Drawing Breath » Opinion

I’m not going to ignore PZ’s advice

Richard — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 08:41:28 +0000

In a recent post on Pharyngula, well known atheist blogger Professor PZ Myers asked his readers not to link to some ScienceBlogs posts about Robert Lanza (MD, Scientist, Theoretician, Genius and Renegade Thinker) in case they might increase the likelihood that Google will return those links in searches for Robert Lanza.

So I’m not going to, because we all know that PZ is a prophet of the New Atheist Religion, and that his loyal followers must obey his every command.

Mad dogs and Englishmen

Richard — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 13:03:57 +0000

Are we so starved of sun in this country that people go crazy at the merest glimpse? Although my Dashboard Weather Widget says it’s 17°C outside, the wind makes it feel a lot cooler. Yet I’ve just been walking through the city centre and from the way most people are dressed, you would be forgiven for thinking that it was the middle of summer and 30°C in the shade.

Admittedly, the sight of more women in mini-skirts and vest tops isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but at least wait until it feels as warm as it looks out there. Mind you, maybe it’s just me; the current Weather Channel report for Coventry says “feels like 18°C”.

And they wonder why we hate them

Richard — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 20:49:20 +0000

So, those lovely people at the Inland Revenue have issued me with a nice big tax bill for the year ending 2006. Not only that, but they waited until the bill was overdue before sending me written notification of this nice big tax bill (I could have found out sooner if I had logged into their site every few days to check my statement). So now I have a nice big tax bill, and interest to pay because the payment is overdue.

Now I have to write to them to appeal against the interest charges, which is a time consuming pain in the ass, and something I wouldn’t have to do if the tax office had had the wherewithal to write to me in a timely fashion. Gits.

Please, make it stop

Richard — Wed, 17 May 2006 08:51:05 +0000

I am already so fed up of seeing football everywhere; TV ads for everything from Argos to Pringles featuring footballers, managers or commentators; football related gewgaws and frippery given away with every soft drink or breakfast cereal; bloody cars with those bloody ridiculous bloody England flags flying from each bloody side of the bloody roof!

Bloody hell, the World Cup hasn’t even started yet. What a great summer it’s going to be for football tyros everywhere. I so glad I have a decent DVD collection.

I see no links missing

Richard — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 09:23:24 +0000

On GMTV this morning, a big deal was made of a documentary to be aired tonight about a family of quadruped humans discovered in Turkey:

Researchers believe the five brothers and sisters, who can walk naturally only on all fours, may provide new information on how humans evolved from four-legged hominids to walk upright.

Two sisters and one son have only ever walked on two hands and two feet, while another daughter and son occasionally walk on two feet.

Much has been made of their discovery, and they are being described as a possible “missing link” between apes and humans. Am I missing something here? These poor people have a hip defect that makes it very hard for them to stand upright. Yet almost every ape or monkey I’ve ever seen on television is capable of standing upright. Most of them can even walk on their hind legs, albeit awkwardly.

This isn’t a discovery that could aid research into the evolution of humans. This is a freak show, pure and simple, with these poor sods paraded around on camera for our “entertainment”.

Flying high on TV

Richard — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 19:51:53 +0000

My favourite thing on TV at the moment is the “What Did You Want To Be?” advert for the new Ford Focus ST. It’s a hideous car, but I love the guy in the superhero costume. The way he takes to the air in response to a distressed scream is just superb. Watch it, then tell me it’s not the best superhero takeoff you’ve ever seen.

Update: The original site I linked to now requires paid membership to view the ad (yes, really), so watch it on YouTube instead. The quality isn’t as good, but it’s free.

I’m not liking the like

Richard — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 09:51:28 +0000

Why is it that so many, like, people these days seem to need to, like, use the word “like” all the time when they, like, talk? It, like, drives me, like, nuts! And if I hear someone how overuses “like” (or “right”, or “y’know” or any other sentence padding flummery) and uses that damned rising inflection at the end of every sentence, then I want to stick knives in their neck.

Am I just getting old?

Bird brains

Richard — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 12:00:57 +0000

So, a few French ducks have got the flu, and now frightened UK pet owners are dumping their parrots and budgerigars. The National Parrot Sanctuary in Lincolnshire has had to take in 23 abandoned birds in a week, more than they usually receive in a year.

These pet birds are caged, indoors. Do the owners think that their parrots are letting themselves out of their cages at night, unlocking the front door, popping to the local park and swapping used handkerchiefs with the local wild birds? Just how do they think their birds are going to acquire this disease? A disease that has yet to jump the species barrier and be demonstrated as harmful to humans? Idiots.

These poor abandoned birds (some of whom have had frostbite from being left outside the sanctuary in the middle of the night by their caring owners) must be really pissed off that they have been kept in a cage by people who are less intelligent than they are.

Eeny, meeny, miney, no!

Richard — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 09:58:11 +0000

The Register reports on a leak which indicates that Windows Vista will be available in eight variations. Eight variations? I’ve always considered the “Home” and “Pro” versions of Windows to be a huge con; both a sign that Microsoft can’t build an easy to use OS if they have to strip out features for the home user and a way for them to gouge business users who need the Pro features. But offering eight versions of the same product seems ludicrous.

Mac OS X comes in two versions; OS X Server if you, well, run a server and provide standards-based workgroup and Internet services and plain old Mac OS X for everyone else.

Clearly the Keep It Simple principle is one that eludes all sections of the Microsoft machine. Offering the consumer lots of choice isn’t the key; offering a few carefully considered and clearly defined choices is what matters.

Fingers crossed for a full smoking ban

Richard — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 10:20:36 +0000

MPs are to decide in a free vote whether to impose a ban on smoking in all England’s pubs and clubs.

I really hope that parliament has the guts to back a full ban on smoking in public places in England. I recently spent a night in Dublin, attending the Digital Media Awards with a small team from BBC Northern Ireland. One of the things that really struck me was that, after spending several hours in a packed bar, I awoke the next morning without the nauseating smell of stale cigarettes, and without the usual sore eyes and throat that usually follow such a night.

Still, with the tax revenue that is generated from the sale of cigarettes and alcohol in this country, I’m pretty sure that the government will bow to the industry lobbyists and revenue before health with a watered down ban. The benefit to the health of non-smokers just doesn’t register, unfortunately.

[Update:] Well, I’ll go to the foot of our stairs.