Phil Gyford › Comments

I'm not sure why I keep finding these articles about universities so interesting. Maybe because it's so hard to pin down what they're *for*, never mind how to achieve that. - Phil Gyford

"…even as it invites us to be shocked by what it's showing us, it keeps eroticizing what it's showing us too." Yes, all this. I've never understood why the show's supposed to be great. - Phil Gyford

Really interesting account by a curious writer of using a (US) police department's Firearms Training Simulator. (Subscribers only) - Phil Gyford

Project to make custom-fit jeans for only $60 a pair. I am very sceptical that the material and manufacture can be much good, computerised cutting or not. (via Charles Stross) - Phil Gyford

Charles Stross on his M&S trousers and Scottevest many-pocketed fleece, plus many comments. (via @GreatDismal) - Phil Gyford

Bruce Sterling comparing old and new 5.11 Tactial Pants. I love this SF-writer/fashion crossover point. I tried some of these on recently and they seemed oddly baggy. Maybe I'm too used to jeans. (via @GreatDismal) - Phil Gyford

How few Americans have any idea what percentage of scientists think climate change is real. Depressing, and why the BBC (and others) shouldn't try to be "balanced" about the issue. (via Daring Fireball) - Phil Gyford

John Gray on how capitalism is destroying the bourgeoisie, and how Marx was right about the evils of capitalism, but wrong about communism being the solution. (via Stellar) - Phil Gyford

Not sure if it's just me, but isn't it only tech people who refer to "computer programming" as "coding"? I can imagine many people, those who matter, having no idea what this petition wants. "Coding? Is that about secret codes? Codebreaking?" - Phil Gyford

Ben's speech to the UK's Information Assurance Advisory Council on how the world has and is changing, how two generations see it differently, and what it means for security. - Phil Gyford

I liked the drawing in a 'New Yorker' cartoon of this chap's, Googled him, and lots of his other cartoons are funny too. Nice. - Phil Gyford

Some nice laptop-friendly, pocket-laden backpacks, for future reference. (via Haddock) - Phil Gyford

Graphs and charts showing how inequality and household debt in the USA have risen since 1980, especially compared to the more equitable period from 1945-80 (even though productivity was still rising then too). (via Daring Fireball) - Phil Gyford

I don't play crosswords (yet) but I'm really enjoying Alan Connor's crossword blog. Fascinating and funny. - Phil Gyford

I'm one of those sensitive boys who has to remind himself when watching these films that the Manic Pixie Dream Girl does not exist. Only in the movies. (via John August) - Phil Gyford

"Any believable prediction will be wrong. Any correct prediction will be unbelievable. ... the sweet spot that science fiction authors aim for" is the point on the cusp of "plausibility and fantasy". - Phil Gyford

I'm not sure how accurate or generalisable this is, but I like the suggested generational distinctions between what "retirement" means. - Phil Gyford

How GitHub manage their own git workflow. Sounds good to me. (via Tom Taylor) - Phil Gyford

That Taco Bell article reminded me of this one about Pret A Manger from a month ago, about how they motivate their staff. - Phil Gyford

On the processes and efficiencies in fast food restaurant kitchens. I had no idea 70% of US fast-food business was drive-thrus. (via Tom Taylor) - Phil Gyford

Charles Stross on why space colonisation is a ridiculous idea. Colonising our own deserts and oceans is much, much easier but we're in no rush to do that. (via Tom Taylor) - Phil Gyford

William Gibson's wallet, made of Cuben Fiber CT9K.5. (via @GreatDismal) - Phil Gyford

"Combines and compresses linked and inline Javascript or CSS in a Django templates into cacheable static files by using the compress template tag." Can work with Sass CSS I believe. - Phil Gyford

"An open-source CSS Authoring Framework" which uses Sass. There's always more to learn. - Phil Gyford

"Sass is an extension of CSS3, adding nested rules, variables, mixins, selector inheritance, and more." Compiles sass files into CSS files. - Phil Gyford

Taking projections of declining birth rates literally results in Hong Kong's population dying out in 2798, Brazil by year 5000. - Phil Gyford

Meant to link to this a while back. CityMaps2Go was a really nice offline map viewer for iPhone while I was on holiday. Vector-based, so good detail, and no roaming charges. - Phil Gyford

A very nice guide to how to list something on this "community marketplace". Scroll down and things move... (via @mattb) - Phil Gyford

Some nice looking (printed, not electronic) city maps. (via @antimega) - Phil Gyford

A description of the business-derived practices now standard in UK universities, alluded to in the previously-linked LRB article, including the Balanced Scorecard, Key Performance Indicators and Research Assessment Exercise. - Phil Gyford