclined to adopt a course of evil, in the form of media regulation. It is not for no reason that the first amendment to the US Constitution is phrased as ‘Congress shall make no law … Continue reading →

Posted in Misc, Rant | 2 Comments

The things you can do with Lego

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

Via the Skeptics Guide to the Universe, here’s a harpsichord built entirely out of Lego. It looks beautiful, and it works. The MP3 on the linked page is the opening to Bach’s ‘Goldberg Variations’.

Posted in Misc, Music | 1 Comment

A little IMDB treasure

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Stephen Dawson

The movie review section of the Internet Movie Database is often quite interesting. One of the reviews seems to be picked up randomly for the main page of a movie. Some of these seem to be from people spruiking the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, Misc | 1 Comment

Just when you think they must be out of ideas

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Stephen Dawson

With its move from the main Channel 10/Southern Cross channel to Eleven, ‘The Simpsons’ is now being shown almost as soon as it appears in the US. For example, the most recent episode — ‘The Ned-liest Catch’ — premiered in … Continue reading →

Posted in DTV, Misc | 1 Comment

Thank goodness for early adopters

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Stephen Dawson

Matt Ridley has an interesting article up on his site in which he extols the virtues of the cost cutters. His point is that while the inventor of something or other usually gets the credit, its the business people who … Continue reading →

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‘One data point and you’re jumping for joy’

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Stephen Dawson

This is just a bit of fun, really, but I love it. You get a bunch of academic economists who want to spread the free enterprise message and they create a rap video: ‘Fight of the Century: Keynes vs. Hayek … Continue reading →

Posted in Misc | 1 Comment