Tuesday 15 March 2005

Off to Oxford for the Spring School

Neal Beck, the doyen of panel data, is going to show up. BE STILL, MY BEATING HEART! Also, I get to see Jessica Jones, an old mate recently back from Spain, which will be nice.

Good things about English national identity

It seems to be time to talk about this. I say English not British. I am not sure how to differentiate the English and British national identities, as in some ways they were conflated until rather recently - and the reality of these things consists wholly in how they are thought about.


I don't know if any of these things are world-historical contributions to the human species, but I do think they are good things, and add to the gaiety of nations. And perhaps some of these things are close to being lost - politeness would be a case in point - but that is all the more reason to praise them, loud and clear.


Eccentricity


Tolerance for eccentricity


Love of animals


Love of the countryside


Support for the underdog


Politeness


Pragmatism


Belief in fair play

Heh heh heh

#3 and rising....

Friday 11 March 2005

How evil? This evil!

This site is certified 36% EVIL by the Gematriculator
More genius

Another piece of brilliance. This is a step above the average academic parody and is wonderfully even-handed between the various kinds of disciplinary lunatics. (I'm a lark-simplifier, which is just as it should be because I'm also a rational choice theorist.)

Tuesday 8 March 2005

This is wonderful


It's on an open mailing list, so I am going to repost it without compunction. The whole conversation has a delightful air of Stretchford Polytechnic about it. Now read on. - latest comments at the top.

(Edit 10.10.2005 - one set of comments removed at the request of the original poster.)



Free stuff in the bar


13 messages


Ali, Tamoor Tue, Mar 8, 2005 at 10:49AM


To: smallads-staff - subscription list , smallads-student - subscription list


International Women�s Day



Hi Guys,



The Studentsââ?¬â?¢ Union is celebrating International Womenââ?¬â?¢s day by ââ?¬Å?looking after the women in the Universityââ?¬Â? We have several different organisations on to campus in the bar waiting for youââ?¬Â¦



Pool room


Lush


Nails


Hair


Anne summers



Bar


Thorntons


Free condoms!


And much much more�.with free chocolates and other free goodies.




Tamoor Ali



V.P. Academic & Welfare


Students' Union


University


of


Essex


Wivenhoe Park


Colchester


C04 3SQ



t: 01206 863211


f: 01206 870915





Curtin, Mary E Tue, Mar 8, 2005 at 11:31AM


To: "Ali, Tamoor" , smallads-staff - subscription list , smallads-student - subscription list


My my my, it is a sad day indeed when INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY--at ESSEX UNIVERSITY, with its RADICAL past,--is commemorated only with chocolate and condoms and overpriced soap! Is historical amnesia and consumer overload SO complete, so REPLETE, in our politically impoverished land that we have forgotten that this day was first organized in 1911 by women socialists and has ever since been a day for strikes and marches for peace as well as women's rights?



In today's INDEPENDENT, there is an article that tells us that most girls, by the age of SIX, are unhappy with their weight; there is another article detailing how riot police in Turkey used tear gas and truncheons on female protesters.



We all love chocolate, but it is also worthwhile to use this day to reflect on a world that still values women for how they look and beats them for what they believe.



Mary Ellen Curtin


Department of History



-----Original Message-----


From: owner-smallads-staff@essex.ac.uk


[mailto:owner-smallads-staff@essex.ac.uk]On Behalf Of Ali, Tamoor


Sent: 08 March 2005 10:49


To: smallads-staff - subscription list; smallads-student - subscription


list


Subject: Free stuff in the bar



International Women's Day



Hi Guys,



The Students' Union is celebrating International Women's day by "looking


after the women in the University" We have several different


organisations on to campus in the bar waiting for you...




Pool room



Lush



Nails



Hair



Anne summers



Bar



Thorntons



Free condoms!



And much much more....with free chocolates and other free goodies.




Tamoor Ali



V.P. Academic & Welfare



Students' Union



University of Essex



Wivenhoe Park



Colchester



C04 3SQ



t: 01206 863211



f: 01206 870915



--


To change your membership of smallads-student, use the form on the webpage


https://www2.essex.ac.uk/secure/cs/mailinglists/


(10.10.2005 - snip.)

-----Original Message-----


From: owner-smallads-staff@essex.ac.uk


[mailto:owner-smallads-staff@essex.ac.uk]On Behalf Of Curtin, Mary E


Sent: 08 March 2005 11:31


To: Ali, Tamoor; smallads-staff - subscription list; smallads-student -


subscription list


[Quoted text hidden]


To change your membership of smallads-staff, use the form on the webpage


[Quoted text hidden]


Good, Julian R P Tue, Mar 8, 2005 at 11:49AM


To: "Ali, Tamoor" , smallads-staff - subscription list , smallads-student - subscription list


Celebrating International Women's Day with a nail and hair bar?



Perhaps I am wrong in thinking that there is more to people than nails


and hair?



Somebody put his misguided person right, then, please.



Julian Good.


[Quoted text hidden]


[Quoted text hidden]


Vigors, Anthony D Tue, Mar 8, 2005 at 12:11PM


To: smallads-staff - subscription list


I'll wager there's a lot more on offer than getting your nails and hair


done. I know that one of the girls was up until past 3 o'clock this


morning organising things for this event.


Perhaps rather than mocking the hard work that these girls have put into


this event people would like to go see what they are trying to achieve


and show them some support.



Tony Vigors



-----Original Message-----


From: owner-smallads-staff@essex.ac.uk


[mailto:owner-smallads-staff@essex.ac.uk] On Behalf Of Good, Julian R P


Sent: 08 March 2005 11:50


To: Ali, Tamoor; smallads-staff - subscription list; smallads-student -


subscription list


[Quoted text hidden]


To change your membership of smallads-staff, use the form on the webpage


https://www2.essex.ac.uk/secure/cs/mailinglists/



--


To change your membership of smallads-staff, use the form on the webpage


[Quoted text hidden]


Leena Ghosh Tue, Mar 8, 2005 at 12:24PM


To: "Ali, Tamoor" , smallads-staff - subscription list , smallads-student - subscription list


I have to say that I agree with the remarks of the 2 below and add that it


is precisely this type of trivialisation of women that perpetuates the


disconnection between man and woman and the struggle of equality and


women's' rights.


Let's us celebrate the entirety of women as opposed to just how to make her


look better (for men perhaps?)



Leena



-----Original Message-----


From: owner-smallads-staff@essex.ac.uk


[Quoted text hidden]


Oughton, Gareth J Tue, Mar 8, 2005 at 12:23PM


To: smallads-staff - subscription list , smallads-student - subscription list


Dear All,



Some may say it is an even sadder day, when a group of democratically


elected students who have spent a considerable amount of time organising


today's events get chastised by university staff members.



For your information, there are stands in the Bar and in the Pool Room


(where today's 'objectifying' events are taking place) with details of


the history behind International Women's Day, petitions for women's


democratic rights in Kuwait, comparisons of how International Women's


Day is being celebrated across the world, Sexual Health information and


there is also promotion for tonight's talk on 'Women and Islam.'



The students on the Women's Committee decided that after several years


of a solely political approach (with very little student engagement),


people might be more receptive to a less 'in-your-face' approach. They


decided to get the message across in a more subtle way and do something


a bit more fun.



The Students' Union Executive Committee will support active students in


any way we can and therefore completely support the members of Women's


Committee who have put so much work into making today a success. It is


worth noting that because of this 'objectifying' approach, we have got


more student interest in International Women's Day than ever before.



I hope that clears up some of your concerns,



Gareth



Gareth Oughton


President


University of Essex Students' Union


Wivenhoe Park


Colchester


Essex


CO4 3SQ



Tel: 01206 863211


E: president@essex.ac.uk



http://www.essexstudent.com




-----Original Message-----


From: owner-smallads-staff@essex.ac.uk


[mailto:owner-smallads-staff@essex.ac.uk] On Behalf Of Landman, Todd


[Quoted text hidden]


To change your membership of smallads-student, use the form on the webpage


[Quoted text hidden]


Landman, Todd Tue, Mar 8, 2005 at 12:25PM


To: "Vigors, Anthony D" , smallads-staff - subscription list


Sorry, I though they were women!



Todd



-----Original Message-----


From: owner-smallads-staff@essex.ac.uk


[mailto:owner-smallads-staff@essex.ac.uk]On Behalf Of Vigors, Anthony D


Sent: 08 March 2005 12:11


To: smallads-staff - subscription list


Subject: RE: Free stuff in the bar



I'll wager there's a lot more on offer than getting your nails and hair


done. I know that one of the girls was up until past 3 o'clock this


morning organising things for this event.


Perhaps rather than mocking the hard work that these girls have put into


this event people would like to go see what they are trying to achieve


and show them some support.



Tony Vigors



-----Original Message-----


From: owner-smallads-staff@essex.ac.uk


[mailto:owner-smallads-staff@essex.ac.uk] On Behalf Of Good, Julian R P


Sent: 08 March 2005 11:50


To: Ali, Tamoor; smallads-staff - subscription list; smallads-student -


subscription list


Subject: RE: Free stuff in the bar



Celebrating International Women's Day with a nail and hair bar?



Perhaps I am wrong in thinking that there is more to people than nails


and hair?



Somebody put his misguided person right, then, please.



Julian Good.



[Quoted text hidden]


Robinson, Owen Tue, Mar 8, 2005 at 12:35PM


To: "Vigors, Anthony D" , smallads-staff - subscription list , smallads-student - subscription list


Perhaps if 'free stuff at the bar' wasn't prioritised over


'International Women's Day' in the original email it would be easier to


take seriously...And how is raising serious political objection to the


way something is presented 'mockery'?! This is a university, is it not?



Owen



Dr Owen Robinson


Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies


University of Essex


Wivenhoe Park


Colchester CO4 3SQ


U.K.



Tel: 01206 872617


Email: orobin@essex.ac.uk


[Quoted text hidden]


To change your membership of smallads-student, use the form on the webpage


[Quoted text hidden]


Clary, Joanne L Tue, Mar 8, 2005 at 12:30PM


To: "Vigors, Anthony D" , smallads-staff - subscription list


Well, I'm not sure about calling them 'girls' Tony, but I'm very grateful for their hard work ;-)



I'd like to be able to call myself a feminist AND get free stuff. See you all there!



Jo


[Quoted text hidden]


Ben Clements Tue, Mar 8, 2005 at 12:43PM


To: "Robinson, Owen" , "Vigors, Anthony D" , smallads-staff - subscription list , smallads-student - subscription list


Perhaps all we're really celebrating are the gender-neutral commercial and


consumer achievements of some unknown people??


[Quoted text hidden]


Patrick, Peter L Tue, Mar 8, 2005 at 12:48PM


To: smallads-staff - subscription list



why didn't any of this other fine stuff get advertised


to what I take to be a primarily-staff list?



I see nothing wrong with vigorous political discussion


taking place between staff and students, personally


(and whether they are democratically elected or not


is perfectly irrelevant). I know this is not a discussion


list, but if someone posts to it, they are entitled to


expect list-members to react. Students, and their representatives, who


are engaged in political profile- raising can't afford to be too


thin-skinned - anyone who has done it knows that won't get you very far.



on the other hand, THIS list is about consumer products,


at one level, so we shouldn't get too upset if that is highlighted.


perhaps the students are so radicalized, and have so little faith in


staff's political commitment, that they think the only way to get us to


show up is superficial goodies... or perhaps it was just a careless


moment...



what is apparent is that the goodies on offer are not


designed to attract male interest, only female (fair enough), so this


attempt at increasing accessibility isn't going to work for most of the


people who have reacted critically today!



-plp-



> -----Original Message-----


> From: owner-smallads-staff@essex.ac.uk


> [mailto:owner-smallads-staff@essex.ac.uk] On Behalf Of


> Oughton, Gareth J


> Sent: 08 March 2005 12:23


> To: smallads-staff - subscription list; smallads-student -


> subscription list


> Subject: RE: Free stuff in the bar


>


>


[Quoted text hidden]


(10.10.2005 - snip.)

> -----Original Message-----


> From: owner-smallads-staff@essex.ac.uk


> [mailto:owner-smallads-staff@essex.ac.uk]On Behalf Of Curtin, Mary E


> Sent: 08 March 2005 11:31


> To: Ali, Tamoor; smallads-staff - subscription list;


> smallads-student - subscription list


> Subject: RE: Free stuff in the bar


>


>


> My my my, it is a sad day indeed when INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S


> DAY--at ESSEX UNIVERSITY, with its RADICAL past,--is


> commemorated only with chocolate and condoms and overpriced


> soap! Is historical amnesia and consumer overload SO


> complete, so REPLETE, in our politically impoverished land


> that we have forgotten that this day was first organized in


> 1911 by women socialists and has ever since been a day for


> strikes and marches for peace as well as women's rights?


>


> In today's INDEPENDENT, there is an article that tells us


> that most girls, by the age of SIX, are unhappy with their


> weight; there is another article detailing how riot police in


> Turkey used tear gas and truncheons on female protesters.


>


> We all love chocolate, but it is also worthwhile to use this


> day to reflect on a world that still values women for how


> they look and beats them for what they believe.


>


> Mary Ellen Curtin


> Department of History


>


[Quoted text hidden]

Friday 4 March 2005

late night hacking

... I should stop that. But basically, I am almost ready to release the 1.0 version of Blogfish, including a nice rpm, so I guess I should be happy; and now I really am going to bed. But first, I just have to do a cvs commit.

The nice thing about being a PhD student...

When you really are exhausted, you can just take the day off. I got up at 1.30 today.

Thursday 3 March 2005

Still not really doing anything serious...

But trying to chill and recover. Choir tonight. It's Vaughan Williams A Sea Symphony, which is beautiful music but the lyrics are by whatshamacallit - Walt Whitman. Not my favourite poet, Walt. Brevity was not his strong point, nor was subtlety.

This is a test!

Just trying out a Blogfish feature to see if it works....

got a nice email...

... from a guy in Brazil who wants to use Blogfish as a teaching tool for his Distributed Objects class.


I have been neglecting the fish for a while so this could kickstart me. The main thing that is taking my time is creating RPM/debian packages, a process that seems fraught with difficulty and obscurity.


Anyway, hopefully this blog entry will get picked up on a fish and swim over to him!

Wednesday 2 March 2005

Orange texts around the university

Not Orange texts as in the phone company, but orange writing on the wall. It's an art project to celebrate the University by recording people's feelings about the place.


In the Sociology department: "We were so idealistic, and so questioning about everything". Bless.


What would I put? "Stop dropping bloody litter".

Chris' weblog

here

Gnome memory consumption

A list of people trying to reduce Gnome memory consumption. Anything that can be done to slim down and speed up software is good. On the other hand, what gets forgotten (because it can't be measured) is the waste of the user's brain cycles when things are slowed down.


For example, I would much rather my computer preloaded a bit of stuff when I am not doing anything, than have to wait for e.g. GStreamer initiatilization when I edit the volume.


I am too brainfried today to do any serious work... I'm just going to write TODO lists, consider ideas for essays, think about the big picture and maybe tweak little bits and pieces of my life. At some point I need to get a new release of blogfish out. Maybe today would be good to fix some of that.

Nice John Fleck article

Misuse of Kuhn

Tuesday 1 March 2005

ORAAAAAAAANGE

THEY RODE OVER PEASANTS LIKE YOU!!!!


AND THEIR HORSES LOVED THEM TOO!!!!!!


THEY WERE KURIOUS ORANGE


THEY WERE KURIOUS, KURIOUS KURIOUS ORANGE



w00t!

I'm exhausted so I am doing stuff that doesn't take my brain too much time

... Like this natty blog redesign. A bit of "orange revolution" orange.... Some javascript to guess the content of blog entries and assign a category and colour automatically...

On the other hand...

I think the word sheeple is a hideously naff expression. It makes the user sound like some Herbert writing from his parents' basement, with a copy of A Confederacy of Dunces lying on the desk. Reminds me of Louis Theroux's gentle reprimand when confronted with somebody who divided people up into wild exciting wolves and timid sheep: "...but the wolves eat the sheep, don't they?"

You are hotter than 32% of the men on this site!

And here's why.


In other news, I presented last night. Then I drank half a bottle of wine, went to bed, and woke up at 12.30 to read Burke until 4am. Now I have presented and taught my class. I am going to do as little as possible until the end of the week - there is just the minor matter of restarting Students Who Teach, a university-wide body representing Graduate Teaching Assistants.


It's ironic: I loathe and mistrust public sector unions, and here I am trying to start one.


In other news, I see I have been linked to by Conservative Commentary. This guy is a politics undergraduate at Essex and it must be said that his blog is greatly superior to my own in both form and content. Bloody kids.