http://www.spikydog.com/blog My braindumps, wafflings and tripe Fri, 05 Sep 2008 23:23:03 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Scientists working on the world's biggest machine are being besieged by phone calls and emails from people who fear the world will end next Wednesday, when the gigantic atom smasher starts up. Such is the angst that the American Nobel prize winning physicist Frank Wilczek of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ... http://www.spikydog.com/blog/2008/09/05/anyone-who-thinks-the-lhc-will-destroy-the-world-is-a-twat/ A BBC News journalist this morning commented on how, during John McCain's speech at the Republican Convention, the crowd started shouting "USA! USA! USA!" in a seemingly spontaneous fit of patriotic fervour. It made me laugh to then read Michael Tomasky's article in the Guardian where he explained that the ... http://www.spikydog.com/blog/2008/09/05/more-broken-news/ Can someone please ban the phrase 'credit crunch'? I'm thoroughly sick of hearing it. The news these days seems to get marketed and dumbed down to the extent that it seems we can't be told anything unless it is phrased using catchy alliteration or less syllables that the title of ... http://www.spikydog.com/blog/2008/09/03/the-news-is-broken/ I find myself torn between patriotic pride at the crapness of the London 2012 performance at the Beijing Olympics handover ceremony, and shame at the crapness of the English performance at the Beijing Olympics handover ceremony. But I actually feel more pride, and it’s the Chinese I have to thank. Looking ... http://www.spikydog.com/blog/2008/08/27/london-2012-the-comedy-games/ [This blog entry deleted. It contained a lot of complaining, not much humour. I read it again and bored myself half to death.] http://www.spikydog.com/blog/2008/08/26/bitch-bitch-bitch-ah-ill-be-home-again-then/ Old computers can end up becoming little better than oversized paperweights - an old desktop in my room needs to be wiped and then given to a recycling company, and I'm now on my third laptop. I had been waiting for a while to try out Ubuntu, a Linux-based operating ... http://www.spikydog.com/blog/2008/08/24/weekend-project/ "I've been trying out this new service called SpinVox and it's something that Steven Frye just blogged(?) about on his blog. It's quite incredible. You basically speak into the phone and some sort of voice recognition software works out the saying and turns it into text. It's really quite impressive. ... http://www.spikydog.com/blog/2008/08/18/speaking-freely/ Job hunting is an imperfect process to say the least. An hour, maybe two, one interview, maybe two, and the panel is supposed to have worked out if you’re suitable for the job, qualified, and not a nutter who will turn up to work wearing only a duvet, throw staplers at ... http://www.spikydog.com/blog/2008/08/16/put-away-those-questions-and-sniff-my-butt/ I drove mum to Weeley today to do a funeral. Weeley is a village in Essex. There’s a crematorium, and a pub, and nothing else but houses. Well, there was an old guy wandering around wearing only shorts. In that respect, it was like Cambodia, but only in the old-guy-wearing-only-shorts respect, ... http://www.spikydog.com/blog/2008/08/15/shopkeepers-of-the-world-unite/ I had a job interview yesterday for a job I really, really want, and as has been the case on several occasions before, thinking back, I can hardly remember a word I said. What does however worry me is that I think I might have come across as an eight-year ... http://www.spikydog.com/blog/2008/08/14/dont-screw-it-up-brain/