alfa.org.uk

Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New ‘Intelligent Falling’ Theory.

Brilliant photo snapped at What The Hack. I’m off to Canada in a few weeks - I will have to go through this charade as usual.

The latest Paul Graham article talks about blogs, and explains why newspapers should be worried.

Those in the print media who dismiss the writing online because of its low average quality are missing an important point: no one reads the average blog. In the old world of channels, it meant something to talk about average quality, because that’s what you were getting whether you liked it or not. But now you can read any writer you want. So the average quality of writing online isn’t what the print media are competing against. They’re competing against the best writing online. And, like Microsoft, they’re losing.

Then there is Maciej Ceglowski’s brilliant article about NASA’s manned space programme, which is so good that it provides the perfect evidence Graham is correct.

To the uneducated mind, it would seem we could accomplish our current manned space flight objectives more easily by not launching any astronauts into space at all - leaving the Shuttle and ISS on the ground would result in massive savings without the slightest impact on basic science, while also increasing mission safety by many orders of magnitude.

Keep me on hold (playing Spandau Ballet at me) for ten minutes, then transfer me to the automated system!

P.S. Yes I am alive, life has been busy.

It’s that time of year again.

It’s rare you see an internet startup that’s a genuine “wow, cool idea” these days, but Lulu may just be one..

Threadless is another if you haven’t already seen it - if only they took PayPal though :(

The BBC Philharmonic are performing a series of concerts containing all nine Beethoven symphonies. Even better, you can download free MP3s of all of them!

The first two are up now, and are excellent recordings from a first listen.

I like optical illusions. Here are two good ones.

Wow, what an amazing gig. Ben Folds totally rocked the Barbican (I doubt they have ever had an entire audience shouting “FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK” along with a band before).

Through a mixture of the interwebnet and my memory, I *think* the setlist was:

1. In Between Days (The Cure cover, from the Speed Graphic EP)
2. Gone
3. There’s Always Someone Cooler Than You
4. Purple Haze (yes really!)
5. Jesusland
6. Bastard
7. Still Fighting It
8. Carrying Cathy (wonderfully played)
9. All U Can Eat (I’d never really noticed how funny the lyrics are before!)
10. You To Thank
11. Landed
12. Rock This (Barbican) Bitch (”The Barbican is NOT your bitch, it is a respectable place”)
13. Zak and Sara
14. Bitches Ain’t Shit (hilarious Dr Dre cover)
15. Emaline (just Ben, audience request)
16. Evaporated (just Ben)
17. Army (just Ben)
18. Where’s Summer B? (I love this song!!! Highlight of the night)
19. Rockin’ the Suburbs
20. Annie Waits
21. Popcorn (yes, the cheesy 80s electronica song!)
22. Late
23. Philosophy

Encore:

1. Not The Same (with extended audience participation conducted from on top of the piano)
2. One Angry Dwarf And 200 Solemn Faces

It just occurred to me that thanks to our copyright laws all the thousands of people buying the Crazy Frog Ringtone single are, technically, not allowed to rip the CD and use it as a ringtone on their phone.

The irony is delicious.