When I woke up just after dawn on September 28, 1928, I certainly didn’t plan to revolutionize all medicine by discovering the world’s first antibiotic

Alexander Fleming

Why do I get public funding to try something that has no current practical value and might not even work?

I don’t know.

Yet.

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Albert Einstein

Bench chemistry = insanity

Kieren Hebden has uploaded the new Four Tet Album, There Is Love In You, to Soundcloud a week before the album’s release. It will be there all this week.

Why are you still here? Oh. There you go.

The first truce began on Christmas Eve, 24 December 1914, when German troops began decorating the area around their trenches in the region of Ypres, Belgium, for Christmas. They began by placing candles on trees, then continued the celebration by singing Christmas carols, most notably Stille Nacht (Silent Night). The British troops in the trenches across from them responded by singing English carols.

The two sides continued by shouting Christmas greetings to each other. Soon thereafter, there were calls for visits across the “No Man’s Land” where small gifts, were exchanged, such as whisky, jam, cigarettes, and chocolate.

The football match:

“It was not a game as such – more of a kick-around and a free-for-all. There could have been 50 on each side for all I know. I played because I really liked football. I don’t know how long it lasted, probably half-an-hour, and no-one was keeping score.”

Bertie Felstead

Earlier in the autumn, Pope Benedict XV had begged for an official truce between the warring governments, “that the guns may fall silent at least upon the night the angels sang.” It was considered possible by the Germans but angrily denounced by the British

Fuck authority, eh?

From Wikipedia.

I’m under no pretense here, this blog is noise. But it’s my noise. And so it has value to me.

That article made me think about all the things I do in terms of creating value, it’s an interesting exercise. My music is one of the most valuable things I create. I should make more of it.

I’m going to keep thinking.

I don’t care for pop charts anymore but when I was a teenager I enjoyed listening to the top 40. Oh how misguided I was, etc. etc. And, while my disdain for the music industry has grown over the years, I’m kinda disppointed that the great British tradition of The Christmas Number 1 has been hijacked by reality ‘talent’ shows. Despite Simon Cowell’s self-aggrandising assertions, this is A BAD THING.

Last year it seemed like The People felt the same way and began fighting back. Alongside the vapid X-factor cover of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ the chart was peppered with better versions of the same song. Most notably the original and Jeff Buckley’s (not as good, imo) cover.

This year it looks like the people’s choice might win! Hell, it’s even a song that someone put some heart and soul into.

It can be bought for 29p on Amazon.

Also, I think that photo of De La Rocha looks a bit too much like me. (it’s by pellesten, btw)

I don’t use a Mac, and I’ve been thinking about why. I’ve been tempted to get one in the past, the specialist applications I use most (music and chemistry apps) are better supported on Mac systems. As for office software and general use apps, I’d be happy with the options on any platform. Apple make excellent hardware, I’m impressed by Macbooks, especially the near-seamless integration of hardware with software. So… why don’t I get one?

The gut reaction reason:

I don’t like the Mac brand. The trendiness, the curviness, the ‘identity’. it seems a little cult-ish. It works though, the Mac brand identity is widely loved and people are willing to pay a premium to buy into it. I’m not, I don’t want to buy into a brand identity at any price. But that’s not the reason I don’t use a Mac. The above still stands, they make good hardware and I’d be a fool to miss out just for stubborn untrendiness.

The real reason:

I like playing with my computers. The box in front of me is one of the most complex machines that man has ever created, and I have complete control of it. With a bit of effort I can make this machine dance to my tune*. How awesome is that!?

*Put far more eloquently by Cory Doctorow in ‘Little Brother’

My issue with Macs is that, in many ways, the way you use them is prescribed by the manufacturer. When I buy a PC I’m buying a tool, a (sometimes) blank canvas that I can tinker with and put to whatever use I fancy. Buying a Mac is different, a user decides how they want to use their computer and then buys the Mac that fits that purpose. It’s almost expected that the user won’t then tinker with, customise or repurpose that machine.

I’m talking in sweeping generalisations, and certainly not absolutes. Many of the ways these prescriptions for use are manifested are very subtle and often a by-product of Apple’s design philosophy, perhaps unintentionally. So here are a few of the ways, as I see them, that Apple prescribe the use of their computers, both implicit and explicit.

First, the explicit. The iPhone opened up it’s architecture to developers in 2008 when Apple allowed third party applications to be installed on the device. Before this it was only possible to install third party apps by illegally ‘jailbreaking’ the iPhone first. Since then the App Store has become huge. However, Apple have kept a tight control on what applications make it into the App Store. Developers must pay Apple to list their app and then Apple rigourously vet all submissions and updates before the end user can use them. Jailbreaking is still popular.

The implicit. I’ve alluded above to the fact that Mac hardware and software integrates very smoothly. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Apple work much harder on their user interface than any other manufacturer, with really intuitive results. But the by-product of this approach is less wiggle-room for the user. Naturally, considering the effort that goes into the user experience at the manufacturer end, modification and customisation at the user end is undesirable. This is just a matter of design philosophy. The fact that Macs are out-of-the-box easy to use and intuitive means that I don’t get to have any fun with them.

But these things in isolation wouldn’t make me not buy a Mac. After all, I could just install Linux on the hardware and be free of a nannying manufacturer and free to tweak and twiddle to my heart’s content.

I think the biggest way Apple prescribe the use of their computers is with the price. Macs are expensive machines, I couldn’t possibly justify buying a Mac over buying a more powerful machine at the same price. Or 2 cheap machines. Or 3 self-built machines. And which of those options do you think I’d find most fun?

Photo by kurtphoto

via bOINGbOING.

Alasmontamine A, A First Tetrakis Monoterpene Indole Alkaloid from Tabernaemontana elegans, H. Morita et al.

Your nerd has built himself a cave. I’ve written about The Cave elsewhere, but here are the basics. The Cave is designed to allow your nerd to do his favorite thing, which is working on the project. If you want to understand your nerd, stare long and hard at his Cave. How does he have it arranged? When does he tend to go there? How long does he stay?

…

The Cave is also frustrating you because your impression is that it’s your nerd’s way of checking out, and you are, unfortunately, completely correct. A correctly designed Cave removes your nerd from the physical world and plants him firmly in a virtual one complete with all the toys he needs.

The Nerd Handbook