From the open newslist, I’ve been asked to reflect on the 50th anniversary of BASIC. This came at the same time I read this post on the Light Table blog. I think Jamie Brandon has a point about the distinction between an evaluate-or-die and an edit-and-continue model of computing. He’s also right about the deployment…
Read More Basicer BasicSo the economists are now saying that even if you made testable predictions and they came true it doesn’t mean you’re right because of, you know, quantum and catallaxy and hey What the Bleep?! Do We Know. There’s an infinity of possible universes in which I might be right, and averaging over the Gaussian copula,…
Read More In a parallel universe, I scored!You want a World Cup record. Here’s a World Cup record. “I live in a land of class hypocrisy/we’re gonna win the National Lottery/ee-i-addio-I don’t think so.” In a digitised west Lancashire accent. This reminds me that the 1990s could be quite a lot of fun, and in some ways very radical. A lot of…
Read More Not Thursday, so a music postReally important data point in the light of this post: Yougov: 49% of UKIPPERs are 2010 Tories (15% LAB, 14% LD, 7% UKIP, 15% non voters/minor party) of whom a mere 16% are under 40. Interesting. — James Smith (@thejimsmith) May 27, 2014 2010 Tory voters, 84% (84%!) over 40? That’s Group Three for you,…
Read More Quantifying UKIP Group ThreeThese two David Hencke pieces on the election for chairman of the House of Commons Defence Committee are interesting in the light of this post. We have, on the one side, hilariously rightwing Tory Julian Lewis. We have, on the other, a pick between Rory Stewart and Keith Simpson. Interestingly, even John McDonnell (and most…
Read More Pick a Tory. G’wanI was looking for news about Labour taking control of Bradford council. Here is some Bradford news. Polling day passed relatively peacefully yesterday, despite concerns over potential violence or intimidation on the streets. Yeah, us and Luhansk. The leader of [fascist group] Britain First, Paul Golding has been challenged to a fight by a British…
Read More Elections pass off peacefully in disputed territoryAs the day goes on, the initial UKIP-fest is wearing off a bit as more local election results come in. It’s still a good excuse to discuss this article in the Torygraph by Stephen Bush, someone who apparently “works on Benedict Brogan’s must-read e-mail”. Presumably, when he gets promoted, another intern will proudly announce that…
Read More Not two UKIPs, three UKIPs.Look at this pitiful mess. People signed up for the shared ownership option on a block of flats in Streatham and paid deposits. Then the developer couldn’t get it built, so they were left waiting. Now, it’s finished, but the developer now wants twice as much money because, supposedly, the block doubled in value during…
Read More Every little helps, so we’re helping ourselves to every little we canYou may have heard that Network Rail has finally been reclassified as being fully part of the public sector. You might think this is a good thing – accepting the reality of its renationalisation and putting any possibility of selling it to bed – or a bad thing – taking away its ability to borrow…
Read More A little bit of omnishamblesLooking in my notebook: 1) A substantial piece on JW Mason’s Disgorge the Cash (as requested) and John Seddon’s Freedom from Command and Control, plus Simon Head’s Mindless. You know you want it. 2) Two case studies on this post, and the House of Commons Defence Committee. 3) Steve Levitt, radical scepticism, and responsibility in…
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