Interesting Links for 30-03-2016
- Tow Hooks - How to Leave Muddy LARP Events Efficiently | LARP Guide
Do you know where your tow hook is? Hell, even non-LARPers who avoid muddy fields like the plague they often are should think about this
Entry tags:
Entry tags:
- animals,
- atheism,
- beauty,
- belief,
- biology,
- catholicisim,
- christianity,
- comment,
- conservatives,
- corruption,
- cruelty,
- culture,
- ethics,
- fail,
- freedom of information,
- gender,
- image,
- influence,
- information,
- interersting,
- interesting,
- links,
- lobbying,
- local government,
- marriage,
- money,
- politics,
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- psychology,
- religion,
- science,
- scotland,
- security,
- sex,
- sexism,
- uk,
- voting,
- war on terror,
- westminster,
- women,
- wtf
Interesting Links for 11-03-2013
- Linear A - Sunday Sermonette: The Prodigal
The Catholic church is saying 'Welcome home!" to its lapsed members. But are they listening?
- Facing the future: an interview with Jim Al-Khalili | Rationalist Association
Theoretical physicist and star science presenter Jim Al-Khalili has just become the President of the British Humanist Association.
- Why should married women change their names? Let men change theirs | Jill Filipovic
- Ticking time bomb scenario - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
'a thought experiment that has been used in the ethics debate over whether torture can ever be justified.'
- David Cameron in peril as discontent in Tory ranks rises - Telegraph
'Up to 25 Conservative MPs are planning to oust David Cameron if the party’s fortunes do not improve within the next two months'
- Schneier on Security: Hacking the Papal Election
'As the College of Cardinals prepares to elect a new pope, people like me wonder about the election process. How does it work, and just how hard is it to hack the vote?'
- Scotland's top judge summoned to appear before MSPs after trying to block register of interests - Daily Record
'A Holyrood committee want the law chief to explain why he tried to halt a register which would reveal judges' business, professional and financial links.'
- 'If I turn a green field into an estate then I’m not doing it for peanuts' - Telegraph
'Three councillors reveal their involvement with consultancies which specialise in helping companies to win planning permission for developments across the country.'
- E.U. to Ban Cosmetics With Animal-Tested Ingredients - NYTimes.com
'expected to announce Monday a ban on the import and sale of cosmetics containing ingredients tested on animals and to pledge more efforts to push other parts of the world, like China, to accept alternatives.'
- Study debunks notion that men and women are psychologically distinct | The Raw Story
'there are not two distinct genders, but instead there are linear gradations of variables associated with sex, such as masculinity or intimacy, all of which are continuous.'
Entry tags:
- abortion,
- africa,
- america,
- animals,
- biology,
- birth control,
- cars,
- corruption,
- culture,
- driving,
- fiction,
- identity,
- information,
- interesting,
- lib dem,
- lies,
- links,
- nature,
- news,
- police,
- politics,
- posttofacebook,
- rape culture,
- sex,
- sexism,
- stupidity,
- surveilance,
- trigger warning,
- vampires,
- westminster,
- what the everliving fuck,
- wtf,
- xandar; our reign has gone on long enoug
Interesting Links for 04-02-2013
- BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Pink elephant is caught on camera
Sort-of on parade
- Swanson: Wombs of Women on Birth Control 'Embedded' with 'Dead Babies' | Right Wing Watch
- Police spies stole identities of dead children | UK news | The Guardian
'Undercover officers created aliases based on details found in birth and death records'
- wulfmojo • Twilight - Bella & Jacobs first kiss
Trigger warning for sexual assault/non-consent. Okay, I know Twilight is messed up. I didn't realise it was quite *this* fucked up. (Assuming that the quoted passage is from it; a quick google provided nothing that suggested it wasn't)
- Chris Huhne facing jail sentence after admitting perverting course of justice | UK news | guardian.co.uk
'Former minister resigns seat after pleading guilty over claims he persuaded his ex-wife to take speeding points for him in 2003'
Entry tags:
- america,
- amsuing,
- amusing,
- awesome,
- cats,
- clever,
- culture,
- design,
- facebook,
- fail,
- france,
- geeky,
- government,
- health,
- healthcare,
- home,
- image,
- information,
- interesting,
- journalism,
- lack of understanding error,
- language,
- lifehack,
- links,
- media,
- money,
- news,
- nhs,
- obama,
- parody,
- pets,
- politics,
- posttofacebook,
- privatisation,
- republicans,
- sexism,
- silly,
- social media,
- technology,
- via andrew ducker,
- via bart calendar,
- via james graham,
- war,
- wtf
Interesting Links for 24-01-2013
- X-Surface: Don't believe everything you read.
Journalism no longer appears to include even basic fact checking, as regards tech, anyways.
- Actual Facebook Graph Searches
Simultaneously amusing and worrying.
- Get ready for 'Objectify a Male Tech Writer Day' | Crave - CNET
- Private health contractor's staff told to cut 999 calls to meet targets | Society | The Guardian
'Leaked email from Serco managers tells workers to manipulate computer system to 'stop the clock' on emergency calls'
- Cat Transit System (CTS) | Because We Can
- Obama Urged to Resign Over Beyonce Scandal : The New Yorker
It worries me that I've grown so used to the level of anti-Obama retoric that it took me a while to be sure this was a parody. Poes Law is starting to apply to politics more and more.
- Government says mot-diese is proper French term for hashtag – The Connexion
THE French government has caused amusement on the internet by insisting the proper term for “hashtag” in French should be mot-dièse.
- 'Leave immediately': Britons in Benghazi warned to get out due to 'specific and imminent threat' - Africa - World - The Independent
Entry tags:
- amusing,
- apple,
- bad joke,
- birds,
- business,
- crime,
- dirty minded,
- education,
- greece,
- identity,
- image,
- information,
- interersting,
- interesting,
- ipod,
- links,
- music,
- news,
- politics,
- posttofacebook,
- psa,
- scotland,
- scottish independence,
- silly,
- tumblr,
- weird
Interesting Links for 22-11-2012
- The Man Who Stole Greece: Cuffed chap had data on most of country • The Register
'Greek police have cuffed a suspect who allegedly stole personal data of three-quarters of the country's population as part of an attempted industrial-scale ID theft scam.'
- Thanks, Textbooks.
'I’m less concerned with the question, “What does the scale read?” and more concerned with the question, “Why the hell are we lubricating a hamster?”'
- Alex Salmond 'should allow business leaders to speak out against independence' - Telegraph
'Labour and the Tories described as “significant” accusations by the chief executive of one of the country’s largest firms that the SNP pour “rains of bile and ire” on businessmen who publicly oppose separation.'
- Great tit disease ‘spread to UK by insects’
(It's actually about Avian pox, but allow me my dirty mind)
- Apple - Support - iPod nano Replacement Program
Battery issues on iPod 1st generation models, Apple will replace them
Entry tags:
Interesting Links for 17-11-2012
- Police and crime commissioners must be champions of early intervention
"One thousand extra police officers would be great, but one thousand extra health visitors would be clever."
- Dear Facebook: Why Can’t You Just Give Us An Unfiltered Chronological Feed?!
Entry tags:
Interesting Links for 08-11-2012
- The class teaching young people to find their inner activist | Politics | The Guardian
'Demand the Impossible, a course that teaches the theory – and practice – of political activism'
- BBC News - MPs say committee hearings 'dull' and new approaches needed
MPs are not always able to get key information out of witnesses, a new report argues.
- BBC News - David Cameron trialling app to aid government decisions
'using it to keep track of live data relating to jobs, housing and other areas… It also monitors polls and posts on social media'
- John Bercow: women behave better than men in Parliament - Telegraph
'and revealed that he tries to avoid allowing an unbroken sequence of male politicians to speak in the Commons.'
Entry tags:
- abortion,
- amusing,
- belief,
- bigotry,
- christianity,
- comment,
- corruption,
- culture,
- energy,
- evangelical christianity,
- expenses scandal,
- guardian,
- history,
- image,
- influence,
- infor,
- information,
- interesting,
- lgbt,
- links,
- lobbying,
- marriage,
- money,
- news,
- politics,
- posttofacebook,
- religion,
- scotland,
- stonewall,
- uk,
- westminster
Interesting Links for 05-11-2012
- Fears grow over Conservatives' links to fossil fuel lobbyists | Environment | The Observer
'Sacked energy minister warns Britain must not 'bet the farm' on shale gas extraction'
- MP's expenses: maxed out | Editorial | Comment is free | The Guardian
'Denis MacShane's fall from grace ought to be the final chapter in the saga of politicians cheating the public purse, but …' they're still renting out houses to each other and doing other dodgy things.
- Stonewall unapologetic over Scottish cardinal's 'bigot of the year' award | World news | The Guardian
And I'm glad they are. It's not that the cardinal in question is against gay marriage, it's the level of vitriol he's directed towards it and towards gay people.
- Why MPs' best ripostes get left out of Hansard - Telegraph
'As cost-cutting puts an end to MPs' bound copies of Hansard, a former parliamentary sketchwriter says the Commons' report of proceedings is only half of what goes on in the House'
- slacktivist » The ‘biblical view’ that’s younger than the Happy Meal
In 1979, McDonald’s introduced the Happy Meal. Sometime after that, it was decided that the Bible teaches that human life begins at conception.
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Interesting Links for 28-10-2012
- Most Citizens of the Star Wars Galaxy are Probably Totally Illiterate | Tor.com
'Not once in any Star Wars movie does someone pick up a book or newspaper, magazine, literary journal, or chapbook handmade by an aspiring Jawa poet.'
Entry tags:
Interesting Links for 20-10-2012
- Best Cat Cosplay Ever! - Chick Geek Games
Cardboard cutout cat cosplay. Cucking awesome.
- BBC News - George Osborne 'forced to pay £160 first class train upgrade'
'after sitting in a first class train carriage with a standard class ticket.'
- tongodeon: Vote NO on CA Prop 37: Mandatory GMO Food Labeling
I doubt if anyone reading this actually gets a vote on this, but it's still an interesting and well argued set of points on genetically modified food.
Entry tags:
- 2012 presidential elections,
- activism,
- america,
- amusing,
- clever,
- conservative party,
- culture,
- democracy,
- discrimination,
- facebook,
- fail,
- family,
- health,
- healthcare,
- homeopathy,
- image,
- information,
- interersting,
- interesting,
- it's a craaazy world,
- lgbt,
- links,
- medicine,
- money,
- politics,
- posttofacebook,
- privacy,
- relates to another of today's links,
- republicans,
- romney,
- science,
- security,
- silly,
- social media,
- star wars,
- technology,
- uk,
- via #maelfroth,
- via andrew ducker,
- weird,
- westminster,
- what the everliving fuck,
- xandar; our reign has gone on long enoug
Interesting Links for 17-10-2012
- For all the details on Mitt Romney's 5 trillion dollar tax plan visit ROMNEYTAXPLAN.COM
'For a detailed explanation of how the Romney-Ryan tax plan is able to cut taxes by $5 trillion without exploding the deficit or requiring tax hikes on the middle class, simply click the button below.'
- NHS Reform, the bill "no one voted for"? No, not really. | Mat Bowles
'Saying "I disagree wtih this" is fine'… 'but saying "no one voted for it" is a blatant lie. 44% of voters in my constituency voted for a candidate backing these reforms. 39% did nationally.'
- Full Disclosure: Is it OK to hold credit card numbers in cookies? Santander?
Full credit card number, name, user ID stored in cookies. What the hell?
- Man in court for hitting Darth Vader's wife - Top Stories - News - Birmingham Mail
'An angry Walsall man who threw a punch at his neighbour called Darth Vader because he suspected he had been having a relationship with his girlfriend has been punished in court.'
- How Does Homeopathy Work?
A useful, informative and comprehensive summation.
- Homeopathy: there's nothing in it | The 10:23 Campaign | #ten23
'The 10:23 Campaign aims to raise awareness about the reality of homeopathy. This site will tell you how we know there is nothing in it, why the claims made by homeopaths are impossible, and why you should care.'
- When the Most Personal Secrets Get Outed on Facebook - WSJ.com
'two students were casualties of a privacy loophole on Facebook—the fact that anyone can be added to a group by a friend without their approval. As a result, the two lost control over their secrets, even though both were sophisticated users who had attempted to use Facebook's privacy settings to shield some of their activities from their parents.'
Interesting Links for 05-10-2012
- BBC News - Facebook 'likes' automatically added without user-clicks
'sending a web address to a friend using Facebook's private messaging function would add two likes to that page. Leaving a comment on a story within Facebook also adds to the tally.'
- Cupertino effect - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 'Damn you autocorrect' effect is named after Apple… but for a non-iPhone reason
Entry tags:
- 3d printing,
- amusing,
- apologies; i have forgotten who i got th,
- awesome,
- clever,
- culture,
- fantasy,
- fiction,
- film,
- freedom of information,
- geeky,
- image,
- information,
- interesting,
- lies,
- links,
- living in the future,
- lord of the rings,
- misleading origami unicorns,
- mitch benn,
- news,
- politics,
- posttofacebook,
- revisionism,
- sousveilance,
- technology,
- uk,
- westminster
Interesting Links for 12-09-2012
- “Deckard is not a bloody replicant!” Blade Runner 1982 – a defence – Best For Film
'Mitch Benn heroically decided to set the record straight and, over the course of the longest article we have ever published, now presents his defence of the much-maligned 1982 cut of Ridley Scott's masterpiece Blade Runner'
- Cameron Apologises To Hillsborough Families
'An orchestrated police campaign to wrongly blame Liverpool fans for the Hillsborough disaster is laid bare in an official report.'
- 100 Things You Didn't Know About Lord of the Rings | Empire | www.empireonline.com
My favourite? 'The Black Gate is shown as two gates because of a typo in the script given to the art department.'
- Injured bald eagle gets new 3-D printed beak | Grist
'designed a nylon polymer beak that would perfectly replace Beauty’s lost upper mandible.'
- Unofficial Transcripts: mySociety is seeking councillors, council officers, local activists and hyperlocal bloggers interested in Hansards at the local level
An attempt to get council meetings transcripted in a similar way to how parliament is.
Entry tags:
Interesting Links for 15-06-2012
- BBC News - The future of Google Search: Thinking outside the box
Reminds me of the 'agents' in Charles Stross' books or Eclipse Phase; AIs that have a good idea of what you're interested in, go and look for it, and bring it back to you.
- Michigan bans women representatives for using the V-word - Telegraph
... in a debate about abortion. There's an argument that it was for the context of the use: "And finally, Mr. Speaker, I'm flattered that you're all so interested my vagina, but 'no' means 'no.'", but that's not an argument that the people supporting it seem to be using much; given comments like "It was so offensive, I don't even want to say it in front of women. I would not say that in mixed company." Also, I am wondering if the telegraph was trolling with their original title for this story: "Michigan bans women representatives for vagina use"
Entry tags:
Interesting Links for 19-05-2012
- Does House of Lords reform affect Conservative election hopes? | Unlock Democracy
Conservatives: "Waaah! We lost votes! Lords reform is awful!" And then you look at the polling numbers, and see their polling numbers were dropping for over a month and a half before that, due to the Murdoch/Brooks links, the Budget, the Health and Social Care Bill, the Jeremy Hunt stuff…
- Monmouth to be world's first ‘Wikipedia town’ - Telegraph
'‘Monmouthpedia’ project includes 500 new articles in 25 languages, as Wikipedia seeks to offer comprehensive coverage of an entire town.'
Entry tags:
- awesome,
- computer games,
- computers,
- crowdfunding,
- currency,
- dem,
- democracy,
- economics,
- elected police commissoners,
- euro,
- europe,
- fairness,
- gaming,
- geeky,
- information,
- interesting,
- internet,
- kickstarter,
- links,
- money,
- oldschool,
- politics,
- post,
- posttofacebook,
- rpg,
- scotland,
- scottish independence,
- technology,
- uk
Interesting Links for 16-03-2012
- Gamers pledge almost a million dollars for Wasteland sequel • reghardware
'Wasteland, released in 1988, was the inspiration for the Fallout series. Both games spearheaded by Interplay founder and famed games developer Brian Fargo.' Edit: It's already beaten it's funding goals (within a few days, impressively), so it's definitely going to be made)
- Announcing Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition
'work has begun on the Enhanced Edition of Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II.'
- BBC News - Police commissioner elections: Millions without internet 'miss out'
"Only providing information about PCC candidates on a central website will disproportionately affect groups that have low levels of internet access, such as the elderly and those who live in rural areas."
- Scottish independence: Scotland must go into euro, expert claims - Politics - Scotsman.com
Entry tags:
- america,
- apple,
- civil servants,
- comment,
- competition,
- computers,
- conservatives,
- copyright,
- corruption,
- crime,
- culture,
- david cameron,
- democracy,
- fail,
- fairness,
- freedom,
- freedom of information,
- google,
- house of lords,
- independence,
- information,
- intellectual property,
- interesting,
- internet,
- law,
- lib dem,
- links,
- lobbying,
- music,
- news,
- ooh…nasty,
- piracy,
- politics,
- pos,
- posttofacebook,
- reform,
- scotland,
- scottish independence,
- snp,
- technology,
- the coalition,
- twitter,
- uk,
- unlock democracy,
- westminster,
- wtf
Interesting Links for 30-01-2012
- Civil servant in charge of Lobbying reform steps down after tweeting death wish for group campaigning for said reforms
'Walsh Atkins will be asked to explain the tweet she posted on December 22, saying: “I wish Unlock Democracy [the campaign group] would die. I am prepared to help it along.”'
- Tory grumblers told to fall in line over Lords reform
'because the policy was in the party's general election manifesto, the constitutional reform minister has said'
- "Universal Music Group Stole Our Music" | VICE
Youtube's auto-removal tool for the music industry leads to the industry removing stuff that's not their copyright
- No Devo-Max says Cameron - even if Scots vote for it
'UK Prime Minister David Cameron has flatly ruled out any extension to tax raising [or benefits system] powers for Scotland beyond the proposals contained in the Scotland Bill which is currently going through the Westminster Parliament.'
- Steve Jobs personally asked Eric Schmidt to stop poaching employees, and other unredacted statements in a Silicon Valley scandal | The Verge
- Freedom Act leads to bad government, O'Donnell warns
risks forcing ministers and civil servants into a system of "oral government" Because gods forbid we should know what and why our politicians and civil servants decide things.
- Loveless partners in coalition ditch plan to renew their vows - Politics - The Independent
No new coalition agreement 2.0 The parties haven't gotten enough of what they were wanting through, and they can't agree on new stuff.
Entry tags:
- africa,
- america,
- amusing,
- art,
- awesome,
- christmas,
- death,
- discrimination,
- fairness,
- human rights,
- image,
- information,
- interesting,
- international affairs,
- internet,
- law,
- lgbt,
- lib dem,
- lies,
- links,
- lobbying,
- london,
- music,
- politics,
- pretty,
- protest,
- security,
- software,
- technology,
- tfl,
- the coalition,
- the underground,
- transport,
- uk,
- wikipedia
Interesting Links for 09-12-2011
- BBC News - Who, What, Why: How do you reassemble shredded documents?
Governments and businesses have long used shredders to destroy sensitive documents. How easy is it to reassemble the pieces?
- London Dungeon Skeleton Turns Out To Be Genuine | Londonist
'Another week, another skeleton unearthed in London, this time not from the closet of a cabinet politician. A body in the London Dungeon has turned out to be real!'
- BBC News - Hillary Clinton declares 'gay rights are human rights'
'The US has publicly declared it will fight discrimination against gays and lesbians abroad by using foreign aid and diplomacy to encourage reform.'
- BBC News - In pictures: Manchester after an apocalypse
- Damn You Auto Correct! » The 25 Funniest Autocorrects Of DYAC’s First Year
- The arms company, the oligarch and the ex-PM's sister-in-law: lobby firm's Wikipedia hit list - UK Politics - UK - The Independent
'Bell Pottinger targeted the Wikipedia entry of Gordon Brown's sister-in-law, the environmental campaigner Clare Rewcas'tle Brown, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism can reveal
- BBC News - Make 'council bureaucrats' wear bowler hats says MP
'Council officials should be forced to wear bowler hats if proposals allowing them to clamp down on minor offences are approved, a Conservative MP says.'
- BBC News - Wikipedia investigates PR firm Bell Pottinger's edits
'Wikipedia has suspended at least 10 accounts linked to the public relations firm Bell Pottinger as it investigates allegations of content manipulation.'
- One Direction fans boo George Osborne over Christmas lights mix-up - Showbiz News - Digital Spy
'Rumours that the 'Gotta Be You' group were to make an appearance at the event in Knutsford circulated earlier this week, sparking an outraged reaction from the 3,000-strong crowd when their local MP turned up to flick the switch.'
- BBC News - Danny Alexander in 'ginger rodent' Christmas card
'Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander, who was branded a ginger rodent by a Labour rival, has poked fun at the insult in his Christmas card.'
- BBC News - Oxford Circus Tube station evacuated by London police
A group of more than 200 DR Congo demonstrators have caused an emergency evacuation of Oxford Circus Tube station in central London, British Transport Police (BTP) has said.