Furthermore: October 2005

October 24, 2005

Not much happening

Bit of a blogging hiatus I think. No particular reason, but don’t expect any updates for a bit.

October 12, 2005

Avian Flu Preparedness

I read a couple of things recently:

• Making Light - a bit US centric, but interesting stuff on being prepared for emergencies



• Charles Stross - how “just in time” supply makes economies brittle and susceptible to shocks

Without going all tinfoil-hat about it, it made me think that I could usefully be a bit more prepared for the very likely case that we will have a flu pandemic. The main thing that seems sensible is to buy in enough food, medicine and supplies to last a week or so without having to go to the shops. Stuff that will keep, stuff that’s easily digestible when you’re feeling ill. Stuff that doesn’t need to be prepared more than just heating up - Mrs Furthermore and I could both be ill and someone would still have to look after the children.

Realistically, I don’t think there’s much I can do against serious breakdowns of power etc other than keep the car fueled to go somewhere else. Not sure where, but better to have some options than none.

Ah, very cheerful.

Osteopaths in Cambridge

I have an occasional problem where the left side of my neck stiffens up and makes it painful to turn to that side. I’ve found osteopathy very effective in fixing this (turns out the problem is related to posture and I’ve had a lot less trouble since I stopped sticking my head forward all the time).

Anyway, normally I go to the Gilbert Road osteopathic clinic and see Clare (46 Gilbert Rd, Cambridge. Tel: 01223 563704). They were all booked up though, so I saw went to John Lant and saw Francesca. They were efficient and friendly - a bit more expensive than Clare, but if you need an osteo either of these places seems pretty good.

October 10, 2005

Links

• Kottke - GoogleOS etc - lots of interesting thoughts about applications migrating to the web and how the main players are positioned around this idea.


• BoingBoing - long Charles Platt piece on the neutron bomb and its inventor.



• Robotic Nation - I read this a long while ago and found it again recently. It’s about how low skill jobs can increasingly be automated, and kind of a thought experiment about what happens if you robotize all labour. The author comes to the conclusion that we need to start sharing that wealth via a citizens salary or end up in a situation of extreme inequality. To some extent it’s not even necessary to assume robots - people in China working for very low salaries (compared to the EU/US) have a somewhat similar effect on our economies. I’m not sure I have the right background to think about what flaws there might be in this analyis, but it’s certainly thought-provoking.

First steps back on the road

I did my first run for several months yesterday - just under 20 minutes round Cherry Hinton Park on a lovely autumn afternoon. My knee felt fine (apart from one minor twinge) so I’m hoping that I can gradually build up the amount of running I do again.

I’m thinking maybe two shorter runs a week would be better than a single longer one, so I’ll try that. I’m also thinking of getting some gait analysis done - anyone know a good place? - in case I’ve developed a problem in that area that caused the knee inflammation.

Good to be back on the road again though.

October 8, 2005

Links

• Tim O’Reilly on Google Text - Tim kind of sums up my own view on this in his post on September 27, 2005 08:19 AM (near the bottom of the thread at time of writing this). Interesting to me that this ties up with Brewster Kahle’s talk on access to all human knowledge that he gave at NotCon in 2004. I’m sure it’s more than coincidence - I’m not sure what happened in Kahle v Ashcroft though, and I can’t be arsed to google for it at the moment.


• And I for one welcome our new * overlords - I thought I was all clever doing this search pattern a la Robot Wisdom. Turns out Language Log did it over a year ago. And coined a term for these fill in the blank template sentences. They call them snowclones.



• New Yorker - Genesis redone by designer deities.


• Making Light - how to do triage. No really, it’s very interesting, and potentially very useful in certain kinds of terrifying situation.


• Guardian - Stan Robinson interviewed. I kind of gave up after Red Mars, but I’m thinking I need to read the new eco-gloom stuff, if only to see what the future’s really going to be like. Maybe should re-read Brunner’s The Sheep Look Up


• Rolling Stone - depressing stuff about the process of US government. I’m not sure ours would look much prettier close up, mind.



• Steve Pavlina - life lessons from Blackjack. Some interesting thoughts in here. I like the bits about the danger of losing out by being over-cautious when things are going your way.


• Cambridge in Colour - fantastic deep colour photos of the city.


• FoldedSpace - digest of How to Get Rich - type books.


• Bob McNamara - on US foreign policy and nuclear deterrent.

October 7, 2005

The Fish and Duck

I can’t remember where I heard about this place - probably on cam.misc. Anyway, I have a week off work so I thought we could go and then wander round Ely for a while. It really is one of the most isolated pubs I’ve ever been to - you turn off the A10 from Cambridge to Ely towards Stretham, drive through the village and then eventually you cross a railway line. Turn left there and follow a long track and eventually you get to the pub at the confluence of the Cam and another river.

Beer was good, and the food was pretty good. The pub had a good atmosphere too. It’s really nice being somewhere that’s just quiet. If I’d come by bike it would have been nice to just stay there a while and have a few beers - alas I was driving. It looks like the present buildings are going to be knocked down and then rebuilt, so if you want to go, go soon (and ring first) or wait till sometime next year.

Hopefully my phone data cable will come soon and I can start posting some of the photos I have been taking of places.