arbitrary constant

Recent Entries in General Interest

• Man walks into a column, no.4: Type

  What kind of week have I had? I'm allowed to ask this rhetorical question because, as Dave Briggs points out in this excellent post, it would be ludicrous for me to pretend that I am not a real person talking to other real people. And 'what kind of week have you had?' is a perfectly normal way to begin a real conversation. Social media and networking is above all about human beings and human relationships....

• Social care and Foursquare

  It's around a week before the Local by Social event in the South West. I'm lucky enough to have been invited to talk on the topic of location-based social media and social care (thus the title of this post), and I said I'd share some of my emerging thoughts on what I'm planning to say. The thoughts below are therefore shared in the hope people will comment and offer their thoughts on the proposed argument...

• Man walks into a column, no.2: Who?

  I am being followed by a Nobel Prize winning author. I'm conscious that it might seem a bit indulgent to post twice about the same book within the space of a week, on two different blogs, but these are special circumstances. The first was a short note of my entirely subjective, personal response to a novel called The Black Book, by the laureate-follower in question: Orhan Pamuk. As you can see for yourself if you read...

• Should there be more charity mergers?

  David Walker in the Guardian asks should there be more charity mergers? The answer is yes. Walker suggests the creation of an external agency, such as a "Mergers Commission" to "push, perhaps even compel, more charities into mergers". I'm not so sure about a specific commission to do this, and not one that has a role which requires organistions to merge. But (in line with my thoughts on mergers and reorgnasionations within government) I do...

• #opendata in the Voluntary Sector: ecdp's example

  (I'm afraid this is a bit rambling and incoherent, but (a) it's not quite the end of a long day, and (b) I wanted to get this down. Please allow for both (a) and (b) when reading...) I've been interested in Open Data for the past few months, and have hosted (what I think is) an interesting discussion on the topic and how it applies to the Voluntary & Community Sector (VCS) here and here....

• "Dad, who was Nick Clegg?"

  Today's tuition fees vote will make for an interesting bit of history in 20 years' time. Before I say why, here are a few (probably unpopular) thoughts on the issue of tuition fees: I agree in both principle and practice with tuition fees. A university education is a choice, and something to be valued by the individual who makes that choice. Once the principle of fees had been established by the Labour government the politics...

• Redistributing my tax rebate: an update (updated)

  A few days ago I blogged about my good fortune of a tax rebate through the post: £2,460.97 reasons to be relieved. As I mentioned at the time, realising I'd been fortunate and noting that lots of other people weren't in the same position, I wanted to give away some of my tax rebate to an organsiation making a difference in their local community. Thus, I'm giving away £621.97 of my rebate. Since then, friends,...

• Voluntary Sector Datastore - @ncvo and #opendata

  A few weeks ago, I wrote two posts on the topic of Open Data and the voluntary sector: post 1 and post 2. They were a couple of my favourite recent posts, because they were unashamed streams of consciousness, and they gave rise to some really interesting comments and debate from some people's whose thoughts on topics like these I really admire and respect. A couple of those folks happen to work for NCVO, and...

• Nice example of #vcs social media use

  Purely to share something with readers (hi mum!) that I thought would be of interest, and in no way just to get this off my chest, here's a little story for you. A couple of weeks ago I had a request from a trade magazine to contribute to a feature they were writing. Realising that the organisation I work for had a lot of (what I thought would be) useful things to say about the...

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  Social care and location-based social media

  Rob Dyson has an excellent article today on the Guardian's new Voluntary Sector Network blog (which itself is excellent). Rob's article covers how voluntary sector organisations can use location-based social media, like Foursquare and Gowalla, to promote the work that they do in a variety of different ways. For example: Christmas card fundraising charity Card Aid are... are adding 'tips' into venues' entries around the country so that when you check-in somewhere, you are alerted...

• A chance meeting with Paul Corrigan on the Bakerloo Line

  For some people, bumping into Peter Andre, Marlon from JLS or Katie Perry (apparently) represents a celebrity spot. I had my own version of such a spot today, albeit in a government-y, policy wonk type of way. Whilst sitting on the Bakerloo Line home, who did I see sitting opposite me but the highly-esteemed Paul Corrigan. In the world of health Paul is, frankly, a legend, being the man who, amongst many roles, is well-known...

• Genes don't count for much

  This is absolutely stuff: We now know that genes play little part in why one sibling, social class or ethnic group is more likely to suffer mental health problems than another... And, after only a few years of extensive genome searching, even the most convinced geneticists began to publicly admit that there are no individual genes for the vast majority of mental health problems....

• Open Data and the voluntary sector, revisited

  I posted on the topic of Open Data and the voluntary sector earlier today, and I'm very grateful for the time people have taken to respond. I thought I'd jot down a response to their response in the hope of continuing the conversation. My original post boiled down to 4 propositions: Given the novelty of Open Data in the public sector, I didn't think people would be that interested in voluntary sector Open Data. The...

• Open Data and the voluntary sector

  Apropos of nothing, I tweeted a series of thoughts late last week on Open Data and the voluntary sector and thought I'd expand slightly on those thoughts here. I'm not hopeful at this point in time as to whether the voluntary sector is well-placed to contribute towards the drive to Open Data. It's well known that generating management information or evidence - of output, of outcome, of impact - is not the strongest trait of...

• Quango merger learning

  We've been interested here for a while in the topic of quango merging, mainly because at least one of us here was quangoed whilst another was involved in evaluating said quango. This interest has given rise to the one good idea I think I've ever had: a quango merger quango, which would be: some form of team or body within central government that can advise or lead the process of mergers within the public sector....

• Next Steps Agencies, quangos and political accountability (#irony alert!)

  Francis Maude was on the Today programme this morning, ahead of the coalition government publishing its plans for merging or closing a large number of quangos. Maude tried to claim that the review of the quangos was in no way informed by the deficit and was instead driven by a need to ensure accountability in the public sector, going further to imply that it was Labour who had overseen the increase in quangos and so...

• Introducing the #BogSociety

  Whilst writing a presentation yesterday, I accidentally typed "Bog Society" instead of "Big Society". My genius friend and fellow blogger Phil C seized on the opportunity and came up with the idea for a meme, based on willful mispellings. His first offer was WAGsociety: footballers' wives help out in their local community Which, I think you'll agree, is brilliant. As a result, here are various #Bogsociety ideas we game up with (Phil - PC, or...

• Friday puzzle, no.32 (last in September edition)

  I know, I know. You'd got used to a regular Friday puzzle - it's alluded to in the title, and you were beginning to get worried about where the next one was coming from. Well, here it is. I'm not sure how to break it to you, though - there won't be another one for several weeks. Difficulties in the supply chain. I'm sure you'll manage. There's plenty of stuff on the internet to keep...

• Nick "Dickens" Clegg

  More of that, erm, non-inflammatory language from the coalition government today, with this offer from Nick Clegg: Welfare needs to become an engine of mobility, changing people's lives for the better, rather than a giant cheque written by the state to compensate the poor for their predicament. Compensate "the poor" for their "predicament"? It's like living in a Dickens novel....

• Trends in volunteering

  NCVO's Third Sector Foresight work is excellent, and has the added benefit of making you feel clever afterwards for having read it. That said, their conclusion about trends in recent volunteering doesn't bode well for the Big Society, or those seeking to become/achieve it: The ways in which people volunteer has changed. There has been a shift towards more short term volunteering and one-off activities, and people now tend to volunteer at more than one...

• Friday puzzle, no.31 (first in September edition)

  Imagine my surprise at reaching the first edition of the Friday puzzle to be in September. Surely September has arrived at least two months early this year? Still, we shall plough on with the answer to last week's puzzle: Here are 10 well-known six letter words, with only their endings remaining. Can you determine the words? ...era / ...cil / ...uld / ...nis / ...nda / ...phy / ...may / ...ese / ...eum / ...axy...

• Monitoring requirements and the power dynamic

  Sometimes, I fascinate myself with the titles of my blogposts. This latest one is inspired, insofar as anything can be inspired by considerations of monitoring requirements, by two things happening at once. The first was the HMRC writing to people to let them know they may have underpayed on income tax and seeking immediate payment of that deficit. The second was a relatively unwelcome phone call at work from a well-known funding body telling me...

• Bob Kerslake: knows what he's talking about

  Despite not knowing him and having never worked with him, Bob Kerslake's is one of those names that is just known in government and local government (a bit like Michael Bichard). He's been in the news this week since he's just been appointed as Permanent Secretary at the Department for Communities and Local Government - an appointment I was delighted to hear about, despite not quite knowing why. Anyway, with wonderful timing, yesterday's Guardian Society...

• How #localgov can help during the recession

  There are lots of ways local government can help businesses and people during the recession. Corby Council, for example, has come up with a particularly innovative way by, erm, paying its bills on time: Businesses in Corby are being helped through the recession by the council which has pledged to pay its contractors in extra-quick time. The authority has promised to pay the invoices of businesses who are employed to work on borough council projects...

• What does it mean to be mindful?

  Without wishing to attract accusations of taking this blog too deeply up its own back passage, I feel compelled to admit that the on-and-off debate about whether a full-on techie life can help or hinder happy immersion in the world around us has led me into potentially dubious territory (regular readers - hi Mum! - will know that this follows on from a piece I wrote a while back, and Rich's more recent account of...

• Friday puzzle, no.30 (coming of age edition)

  The Friday puzzle comes of age this week. Let there be talk of achievement, ambition, and taking stock. Let there also be talk of puzzles and amusing links that seek to show that, in a world where people buy tat for fun, they will also make tat for fun. First, the answer to last week's puzzle: The island of Elbonia have a rather eccentric postal system. Postage for an item can be anything from 1...

• Friday puzzle, no.29 (post-holiday edition)

  Nearly 3 weeks have passed since the last Friday puzzle, which wasn't exactly a tough one: Name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. The easy answer was, of course, yesterday, today and tomorrow. You could also have had Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day etc. Here's this week's offer: The island of Elbonia have a rather eccentric postal system. Postage for an item can be...

• Why *BBC* Dimensions?

  I can't really win no matter how I phrase this post, but I'll start with the fact that I am a happy Licence Fee payer and that, if that fee doubled, I'd still consider it good value for money. The BBC being such a large organisation, it's inevitable that I won't like or agree with everything it chooses to undertake. One such example is BBC Dimensions. From its about page: Dimensions is an experimental prototype...

• Feeling peaky?

  Like Rich and Queen, I realised with amazement this morning that I had never invoked Guardian journalist Oliver Burkeman in any of my posts on this venerable blog (and, like Rich and Freddie's boys, all it took was a little further reflection to remember that I actually had). I'm a man who's fond of saying - to whoever will pretend to listen - that if I had my time again I would be a psychologist....

• Off holiday, on the Presidency

  But from the time when the heroes of the Revolution died out with Jefferson and Adams and Madison, no person except General Grant... reached the chair whose name would have been remembered had he not been President, and no President except Abraham Lincoln had displayed rare or striking qualities in the chair. — James Bryce, The American Commonwealth A two week holiday - both off- and online - is a wonderful thing. It's good to...

• Friday puzzle, no.28 (holiday edition)

  There was no puzzle as such last week, but here's an easy one to get you back into the swing of things: Name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. (Answer after the holiday break.) Other links: Online and software inspired physical products A robot learning to flip pancakes Film Classics on Vuvuzela Tron: Legacy Theatrical Trailer I'm On An Internet The making of Old Spice's commercial:...

• links for 2010-07-31

  Essex Cares combines private and public sector know-how (tags: socialcare ECDPpublicitycoverage ecdp)...

• Just Plain Sense interview with Gerald Kaufman

  My friend and occasional contributor to arbitrary constant Christine Burns has an authoritative and excellent equality and diversity podcast called Just Plain Sense. Christine has just published a fascinating interview with Gerald Kaufman. Having been around for many, many years, Kaufman undoubtedly divides opinion, but it's worth listening to Christine's interview with him, which is embedded in two parts below. Part 1: Powered by Podbean.com Part 2: Powered by Podbean.com...

• links for 2010-07-26

  The Joy of Six: Breathtaking one-twos The beautiful game, in one-twos. (tags: football sport guardian) UK Film Council to be abolished (tags: cuts coalition government art film) MLA says ‘stormy seas call for cool heads and steady hands' (tags: cuts coalition art) Guest post: Voluntary sector, social care and the Big Society David Kane has kindly hosted on his excellent blog a guest post I've written about the potential implications for the Big Society...

• links for 2010-07-25

  Tories say Labour wasted £300m on using private providers to cut NHS waiting times We really are entering some weird parallel universe with this sort of thing: "The decision by Labour to bring private providers into the NHS wasted hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers' money, according to Andrew Lansley, the Conservative health secretary." (tags: andrewlansley health nhs theobserver) Winston's Wish - the leading childhood bereavement charity in the UK "Winston's Wish is...

• Friday puzzle, no.27 (taking a breather edition) (updated)

  There have been 22 posts since the last Friday puzzle, which is remarkable. For that reason there won't be a puzzle as such this week, though the normal collection of links will remain. First, the answer to the last puzzle: Two friends were driving from their home to Manchester, Kevin drove the first 90 miles, and Daniel took over the remainder of the journey. On the way back, Kevin drove to begin with, and Daniel...

• links for 2010-07-23

  We can democratise health service From Paul Burstow MP, the Minister for Care Services. (tags: socialcare carers paulburstow) One-third of DLA claimants fear worst from cuts From Community Care: "One in three disability living allowance (DLA) claimants think it unlikely that they will be able to work if their benefits are cut under government plans, a poll has found. The survey by Essex Coalition of Disabled People found 57% of claimants fear their benefit...

• links for 2010-07-21

  Worst day yet for coalition? lolz. (tags: coalition politics eveningstandard paulwaugh blogs pmqs) NAO Search Results page @paul_clarke This should give you an idea of NAO's views of benefits of coterminous arrangements: http://is.gd/dAWuk (NAO search results) (tags: via:packrati.us) Twitter Strangers : The Frontal Cortex Why you should follow strangers (and the brilliant @jonahlehrer) on Twitter: http://goo.gl/2UEp A must read! – Tim Harford (TimHarford) http://twitter.com/TimHarford/statuses/19085332085 (tags: via:packrati.us) Stop stonewalling deaf jurors Deaf people are included...

• links for 2010-07-20

  David Cameron reveals 'big society' vision - and denies it is just cost cutting Hmm. (tags: bigsociety davidcameron society) Commission on the Funding of Care and Support ... has been launched: "The Government has established an independent commission to advise it on the funding of care and support. The Commission will make recommendations on how we achieve an affordable and sustainable funding system for care and support, for all adults in England, both in...

• links for 2010-07-19

  Cameron's Big Society will leave the poor and powerless behind Nice analysis from Anna Coote in the Guardian on the lack of measures addressing equality in the concept and delivery of #bigsociety. (tags: bigsociety guardian equality) The Idea of Justice by Amartya Sen I certainly recommend reading it. From the Observer's review: "The Idea of Justice is, however, a must-read for those who wish to follow the latest developments in leftwing thought. Sen has...

• links for 2010-07-18

  Fears grow over care of mentally ill as GPs say they don't want the job "Mental health campaigners fear that a "postcode lottery writ large" will leave vulnerable people without care as doctors indicate they do not want to take on responsibility for services for the mentally ill." (tags: health nhs reform mentalhealth healthwhitepaper) The coalition could damage your health Brilliant leader in The Observer noting what the coalition government is doing in health:...

• Friday puzzle, no.26 (keeping up edition)

  We're back on track with the blog this week, and are thus celebrating in style by actually publishing the Friday puzzle on a Friday. First, the answer to last week's puzzle: During a recent school sports day, four girls were competing in the 400 metres hurdles. Official figures mysteriously went missing just after the event, however, various spectators could remember the following information: 1. Jane won and wore red. 2. The girl wearing number 1...

• The Vyas Sisters' reading meme

  Following my answers to the reading meme, here are the answers from 2 of the 3 Vyas sisters. Dhara V: Or put it in another room or back of the wardrobe if it scares or upsets me. Jigna V: I do start mumbling and grumbling aloud and if it gets really annoying I have to put the book down and walk away, or pick up another book....

• "Time to reflect and pray"

  The Anglican church continues to cover itself in glory over how it treats women. Having rejected a compromise position put forward by the Archibishops of Canterbury and York over women bishops, members of the Synod apparently pleaded for "time to reflect and pray" on the vote. I wonder what God told them when they prayed? Carry on, chaps: you're doing a great job of providing moral leadership and showing yourselves to be modern and progressive...

• Friday puzzle, no. 25 (too much work edition)

  The blog has suffered a little bit over the last week, as real world responsibilities infringed on the much more important issue of blogging. And so it is with a hope you realise we'll try and make things better that we offer this week's Friday puzzle. First, the answer to last week's puzzle: Can you spell 100 valid words within 100 seconds? However they MUST NOT contain the letters A, B, C or D? The...

• Friday puzzle, no.24 (the musical edition)

  Is it just me, or are these Friday puzzles coming around rather quickly lately? Here's the answer to last week's puzzle: These words can all have a letter added and then be rearranged to make a new 5-letter word. The letters added spell a 9-letter word. What are the new words? HERB, BANG, KEEN, SUIT, QUAD, WHEY, CELL, TOIL, WILD. The answer was BERTH, BEGAN, KNEEL, SUITE, SQUAD, CHEWY, CELLO, PILOT, WIELD, and the added letters...

• Reading meme

  Via normblog and More Than Mind Games I've picked up this meme. If you'd like to fill it out, please do and leave a link to your blog in the comments. Do you snack while reading? > I can't say I do. What is your favourite drink while reading? > A good cup of tea will always do the trick, particularly if I'm reading in the evening. In the day - and particularly if I'm...

• Friday puzzle, no.23 (Thursday edition)

  In an unheard of departure from the normal publishing schedule of the Friday puzzle, this week's edition comes to you a day early. I'm not sure the normal time-space continuum will be able to cope with this, but let's see what happens. First, the answer to last week's puzzle: A farmer was asked how many chickens he had sold at market that day. His reply was: "I've had four customers today, and each bought half...

• 5 tips for radio interviews

  I was interviewed on the radio this morning, ahead of the Budget tomorrow. Though I'm nervous each time I do it - this is the fourth time I've been interviewed - I do enjoy the experience. Though a relative novice - and recognising there are probably hundreds of media training courses that offer far more insight and expertise than my thoughts - here are my top 5 tips if you're going to be interviewed on...

• Friday puzzle, no.22 (making up for yesterday edition)

  For the first time in over 2 months, there was no post on arbitrary constant yesterday. Thus the title of today's Friday Puzzle. First, the answer to last week's puzzle: I've been quite poorly lately and the doctor has prescribed me a two courses of tablets (Anvilite and Bigoxy) to solve my problem and I must take one of each at the same time, once every day. These tablets are rather expensive so I've been...

• We Are Enabled By Design event

  I'm really looking forward to the "We Are Enabled By Design" event next week. The purpose of the event is to reframe the ageing/disability debate by looking at how universal design can help support independent (and stylish!) living. Thinking well beyond the day-to-day requirements that many disabled and older people have simply to meet their care and support needs, Enabled by Design rightly takes the principles of Independent Living and continually makes the case that...

• Friday puzzle, no.21 (coming of age edition)

  The Friday puzzle comes of age in its 21st edition. First, the answer to last week's puzzle: Fred Smith bought a used car for £4,000 and sold it to Alice for £5,000. Fred later bought it back for £6,000 and then resold it to Alan £7,000. How much profit did Fred make? The answer is that Fred made £2,000 profit. Here's this week's puzzle: I've been quite poorly lately and the doctor has prescribed me...

• Quotation of the week

  I have never, ever, thought it right that we pay tax on Mozart, but not on Jeffrey Archer. — The Bookseller Crow, on the issue of VAT (not) on books. I happen to agree....

• World's most beautiful tweet: modesty #fail

  In a poor attempt to get more publicity for the Hay Festival (think Radio 4, but even more middle class, snobby and elitist), Stephen Fry has announced "the most beautiful tweet". The writer of said tweet, on being honoured, was a classic Twitter #fail: [Winner Marc MacKenzie] said he started tweeting because people kept telling him they enjoyed reading his Facebook updates. "What I like about it is how my brain works. Occasionally I have...

• Friday puzzle, no.20 (on time edition)

  In an interesting break with tradition, this week's Friday Puzzle is brought to you on a Friday. First, the answer to last week's puzzle: Assuming that there are nearly 7,000,000,000 (7 billion) people on Earth, estimate the size of number you'd get if you multiplied together the number of fingers on everyone's hands. For this calculation, it might be easier to count a thumb as a finger. How many zeroes would this number have? How...

• "Is that so bad?"

  I enjoyed reading Simon's thoughtful notes on the iPad, and thought his conclusion was particularly good: A large group of people out there (and I count myself as one of them, most of the time) don’t want to tinker or take their devices apart[.] They just want things to work really well, be beautiful and easy to use. Is that so bad? The answer to Simon's question is no. It may be an early adopter...

• An economist as Chancellor: Kamm's opinion

  Not for the first time, Oliver Kamm has made me feel much better. For in this post he states: It's not necessary - far from it - to have an economic and financial background in order to be an effective Treasury minister. This makes me feel much better because I argued much the same point in a recent post about, amongst others, the hallowed St Vince of Cable. Fortunately, Kamm also backs up the statement...

• Total Place under the Tories

  The Total Place initiative was a significant development in local government policy over the last term of the Labour government. Details about what Total Place is and what it's seeking to achieve are here. I have a professional interest in Total Place because I see the Right to Control - a significant transformation project that aims to bring together several funding streams which provide choice and control for disabled people - as a kind of...

• NDPBMRNDPBGD

  I noted recently the excellent machinery of government publication by the Institute for Government. The report notes the problems that senior civil servants face when changes to government departments are made, including a lack of funding to support the changes and the doubling in workload it often means for such civil servants. It was pleasing to note that one of the proposed solutions to support machinery of government changes was for "new and radically changed...

• Friday puzzle, no.19 (after the Bank Holiday edition)

  It is my genuine hope that you all had better things to do over the weekend than look at links on the internet. Assuming this was the case, the Friday Puzzle returns today with its usual collection of links and internet paraphernalia. As ever, thanks go to Wrighty for being the arbiter of this fine feature. First, the answer to last week's puzzle: How many minutes is it until six o'clock if fifty minutes ago...

• Radio 4 and the social model of disability

  It was disappointing to hear on last Friday night's 7pm news bulletin on Radio 4 someone described as "severely handicapped". The term used should have been "severely disabled". I am by no means the PC police and I recognise an institution like the BBC (and particularly Radio 4) probably doesn't want another ticking off by anybody about its use of language. But in this case (and you knew there was a 'but' coming), what flows...

• Friday puzzle, no. 18 (one week late edition)

  The Friday puzzle is one week late this week because the great scholar behind it - Wrighty - was undertaking a great intellectual pilgrimage to York last weekend [oh, ok, he was on a stag do - ed.]. Nevertheless, or eventhemore, here's the answer to last week's puzzle: During the recent Dezzlup Cup, the first four horses did well to finish ahead of the opposition. After Dinner was not last and the horse wearing blue...

• "Depression is neither new nor trendy"

  Good to see Alastair Campbell take Janet Street Porter to task for her poor article on depression last week (which I blogged about here. It's worth reading it all, but here's a good extract: Depression is neither new nor trendy. It just is. Street-Porter's article is inconsistent, contradictory and very badly argued. It is the kind of journalism that merely serves to strengthen the damaging stereotypes around mental health problems that stop people with very...

• William Blake, Peckham Rye and angels

  Who knew that William Blake saw a vision of a cloud of angels in a great oak tree on, erm, Peckham Rye in 1765 or thereabouts? (If you don't believe me, see here, here, here and here. There's safety in numbers, even if one of those is Wikipedia.)...

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  Magnificent Maps at the British Library

  To the British Library yesterday, to see the Magnificent Maps exhibition. Small, but perfectly formed, the exhibition is well worth a visit and is open until 19 September. More details here: Magnificent Maps. Looking around the exhibition, I was reminded of the fractal nature of maps: the closer you look the more you are drawn into another tiny world until it is reduced to a building block on which the whole map is built....

• The Cabinet Secretary's checklist

  In September 1974, a briefing paper was prepared for the Cabinet Secretary to go over with the Prime Minister on the first day. It sounds like the start of an episode of the A-Team. In a way, I suppose it is, since it is the list of things the Head of the Home Civil Service goes through with a new Prime Minister. I particularly liked the juxtaposition of these two items: Obtain assurance about the...

• Normblog profile 348

  Today is Biden-like for me: having followed Normblog since it started, I make an appearance as profile number 348 of the normblog profiles. Amongst many things, therein you shall find Jacqui Smith, Twitter, Richard Feynman, Radiohead, religion, ingratitude and - of course - my wife....

• In it for a biscuit

  I don't normally follow the ins and outs of rugby, but if it's normally this funny, I may have to start: A row has broken out between the Rugby Football Union and Saracens over a disputed disciplinary case. Sarries criticised the way boss Brendan Venter was handed a misconduct charge following an incident at Leicester... The RFU released an 11-page statement on Thursday, in which it observed Venter's "arrogant behaviour" during the hearing, citing his...

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  Rearranging Whitehall

  For those of us who take a particular interest in this sort of thing, Public Strategist's post on changing Whitehall is fascinating. (The image above is taken from that post, which details all permissions etc.) Their conclusion is excellent: So now we know where we have been and where we are going. Nothing can possibly go wrong. For those who also take an interest in the machinery behind the machinery, the Institute for Government's...

• The Tories get mutuals

  Or rather, they don't, as captured in this nice point from Iain Martin: In what other club, society or members-run committee would nonmembers (ministers in this case) get to vote for their being granted full membership against the wishes of the existing members?...

• Kent County Council to publish monthly accounts

  The Kent Messenger reports: Plans to reveal more details of how Kent County Council spends millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money by publishing monthly accounts have been backed by county councillors. The move is expected to result in the authority setting out much more comprehensive details about how it spends £1billion on goods and services each year... Cllr John Simmonds, KCC cabinet member for finance, said he wanted KCC to take a lead in meeting...

• Giving birth at home in New York

  This doesn't look good for pregnant women in New York: Women can not legally give birth at home in the presence of a trained and experienced midwife... This city of more than 8 million people, with its reputation for being at the cutting-edge of modern urban living, now lacks a single midwife legally permitted to help women have a baby in their own homes. I've written before about the importance of choice when it comes...

• Mervyn King's signature

  I don't know about you, but I'm not sure Mervyn King's signature is big enough. What do you think?...

• Janet Street Porter and depression

  Here was Janet Street Porter writing about depression at the weekend: There's a big black cloud hanging over parts of the UK, and it's not going away. Not volcanic ash - but depression. This relatively new ailment appeared on my radar a couple of years ago, when I discovered that more and more women were claiming they suffered from 'stress'. The misery movement has rapidly gathered momentum and in recent months it's become apparent that...

• Intellectualising the penalty

  We can expect much more of this sort of thing over the next few weeks: As the World Cup approaches, so does the recurring English nightmare of penalty shoot-outs. Fabio and the boys might do well to read a fantastic new study of penalty-taking carried out by some cognitive psychologists. The underlying aim of the study is work out whether or not the participants in a penalty  - penalty-taker and goalkeeper - behave rationally. The...

• Friday puzzle, no. 17 (real edition)

  I was having a little bit of fun with the last edition of the Friday Puzzle. The answer was, of course, full coalition. Meanwhile, here's the answer to the last-but-one puzzle: Kevin and Daniel were rowing their canoe along the River Trent. In the morning they managed to row upstream at an average speed of 2 miles per hour. They then stopped for a spot of lunch and a nice rest. In the afternoon, the...

• Electoral reform: a quick note

  Note: I wrote this post on Sunday. It's obviously out of date now in terms of the deal the Conservatives and Lib Dems have come to. But there's some stuff in here I wanted to get down anyway. I'm sure most people realise this, but it's worth stating just to be sure: electoral reform is not the same as proportional representation. PR is just one option when it comes to electoral reform, and there are...

• Friday puzzle, no.16 (election edition)

  The regular feature comes back once again, with a particularly topical one for you: You're the leader of a minor political party. In a general election you secured 23% of the national vote, resulting in 57 seats. The two main political parties won 36.1% (306 seats) and 29% (258 seats) respectively. Other parties made up 11.9% (28 seats) of the vote. No one party has an overall majority and, because of the ideologically confused nature...

• Right person, wrong subject no.9: David Gower

  I have to confess: I thought the General Election was going to throw up far more contributions to this series than I’ve spotted so far (aside from the usual celebrity endorsements including, my personal favourite, Daniel Radcliffe endorsing the Liberal Democrats). Michael Caine’s thoughtful contribution was the best so far. Nevertheless, the Telegraph reports on this from David Gower: having heard that he may once have told Andy Burnham (the current Health Secretary) to fuck...

• Prime Ministers as MPs: length of service

  Here's something interesting for you: if David Cameron becomes Prime Minister, he will be the PM with the shortest length of service as MP of any post-war Prime Minister. Being elected in 2001, he will have had 9 years' service as an MP. The past Prime Minister with the shortest service is John Major, who had 11 years as an MP before he became PM. If Nick Clegg becomes Prime Minister, he will have served...

• Friday puzzle, no.15 (nearly BOGOF edition)

  I nearly posted two Friday puzzles on a Friday, but didn't want to be held responsible for the productivity of the country dropping even further on a Bank Holiday. I've thus held this one back until today. First, the answer to last week's puzzle: A cricketer's average in his first 18 innings was 16.5 runs. After a further 8 innings, his average had increased to 32.5 runs. What was his average for the last 8...

• Friday Puzzle, no.14 (one week later edition)

  It may very well be that you get 2 Friday Puzzles today. Think of it as a BOGOF special from your very own arbitrary constant. Anyway, here's last week's puzzle: At the recent race meet, the 100 metres heats were closely monitored. Each contestant had to run in two races so that the average place could be determined. Only one runner finished in the same place in both races. Alan was never last. Charlie always...

• The brainy person's guide to a hung parliament

  Just in case our offering on hung parliaments wasn't good enough for you, the Institute for Government has put together its own guide. Heck, they've even got an FAQ on the topic! Thought you'd like to know that. (Not that I think you'll be needing a guide to a hung parliament, as per my general election prediction.)...

• Friday puzzle, no.13 (Monday / holiday edition)

  I'm off on holiday to Paris for a week tomorrow, so this edition of the Friday Puzzle will have to keep you busy for at least a week (unless Stef W or Phil C break the habit of a lifetime and post something while I'm away). Before cracking on with this week's puzzle, here's the answer to last week's: At the local mid-summers fayre, four ladies are planning to delight the visitors with their speciality...

• Just one blog for #GE10

  In truth, there really is only one blog you need to read during the General Election campaign: Events Dear Boy, Events. Here's why: Memo to Mandelson: Monday 12 April (and every other day besides) The first of two crucial days for Gordon Brown How not to 'seal the deal' David Cameron is not listening Brown v Cameron There's plenty more where those posts came from....

• What's unique about #GE10?

  A good question, to which John Lanchester has the answer: What’s unique is that it’s the first time (at least in the last hundred years or so) that both of the main parties are being led by somebody with a first-class degree. Brown got a first in history at Edinburgh, Cameron a first in PPE at Oxford. ‘Thick Nick’ Clegg only has a 2.1 (social anthropology, Cambridge). And there's more: Harold Wilson also had an...

• Right person, wrong subject no.8: Michael Caine

  I'm guessing this isn't the last time the General Election will contribute to this recently revived feature here on arbitrary constant. Here, then, is Michael Caine, speaking on, erm, the solution to Broken Britain: You may think what the hell is he doing here? I am here because I am a representative of all those youngsters who have been forgotten in this country. I come from the Elephant and Castle deprived area. I was back...

• Friday puzzle, no.12 ("just in time for Sunday" edition)

  I told you last week not to get used to the idea of a Friday puzzle on a Friday. This week's puzzle just goes to show you. First, the answer to last week's puzzle: Yesterday I went for a long bicycle ride around the local lakes. As the ride was quite long, I rode in various stages. In the first stage I rode half of the overall distance. Stage two saw half of the remaining...

• Right person, wrong subject no.7: Ewan McGregor

  Never has there been a more opportune time to resurrect an old feature on arbitrary constant, in which experts or artists in a specific field use the fact of that expertise to make an inappropriate, uninformed or plainly ridiculous statement in a field on which they have no knowledge, most likely politics. You can find links to all of the previous entries in this series here. I'm fully anticipating the General Election will prove excellent...

• Friday puzzle, no.11 (Friday edition)

  By a strange quirk of the calendar (or rather, the Bank of England's strange observation of saints' days and religious holidays up until 1834), this week's Friday Puzzle actually comes to you on a Friday. I can only suggest you don't get used to this. Nevertheless here it is, courtesy, as ever, of my friend and comrade Wrighty: Yesterday I went for a long bicycle ride around the local lakes. As the ride was quite...

• "Boring innovation" and Supertramp

  I was struck by Robert Brook's recent note on boring innovation: Oh, sorry — didn’t I say? Ah, yes, innovation has a budget. And a timescale. And a board — you know, just to check that we’re innovating in the right way. Nothing too ... er ... innovative. Wait a minute, I’ve just got to update this Gantt chart. And we’re back. Innovating! Innovating while the budget allows! Oh dear this is dreadful. And, of...

• The social care bus

  Typical: you wait for one paper to determine the future policy shape of adult social care and three come along at once. First, the King's Fund publish their follow up to the Wanless Review on 2006; then the Health Select Committee publish the findings of its Inquiry into Social Care; and then (the biggie) the government publishes its White Paper on Building the National Care Service. I fully intend to get my thoughts down on...

• JRF's two-tier Care Levy

  In their customary thoughtful way, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has proposed a two-track Care Levy which sees each generation pay its own social care costs. (See also the JRF's contribution to the social care debate here). It works on the principle that each generation contributes to the costs of its own care in later life and works like this: part one of the so-called Care Levy recognises that Today's older people have not put aside...

• Volunteering and lived experience

  Below is a copy of a talk I gave this week to Volunteering England's conference. It's not a topic I'm hugely knowledgeable on, but I enjoyed the opportunity to talk about some of the work we're doing at ECDP to ensure our volunteering work is based on the lived experience of disabled people. Building volunteering at ECDP through 'Lived Experience' View more documents from Rich Watts. Following my talk there was a question and answer...

• Enable the public to put their money where their voice is

  On the back of an interesting Twitter exchange with @paul_clarke and @jackcabnory, I wanted to get some thoughts down about budgets, transparency and the public. I'm afraid it is likely to be a rambling, incoherent post; it is also written by someone who has a keen interest in finance issues but who has literally no professional qualifications in its practice. Please do keep these health warnings in mind when you wonder what the hell I'm...

• Service user voices in social care reform

  The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has published a useful Viewpoint on what some users of social care make of the impending social care reforms. The pamphlet is a useful contribution to the debate (all of my posts on this topic are linked to in this social care summary). It rightly draws attention not only to the issues of process and service delivery, but also the values base on which social care reform is being built. I...

• Friday puzzle, no.10 (Sunday edition)

  I've noted the fact that I should have looked ahead and just called this "Puzzle" rather than the Friday Puzzle. But, irrespective of what it's called, we've reached edition 10 of it. Here's this week's puzzle: Below, 10 nine letter words have been broken into chunks of three letters. These chunks have been mixed up, no chunk is used twice and all chunks are used. Can you determine what the 10 words are? ent sen...

• General Election 2010 scenario planning

  Gordon Brown today insisted he will stay on as Labour party leader until he has a majority. The polls suggest a hung parliament is a distinct possibility. Ladies and gentlemen: I suggest you book 7 May off work and watch the general election of 2010 turn into a live demonstration of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle as applied to politics: as soon as you think you've spotted a definitive gain or loss, the less certain the...

• Friday puzzle, no.9 (Monday edition)

  The occasional weekend away, no matter how lovely, does play havoc with the Friday puzzle publishing schedule. I should have had more forethought and called it just 'puzzle' instead. Nevertheless, in this special Monday edition of the Friday puzzle, we plough on with the answer to last week's puzzle: Are there more inches in a mile or Sundays in a thousand years? As any units converter [there's an app for that — ed] will tell...

• A lonely tweeter at a conference

  It's an unusual experience being the only person tweeting at an event or conference. At an event a few days ago (launching the Right to Control) I was probably the only person who everyone else thought was being rude by spending a lot of my time playing on my phone - the 'playing', of course, being me tweeting, along with an associated hashtag (#RighttoControl). The irony here is that being the lonely tweeter at a...

• "No budget to spend"

  Where to start with this?: A website manager employed by Portsmouth City Council left after just six months on the job because he was frustrated at a lack of funding. The council spent around £25,000 recruiting and paying the unnamed employee to transform their website, but when he discovered he had no budget to spend on the service he quit. (via Carl Haggerty)...

• HMIC's My Police fiasco

  Today's activity from Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabularies (HMIC) and its huge error around their planned launched of "My Police" is another example of the poor exercise of statutory agency power (on the back of the recent BBC example). To recap: HMIC is planning to launch an initiative called "My Police". The only problem being that the excellent @MyPolice already exists and works very effectively. When I first heard the news I honestly assumed that...

• Equality matters

  Two issues of equality to cover today. 1. Kathryn Bigelow has become the first female director to win the Best Director Oscar. For all you men out there who think women don't face any sort of institutional or societal barriers, I'll just re-emphasize that Bigelow is the first female director ever to win, in nearly 80 years of the awards. 2. The Vatican has been hit by a gay sex scandal, with a chorister there...

• Are people naturally inclined to pay tax?

  An interesting question came up over lunch with some friends: are people naturally inclined to pay tax? The question arose in my mind after hearing about someone who came into a good wadge of cash - around £20,000 - and asked a friend if they knew of any way to invest it to avoid paying tax. This anecdote is on the back of others I know who have taken on lodgers in their house and...

• Friday puzzle, no.8

  To celebrate the new design of arbitrary constant going live, we bring (via the excellent @wrighty a bumper Friday puzzle. First, the answer to last week's puzzle: On my local railway track there is a tunnel which is 5 miles long. A train, which was 440 yards long, entered the tunnel at a speed of 50 miles per hour. How long did it take for the whole of the train to pass completely through the...

• Change you can believe in

  Details of some big changes happening to arbitrary constant over the next few days.

• On being a school governor

  I was a school governor at a primary school local to where I live in south east London for just under 3 years. I was involved with numerous aspects of it: as well as being on the full governing body, I was involved in various committees, including the review of the headteacher's performance, and was link governor for maths.In theory, the role should have been a very enjoyable one. It was an opportunity to get...

• Friday puzzle, no.7b

  The second part of today's 2-for-1 bonanza lands roughly 5 minutes after the first part. It's the way we tell'em. First, the answer to Friday puzzle no.7a: By changing the second letter of each word below, you can make another valid word. Can you change each word such that the second letters will reveal an eleven letter word when read downwards. Therefore, what now reads AWPYRNUCEPA will be a real word. BAKE SWAP OPAL DYED...

• Friday puzzle, no.7a

  A 2-for-1 bonanza on its way for you this weekend, folks. First off, the answer to Friday puzzle no.6: Question 7 on the local BrainBashers pub quiz was: Name an ancient invention, which is still used in some parts of the world today, that allows people to see through walls. What can this be? The answer was, of course, windows. Here's this week's puzzle, courtesy of Brainbashers: By changing the second letter of each word...

• Homeopathy and those pesky militant scientists

  Gah! Those pesky militant scientists, always looking for facts and evidence to underpin their policy recommendations in some sort of quest for an empirical and rational holy grail. Once again, they've popped up to burst the bubble of those people who believe that homeopathic remedies should be funded by the NHS. In a way, I have some sympathy for people who practice homeopathy. When it comes to their health it is well known that some...

• Mash the state

  Some fantastic writing in the latest edition of Prospect Magazine. For less than a fiver, I'm not sure there's a better magazine around at the moment, and the cover story Mash the State is as good an example of its coverage as any: Take one example: information about where you live. Data about local public services is currently spread across any number of websites or is often unavailable. Money flows into schools, recycling centres, hospitals...

• The hierarchy of disagreements

  I noted the other day the hierarchy of disagreements, as follows: DH0: Name-calling DH1: Ad Hominem DH2: Responding to tone DH3: Contradiction DH4 Counterargument DH5: Refutation DH6: Refuting the central point It being in my nature to do so, I offer a theory: Anyone who understands this hierarchy typically engages in DH4-DH6 in their disagreements. And here's a corollary: Anyone who cannot even identify the central point of an argument typically engages at level DH1-DH3...

• Marbury

  I've re-discovered the excellent Marbury blog, by Ian Leslie. I say 're-discovered' because I recall reading it a while ago as an excellent ongoing commentary on the Obama presidency, only to forget the name of the blog and struggle to find it again. But that happenstance is thankfully rectified, and quality such as this is my reward: How to disagree: In an attempt to bring clarity to the raging arguments of the blogosphere[,] Paul Graham...

• Friday Puzzle, no.6

  Being the innovative lot we are here at arbitrary constant, we're publishing this week's Friday Puzzle on, y'know, a Friday. Just. First, the answer to last week's puzzle: Below are ten words which have been split in half. The first column has all of the starts and the second column has all of the ends. Can you pair the letters and remake the ten words? BO AF BR RE FO NE GO AF HO KE...

• General Synod; Specific Stupidity

  In a way, I'm quietly impressed by the sheer stupidity of some Conservative evangelicals in the Church of England who are threatening to leave the church if it consecrates women bishops. It's impressive because it is so obviously illiberal, discriminatory and bigoted that it shows the Church of England to be the irrelevant and hugely diminished organisation it deserves to be and undoubtedly is. God alone knows what the congregation of the Church of England...

• The 343 bus

  We like to cover the key issues here at arbitrary constant. Politicians swearing? We've got that covered. Application of planning laws to barmy farmers who try and hide their self-build castles behind hay stacks and tarpaulin? Right here. And, one from the history banks this, UKIP using European law to challenge a very British issue? We're happy to oblige. To continue this high quality coverage, we're pleased to report that the frequency of the 343...

• Friday Puzzle, no.5

  Last week's puzzle, courtesy of Wrighty, was as follows: There is a closed room with a light in it. Outside, there are 3 light switches. You can flick any of the switches any number of times. You can only open the door and go into the room once. You know that the light is initially off. How can you determine which light switch operates the light? The answer is as follows: Leave switch 1 alone....

• Enabled by Design / @enabledby

  For a while now, I have been following and impressed by Enabled by Design. The basic question that Enabled by Design asks is why should anybody who requires any form of assistive equipment to support them to live independently have to put up with stuff that looks like crappy hospital equipment? The wider question that Enabeld by Design poses, of course, is one that relates to disability as a whole: why is disability — as...

• Friday puzzle, no.4

  Here's this week's Friday Puzzle, from my friend and occasional podcast partner Paul Wright. First, the answer to last week's puzzle: Yesterday my mother asked me to buy some stamps. Stamps, in the land of BrainBashers, are available in 2p, 7p, 10p, 15p and 20p denominations. For three types of stamp I was asked to buy five of each. For the other two types of stamp, I was asked to buy six of each. Unfortunately...

• Feedback #win, feedback #fail

  It makes you laugh and cry, all at the same time: A school governor who recently resigned after a number of years in the role because of increased work commitments said in his resignation letter: 'I have enjoyed every minute of being a governor and feel this experience has taught me a lot about myself, given me skills I have never before used and knowledge I will carry with me for life.' Erm, well done(?)...

• Watching #ukgc10 from afar

  I have followed with interested the UK Government Camp (#ukgc10) unconference, which was held last Saturday, and after which there has been an avalanche of quality blogging and comment. For an overview of what #ukgc10 is and for links on where to go read more about it, I’d recommend its organizer, Dave Briggs. One of the best posts I've seen summarizing the day (and there are a lot) is that on Social by Social by...

• Compulsory retirement

  There was something ironic about Jon Humprhys interviewing someone on the Today programme about compulsory retirement at age 65 this morning. This, however, is not the point I wanted to make, but merely a comic introduction. The debate around compulsory retirement is a very difficult one. I applaud the Equality & Human Rights Commission, though, for maintaining a good quality, evidence-based debate on whether or not retirement at age 65 should be compulsory. This is...

• Barack's biffing the bankers

  [This post by Stef] I'll stop the shit alliteration soon, promise. Clearly fearful of being outflanked by my impending policy prescriptions, Barack has gone and started a fight with the bankers. The ippr talk that I attended was a real education, albeit one from a particular perspective, by Tory Shadow Treasury Spokesman Mark Hoban MP and Professor Charles Goodhart from the LSE, also seemingly a Tory. There was agreement across the piece that no bank...

• Is there anybody out there?

  Today, a conference begins which considers the question Is there anybody out there?. And the conference isn't being run in the basement of chair of the Committee of Alien Abductees, either: it's being run by the Royal Society and starts from the very reasonable premise of, given the increased likelihood of our identifying life being out there, what do we do if, you know, we actually find it? It's a mind-boggling question to answer. But...

• Friday Puzzle, no.3

  Here's this week's Friday Puzzle, from my friend and compadre @wrighty. First, the answer to last week's puzzle: What number comes next in this sequence: 0 10 1110 3110 12110 ==?== The answer is 311311222110. Each term in the sequence lists the number of digits in the previous term. We start with 0, which is one zero = 10. 10 is one one, one zero = 1110. 1110 is three ones, one zero =...

• The Daddy State?

  From the Observer comes this news: Every new father in Britain is to be given a "dads' guide" that will include an explanation of breast­feeding and tips on how to support their partner... The guide will be placed inside the Bounty Pack, a package of information and advice about pregnancy and the early months of a baby's life that is given to all new mothers. It has been put together by the Fatherhood Institute (FI),...

• Tweeting: the work-life divide

  A good friend asked me if I worry that people from work might read my tweets or this blog. Despite knowing for a fact the only people who read this blog and my tweets are my mum (hi mum) and my 7-week-old son, I indulged myself and gave the question some thought. Of course, there have been a couple of high profile cases where people have been sacked for slagging off their work on their...

• Lolcats meet Labour party

  I did enjoy the occasion on which lolcats met the Labour party. Well worth a look (via Liberal Conspiracy), and a nice example of internet culture going mainstream, innit?...

• Friday puzzle, no.2

  Via the magic of retrospective timestamping come this week's Friday Puzzle, from my friend and compadre @wrighty. First, the answer to last week's puzzle: At midnight on Sunday, December 31st, Professor Stone set two of his analogue clocks to the correct time. One of his clocks gains one minute every hour and the other loses two minutes every hour. 1. When will the clocks next show the same time as each other? 2. When will...

• Mark Thompson on public sector pay

  The public sector pay debate will continue ... but we are not a county council. If you want someone to run BBC One or develop iPlayer, you need the very best people in the world. Mark Thompson was quite wrong to make his comment above, for the simple reason that the Chief Executives who run County Councils or unitary authorities are some of the very best people in the world. The point is that they...

• Friday Puzzle, no.1

  A good friend of mine, and very occasional contributor to this blog, sends round a Friday Puzzle to people on a, erm, Friday. It's a good mixture of fun, geek and interesting, so with Wrighty's permission, I'm going to be publishing his Friday Puzzle for readers [that's right, both of you! — ed] to enjoy. This week's puzzle (from Brainbashers): At midnight on Sunday, December 31st, Professor Stone set two of his analogue clocks to...

• Presidential voices

  The excellent Comment Central has been running a series called "Presidents of the Day", in which they post clips of US presidents speaking. It's of great interest and the whole series is linked to below: — Presidents of the Day, #1 (Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland) — Presidents of the Day, #2 (William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt) — Presidents of the Day, #3 (William Taft, Woodrow Wilson) — Presidents of the Day, #4 (Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge)...

• Making toast

  When I was 14, I wasn't that keen on toast for breakfast. As a result, I would get a plate out of the cupboard, put a piece of bread in the toaster, spread a few crumbs of the toast on the plate, leave it out on the side, and throw away the piece of toast in the bin outside. This all in an effort to convince my parents that I'd eaten some breakfast. After a...

• United States lifts HIV travel ban

  That's what I'm talking about: Beginning today, the United States' decades-old HIV Travel and Immigration Ban will be a relic of the past, and the stigma and discrimination it has engendered around the world will, with any luck, begin to fade, too. Good word, Obama: The President also announced today the elimination of the HIV entry ban. Since 1987, HIV-positive travelers and immigrants have been banned from entering or traveling through the United States without...

• Peter Moore, speaking for himself

  I noted earlier this week the poor taste in which Fraser Nelson used the release of the hostage Peter Moore to make political jabs at Gordon Brown et al, by putting words into Moore's mouth. Speaking for himself, Peter Moore actually had this to say for himself: I am obviously delighted to have returned to the UK and to have been reunited with my family. I am looking forward to spending the coming days and...

• Hanging a hook in poor taste

  I read the Spectator's Coffee House blog more out of curiosity than as a desire for content, to see how worked up the contributors there can get over the latest bit of politics or policy to hit the newswaves. But this article is in very poor taste, in trying to gain political capital from the release of the Iraqi hostage, Peter Moore: "Did he know who you were? I mean, not to be disrespectful, but...

• The wonder of history

  I have spent much of the Christmas holiday reading Team of Rivals: The political genius of Abraham Lincoln, by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It has been a revelation to me. Like most, I knew a little about Abraham Lincoln, why he is such a revered president and considered a great man; I also knew the bare bones of the American Civil War. But in Kearns Goodwin's book have I been immersed in a quite amazing telling...

• Archbishop's unreality and emptiness

  Using the Christmas holiday to catch up on a bit of blogging, it might be worth comparing and contrasting the following statements, both by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams: On bankers: There hasn't been what I would, as a Christian, call repentance. We haven't heard people saying: 'Well actually, no, we got it wrong and the whole fundamental principle on which we worked was unreal, was empty.' On the election of a lesbian...

• Dr Who-Hamlet weirdness

  There's something weird going on in the world. Arising somewhere from the links below is some sort of unavoidable metaphysical implication for planet earth. — David Tennant named 'best Dr Who' — Review: David Tennant in Hamlet — Doctor Who: BBC confirms John Simm's return — John Simm excited by 'last chance' to play Hamlet...

• Stumbling and Mumbling

  If you don't yet read Chris Dillow's brilliant blog, Stumbling and Mumbling, then I urge you to go and do so now. to its RSS feed; bookmark it in your browser of choice; print off each article and read it on the train if you don't have an electronic device that will allow you to do that sort of thing online. It really is that good. Here's just one reason why you should: I...

• Christmas in Romania

  At this time of year, I am always reminded of the events of 1989 in Romania. Oliver Kamm has an excellent post on those events: Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu were shot dead 20 years ago, on Christmas Day 1989. The Times has an interview with Dorin-Marian Cirlan, one the three-man firing squad that murdered them. The shooting was shown live on Romanian television on Christmas Day; a lecturer of mine once noted that it must...

• Festive posting

  Sorry for the lack of posting over the last few days: work and the small matter of a baby have got in the way. Lots coming up in the next few days, though......

• "Yes, the last one is an Apple sandwich"

  For the past number of months, a dear friend of mine Mr. Vidar Borgen (a Norwegian if you will), has forwarded on a picture of his lunch every Friday from his home in Kristiansand to me in Dublin. Please find these images attached which will, quite frankly, probably shock you. Yours in Lunch, Paul Malone Ps. Yes the last one is an Apple sandwich. From Comment Central. Brilliant....

• On a hung parliament in the UK

  There has been plenty of talk of a hung parliament at the general election next year (see, for example, Steve Richards, Daniel Finkelstein and the flip-flopping Michael White). Two excellent papers from within parliament itself shed light on this fascinating topic. The first is from the Hansard Society, called The impact of a hung parliament on British politics, which is a summary of the findings of its recent publication, No Overall Control?. The second is...

• On the disability reality show Cast Offs

  I'll admit to feeling some trepidation about the first in the series of Cast Offs — a "darkly comic drama series telling the story of six disabled characters sent to a remote British island for a fictional reality TV show" — tonight. As someone whose day-to-day business is disability equality, it's obviously excellent that a series like this, which is receiving so much attention, is about to be broadcast. Of course, it's also slightly wearying...

• British Gas estimates

  Imagine if you went to the supermarket each week and, instead of giving you a definite bill for the food you've bought, they estimate the costs of your shopping. At the end of the year, they figure out the difference between the estimates and the actual price and send you a bill / payment accordingly. It would be pretty stupid, wouldn't it? So the news that British Gas will allow customers to submit their meter...

• Adult social care: at least politics means focus

  I recently expressed some concern that politics had entered the difficult world of the future of adult social care. Fortunately, there are other, eminently more qualified people than me who are more positive about the political focus: — Jenny Owen, President of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services: [N]obody should be too surprised that the social care content of the Queen’s Speech this week gave rise to mutual recriminations from all the leading...

• #dontbuythesun: elitists not engaging

  At one point on Saturday, the hashtag #dontbuythesun was trending very high indeed. I understand that it was started by supporters of Liverpool Football Club (the team I support), highlighting the disgraceful coverage of the Hillsborough Disaster by the Sun, to coincide with the paper's 40th anniversary. The hashtag soon became appropriated, however, for numerous purposes, primarily for people to bash Rupert Murdoch or for Labour supporters to bash the Sun's support of the Conservatives...

• Going underground

  About 4,450 men and women who traveled on the 8th Avenue IND in New York City, weekdays between the hours of 11:00 A.M. and 3:00 P.M. during the period from April 15 to June 26, 1968, were the unsolicited participants in this study. Slate Magazine considers psychologists on the subway....

• Excellent DDA victory

  This is excellent news: The Royal Bank of Scotland has been ordered to carry out £200,000 of work to improve wheelchair access at one of its branches after senior judges ruled that it had breached disability laws. In a test case three Court of Appeal judges ruled that the bank had failed to cater for the needs of a disabled teenager, David Allen, 18, who was awarded £6,500 damages. Mr Allen, who has muscular dystrophy,...

• Sovereignty mix up

  Nice point from Peter Facey of Unlock Democracy in the Gruad recently: David Cameron has pledged to pass a law to ensure that "ultimate authority stays in this country, in our parliament" (which of course could be repealed like any other law). At the same time, he has pledged to bypass parliamentary sovereignty by holding a referendum on all future EU treaties. In reality he can't have it both ways, but such is the beauty...

• Adult social care: politics makes its entrance (updated)

  As I hoped it wouldn't, politics has entered the future of adult social care. I'm not talking politics in terms of compromise, reasoned debate and the idea that someone's values and ideology can inform a principled policy position. I'm talking politics in terms of he-said, she-said. And that's what we got today: first, the Conservatives claimed 2 million people would be worse off as a result of the government's social care plans. In this case,...

• Oh God, not this again

  I'm not sure I can be bothered with this merry-go-round again, so I'll just link to two relevant stories and you can hop on that particular ride yourself: — Radio 4 "God slot" will remain closed to atheists — Atheist bus launches new campaign...

• Adult social care: Queen's speech, people's futures

  I wrote recently about the options available for the future funding of social care. Today's Queen's Speech contained one important legislative priority: the funding of care for older and disabled people, as follows: Around 280,000 of the neediest people in England will get free personal care in their own homes, as Gordon Brown announced at the Labour party conference in September. That will cover basic, everyday living tasks such as getting up, dressing, washing and...

• Back to the love affair with delicious

  For a very long time (nearly a year) I didn't save one bookmark to delicious, mainly as the result of a combination of factors — more use of Google Reader, my iPhone, more Twitter, a lack of practical integration between these things and delicious, plus an uncooperative work computer. But I'm pleased to say I've started again. Thus, all pages I bookmark on delicious, plus any additional comments or extracts, will appear in the column...

• X Factor twins and voting systems

  What might the continuing presence of the twins John and Edward mean for voting systems in democratic elections? Daniel Finkelstein, Chris Dillow and Sunder Katwala all offer their thoughts: — Daniel Finkelstein: The question is whether, as other candidates are eliminated, John and Edward's proportion of the vote has the capacity to rise much. And I am pretty sure it doesn't. They are the Marmite candidates. — Chris Dillow: Jedward raise an important point about...

• Volunteering and disabled people

  A recent Employment Appeal Tribunal ruled that disabled people who volunteer cannot claim disability discrimination under the Disability Discrimination Act. So far as I understand the ruling of the case, it relates to the employment status of the individual involved rather than their impairment — it's thus the applicability of the Disability Discrimination Act, rather than the discrimination itself that's in question. This news comes at the same time as Volunteering England has announced it...

• "The result would be a catastrophe"

  A moving Letter of Note for those interested in space travel and human tragedy: This letter is written to insure [sic] that management is fully aware of the seriousness of the current O-ring erosion problem in the SRM joints from an engineering standpoint... The result would be a catastrophe of the highest order - loss of human life. (Signed) R. M. Boisjoly Those interested in science, or with passing familiarity to some of its more...

• Mother figures

  Following father figures comes something for mothers or, more specifically, mothers-to-be. A recent study by the National Childbirth Trust revealed that only 4.7% of all pregnant women are offered a choice of where to have their baby. Despite there being 3 options for where a woman can have her baby — in hospital, at a birth centre, or at home — only 11.2% of women live in areas where at least 5% of births happen...

• Unique searching points

  They say that blogs need to have a unique selling point. Unfortunately, I'm a bit too interested in too many things to have that, you know, one thing anyone might come here for. This said, I'm particularly proud of the three people who made it to this site by searching for, respectively: I've put 30,000 pounds towards house, girlfriend, nothing and Willie Thorne, annoying commentary and Carol Vorderman's bottom...

• Doing Seniority Differently: leadership and disabled people

  RADAR has recently published an excellent report, called Doing Seniority Differently, which looks not just the inclusion of disabled people in the workplace, but at the issues of disabled people’s career progression and ensuring there are disabled people in senior positions in a range of organisations. We know that there is a focus (rightly) on gender equality in the workplace, both in terms of pay and ensuring equal representation of women at senior levels across...

• Trafigura's legal costs: who paid?

  The Trafigura-Carter Ruck-Guardian story has rightfully been reported as a success for free speech and the power of the internet. How it all unfolded is reported here and what it was all about is reported here. Now that the success has been achieved everyone will move on to the next news cycle. Without wishing to be churlish about it, I wanted to make two observations as follows: 1. There was no way Trafigura or Carter...

• Wikipedia and politics

  It appears that some Conservatives may have edited Wikipedia pages to remove "politically embarrassing information" about the Polish politician who leads the Tories in the European parliament. If this sounds familiar, it's because the Tories have done this before, albeit on the more trivial issue of at what age the artist Titian died. Though this behaviour isn't limited to just Tories (see here, though Tories do seem to specialise in it), the wider point here...

• Legg it

  So far as I can see, the only thing that has distracted newspaper editors and subs from the content of the story regarding Sir Thomas Legg's recommendations on MPs' expenses has been the potential for puns arising from the retired civil servant involved. My own poor and totally unrelated attempt is given above. Why not? The rest of the story is a joke. For the last 20 months, I have been claiming £22.50 for half...

• Equality issues in important matters

  You wouldn't think there'd be much that links the X Factor with the governance of the country, but there is. When Dannii Minogue uses someone's sexuality as the basis of her feedback, as she did to Danyl during Saturday's live show, she was making the same mistake as those people who used the results of Gordon Brown's recent eye test as an opportunity to suggest he is unfit to be Prime Minister: she used something...

• sounds.bl.uk

  Sweet: Sound archive of the British Library goes online, free of charge It's all available here....

• Jobless gold hunter

  The gold hoard found in Staffordshire is very impressive indeed. The only thing I'm not so impressed by is the fact that each time the media refers to the lucky detectorist that found the hoard, they call him: Jobless Terry Herbert rather than Terry Herbert What does his employment status have to do with it? (In the written reports of the find, the word 'jobless' doesn't appear, apart from in the Guardian where Mr Herbert...

• The freedom is lonely

  This interview with Sean Hodgson, whose conviction was quashed after 27 years in prison, is immeasurably sad. "I miss the crowds. Always been used to having crowds around me for the last 27 years - well, 31 years. And you got to go to bed at a certain time, and you've go to do this, and you've got to do that ... I don't miss it, but I don't know where it's all gone. It's...

• 24

  Forgive me if I've told this here before (I can't remember whether or not I have, a peril of long-term blogging), but the first time I became aware of my mom's age, she was 32. That was in the lounge in 5 Cawston Street, Bulawayo, and I would have been either five or six years old. In any case 32 is an age that became, as it were, parental for me. Now, when I arrived...

• Take the piss out of a blind guy, Guido - why not?

  He'll probably say it was done tongue in cheek, or in order to undermine the proposal put forward, but Guido's suggestion that people just tell a blind man that something is one colour when it's actually another is, well, unsavoury. He might think he's being funny; actually, he's being discriminatory: Disability-related discrimination[:] This form of discrimination refers to treatment of a disabled person that [a] is unlawful because it is for a reason related to...

• Thing you can see on Twitter

  I recently suggested some things I'd like to see on Twitter. Little did I know what I was getting myself in for, as @bobcatrock nicely captured: [T]he first twitterapp is free. For I've discovered Twitterapps, collated by the seemingly marvellous @infobunny, within which you can find out pretty much whatever you want. Some basic stuff is below (for my account), but — if you've got a Twitter account — give it all a try yourself....

• Too little immigration

  The UK fertility rate is declining in the medium term, which makes the Office for National Statistics predictions of high and sustained net immigration seem at least plausible. However, there is a real risk that declining fertility will create a 'need' for migration which will not be met... If the official predictions are correct, immigration will allow us to maintain the population growth we would have had if we had maintained the fertility rate we...

• Digital inclusion

  This is one of the most interesting slideshows you could possibly spend a few minutes looking through: Digital Inclusion: The Evidence. It starts from the commonly-held assumption that Everyone's using digital technologies ... and then blows that assumption, correctly, out of the water. Some key stats include: — 29% of adults don't use the internet — 25% of adults have never used the internet — 35% of households don't have the internet — 70% of...

• COBRA and swine flu

  Everyone is getting excited over the potential swine flu pandemic. A subset of everyone, namely political geeks, is getting excited over the use of COBRA, the government committee that meets at times of emergency or crisis, as a way of managing the potential pandemic. And a subset of those political geeks are getting excited over the fact that COBRA itself isn't actually the government committee that meets at times of emergency or crisis, but the...

• AudioBoo: Governors meeting

  I've been to a governors meeting this evening: it was Finance & Personnel Committee, and we've signed off the budget for the year. Here are some of my thoughts on the meeting, including how our budget is tied to pupil numbers, and how pupils with Special Educational Needs are (or aren't) funded. Listen! The clip is around 1:45....

• Things I'd like to see on Twitter

  I've been using Twitter for a while now (profile, Twitpic, AudioBoo) and have really enjoyed it. Being on it, I can be at once irreverent and serious, simultaneously flippant and engaged, and use it for personal or work purposes — all depending on who I'm Tweeting at any given time. Some other reasons why I enjoy using Twitter are here. Having been using it for a while, here are some things I'd like to see...

• AudioBoo

  In the same way I love Twitter (reasons, account), I'm beginning to love AudioBoo. Essentially, it's a micro-podcasting tool, useful to commit or catch audio snippets when you're out and about. Here's one I made earlier:Listen! My other Boos are here. If you're on Twitter, you might just like it (AudioBoo, that is, not my Boos)....

• Obama's 'Special Olympics' comment

  Not good: irrespective of the calls of political correctness gone mad etc., it's not good for Barack Obama to refer to the Special Olympics in a disparaging way. Here's the coverage of the Independent and The Times. John Rentoul highlights the political consequences for smart arses, whilst Norman Geras notes that Obama hasn't specifically said sorry, when he should do. As I say, not good....

• Personal email at work

  A shocking revelation has been uncovered by Dizzy: an employee read their personal email whilst at work! The very same person even did a Google search for a non-work related item! To address this outrageous use of public funds, the 21,330 FTEs (2006 figures, source) at the Home Office should be replaced by one person using a typewriter! It's bureaucracy gone mad! Down with the Civil Service! (Or: why not just note that this is...

• Tuition fees. Again.

  Wow. I can't believe we're back here again. Everyone is up in arms that vice chancellors of universities think tuition fees will have to rise. Tony Blair was right to introduce tuition fees to students for their university education. Oliver Kamm was right on this first time around. He's right on it the second time around, too: The burden of university fees should fall on those who gain the benefit of university education, namely the...

• Shoesmith's tribunal

  I've been following with interest what has been happening to Sharon Shoesmith — the Director of Children's Services at Haringey who was summarily dismissed following the Baby P case. It struck me at the time that Ed Balls, the children's secretary, couldn't just sack Shoesmith, and over time, following appeals to the local authority etc., the case has proceeded to the inevitable — an employment tribunal. I suspect Shoesmith will win; I anticipate she will...

• Positive use of human rights legislation

  There is no doubt that the debate surrounding human rights in the UK needs to be conducted on more positive grounds. This post briefly highlights one example of where human rights hasn't been used well, and an example of where it could be used well. First, the poor use: the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has criticised the continued detention of terror suspects in Northern Ireland, following the recent shootings there. Though technically something that...

• LGA: the word police(?)

  The Local Government Association is not the word police — that's just the title I'm using, and I actually think they do a good job* in promoting the perspective of local authorities and the work they do. But it hasn't helped itself by once again publishing a list of the words it doesn't want councils to use (full list here). Though the point about ensuring citizens find councils and their services accessible is the right...

• On Wikipedia - a warm up

  There is a significant post in me on the pernicious effect of Wikipedia. This post is by way of warm up, by pointing you in the direction of Oliver Kamm's views (with which I fully agree) on the matter: My fundamental objection is that Wikipedia's purpose is to secure consensus rather than accuracy. It doesn't discriminate between true and false statements. It doesn't prize competence (not authority: competence) in matters of fact and interpretation. A...

• LRB personals

  I used to to the London Review of Books. Very good it was, too, though my favourite part was always the personals. For example: God appeared to me in a dream last night and spoke your name in my ear. He gave me the winning lottery numbers, too, though, so you can understand where my priorities lay when I raced to grab a notebook and pen. Man, 37, living on hope and the next...

• Shining a light

  Now that the dust of the University Challenge fiasco has settled (previous coverage: 1, 2), I'd like to share a theory with you*. Let's briefly re-visit some facts first: University Challenge is bimbling along until Gail Trimble lights it up with her, erm, inimitable style. People are interested, and people watch the final. 5.2m of them. Then, it is revealed that one of Trimble's team-mates wasn't actually a student. Then, at least two previous members...

• The financial crisis: other consequences II

  I noted in a previous post that this month's Prospect magazine highlights a couple of other consequences of the financial crisis, relating mainly to equality. The first was for women and the fact that the recession is likely to have much longer-lasting impact on them than it will for women. The second, which is potentially more positive, is on developing countries: Yet the economic news for the bottom billion is not as dire as might...

• The financial crisis: other consequences I

  The consequences of the financial crisis reach everywhere; there is seemingly no limit. This month's Prospect magazine, though, highlights a couple of other consequences, relating mainly to equality. The first is for women: This, then, creates the possibility of hysteresis for women [when a recession can have long-lasting effects and not just be cyclical]. Both men and women will lose their jobs in the downturn—and it is too early to be clear on the proportions....

• Protectionism isn't always bad

  There's plenty of criticism following people around who advocate a protectionist policy to help revive national economies, represented by an anti-protectionism push (as advocated by, for example, Gordon Brown). But is protectionism de facto bad? Well, no, not in all cases, as Ha-Joon Chang notes: When big adjustments are needed, temporary protectionism helps to create the breathing space for companies and workers to reinvent themselves... Such mild protectionism can be explicitly time limited. Indeed, evidence...

• A first in human history

  Further to Corpus Christi (well, Gail Trimble) winning University Challenge comes this: it appears Corpus Christi fielded an ineligible student as part of their team. This is perhaps the first time in human history that people are in uproar that someone was in paid employment rather than being a student....

• Do lecture me

  Thousands of video lectures from the world's top scholars. Interested? Go here: Academic Earth....

• Fred the Shred's pension (updated)

  Plenty of coverage at the moment concerning Sir Fred Goodwin's pension arrangements, worth approximately £700K per year despite (or in spite?) of having run the Royal Bank of Scotland into the ground. The basic question is: should he be allowed to keep this pension? There are numerous factual ins and outs about this case; for example, what elements of the pension arrangements are discretionary? what are the legal parameters within which the pension arrangements hold?...

• Universally challenged? (updated II)

  I'm very much looking forward to the start of the University Challenge final — it's great television, and you learn stuff, too. This year has got quite a lot of coverage because of one Gail Trimble — perhaps the cleverest UC contestant ever. There appear to be two schools of thought on Trimble: either she's (1) annoying; or (2) strangely sexy. I'm firmly in the first camp, but appreciate there's little you can tell about...

• Political quizzes

  All well worth a go. Here are the links, and my results: Political Compass: My Political ViewsI am a left moderate social libertarianLeft: 3.14, Libertarian: 2.3Political Spectrum Quiz My Foreign Policy ViewsScore: 0.57Political Spectrum Quiz My Culture War StanceScore: -7.34Political Spectrum Quiz...

• Politicians swearing? Surely not

  Turns out, politicians swear! Who'd have thought it? Erm, arbitrary constant would: we've covered the topic in some detail before (1, 2). On a related note, this: THE official slogan for the 2012 Olympics will be 'London, City of Fucking Sport and Shit', mayor Boris Johnson has confirmed. Mr Johnson insisted the foul-mouthed slogan not only encapsulated London's status as one of the world's great cities but emphasised that it would 'host the fuck out...

• eDF deficient

  I was highly amused by this letter from eDF energy landing on the doormat recently: We have great pleasure in providing your quarterly statement [I'll bet you do — ed]... How much gas have you used? Unfortunately, we don't appear to have information about your gas consumption. Well then, that leads me to two conclusions: (1) How do you know your level of pleasure concerning my quarterly statement is 'great' if you don't know how...

• Top 3 emissions

  There's a fairly annoying radio advertisement doing the rounds at the moment, in which two cars talk to each other. One is a bit of a wide boy, and the other is a responsible car that informs the other that cars are humans "third biggest source of CO2 emissions". Which leads me to wonder: if cars are the third biggest source of human CO2 emissions, what is at number one and two? My suggestions are...

• Carol Vorderman: One from the bottom (updated)

  As a school governor with Link governor responsibilities for numeracy, I was interested to read today that Carol Vorderman — whose knowledge of maths extends to the numbers round of Countdown, fronting maths textbooks that are written by someone else, publishing sudoku books and, erm, endorsing a debt consolidation company — will chair a Conservative party taskforce developing policies to improve the teaching of maths. None from the top and one from the bottom, eh,...

• Comedians on Iraq

  It has been noted that the only people in the world who weren't happy to see Obama become president were the comedians and satirists, whose material was written for them by George W. Bush, and who now will have to work much harder to earn their living. (On a related note, see this post at normblog. How everyone will secretly miss George W.) This was proven first hand when I went to watch Bill Bailey...

• The BBC and the DEC

  The BBC is coming in for some criticism about its decision not to run the DEC's appeal for Gaza. The Beeb's entirely reasonable view is that it doesn't want to compromise its impartiality on an obviously-difficult issue. That said, there's someone, somewhere, in the BBC, who has thought this one through: though the Beeb isn't running the appeal, it is making people aware of the DEC appeal through near blanket coverage on the, erm, BBC,...

• British Gash (updated)

  Generally speaking, I try and keep arbitrary constant rational and logical, building good arguments and deploying them sensibly. This is not one such argument. When British Gas announced, with a sense of remarkable smugness and satisfaction, that they were to cut their tariffs by 10%, I was cast into a fit of outrage. All that previous crap about fixed prices until 2073 or whatever it was; all that trash about high oil and gas prices;...

• Londoner gets congestion charge fine; celebrities angered

  It was announced today across several different media platforms, including those that are well read, that a Londoner received a congestion fine after failing to pay the congestion charge. Since the Londoner was Boris Johnson, Mayor of London and the person essentially in charge of the system, news outlets probably felt that the news coverage was justified. Minor celebrities, however, are outraged. "I've been visiting London in my car specifically not to pay the congestion...

• Why I like Twitter

  I spent most of my Christmas holiday trying to explain to recalcitrant friends and relatives what's so good about Twitter. Below are a few personal reasons why I like Twitter, all of which are quite in addition to the normal reasons someone might cite (e.g. keep in touch with friends, keep track of what I'm doing, keeping up with famous people etc.) The first reason is a nice email I received from a cousin a...

• "Playing golf can 'damage hearing'"

  That's the headline on this article, which goes on to say that players who use a particular driver should consider wearing ear plugs, because the club creates a sonic boom which might damage hearing. I'm a bit of a golfer (see picture; by 'bit', I mean 'crap') and can't help but feel that the doctors have missed the point. Losing your hearing because you hit the ball too hard and too far with a nice,...

• Being a tourist in London

  Making the most of having friends come and stay for the weekend, and despite having lived and worked in London or thereabouts for 5 years, I have been doing touristy things around London. For the very first time, this included going on an open-top bus tour of the city, which you often see carrying photo-taking foreigners around (I joined in by taking the picture of the Houses of Parliament here on my phone). The whole...

• New Year 2008 quiz

  Each year, I try to write a quiz for any New Year's Eve party that I go to. This year has been no different, so below is the quiz and its answers in a separate document (both Word documents) which you're welcome to use in any way you wish. — New Year 2008 quiz questions — New Year 2008 quiz answers For info, some of the questions were aimed specifically at a few friends attending...

• Michael Crichton on the future

  Posted very late, but still interesting, following the death of author Michael Crichton: I want direct access to information of interest to me, and increasingly I expect to get it. This is a long-standing trend in many technologies. When I was a child, telephones had no dials. You picked up the phone and asked an operator to place your call. Now, if you’ve ever had the experience of being somewhere where your call was placed...

• "Reason for the season"

  Sometimes, I think Oliver Kamm does this sort of thing for the fun of it: The origin of "this holiday" [i.e. Christmas] is Natalis Solis Invicti, birth of the unconquered Sun: a pagan festival that the early Church decided to appropriate for its own purposes. I have no vested interest in this: I'm disinterested among religious festivals and uninterested in all of them. But no one in the West celebrated Christmas till 300 years after...

• Rubbish information

  We don't normally concern ourselves with the little stuff here at arbitrary constant, but this post is different, caused, as it is, by sheer incomprehension. The bin men have just posted the Christmas collection schedule on the bin; so far as I can see, it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, and can make neither head or tail of it. Please do click on the photo to see if you can make sense of it. I'm...

• Daily routines

  I think this has been linked to a fair bit elsewhere, but the Daily Routines blog is pretty interesting. See for example: — George W. Bush He's a fast eater - always ready to get back to work. — Truman Capote Essentially I think of myself as a stylist, and stylists can become notoriously obsessed with the placing of a comma, the weight of a semicolon. Obsessions of this sort, and the time I take...

• Bikes in London: not Boris's idea

  I don't want to be churlish about it, but having bikes to hire around London was not, as this article suggests, Boris Johnson's idea. For a start, Ken Livingstone, when he was Mayor, announced the same thing on 11 February 2008 (see press release here). And, of course, the whole thing is based on the successful scheme in Paris. What makes the bicycle preening worse is that, a few days later, Johnson announced funding of...

• Eminently imminent, or imminently eminent?

  That's Noam Chomsky, that is: one or the other of imminent or eminent, according to Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party's candidate for US president. Funny either (a) by itself, and / or (b) because it makes Sarah Palin look clever!...

• Mixed metaphors

  Let's face it: the language of the financial crisis hasn't always been easy to understand, quite aside from the causes of it or what it means for the average person on the street. Always happy to pop up on the news, though, local Council leaders often provide interesting linguistic contributions to things, and the financial crisis — and in particular, the local government money tied up in Icelandic banks — is no exception. Take this...

• Joerg Haider: a politician of the far right

  The Austrian politician Joerg Haider, whose politics would typically be described as far right in Britain, has died in a car accident. Haider was a key person the Austrain Freedom Party and in the politics of the far right across Europe. Though having no personal interest or association with far right politics, I wrote a long essay on the far right across Europe a few months ago, which refers to the Austrian Freedom Party. If...

• Always rational

  The issue here isn’t - or at least isn’t always - one of rationality versus irrationality. It’s: which rationality? It's a quote that gets right to the heart of the matter. It won't take regular readers long to figure out, therefore, that it is from Chris Dillow at Stumbling and Mumbling, on the question of rationalities, religion and liberty. Read it in full....

• Evidence-based policy, at the peril of values (updated)

  There is a thought-provoking post at Stumbling and Mumbling on what role should empirical evidence play in policy making. Chris Dillow's suggested answer is very little, and he makes a strong case for it. By and large, I'm swayed by it, on the basis of the argument made: if the public want one thing but the evidence says another, which should politicians go with? What if the evidence doesn't exist or is too short term...

• Something about the night (updated)

  One for the political geeks out there: on a train to Leeds on Tuesday, I was sitting near Michael Howard, one time Tory leader and well-known politician. Obviously, his being a Tory, I wasn't that bothered by him. Nevertheless, my political-geek side nearly came to the fore as I considered discussing political accountability versus operational responsibility with him, especially in the context of his experience of the Derek Lewis affair (and for which Jeremy Paxman...

• Being the right person for the job

  At the risk of turning into the Stumbling and Mumbling fan club, you really should read this post from Chris Dillow, it being much better careers advice than most people would have ever received. Anyone with a bit of self-control and nous can, therefore, cover up the fact that they are the wrong man for the job - and, after a while, maybe even turn into the right man....

• Stuff

  Sorry for the continued silence on arbitrary constant for the past couple of weeks. Here's a round-up of things I've missed: — David Davis's resignation over the 42-day detention limit. As many have pointed out, he's a curious defender of civil liberties, especially given that he still believes in capital punishment. The by-election will be a farce; on which, Mad-Cow Girl, the by-election candidate for the Monster Raving Loony Party, has spoken more sense than...

• Reliable informant

  I am pleased to say that arbitrary constant is now fully signed-up with the Britannica Online Encyclopedia. This means that, when we link to any articles on the Britannica website, readers from this site can read that article in full for free. To get us started, here's a few articles that have interested me today: — Proportional representation — Karl Marx — Communism — Charles Dickens — Masters Tournament If I'm organised enough, I'll try...

• Cameron's ringtone

  Further damning proof that David Cameron is not to be lauded: his ringtone is the one from 24 (source)....

• Blockbusters title sequence

  This brings back memories: the title sequence from Blockbusters. I wonder what Bob Holness is up to nowadays?...

• F*ck 'Ems

  Excuse the vulgarity of the title of this post: some people just have that effect on arbitrary constant. One such example is Foxtons the estate agents, which has been affectionately renamed "Fuck 'Ems" in this household. Not usually being one given to irrationality, the renaming is what feels like one small victory against the proliferation of the agency's minis and their invariably brash drivers found the country over, as well as said estate agent's generally...

• Cripes!

  I am away for parts of the Bank Holiday weekend, but will get my thoughts down on the local elections, including the bloody Mayor, by Monday. Have a great weekend....

• On fast food

  Sometimes, I can't quite get over how cool Norman Geras is. Look at this: I don't know if I've ever said this before, but just in case I haven't... I really like going for a fast-food meal. Not that I don't like eating better than that. I do. But I like that you can go into the place and be out of there within half an hour. I like that you've then got time to...

• The London mayoral election voting system

  Voting systems are usually the preserve of psephologists and constitutional anoraks. I'm no psephologist, but I wouldn't argue against anyone that called me the latter. Britain has, to many a person's chagrin, a first-past-the-post voting system. This means the person who gets the most number of votes — be that 1 more or 100,000 more — is the winner. For those that voted for the loser this can feel particularly harsh, especially if there are...

• The Pope in America

  Via the Adam Smith blog: A salesman from KFC walked up to the Pope and offered him a million dollars if he would change "The Lord's Prayer" from "give us this day our daily bread" to "give us this day our daily chicken." The Pope refused his offer. Two weeks later, the man offered the pope 10 million dollars to change it from "give us this day our daily bread" to "give us this day...

• Over the top, not under the radar

  School admissions is of interest to me (1, 2, 3). It is well known that schools select pupils both overtly and covertly, and this is fundamentally unfair. This said, even I wouldn't advocate local authorities spying on parents in order to determine whether or not they actually live in a catchment area. That, it would have to be said, is over the top. Parents would and do do a lot to make sure they get...

• Eiffel flower

  No matter what Ken Livingstone tries to do with the skyline of London, at least he's not proposing to stick a ruddy great big flower thing on top of St Paul's... What are the Parisians thinking? Note: this isn't even an April fool!...

• Terminal 5: actually, we love it

  The "shambolic" opening of Heathrow Terminal 5 is actually everything the British love: an opportunity to moan about how something that's meant to be really good is actually really crap, without much thought to the long-term benefits that will accrue to them. Two observations: 1 — Britain doesn't do infrastructure very well (cf. Wembley, the London Olympics so far, the Millennium Dome etc.), despite having invented the Industrial Age. 2 — Britons are never happier...

• The real apprentice

  I will not be watching The Apprentice. Though I have little experience of the world of business, I'm pretty sure being a caricature is not the way to the top, and so there's no point in watching the programme. Nevertheless, one thing hasn't escaped my notice, as represented by the image above and as I'm sure — being the astute reader you are — hasn't been allowed to escape your attention. The above shows...

• Feeling guilty for taking no action

  Feeling guilty for taking no action concerning, say, human rights? So you should. But, in this case, not quite: it's more about saving penalties: There are some pieces of scientific research that, on the whole, it is perhaps better not to know. Like this one, from last week, in which scientists from Ben-Gurion University analysed the reactions of a number of Israeli goalkeepers after facing penalty kicks.According to their calculations, staying in the centre of...

• A boring subject

  God, this is a boring subject, isn't it? That's Jeremy Paxman, on... well, see for yourself: Surely the reason is perfectly obvious. Oxford and Cambridge are the finest universities in Europe and two of the best universities in the world. They are also intensely beautiful, operate on a small college basis and employ some of the cleverest men and women in the world as teachers. They therefore attract some brilliant students. Only someone whose chip...

• Compromise

  Compromise is the key art in politics; it is, in essence, the definition of politics. Guy Browning's column in yesterday's Guardian was about cooperation, but this soon meant compromise:An essential part of cooperation therefore is a little give and take. This doesn't mean they give and you take. Rather, it means everyone making a few compromises. A bad compromise is where everyone feels hard done by and a good compromise is where everyone thinks they...

• Taking the Pi

  Yesterday was Pi day — it being 14 March, or 3/14 as the Americans would have it. This being so, what better excuse than for the bbc to demonstrate the terrible state of coverage in its Magazine. Take this: [I]f you ask a typical maths nerd [for the value of pi], you'll get an earful of pi - 3.14159265 and so on. I'm probably what you might call a "typical maths nerd", having completed two...

• Plastic fantastic

  After Marks & Spencer decided it would charge 5p for each plastic bag people used in its stores, everyone has been falling over themselves with wonder. On the back of today's Guardian, Sainsbury's has taken out a full-page advertisement which starts: At Sainsbury's we've been reducing the impact of plastic bags on the environment since the 1980s. All a load of complete shite, obviously. For those who shop in supermarkets other than Sainsbury's, M&S and...

• Trevor Phillips on Barack Obama

  An article by Trevor Phillips, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, on Barack Obama in this month's Prospect magazine has caused quite a kerfuffle. Here is that kerfuffle in a few, short links: — Healing postponed. The original Trevor Phillips article. — Trevor Phillips: why I'm not backing Obama. Supplementary post at the Prospect First Drafts blog. — Britain's equality chief: Obama will only prolong America's racial divide. The Independent weighs in with...

• Predictable consequences

  Up and down the country, people are having to cope with the predictable consequences of last night's earthquake in Britain. When asked in a survey for arbitrary constant, some 93% of all respondents confirmed at least one of their colleagues asked "did the earth move for you?". Other reports have confirmed that such colleagues asking the question thought they were being funny and, in some worrying cases, clever. When asked, the British Society of Predictable...

• America is still working

  If there's one thing the American presidential nomination race shows, it is that people are interested in what is happening politics-wise in the United States. If there were two things the American presidential nomination race could show, which there's nothing to say it couldn't, then it would be that democracy is, well, fun. An excellent article in this month's Prospect magazine states that America still works. This is in opposition to 3 myths which state:...

• Cycling superhighways

  A series of cycling superhighways were announced yesterday by the Mayor of London, as well as a bike hire scheme similar to that which runs in Paris. As a fairly new cyclist, navigating my way from Peckham to Liverpool Street and back on most days, the scheme sounds excellent and one that will inevitably contribute to making London, at least, a healthier (and environmentally friendlier) place to live. Is everyone as happy as me? Erm,...

• Miles Kington

  I was sorry to hear of Miles Kington's death, at the age of 66. Kington was, amongst other things, a columnist for the Independent, and it was for this column for which I knew him. His columns were very funny and, quite amazingly, daily — his columns were the one thing I missed when I stopped reading the Indie. Some of Kington's writing can be found here. Here's a snippet: Lord Wyatt has, apparently, inserted...

• London skyline

  Being neither tired of life nor tired of London, a photo for you of the South Bank (two others here and here)....

• Infinity: countable or no

  My PhD studies were not in the area of game theory, though they did touch set theory, which was often elegant and always interesting. An excellently readable article on infinity, countable or not, reminds me of my studies, and my relationship with maths. Some times I loved it, other times I hated it, but most often I was simply in awe of it. My supervisor (a very excellent man, by the way), once said that...

• Speed reading

  How's your reading? I knew I'm a fairly quick reader, but the quick-reading test shows (available here) that I'm just above average — around 575 words per minute on a screen. This was with a comprehension of about 75%, which just about makes me a good reader, which will do. How about you? (Via normblog.)...

• Dickens on America

  Whilst we're on American politics (and, let's face it, we're going to be on American politics until at least November), Charles Dickens's observations of America on his trip there in 1842 is well worth a look. American Notes for General Circulation (available online here, though the Penguin Classics edition is excellent) is a tour mainly around the east coast of America, and Dickens doesn't hold back with what he finds — both good and bad....

• Happy Christmas

  It's been a period of quiet here at arbitrary constant for quite some time. Nevertheless, we hope that you are enjoying your own version of peace and quiet — or indeed just doing whatever you want — today. Happy Christmas!...

• Cf.

  Compare and contrast: — Speechless campaign, Sean Penn — Speechless campaign, Ugly Betty — The One campaign — Make Poverty History — Chris Martin on extras...

• Investing in skills

  An article by Michael Cross from the Prospect archive (subscription required) highlights how difficult it is to implement large IT contracts successfully. Indeed: Complex IT projects have a poor record everywhere in the world, in both the public and private sectors. An annual survey by Standish, a US consultancy, estimates that 70 per cent fail to meet their timetable or budget, or to come up to specification I'm not sure that really helps anyone when...

• In defence of...

  The reflectory tone I was intending to take over reminiscing over the trials, tribulations, joys and farts that I have had over the past six month, has been rudely shattered by Rich's ignoramus bleatings. Not only does he take in vain the name of the greatest pieces of TV ever made, "The Thick of It", he also mocks the medium itself, merely to promote both a renowned unethical company and the dumb ass Tory...

• 'Tis I Leclerc

  It has been some 6 months since I last posted, with the usual combination of PC failure, internet failure and general uselessness putting paid to any internet-based ranting. A wise man of twenty, when asked to explain his background, once said: How the fuck do you expect me to explain 20 years in 20 minutes, I couldn't fucking explain 20 years in 20 years? I feel a little like that....

• A to B, not via C

  In a review of Steven Pinker's latest book on the brain, concerning language and human nature, the reviewer says a funny thing: Yet the Harvard professor demonstrates a frustrating reluctance to go from A to B if there's any chance of a detour to Z. Why Z? Why not C? Is the implication that the detours are so out of the way of the subject matter considered at A and / or B that only...

• Bullying and the X Factor

  It is ironic that Emily has been kicked off the X Factor, having been caught on YouTube essentially bullying someone. What is X Factor — especially in its early weeks — but a tragic bully-fest, epitomised by the language and behaviour of Simon Cowell?...

• Deportation no excuse

  A government Minister was yesterday fined £100 after being caught using a mobile phone whilst driving. It is, of course, quite right that he's been fined — you can't have one rule for one and another for another. The Minister in question, Liam Byrne, said there was no excuse for doing what he was doing, but did still note that he was taking an "important call on a deportation matter" when he was caught. If...

• Do future generations have rights? (Updated)

  An interesting question, and one that is the subject of debate at normblog: — Duties to the future? — Do future generations have rights? 1 — Do future generations have rights? 2 — Do future generations have rights? 3 Update: the debate is continued here: — Do future generations have rights? 4 — Do future generations have rights? 5...

• Absolute time (updated)

  The difference between relative and absolute differences has been highlighted on arbitrary constant before. This weekend, however, is a perfect demonstration of what the two terms can hide. Your weekend will be extended by just over 2% because of the clocks going back one hour. However, 2% doesn't sound a lot, does it? On the other hand, that extra hour — however you spend it (though arbitrary constant's will be in bed) — seems like...

• Jing monkey-picked oolong tea

  Another busy weekend trying to finish off my dissertation, I'm afraid, which explains why posting has been only on every other day. Still, around 10 days to go, and then I'll be back up to full speed. In the meantime, a short break at the weekend saw us go to a new tea shop in East Dulwich — an area not far from our house. There, we discovered that we could buy, for £4, a...

• The downsides of Amazon

  Having added an Amazon link to arbitrary constant, I do, of course, have to take the rough with the smooth. So whilst I would whole-heartedly recommend your viewing Goodbye Lenin, for example (review here), I'm afraid I wouldn't recommend your reading or watching John Pilger, Michael Moore or Noam Chomsky, all of whom have appeared in the Amazon links. You have to take the rough with the smooth, I guess, and that particular triumvirate is...

• Stealing the internet

  There was an amusing story in the newspaper this week: a man was arrested for using someone's unsecured internet connection whilst sitting on their garden wall. This reminds me of a story of a friend (and I mean an actual friend, as opposed to a 'friend' who is actually me, in case there are any pcsos around... As my friend tells it, he was living in rented accommodation and, before setting up his own internet...

• Paris 2007

  I've recently returned from an excellent holiday in Paris. For anyone interested in photos of Parisian buildings, you can see a selection here....

• On rejoining flickr

  For some while, I had let my pro account (or membership) of flickr lapse. This was partly due to a lack of taking photos, not having the time to process and upload photos when I did take some, and generally falling out of love with the much lauded "Web 2.0". As a consequence, I couldn't access all of my photos (a fair limit of 200 is applied to those accounts which aren't "pro") and had...

• On bus drivers

  Here's an interesting question: do bus drivers exist to drive buses, or do they exist to drive buses that are carrying members of the public? This question is prompted by the regular sight of "not in service" buses passing by members of the public at Elephant & Castle — a very busy public transport hub in south London. Such buses beg the question of whether or not a bus driver is required as part of...

• An elaborate waste of human intelligence

  Having quoted Raymond Chandler's thoughts on advertising in reference to the Olympics logo imbroglio, I of course neglected to mention Chandler's more famous quote concerning advertising: Chess is the most elaborate waste of human intelligence outside of an advertising agency. This quote is also from The Long Good-bye and I'd to the latter part of the view expressed, too....

• Stay home

  So I snooze, read my book, and in between times reflect on one of my mottos in life that I too often violate: 'Stay home'. Further proof that Mr Geras is a fine, fine man....

• Generate a tag cloud

  For various reasons, I've needed to generate a "cloud" of popular terms for some work today. (In fact, I'm trying to use it as a way of best representing the strategic priorities for the organisation I work for, bringing a bit of "web tech" to the masses who, at first glance, seem to like it.) Anyway, a bit of research revealed some interesting things folks have done with tag clouds and speeches in particular —...

• Immaterial (and Hugh Grant)

  Heaven forbid that you, reader, might disagree with arbitrary constant on any of the things it writes about. To know that you may not agree with what was probably a well-considered and honest position is crushing in the extreme. But let's just say — purely as a hypothesis — that you did disagree with arbitrary constant on, say, its opinion of Hugh Grant: you think Hugh Grant is great, arbitrary constant doesn't. Ho hum. Now,...

• Interesting words

  My apologies for the lack of posts here over the last few days; I'm afraid work commitments mean that there won't be much going on until at least this time next week. To make up for this, though, here's some interesting words and the such: 1. Everyone know "facetious" has all the vowels, once, in the order they appear in the alphabet. Not so many folks know that "abstemious" does, too. As does "arsenious". Even...

• Trouble?

  "Morning! Did you have trouble getting in?" No, I was fine thanks....

• Meta-vacuuming

  For one reason or another, I found myself vacuuming the vacuum cleaner last night. This strikes me, as it did at the time, as particularly sad and, at the same, very interesting. It leads me to wonder whether those who read arbitrary constant might have other examples of meta they have either come across or inexplicably found themselves involved with. If so, do please get in touch and let us know....

• Pedant in the corner

  Discussion around the arbitrary constant dinner table recently turned to the subject of pedantry and pedants, the latter of which I am one. Surprisingly, the discussion was a positive one, which highlighted that pedants do indeed have a role to play in clear and concise language and the written word, and that that role is a positive one. This, however, got me to thinking as to whether I would pursue my pedantry in the forthcoming...

• Happy holidays

  Happy holidays to all arbitrary constant readers. One of us has at least three new books to go away and read, but posting will hopefully continue at a regular pace over the rest of the holiday....

• (Maths) Christmas quiz

  Whilst undertaking its monthly check of visitor statistics, arbitrary constant was pleasantly surprised to see something of a spike in visitor numbers for the month of December. A closer look at the data revealed that a Christmas quiz, written for the maths department of which I was recently a postgraduate student, was proving to be popular with a few googlers. With this in mind, I thought I'd put the links to this quiz (and the...

• Rise of the extreme right

  There has been quite a bit of coverage concerning the far right in Europe, and the UK in particular, of late. Some time ago I wrote an essay on what has caused this recent "wave" of extremism in Europe, which is reproduced below. It's a bit dry but will, it is hoped, be of interest. There are a range of established theories that seek to explain the recent "fairly strong wave of right-wing extremism washing...

• You do not have to say anything...

  ... but anything you do say will be used to inform the news, form general opinion and influence things in ways that have never been previously considered. At least, that's the way things seem to be going. I've been quite bemused of late as broadcasters, newspapers and others have responded to the internet and the possibilities it affords by asking more and more people to form the content of their media. Examples abound everywhere —...

• Not angry, just disappointed

  Upon hearing the news that the bbc was “disappointed” Michael Grade has defected to its television rival, ITV, arbitrary constant — seeing right through the Beeb’s reaction — knew there was some seething going on. It is, of course, entirely natural that those in a position of responsibility claim disappointment as opposed to anger when circumstances conspire against them. There are, however, other circumstances in which anger is present by itself, disappointment reigns supreme or...

• Two more questions

  Two more questions for you to consider over the weekend: 1. What will those calling for the preferably-soon withdrawal of British troops from Iraq do when the terrorist attacks continue? 2. Do those referred to in question 1 think that the UK should pursue an isolationist foreign policy? It's better than thinking about the current state of the Ashes, no?...

• Milton Friedman

  I note in passing that the economist Milton Friedman has died. Friedman revived interest in monetary policy — that is, that the supply of money is the key factor in determining economic growth and the rate of inflation. Monetarism essentially captures all of Friedman's ideas in this area. He also coined the phrase: There's no such thing as a free lunch. For a brief obituary of Friedman, see the BBC; for a brief biography see...

• Silly Scrabble noises

  The subject of Scrabble has been raised by arbitrary constant before, and quite rightly so: Scrabble is an excellent game combining luck, skill and a startling array of words you never knew existed. News reaches arbitrary constant that the biggest score ever accumulated in a single game — previously 770 — has been exceeded: the new record stands at 830. The score was achieved primarily through the playing of the word QUIXOTRY across two triple...

• This is that

  In my last post I used the expression this is that. [Actually, you used the expression "this, then, is that", but never mind — Ed]. Such a phrase normally makes me a bit annoyed: if "this is that", then "that" is in fact "this", so you might as well just say "this is". With this in mind [with that in mind? — Ed] I'll try and steer clear of this and that in future. Onwards!...

• Resile

  On at least two occasions that arbitrary constant can recall, including this one, Tony Blair has said he doesn't "resile" from anything he has said before on the subject of his successor. Ever trying to be helpful, arbitrary constant thought it would find the definition of "resile" for you, the intrigued reader, and reproduce it here. This, then, is that definition: Verb 1. resile - draw back from an agreement, contract, statement, etc. 2. resile...

• Detriment of the certainty

  Sick of giving people the benefit of the doubt when, upon reflection, they didn't deserve it, an old housemate and I came up with what we thought was the exact opposite of the "benefit of the doubt": we called it the detriment of the certainty. Since that time, the phrase has proved to be very useful and is one I hope others will use appropriately and widely. The reason I mention this now is that,...

• Two problems dealt with

  Note: I originally wrote this post on 7 October. Having received a couple of emails about its content and having realised I have made a mistake, I have added an update below. Via Not Even Wrong comes the news that the Navier-Stokes equations might have been solved. The N-S equations are one of Clay Institute's Millennium problems (as was the Poincaré conjecture) and is thus worth $1m if the proof is correct. There are two...

• Even atheists require faith

  The publication of Richard Dawkins's new book, The God Delusion, has opened up some interesting debate at the Guardian. I'm not going to enter into that debate now — I've been writing a post on the subject of a seculr society for some time now and will hopefully post it soon — but I would like to draw attention to a point norm has recently made: You can be an atheist on the grounds that...

• Manchester

  I had reason to visit Manchester the week before last and I wanted to record that I thought it an excellent city, in most every sense of the word. It might just have been the anticipation of the Labour party conference that was to fall upon the city the week after my visit, though I suspect that that was not, and is not, the case. I am very much looking forward to my next visit...

• Maths humour

  I've gone on (and on and, erm, on) about maths on this site, and in particular the general public's relationship with the subject. A friend recently sent me some pretty funny pictures that neatly encapsulate both the public's approach to / fear of maths, whilst at the same time demonstrating that many of the mental capabilities required to do maths are well within most people's grasp. You can see these images on my flickr page...

• Safety

  An interesting fact, highlighted in this week's Private Eye, offered to you without comment. Number of deaths resulting from train accidents [1] in the UK in 2005: 0 Number of deaths resulting from road accidents [2] in the UK in 2005: 3201 I'm afraid I haven't, as yet, been able to find the equivalent statistic for civilian aviation. [1] — Overview of the 2005 Annual Performance Report (.pdf), Rail Safety and Standards Board, p.1. [2]...

• Quest for an analogy

  I wrote yesterday about the approach two different newspapers had taken in writing a maths-based article for their readership. These articles took the possible solution of one of the Clay Institute's Millennium prizes as their starting point, and reminded me of an article I had previously read on the same topic in the London Review of Books. Unfortunately, this article displays another common fault found in writing on the subject of maths (and science more...

• Chance

  A recent quotation of the week had it that Chance favours only the prepared mind. It's a good quotation for the very reasonable reason that it is true. A couple of recent examples will suffice. Whilst I was in the process of writing a review of Golfinger for the James Bond feature at Not Coming To A Theater Near You, I happened to read an article in an issue of the London Review of Books...

• Treated like sheep

  That's us humans, that is: treated like sheep. Or rather, we're not treated like sheep at all — or any cattle for that matter. For on what could be the hottest day ever recorded in the UK (sorry, I do get carried away with newspaper hyperbole on occasion), no worker will be entitled to go home early because of the excessive heat. This despite the World Health Organisation's recommended maximum working temperature being 24°C and...

• Mind the leak

  A series of advertisements have sprung up around London, which show famous London landmarks filled with water and an accompanying caption stating: Our new pipes will save [however much] water in [however many] weeks. The "our" in this case is Thames Water who seem to think that a nice advertising campaign telling everyone how much water it will save in 2010 will negate the fact that it is currently leaking 864m litres of water per...

• Heatwave alert

  I never knew there were such things as heatwave alerts, but there are and the Department of Health has them:DH [the Department of Health] has issued a Heatwave Level 3 Alert after confirmation from the Met Office that Heatwave Plan threshold temperatures are likely to be reached in various parts of England over the next few days. These temperatures are high enough to give rise to significant health risks. Heatwave alerts seem to be made...

• Magners? I'd rather a Bulmers

  arbitrary constant would understand if you weren't exactly bowled over by the bit of business news that hit the, erm, news today: that O2 is to buy The Link chain for £30m. And yet, consider the following bit of trivia this fascinating news item has turned up: that the current owner of The Link is one DSG International — a business group whose other assets include (amongst others): Currys, Dixons and PC World! For those...

• Drinking in Germany

  Yesterday saw a mini-quiz for readers of arbitrary constant: based on small snippets of local business wisdom, readers had to try and identify a city. The answers to the quiz are, from top to bottom: Chicago, Washington DC, Buenos Aires and, of course, London. For those fans yet to travel to Germany, the Economist offers some good advice on drinking in Berlin:It is considered impolite to start drinking before everyone has raised glasses together, a...

• Which city?

  The Economist recently published a very interesting guide to international cities and the things you need to bare in mind when doing business there: travel tips and business etiquette etc. It provides "tips on conducting meetings [and] pointers about what to wear, eat and drink [as well as] definite no-nos [and] popular topics of conversation" and makes for a very interesting read — especially for someone that hasn't travelled much, like me. Below are some...

• On spelling and tags

  A thought occurred to me recently on the practice of tagging (as can be seen at flickr and del.icio.us amongst others). My thought was that people tag happily enough — but I don't. I'm always worried that a picture I've tagged isn't tagged with the same tags as a similar picture I've tagged, or are completely different to the tags that other people have tagged their pictures with. I then remembered that I'm something of...

• Expert speaker

  It's not often I ask much of the reader(s) of arbitrary constant, but on this occasion you'll have to humour me. I'd like you to think, if you will, of George W. Bush. For many I appreciate this won't be the nicest thing you'll do today — that funny hair, the peculiar walk and that curt accent. When all is said and done it could prove to be a bit much. And yet, if you're...

• Two questions

  Two questions for you to consider over the weekend, the originality of thought for which I do not and would not claim: 1. Does free will sit comfortably in a world of scientific determinism? 2. Would God exist in a world (or universe) that was without humans?...

• JavaScript tutorial — randomising function

  The old arbitrary constant used to utilise some JavaScript in order to generate some random content. This was originally done for two reasons: 1. to give the site a bit more depth and 2. to help me learn the basics of JavaScript. Since learning what follows, it has proved useful in exactly no further circumstances I have encountered. Still, I hope that the following will proive useful to any others considering using JavaScript in order...

• 51672

  Taken whilst waiting for the tube at London Bridge station....

• Female darts players

  Look: if Simon asked me to jump off a cliff I wouldn't do it, ok? It's just he keeps pointing out these interesting things and I can't help but respond. Here's the latest, being a good old maths puzzle: Tamara, Raquel and Claudia are playing a game of darts. Starting at 301, normal rules apply with a double to finish. Raquel has scored 111 more than what she now needs to finish. The amount that...

• Scrabble tips

  Earlier in the week, I had the chance to meet up with an old friend for a drink and a couple of games of Scrabble. I'm a big fan of Scrabble — it's a game I enjoy playing and often find challenging. It has often been said to me, though, that Scrabble is a game to be played only once or twice a year, most notably around Christmas time. Given an alternative and playing Scrabble,...

• Paronomasia

  The illustrious term "paranomasia" was mentioned briefly in the links column a while ago. It's such a great word, however, that it cannot go unmentioned here in the main blog. According to Wikipedia, paronomasia is "a figure of speech which consists of a deliberate confusion of similar words or phrases for rhetorical effect, whether humorous or serious". In fact, a pun is the use of deliberate word confusion for humorous effect whereas paronomasia is the...

• Forgotten dreams

  That a dream fades away in the morning is proverbial.Indeed it is, but it's fortunate that Freud concurs and goes on to write in such wonderful prose some thoughts on the matter:We may observe how the memory of a dream which in the morning was still vivid fades in the course of the day, leaving only a few trifling remnants. We are often aware that we have been dreaming, but we do not know of...

• He shoots! He scores! — LRB (1) vol. 28

  It isn't often that an article which sets out to draw comparison between two distinct fields achieves its task successfully. On the face of it, football and politics doesn't go. David Runciman's recent article in the London Review of Books, however, does a good job. I would certainly recommend reading it. This statement made, I don't want to discuss the similarities Runciman identifies. Instead, there are one or two points he makes that seem particularly...

• Don't even bother

  Preparing for this evening's university seminar, I've been reading a couple of papers this lunchtime on whether public opinion influences public policy. Quite aside from the subject matter, however, is this wonderful quote from one paper's conclusion, which I intend to use verbatim at every available opportunity: We reject in advance as unimpressive the possible criticism that this approach… is likely to prove fruitless.That is great: it's not just the fact that a criticism can...

• Owen unhappy at Newcastle

  Sven-Goran Eriksson has suggested, rather bizarrely, that he might want to manage Aston Villa if England win the World Cup. He clearly wasn't feeling very well when talking about this, because he also suggested that David Beckham might be happy to move to Birmingham and play for Villa if Sven was manager. There was an element that rang true, however, in his recent thoughts: that Michael Owen is not happy at Newcastle. Let's revisit Owen's...

• Du bist ein dumbkopf

  Subscribing to the UK Scrabble email list has its benefits, as the following list of words signifying stupid people attests:ASINICO a stupid fellow. Plural ASINICOS. BAMPOT an idiot, fool. BEETLEHEAD a stupid fellow; a blockhead. BERK, BURK a fool. BIMBO an attractive but dim young woman. Plural BIMBOS or BIMBOES. BIRDBRAIN one of very limited intelligence. BLOCKHEAD a stupid person. BUBBLEHEAD a flighty, frivolous woman. BUFFLEHEAD one who has a large head; a heavy, stupid...

• 21 February

  The first stop of any day on the internet for me is Wikipedia, and in particular their selected anniversaries for each and every day. It is a great way of finding out about stuff that happens. Today is a particularly good day, for the following reasons:In 1431, the trial of Joan of Arc began. In 1848, Karl Marx published the Communist Manifesto. In 1878, the first telephone book was published in New Haven, Conneticut. In...