arbitrary constant

Recent Entries in Personal

• Man walks into a column, no.15: Atheism

  A little over a year ago, I went to a lecture given by a Christian academic, who amongst a few other things, said that whilst there is nothing fundamentally illogical about God, you have to have had a personal experience of him (it?) in order to be persuaded that he/it exists. I'm a big fan of this idea. I've had no such personal experience and, quite on the contrary, the whole notion of a divine...

• Man walks into a column, no.14: Diaries

  I've kept a diary for the past four years, with only short periods in which I failed to make daily entries at least three or four times a week. Earlier this year it was rare that I'd miss a single day. And yet for the last couple of months my entry rate has diminished to the kind of level where I question whether in fact it counts as 'keeping a diary' at all. Should I...

• Telling the truth, #ombh

  This is a guest post by a friend who would like to remain anonymous, as part of One Month Before Heartbreak 'Vegetables' don't always lie in hospital beds, with tubes and wires wrapped around unconscious shells. Zombies are shells, in fiction. A mind which loops, locked onto a word or phrase or guttural sound, no cognitive function left, simply passing through the world on some pre-defined path, choice and personality removed, incapable of interaction or...

• Two events: #LbyS and #NCVOac

  I hope you'll excuse the self-publicity, but I just wanted to let people know I've been lucky enough to be invited to speak at two great events coming up in the next few weeks. The first is the South West edition of Local by Social. The theme of the event is "Apps for Communities", exploring how Apps and Widgets can be used to bring real benefits to citizens. I'm going to be talking about the...

• 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...

• More on the possible cuts to Access to Work

  I blogged yesterday on the question of whether cuts are being made to Access to Work. In summary, the DWP has issued unannounced, updated guidance on Access to Work which reduces the amount of support that was previously available to disabled people in securing employment. Furthermore, this has been done before an announced review of Access to Work has been published. Let's look a little more into what Access to Work (AtW) is and the...

• On blogging in 2011

  I've recorded an audioboo on what you can expect from this blog in 2011. Click below to listen. Listen!...

• 2010: A year in blogging

  As the year reaches an end, I thought I'd crunch the numbers on blogging here on arbitrary constant. Over the course of the year, there were 579 posts (average of 48 per month). The busiest month was May (due to the General Election) and the quietest was February (because it's a short month). In January the site averaged 455 visits per day, rising to 1,102 visits per day by December 2010, averaging 755 visits per...

• Redstributing my rebate: hello to CiFers

  As part of the Comment is Free's People's Panel, I've made a small contribution to their feature today on giving to charity. Anyone visiting there from there: hello! The first full post with details of the tax rebate and my plan is here. The follow-up of suggestions so far is here. On Monday I'll post the shortlist of 5 organisations and details of how to vote. Feel free to say hi in the comments, or...

• "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,...

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  Redistributing my tax rebate: £621.97 up for grabs

  With understandable concern I opened a letter from HMRC on Saturday morning. Fearing the worst - the need to make up for a shortfall in tax owing - the exact opposite happened. The HMRC owed me £2,460.97. This was somewhat unexpected, and I immediately recognised my good fortune, especially when others getting much worse news from the taxman in the post. And it was this thought of others getting bad news that, though I realised...

• 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...

• Holiday break

  I'm on holiday for the next 10 days or so. Blogging is therefore likely to be light....

• Confessions of a Regenerator

  Hello, my name is Stef_W (well it's not actually but anyway) and I'm addicted to Regeneration. Regeneration is neither Optimus Prime's secret gay transformer lover, the subtitle to a Terminator straight-to-DVD sequel nor the latest 'legal high'. Despite having just completed an MSc in 'Urban Regeneration', I'm still not particularly sure what it is myself but I do have some thoughts...but I've haven't really shared them with AC. It's the classic blog/career conundrum. To date...

• My web life, reconsidered

  It makes me feel like everything I’ve posted over the past four years on Twitter, Jaiku, Friendfeed, Plurk, Pownce, and, yes, Google Buzz, has been an immense waste of time. I was shouting into a vast echo chamber where no one could hear me because they were too busy shouting themselves. All this time I’ve been pumping content into the void[.] How humiliating. How demoralizing. For my summer holiday I decided to take a break...

• 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....

• Holiday break

  I am heading off for a two-week holiday break. Apart from a few drafted posts that are scheduled to appear over the next few days, and any of the usual wonderful stuff that Phil and Stef post here over the next two weeks, there won't be much activity here on the blog or over on Twitter in that time. If you're about to head off on a trip as well, I wish you a relaxing...

• 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...

• 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...

• YouTune no.17: The Show Must Go On

  I thought it was unlikely I hadn't covered Queen in this regular little feature of mine. And indeed it was unlikely, for they had been feature in YouTune no.8: I Want To Break Free. Nevertheless, Queen become the first artists to get a second entry in this series, with their marvellous The Show Must Go On: You can find the previous entries in the YouTune series here: YouTune....

• Rich W at 30

  I am 30 today. To acknowledge and celebrate this milestone, I thought it would be interesting to reflect on some of the things I've achieved so far, which I've therefore listed below. I have grown very close to 6ft 5in tall. Unfortunately, of late, I have also grown horizontally. My right foot remains half a size bigger than my left I once baked a cheesecake for my wife for Valentine's Day. Despite the recipe clearly...

• 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....

• 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...

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  Baby reacts to Lib-Con coalition

  I asked my nearly-6-month-old what he thought of the prospect of a Liberal Democrat - Conservative coalition. This was his reaction:...

• Analysing the Lib Dem position 2

  After analysing the Lib Dem position with regard to their own performance, let's turn to where it leaves them as kingmakers. The Lib Dems are caught between the Devil and the deep blue sea. They are also in a weaker position than most people seem to realise. Aligning with the Tories represents a short-term gain and long-term pain. In the short term, they get to implement key parts of their manifesto (particularly in education, the...

• Game-legged old man and the drunk

  Vote. Obviously. There are lots of other bloggers out there who will tell you who they are voting for and why, so I don't need to add to that. But I will tell you about the 3 main things I'm feeling today. The first is apprehension about the result and what it could mean not for politics in this country, but for people. There are some big choices that will need to be made in...

• YouTune no.15: Opium

  I'm hoping you are familiar with the concept of YouTune by now. I link to a song's video and hope you like it. You can judge how I'm doing so far by my choices in the music category. This time around, something off the beaten track - Marcy Playground: I had a funny mix tape that was pretty much on constant play in the Fiat Punto I used in the summer holidays. On one side...

• YouTune no.14: Mr Jones

  YouTune continues, and this one is for my friend Corcoran:...

• YouTune no.13: The Last Polka

  YouTune2.0 continues apace, leaving YouTube1.0 and all previous entries languishing in the music archive. No longer do you need to click through, dear reader. Instead you can click to play. That's progress, and this is Ben Folds Five doing The Last Polka: The first I ever heard of Ben Folds Five was in a Counting Crows lyric. The second I ever heard of them was in the launderette at uni at the end of my...

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  Maths at the British Museum

  The Bank Holiday was a great chance to get out and remember why it's so good to live in London. The two highlights for me were a visit to Foyles Bookshop on the Charing Cross Road and a trip to the British Museum. Every time I visit the British Museum I am reminded that the roof of the Great Court is one of the best visualisations of maths I've ever seen. Imagine, if you...

• "We can succeed, because we must"

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  Foursquare / @foursquare

  I've signed up for Foursquare, which is ... a cross between a friend-finder, a social city-guide and a game that rewards you for doing interesting things. We aim to build things to not only help you keep up with the places your friends go, but that encourage you to discover new places and challenge you to explore your neighborhood in new ways. As with all these things, the immediate value doesn't become clear until you've...

• "Strangers in their own land"

  I was struck by a conversation with a friend a few days ago when they didn't seem to me to realise that their money concerns were a bit, well, "keeping up with the Jones's", given they (with their partner) are in a £70K household. Indeed, during the conversation, I noted the average wage of this country (£24,908 per annum / £479 per week in 2008) and the fact that you have to earn just £49,244...

• 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...

• 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...

• Happy Christmas

  Just a brief note to wish everyone here at arbitrary constant, on Twitter and, heaven forfend, in real life(!), a very Happy Christmas and New Year. I hope you have a restful and enjoyable day and look forward to carrying on the conversation in 2010 and beyond. Happy Christmas!...

• A letter to my 16-year-old self

  There's a meme going round at the moment where everyone takes the time out to write to their 16-year-old selves. Here's mine: Dear Rich, Geez, man: just get on with it and quit with the navel gazing. Like anyone gives a shit. Rich...

• 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......

• Introducing Oscar Watts

  Blogging may be a little light over the next couple of weeks following the arrival of Oscar Watts at 2.35am on Saturday 14 November weighing 7lb 8oz. Doting dad updates can probably be found at @rich_w....

• The Watts and Wrighty Show: Episode 01

  As trailed last week, I'm very pleased to point you in the direction of the first episode of the Watts and Wrighty show. I hope you enjoy it!...

• Intermission - Camping in the New Forest

  My apologies for the brief intermission over the Bank Holiday weekend. I was camping in the New Forest, which was very enjoyable and well worth the get away. Below is a brief Boo I recorded whilst there. Listen! Blogging will resume as normal from today onwards....

• 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....

• 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)....

• Move it

  Now you'll have to excuse me a moment, but have these people not the tiniest inkling of a slight connection to the reality of London? Yes, despite my years of campaigning, numerous near criminal record experiences and sky high blood pressure, there is not a campaign to legalise the violent bludgeoning of people that walk slowly down the street. No. Instead there is a campaign to get people to slow down in London. What. The....

• 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...

• 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,...

• 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,...

• 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...

• So anti-PC we discriminate

  Good stuff from Barbara Ellen: Alternatively, maybe it is time to acknowledge a bizarre cultural shift. That far from being a nation of politically correct scaredy-cats, we have all gone too far in the other direction, becoming so kneejerk anti-PC that any legislation to give minorities a much-needed boost is rubbished before it is given a fair hearing. That in our quest to pooh-pooh 'positive discrimination', we have forgotten that negative discrimination, otherwise plain old...

• 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...

• 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....

• 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....

• Sporting ambition

  As a young man, I enjoyed sport. As a slightly older man, I still do, though I don’t play nearly as much as I’d like to. This aside, I used to have a list of sporting achievements I wanted to complete by, erm, whenever. The recent achievement of one of these accomplishments — my first 180 in darts — reminds me of that list and where I got to. Some are skilful, some are...

• On dissertation writing

  The young priest of science begins telling me, not without agitation, that he has passed his doctor's examination this year and that now he has only to write his dissertation. He would like to work with me, under my guidance, and I would greatly oblige him by suggesting a subject for his dissertation.    'I should be delighted to be of use to you, colleague', I say, 'but let's first of all see if we agree...

• Arranging books

  Another busy day at work and not enough time to post what I was hoping to, but such is life. Instead, then, let us note a frivolous but fun article at the Guardian about how people arrange their book collections at home. Having just moved house, bought some new bookshelves and seen my collection grow slightly over the last few weeks, I've been giving this quite some thought of late. My approach, however, will remain...

• Time controlling us

  Norm today wonders how we cope nowadays with the superabundance of everything. Not everything, but everything, like books, CDs, films and so on and so forth. In such days i.e. nowadays, it seems like there simply isn't enough time for everything — as norm suggests, we're losing control of time. I'd argue, though, that it's the exact opposite: time controls us. There is a finite number of books we can read, CDs we can listen...

• £5 haircut

  Have you ever considered how necessary getting your hair cut is? And if so, has the average cost of getting your hair cut ever bothered you? It certainly has me and I am grateful that there remain hairdressers at which the price of a haircut has not budged from £5. They will continue to cut my hair long into the future, or until their price goes up....

• Favourite words

  Having updated you on my favourite Queen song, here are two words currently hovering towards the top of my favourite words list: Steatopygous Oligopoly The first describes someone or something whose bum sticks out, whilst the second means an area that is dominated by a small group of people / organisations. It is also a rare example of a word which is alliterative and assonantal all at the same time. "Abracadabra" is another. Anyway, whilst...

• Beamte

  That's the civil service in Germany, the Beamte. What's interesting about the Beamte, amongst many other things, is that university lecturers are classed as civil servants in Germany. What is even more interesting is, according to a lecturer of mine, members of the Beamte are paid according to how much money they need to live i.e. living expenses. This has the peculiar effect of meaning that, if a civil servant has more dependents living with...

• My funeral revisited

  The bbc today reports that James Blunt's Goodbye My Lover is the most requested song at people's funerals (that is, it's the song people request to have played at their funeral, not simply what the gathered fancy hearing when they turn up). I can't think of anything worse than James Blunt singing at my funeral, and so would like to remind readers that I've already thought it through as to what I'd like played at...

• Ciao for now...

  With the power of the internet now surging back into chez arbitrary and me having to prepare for a new job, I'm off. It's been etc. and so on......

• Quotation of the week

  I am leaving my current job to take up a new position at the Disability Rights Commission from Monday. As a result of this and my recent house move, I'm afraid posting will be light and irregular here for around 10 days. In the meantime, I can't offer any more than this following quotation, which nicely summises my current position (and comes courtesy of a post over at kottke.org): Your best shot at happiness, self-worth...

• Road names

  Having occasion to drive around south east London last night, I passed three roads in succession with quite impressive names: Marmora Road Therapia Road Mundania Road Does anyone know any other impressive or unusual road names in their local area? If so, please let me know and I'll post a selection of them next week....

• Quotation of the week

  Money: There's nothing in the world so demoralizing as money. — Sophocles Never spend your money before you have it. — Thomas Jefferson Today, both of these quotations would serve just as well....

• Political Compass

  I was reminded recently of The Political Compass, which is essentially a useful tool for indicating where on the traditional economic and social scales you sit. Having taken the test, it did not surprise me to find out I was/am a left-libertarian, meaning I am roughly diametrically opposite to Tony Blair (the leader of the political party I support) and of roughly similar bent to the Dalai Lama. I'd like to add, though, that my...

• Fell running

  Having been away for the weekend, I wanted to register the fact that my first visit to the Lake District was a very relaxing affair. Sunday morning saw me complete my first ever fell run, which was ever-so-slightly knackering but allowed me to partake of an ice cream or two later on without feeling guilty. For all those training for an upcoming run, don't forget that hill running is an excellent way to build up...

• Holiday books

  Please accept my apologies for the lack of posts over the weekend — a family birthday visit was the order of the day. The silence from me will return as of next Sunday, when I will be on holiday for two weeks. However, plans are afoot to ensure arbitrary constant keeps ticking over. In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out what books to take on holiday — a task always much trickier than...

• Dublin trip

  Note: I was recently whisked away for a weekend trip to Dublin with my girlfriend. What follows is my summary of the trip, which was originally written for a private audience but — following their suggestion — opened up to the reader(s) of arbitrary constant Ireland was great. I will say that is not much of a city for pedestrians, since the cars are relentless (more so than London) and the pedestrian crossings require...

• Three tube conversations

  The following are the opening gambits of three conversations I have recently been involved in whilst sitting on the London Underground.Those are nice. Did your grandmother knit them? Is the Lord Jesus in your life? F*ck off, you pr*ck.Strictly speaking, the last one was more of an argument and was the response to my request for someone to stop pushing me whilst we both waited on a very crowded platform. Arguments are a very particular...

• In Case of Funeral (ICF)

  Consciously giving rise to a death wish that I've long-suspected him of holding, Simon recently highlighted what music he would like played at his funeral. Clearly not happy with his own mortality, Simon invited other people to consider their own mortality and asked others to draw up their own mort-list. This is something that I have previously given a lot of thought to. Indeed, I have already mentioned the results of that thought process to...

• Birthday weekend

  Posting will be slightly lighter this weekend due to some birthday celebrations (not mine) and some good living. Photos on flickr of the weekend will be up by Monday. There will also be another cracking letter from the Metro....

• On using an umbrella

  Using the analogy of how an individual comes to decide whether to use an umbrella or not, Andy Clark discusses (in the London Review of Books) Alan Turing and his Universal Turing Machine:Since even the decision to use an umbrella in the rain is potentially sensitive to countervailing information coming from anywhere in the knowledge base, we are left with a model of mechanical rationality which has depressingly little to say about most forms of...

• More Islamic than a Jehovah's Witness

  I completed Beliefnet's Belief-O-Matic quiz some time ago, the results of which are below:1. Unitarian Universalism (100%) 2. Secular Humanism (96%) 3. Liberal Quakers (88%) 4. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (85%) 5. Nontheist (78%) 6. Theravada Buddhism (78%) 7. Neo-Pagan (65%) 8. Bahá'í Faith (60%) 9. Taoism (59%) 10. Reform Judaism (58%) 11. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (53%) 12. New Age (50%) 13. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (48%)...