Automated Attack Monkeys, Scalpel Mines, & Acid

The Blood is The Life 17-03-2012

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 09:00:01 GMT

Why We Have to Go Back to a 40-Hour Work Week to Keep Our Sanity
Fantastically clear evidence-baded and well argued article on why long work weeks are bad for both businesses and workers.
(tags: work )
Fabulous website on the Equal Marriage Consultation
(tags: lgbt )
In praise of geek TV mums
3 Sarah Jane 3
(tags: geekery motherhood )
George Clooney and Martin Luther King III Arrested for Sudan Protest
Somebody call Dion: we've found MArtin and Geroge. Just Abraham to go! Seriously, though, impressive stuff from Messers Clooney and King.
(tags: protest )
Bully Rating Battle Heads to Washington DC | The Mary Sue
"a movie that is intended to inform kids and teens about bullying is being kept from kids and teens by an organization that exists to fight censorship." * headdesk *
(tags: censorship )
Pelgrane Press Ltd » Trail of Cthulhu
This looks like a really awesome combination of detective and hooro, two of my biggest geekeries. Anyone actually played it?
(tags: cthulhu games )
» Lesbian families: the role of the donor UK Legal Feminist Group
Of course, if it were easier for lesbian couples to get donations from sperm donor clinics, this wouldn't be an issue.
(tags: lgbt )
“Battlefield” and the Woman Warrior
I know I keep linking to Doctor Her, but they keep posting really good posts! I mean, how can you not lve a post about Brigadier Bambera and Morgaine?
(tags: DoctorWho )

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The Blood is The Life 13-03-2012

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 09:00:19 GMT

Jo Swinson: The Invisible Woman
Caron details the Fail's wilful blindness
(tags: Sexism )
Jim C. Hines » Freedom of Speech 101
Jim Hines reiterates in the clearest terms why "I don't like this" does not always mean "this should be banned" and why people who pretend it does are just arseholes.
(tags: awesome )
When Geeks Have Empathy Problems | Geek Feminism Blog
Remember this next time someone defends something odious, and feel sorry for them. Also, probably pass them a link to this post, even if it is a bit long.
(tags: geekery )
Insect Memories
Gina posts some amazingly beautiful photos of the specimens she has been working on in the entomology department.
(tags: photos )
cpwilsoniii's deviantART gallery
Fabulous superheroes-in-the-style-of-Winnie-the-Pooh stuff. I particularly like Wolverine meets Hulk (because Wolverine as Piglet makes SO MUCH SENSE) and Werm Hole Experamunt, which is just glorious (Lookit the ickle THOR!)
(tags: )
lizw on whether or not she should resign from the Lib Dems
the comments are thoughtful and interesting too.
(tags: libdemmery )
The leadership's three major mistakes on NHS Debate · caronmlindsay · Storify
(tags: libdemmery )
#ldconf, the NHS Bill, and Where The Leadership Stands Now
Very long but very thought-provoking and knowledgeable post, detailing the events of the weekend and some possible repercussions.
(tags: libdemmery )
It’s Not A War On Women—It’s A War On Sex «
(tags: )
Speaking as a Reeder Reader
LMC echoes my feelings on the removal of Amy Reeder from Batwoman
(tags: comics )
The 0158 from Stevenage
Another one to file in the "evidence in favour of the campaign for real time" box
(tags: time )
We BelieveYou – Mumsnet Rape Campaign | saltandcaramel.com
Why is rape one of the most under-reported crimes? If someone steals your purse, you would go to the police, you would tell friends and family. But then, it is unlikely that the police or your friends would say, “Hmm, I see you used your purse right before it got stolen. And you use your purse in different shops, and often take it out of your bag. Are you sure that you didn’t lead the person who took your purse on, made him think that he could have it”.
(tags: rape )
We Believe You Rape Awareness Campaign | Mumsnet
Since every news outlet is talking about it, but few seem to be linking to it...
(tags: rape )
Doonesbury Strip
"Please take a seat in the Shaming Room"
(tags: comics )
That steady diet of EastEnders IS turning her into a shrew • The Register
Time to get out your sexism bingo card: - use of the term "shrew" - only women watch soap operas - people who read El Reg don't watch soap operas, DO play video games, and are all men Of course, the original research is just as bad, but then I often have problems with psych folks not managing to remove their own assumptions from experiments.
(tags: )
c.£1million pounds of Private Health Care money gifted to the Lib Dems from non-dom tax dodgers. - Njuice
Anyone know the truth of this?
(tags: libdemmery )
Getting older makes us happier, because we give up on our dreams - WARNING! Contains Torygraph
"Once you finally accept your lowly position, you'll be fine!" *rolleyes*
(tags: )
New Notes From Lizzie Borden Trial | The Mary Sue
Apparently Lizzie Borden DIDn't take an axe and give her father forty whacks. Damn. Next you'll be telling me that man who wasn't there on the stairs actually WAS...
(tags: )
Sigourney Weaver reveals there's R-rated Galaxy Quest out there | Blastr
Oh Cthulhu I would sell my grandma to see this.
(tags: scifi )

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#FFWFest Day Three: OMGOMGOMG

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 09:02:15 GMT

It's taken me a couple of days to become coherent enough to type this up. We saw some features (CHUD being a particularly cheesy highlight) and shorts (Mortified was the best IMHO, but the shorts on Sunday were ALL good, technical issues with one of them notwithstanding) and ate some of matgb's home made cake and it was all good.

And we recorded little bits with both of the makers of short films who had come to the screenings, and they were both very cool. It was fun geeking about The Amicus Hand with Ashley Thorpe especially.

And then at some point before the screening of Whistle And I'll Come To You I was standing outside having a fag when a gentleman approached and lit up saying Aha! This is where the outcasts go... ... AND IT WAS SIR DR JONATHAN MILLER!!!!!eleventy!! And he chatted away quite amiably to me and magister on a range of subjects and was witty and interesting on all of them. And James and I went inside mumbling variations on a theme of OMG Jonathan Miller OMG and having geekgasms. And then the next time I went out for a fag it happened again!

Anyhew, to cut a long story short we secured his agreement to record a little bit for mygoditsthebaggageman, which we did after his interview with Sir Professor Christopher Frayling (who is enough for geekgasms all by himself). I don't know how good or useful the recording is because my brain was basically in screamingOMG mode by the time I hit record, but I suspect that even if I am totally incoherent on it we'll be able to make something of it because the man can just talk about ANYTHING. I seem to recall us chatting about opera, German film, atheism, psychology, philosophy, sculpture, and many other things, but which of those I recorded I couldn't tell you.

The man has such a towering intellect, but he's so unpretentious with it. He is an absolute master of the fine art of not giving a flying fuck what anybody thinks about him, and I fully approve of that. Yeah, if you hadn't noticed yet, I was very, very impressed.

Oh yes, and apparently Madame Bovary is a tedious slut, and you might as well have a degree in stationery as media studies. And lots of things are drivel.

♥

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Firefox 4: anyone found any benefits?

Wed, 05 Jan 2011 15:28:16 GMT

Because with the removal of the RSS button and the status bar, both of which I use a lot (and so does my wife), and the fact that extensions now opens as a webpage, instead of an options dialogue, we are only seeing downsides...

Thankfully the add-ons to put the RSS button back and reintegrate a statusbar have already started arriving, so the problem is easily fixed, but it's still annoying.

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PSA: Appearances Elsewhere

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 23:48:00 GMT

For those of you who are interested in my appearances elsewhere, I have a guest post up on Geeka Chicas (again) about the FFW, and I have a three minute speechy bit (and lots of mentions) in this week's Eleventh Hour podcast. They also go on about how brilliant my lovely sponsor is, with which I can only agree...

This blog is proudly sponsored by

If you would like to view this entry with a pale colour scheme click here. If you would like to subscribe to my blog click here for RSS or here for atom.

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Geeky Stuff, in which I rec some stuff and need help with other stuff

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 13:19:38 GMT

First, the success:

Mat's netbook is one of those ones with windows 7 starter, which means that (among many other things) you can't change your desktop wallpaper. Unless you download software. There are lots of software packages out there that offer advanced customisation options, but if you just want to change your desktop (and conserve resources) then Oceanis Change Desktop is the way to go.

My desktop is now ( this: ) which is v cute, I think you'll agree (thanks to the fabulous Dirty Whoers for the image)

Second, the failures

Remember how I had to reset my phone to factory settings? Well, this involved a lot of software updating afterwards, which took up most of saturday morning. I have re-installed lots of things, and resubscribed to all my podcasts, and installed the latest versions of some things. And that's where the problem comes in...

Opera Mobile 10

... is fabulous. The rendering of images is gorgeous, the tabbed browsing and stuff is excellent, the UI is intuitive and pretty... But there is one problem. It won't save my bookmarks/history/start screen. I'm probably missing something very obvious, but I can't find anything in the settings to stop it from doing this, and my google-fu is failing me. Help?

Nokia email client

Again, it's very pretty, and the UI is brilliant, and it beats the google email app for Symbian into a cocked hat... except that after 2 days of use it has suddenly stopped working. When I check the status page, it says it is in offline mode, and nothing I can do can get it to go into online mode. Again google-fu is failing, in that I have found a couple of forum posts from people having the same problem, but no solution. Any ideas?

Please to be noting that funny suggestions like get a different phone or use different software will be met with short shrift. I love my phone, and both of those bits of software are ones that 1, I like and 2, are better than any of the other apps I have found that do the same thing, aside from the bugs I detail above. Anyone recommending that I get a bloody iPhone will be met with extreme violence once I have hunted them down.

My March sponsor is Mark Reckons.

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Heroes season 2

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:39:01 GMT

We have watched the first disc of season 2 of Heroes from lovefilm. It hasn't grabbed me at all, and George Takei is dead. Should we persevere through the series, or follow my gut instinct and knock the rest of it off the list so we can watch other things? Mohinder's pretty is not enough to keep me watching, I fear...

View Poll: Heroes

My March sponsor is Mark Reckons, who is currently enjoying himself at Conference, the git.

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Just call me the Feminist @bengoldacre

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 01:44:00 GMT

So, like all good geeks, I have the Bad Science book and read the sainted Dr Ben's blog regularly. I also have a slightly rusty A-level in Statistics, and a penchant for picking holes in things. So when I see bobbins like this trumpeted as proof that men are better than women, I start wondering if David Tennant's little misogynist organisation from the new St Trinian's film* is real. I'm not even linking to the Daily Fail's version, which proudly trumpets that because the study was done by a woman it must be totally gospel.

Here are the things that occurred to me when reading that news report:

65 volunteers; self-selecting sample; 5% difference (not statistically significant on such a small sample). This study is not scientifically rigorous enough to prove anything.

who was paying for this study? The paymaster often has an influence on the conduct of the study - after all, (s)he who has the gold, makes the rules...

It says there were 65 volunteers. It doesn't say what the gender split was. What if only 5 of them were women?

How familiar were each of the volunteers with the car? An Audi A6 is a big expensive saloon. Were the male drivers more familiar with driving big saloons than the women? Were the male drivers less worried about damaging an expensive new car than the women? Could this be an explanation for their differing performance?

There is research shown that both men and women will play up to stereotype when under scrutiny - was some sort of control put in place to account for this?

I'm sure that there are other holes pickable. I'm also sure it's possible to pick holes in my holes. Do feel free to do so, BTW. Learning is good :)

* the new St Trinian's film is well worth seeing, by the way. It's very silly, and doesn't have as much naked Colin Firth in as the first one, but it's a lot of fun, and made me giggle lots. And it passes the Bechdel test. And it has a very feministy-yet-fun message. I approved.

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Firefox Extensions on McGruder

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 12:29:46 GMT

On Monday I'll be booting up the desktop and sorting out the extensions on both computers. To that end, here is a list of what I have on McGruder at the moment. Expect a master list on Monday ;)

( list under the cut ) - isn't computer maintenance FUN? ;)

* goes to sort out all her bookmarks *

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Things that make me happy day... uh... Whatever.

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 18:52:08 GMT

Firefox and its lovely add-ons make me happy. ( Click here to find out what shiny shiny Add-ons I have installed )

Also, Dreamwidth continues to make me happy. For instance, one of my bugbears with LJ was having to use the clunky and inefficient LJ Toys to track usage. But now? Now Google Analytics has been successfully installed and data is being gathered now.! YAY!!!!

Now all I have to do is hope that the lovely lovely customer who said he would take a look at McGruder, and if he can fix her will do it for parts + a couple of pints, will be able to sort her out...

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Are You Interesting?

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:20:53 GMT

Been playing about with DW's interests page.

They've resurrected that similar interests thing that they used to have on LJ but got rid of. It's rather amusing picking out the people on my f-list:

Similar People
The following people are the most related to miss_s_b:

# Username Magic Index
1 matgb 204.045
2 innerbrat 117.008
3 pickwick 72.928
[lots of unfamiliar & a few vaguely familiar names]
123 strangefrontier 14.467
[slightly smaller gap]
144 lizw 13.413

#	Username	Magic Index
1	matgb	204.045
2	innerbrat	117.008
3	pickwick	72.928
[lots of unfamiliar & a few vaguely familiar names]
123	strangefrontier	14.467
[slightly smaller gap]
144	lizw	13.413

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