Ed Dowding

Category: General

It's in the mix

Thomas Malthus predicted that we’ve have the fourt horsemen of the Apocalypse on our doorstep due to geometric rise in population levels, but arithmetic rise in our capacity to support ourselves. This has not yet come to pass. Why not? Some say that the more people you have the more ideas there will be, and ...

CCTV does not work

Well duh. CCTV boom ‘failing to cut crime’ Huge investment in closed-circuit TV technology has failed to cut UK crime, a senior police officer has warned. BBC News

Motto

Use it up, wear it out, Make it do, or do without Orson Scott-Card

People in Bars

Here’s a problem. The most interesting people are the ones with interesting thoughts. Those thoughts probably keep them entertained, and so they don’t chat as much to strangers in bars. Which means that the majority* of people who DO talk with strangers in bars are the ones who bore easily. * because even smart people ...

"It's time growth was dethroned as a goal for this country"

Too damned right. Have a listen to Marcus Brigstocke on Post Offices. In comedia veritas.

Marcus Brigstocke on Religion

Just in case you’ve not seen it yet

A more perfect union

More inspirational and wise words from the only politician of my lifetime who I believe in.

I'll bet we won't all get a phone call from Condi

I think you can probably bet your bank details that the following would not happen if your details were breached on the forthcoming UK ID card US Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton has said her passport file was improperly accessed by officials at the state department. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice contacted Mrs Clinton about ...

UK's MI5 Wants Oyster Card Travel Data

Well, well, well… guess what? UK’s MI5 Wants Oyster Card Travel Data

Weather forecasts

I realised today that I doubt the good forecasts but believe the bad ones. That possibly says deep things about my personality.

Allegience to the Queen

Sigh. Another folly masquerading as change. People just do not respond well to being pushed. We take pride in our (country’s) actions where they are noble, moral, well thought through, and demonstrably good. It is the quality of our (government’s / organisations’) daily actions which has the ability to nurture pride within us. This, it ...

How to prepare children for the future?

My answer to this question: The best article I’ve seen on this is http://www.changethis.com/38.03.EdInnovation, followed closely by another from the IEA arguing for the economic liberatlisation of education and removing it from Government control / state monopoly. It certainly seems very true that innovation in education will come from countries like India and China who ...

Bring about Utopia, by Bertrand Russell

“Our dealings with those whom we love may be safely left to instinct; it is our dealings with those whom we hate that ought to be brought under the dominion of reason. In the modern world, those whom we effevtively hate are distant groups, especially foreign nations. We conceive them abstractly, and deceive ourselves into ...

How to sound more important

When you talk, there are times when you might raise the pitch of your voice to give the word emphasis. Instead, you can sound like an important person in a suit by simply lowering it on the same word. Try it: “I don’t *really* think that’s a good idea” vs “I don’t _really_ think that’s ...

Links for today

http://thingsihavelearnedinmylife.com/ http://kluster.com/ http://podiobooks.com/

Life is better shared

Life is better shared. Rather, my life is so good it’s worth sharing. I’m not sure I want to share anyone else’s unless it’s at least as good.

We are the drones

An interesting Matrix-style thought experiment is presented in (yet another) great TED talk: what if we serve the plants? How does the world look then? The second part of the 17m speech talks about the virtues of Polyface farming. There are some incredible yields possible.

Sand beasts

Where art and engineering meet.

Love

Do you find conversations and thoughts about love are difficult? It’s often hard to work out exactly what we think about someone, and even harder to tell them. Much of this is down to the very limited vocabulary we use when talking about love. Any word that can apply to “chocolate mousse” and “the person ...

US Elections

Just in case you were wondering, the 2008 US Elections aren’t until 4th November 2008, so we’ve got a whole year of this shit left. Go Obama!