AlunSalt http://alunsalt.com Ancient Science and the Science of Ancient Things Thu, 09 May 2013 11:02:20 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 The Meaning of Liff at 30 http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/28/the-meaning-of-liff-at-30/ http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/28/the-meaning-of-liff-at-30/#comments Thu, 28 Feb 2013 18:17:07 +0000 Alun http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/28/the-meaning-of-liff-at-30/ There’s a radio show online celebrating 30 years of The Meaning of Liff a dictionary of words that don’t exist, but should. The words are all place names that have been press-ganged into doing some proper work in the English language. As a responsible person I’m not linking to this website that lists many of the definitions in the book: http://folk.uio.no/alied/TMoL.html

Examples:
THROCKING (participial vb.)
The action of continually pushing down the lever on a pop-up toaster in the hope that you will thereby get it to understand that you want it to toast something.

NAD (n.)
Measure defined as the distance between a driver’s outstretched fingertips and the ticket machine in an automatic car-park. 1 nad = 18.4 cm.

RIPON (vb.)
(Of literary critics.) To include all the best jokes from the book in the review to make it look as if the critic thought of them.

#Liff     #Books     #DouglasAdams     #Gplus  

The Meaning of Liff at 30
John Lloyd celebrates 30 years of The Meaning of Liff with Matt Lucas and Helen Fielding.

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]]> http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/28/the-meaning-of-liff-at-30/feed/ 1 For once an anti-GM campaigner might cheer a Monsanto win http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/26/for-once-an-anti-gm-campaigner-might-cheer-a-monsanto-win/ http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/26/for-once-an-anti-gm-campaigner-might-cheer-a-monsanto-win/#comments Tue, 26 Feb 2013 09:45:51 +0000 Alun http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/26/for-once-an-anti-gm-campaigner-might-cheer-a-monsanto-win/ I’ve blogged about my confusion over the Bowman vs. Monsanto case at AoB Blog. There’s a whole argument over GMOs are bad or not, or if that’s even the right question. But if they are, does that mean the anti-GM position is always anti-Monsanto?

On this occasion I argue a Monsanto win would do more to reduce the uptake of GMOs than a loss. It’s perfectly possible I’ve made a mistake. The campaigners are presumably much more knowledgable about the situation than I am, so feel free to leave a comment at AoB Blog.

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My enemy’s enemy…?
Recently a lot of comments on the Bowman vs. Monsanto court case have been in my social media streams. If you’ve not heard about this, it’s about a court case between a farmer and the Monsanto corp.…..


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]]> http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/26/for-once-an-anti-gm-campaigner-might-cheer-a-monsanto-win/feed/ 0 In the UK we’ll soon hear that ‘cod’ fish fingers are up to 100% sea… http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/23/in-the-uk-well-soon-hear-that-cod-fish-fingers-are-up-to-100-sea-2/ http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/23/in-the-uk-well-soon-hear-that-cod-fish-fingers-are-up-to-100-sea-2/#comments Sat, 23 Feb 2013 16:50:10 +0000 Alun http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/23/in-the-uk-well-soon-hear-that-cod-fish-fingers-are-up-to-100-sea-2/ In the UK we’ll soon hear that ‘cod’ fish fingers are up to 100% seahorse.

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These are not the fish you’re looking for. 

One-third of seafood mislabeled, study finds
Fraud common in seafood labeling. Sushi houses the worst offenders, study finds.

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]]> http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/23/in-the-uk-well-soon-hear-that-cod-fish-fingers-are-up-to-100-sea-2/feed/ 2 Thoughts on Persuasion http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/20/thoughts-on-persuasion/ http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/20/thoughts-on-persuasion/#comments Wed, 20 Feb 2013 13:52:57 +0000 Alun http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/20/thoughts-on-persuasion/
A talk so good I went out and bought the book. Given I was in a foul mood at this point in the event, that was a big success for the speaker.

I’m not sure how much I can use this; I’m not interested in making sales. It is interesting to know about thought to see how you can be unintentionally persuaded by others actions.


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]]> http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/20/thoughts-on-persuasion/feed/ 1 Going into space? If you can’t wear a blue shirt then make sure you have a red… http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/20/going-into-space-if-you-cant-wear-a-blue-shirt-then-make-sure-you-have-a-red/ http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/20/going-into-space-if-you-cant-wear-a-blue-shirt-then-make-sure-you-have-a-red/#comments Wed, 20 Feb 2013 09:41:03 +0000 Alun http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/20/going-into-space-if-you-cant-wear-a-blue-shirt-then-make-sure-you-have-a-red/ Going into space? If you can’t wear a blue shirt then make sure you have a red one.

Significance magazine has analysed the casualties in Star Trek:TOS. Everyone knows that wearing a red shirt on the USS Enterprise is like wearing a giant shoot me sign. But what everyone knows might be wrong.

Matthew Barsalou has analysed the casualities and found blue is the safest colour. He’s also found more red shirts died than any other colour — but on the Enterprise there are more red shirts anyway. The situation is made more complicated by security, engineering and operations all wearing red shirts even though they do very different jobs.

If you’re a space cadet this is essential reading.

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#startrek   #statistics  

Keep your redshirt on: a Bayesian exploration — Web Exclusive Article — Significance Magazine
Keep your redshirt on: a Bayesian exploration. Author: Matthew Barsalou. The idea of red-shirted characters being frequently killed in Star Trek: The Original Series has become a pop culture cliché. B…

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]]> http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/20/going-into-space-if-you-cant-wear-a-blue-shirt-then-make-sure-you-have-a-red/feed/ 0 A new dark sky reserve http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/19/a-new-dark-sky-reserve/ http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/19/a-new-dark-sky-reserve/#comments Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:24:42 +0000 Alun http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/19/a-new-dark-sky-reserve/ There’s another dark sky reserve in the UK. The practical effect is that the council will be taking light pollution seriously in order to keep the status. If you’d like to see what a dark sky looks like AstroCamp is there in May: http://astrocamp.org.uk/

I’m pleased about this news as I’m hoping that it’ll mean the local council’s open to reducing light pollution elsewhere in Powys. I live in a more sparsely populated region to the north of the Brecon.

Brecon Beacons win dark sky status
Brecon Beacons National Park has become Wales’ first and only the fifth destination in the world to be granted the status of an international dark sky reserve.

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]]> http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/19/a-new-dark-sky-reserve/feed/ 0 I thought it was an advert for snake oil but http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/18/i-thought-it-was-an-advert-for-snake-oil-but/ http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/18/i-thought-it-was-an-advert-for-snake-oil-but/#comments Mon, 18 Feb 2013 15:10:27 +0000 Alun http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/18/i-thought-it-was-an-advert-for-snake-oil-but/ It’s hard to know how to respond to this. I visited their website but my monitor emitted a whole load of radiation in the 400-700nm range.

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]]> http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/18/i-thought-it-was-an-advert-for-snake-oil-but/feed/ 0 Deal or no Deal? http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/15/deal-or-no-deal/ http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/15/deal-or-no-deal/#comments Fri, 15 Feb 2013 21:30:43 +0000 Alun http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/15/deal-or-no-deal/ There’s a crimewave in southern England. Deal Town Council have been been recklessly using the coat of Arms granted to Deal Borough Council in 1968. As heraldry aficionados will know, Deal Town Council covers a slightly different area than Deal Borough Council. Therefore there’s been a stretch of almost 40 years of law-breaking since the borough council was disbanded in 1974.

Deal Town FC have also been told their kit is illegal due to their badge. Presumably because people might confuse them with the entirely non-existent Deal Borough FC.

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Town and football crest ‘unlawful’
A town and its football club are told that it is unlawful to continue using their crest.

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]]> http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/15/deal-or-no-deal/feed/ 0 Old Harry’s Game returns to Radio 4extra http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/14/old-harrys-game-returns-to-radio-4extra/ http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/14/old-harrys-game-returns-to-radio-4extra/#comments Thu, 14 Feb 2013 21:52:48 +0000 Alun http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/14/old-harrys-game-returns-to-radio-4extra/ It’s effectively a reboot of the series. It’s radio and available worldwide. Spin on to 3m15s for the start of the programme.

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Old Harry’s Game: Series 6: Episode 1
Satan strikes a bizarre bargain with an eminent historian. Sitcom stars Andy Hamilton.

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]]> http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/14/old-harrys-game-returns-to-radio-4extra/feed/ 0 Science of Discworld IV: Judgement Day is due out in April http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/13/science-of-discworld-iv-judgement-day-is-due-out-in-april/ http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/13/science-of-discworld-iv-judgement-day-is-due-out-in-april/#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2013 21:52:05 +0000 Alun http://alunsalt.com/2013/02/13/science-of-discworld-iv-judgement-day-is-due-out-in-april/ I missed this till now. There’ll be a fourth instalment of the Science of Discworld. If you haven’t read any of the Science of Discworld books, they’re different to the usual Science of… books in that Discworld doesn’t run on science so there’s not much point explaining how it could work scientifically. Instead it follows an experiment by the wizards of Unseen University to create a world that runs on rules instead of narrativium. Roundworld has no magic so how does a world come together and how does life colonise it?

Science of Discworld II: The Globe was about the development of Mind with the aid of two playwrights and Science of Discworld III: Darwin’s Watch looked at how the idea of evolution was invented again and again until Charles Darwin made it stick.

For Science of Discworld IV the Omnians have discovered about the Roundworld project. A world that is actually round but has no gods is a bit of a problem for the Omnians who believe that the disc is a globe, but are very keen on a God.

The current publication date is April 11.http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/editions/the-science-of-discworld-iv-judgement-day/9780091949792

There was also a talk on the science of Discworld in Dublin last year.

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