Penguin Marginalia

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:11:43 GMT

BBC News (Channel) - 90 Second Countdown with full hold

and

Bill Bailey

steve bell, gordon brown, the sun

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:34:02 GMT

other people's notebooks, #whatever in a series of howevermany

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:30:00 GMT

I love looking at other people's notebooks - I'm not worried that I might be doing my own wrong, but I'm fascinated by how other people scribble. Thus I was interested to see Adam Saltsman's notebooking regarding his indie game Canabalt (which is great by the way).

More at the link.

I should scan in some of my notebook pages really, even if they haven't produced anything much that people would care about.

edit: and on the subject, as I just saw it after I posted this, more notebook pages from cleanskies

nnwmif

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:19:35 GMT

Oh, and NaNoWriMo - my consistent yearly piece of failure. I did actually start doing some interactive fiction NaNoWriMo this time, which was something I vaguely thought of for last year, and then squirmelia reminded me of. On the comments on this post I speculated that writing it in Ren'Py might be an idea, but I ended up with Inform, as I know Inform quite well.

While there's obviously a massive temptation to fiddle with the technical details of an IF NNWM in a way which doesn't increase your word count, there's an added bonus if you calculate the word count in the way that I am, which is to count all the potential dialog and object description as well as all of the room descriptions. What this means is that you can go off at random tangents about random items without it disrupting what narrative there is, as opposed to a normal novel where one might feel that spending five hundred words describing a notebook would bore the reader - because nobody will ever see that unless they type "examine notebook". IF is actually *better*, in my opinion, with this sort of drill-down detail.

I almost certainly will get nowhere near 50,000 words here as I'm incredibly busy at the moment, but it's an interesting thing to try.

day 11

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:49:08 GMT

I've not really been in the mood much and to be honest I'm not really now but, since I'm currently standing on top of a floating wooden cabin two thousand and eight metres above the virtual seabed, waiting to see if any problems come up during a demonstration that is already late starting, I might as well post up a picture of my damn moustache.

There's my damn moustache.

I have some hopes that it might turn into a proper Burt Reynolds rather than a Saddam Hussein, but given the rate that my five-o-clock shadow grows, I'm not sure it will ever be all that distinguishable from my normal sort of beard. It really doesn't look much different to me. I don't look in the mirror and think "oh wow who's that" - the moustache was always quite significant in the old beard.

oh, and give us your money eh

Links for 2009-11-10 [del.icio.us]

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST

The Democrats' new "Family" values

Links for 2009-11-08 [del.icio.us]

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST

London mansions left to crumble by elusive offshore owners | Society | guardian.co.uk
"When I was a boy I used to come up to London and see houses like these and think 'Wow. Who lives there?'" says Paul Palmer, gazing up at a pair of seven-storey mansions in Park Lane across the road from Hyde Park. "Now I know – no one. These are owned by two different companies registered at the same address in the British Virgin Islands. They haven't been occupied for at least seven years, apart from when the squatters were there in January."

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:40:33 GMT

and why am I being given new urgent must-do-right-now things to do at half seven on a bloody Friday

I should have just gone out tbh

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:48:08 GMT

all right

she's gone

it wasn't going to work out, and it wasn't fair on her to keep her here for the next year in what is basically one room, but I feel awful about it, really terrible

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:28:07 GMT

I am really not sure how long I can keep this kitten here.

I have to shut her in the hallway now for quite long periods of time, because it's the only way I get peace at certain times of the day without having to worry for several hours - quite literally - that I'm suddenly going to have puncture wounds all over my legs. This is not just me being a wimp either; this is claws all up the leg repeatedly, and it hurts.

No sanctions work, because it's all a game; if I yelp and try to grab her, it's part of a fun chasing game. If I then put her in the hallway that isn't connected with the previous activities at all.

It's not her fault but it makes me think that this really is *not* the best environment; the problem is that there's nothing for an explorative kitten to do apart from annoy me, and the last thing I want to do is look at a kitten and think "you little fucker get out of my space" rather than "ahh how cute".

It's just not good for her, I am thinking. I don't know, I don't want to be somebody who abandons kittens, but she would go to somebody who was a bit better set up for the whole situation than me (it's not like I would be sending her to the RSPCA, she'd go to another proper home). Ah, argh, I don't know.

day 4

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:11:47 GMT

Shaved the chin part this morning, so even though the top lip really just has longer stubble on it, it is very vaguely moustache-like. I have a feeling that it may end up a bit Saddam Hussein.

today's local colour

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:50:07 GMT

This afternoon, I popped out of the house, around 3pm I think, and there was a man standing in the doorway of the Irish pub on the corner near me (the one that used to have noisy karaoke and bands on but not doesn't, which makes me a bit sad at the general reduction of fun in the world, even if it wasn't much fun for me). He was dressed relatively respectably and standing there quite calmly with one hand on the wall and the other by his side.

The only unusual part was that his knob was hanging out of his trousers, and he was pissing on the pavement. I can't remember exactly what I was doing at the time - going to the corner shop I expect - but whatever short errand it was, when I came back, he was still there.

I really can't work this situation out. If he'd been thrown out of the pub he wouldn't have been standing in the doorway. If he hadn't been thrown out, why would he piss outside? It's cold right now. I suppose he might have been about to leave, on the way out of the door, thought "oh I need a wee" and not been motivated enough to go as far as the toilets. And I suppose, from the back, given that he'd not pulled his trousers down at all, just popped his old chap out of his fly, and was facing outwards, the bar staff might not have noticed.

It's not really the sort of thing that makes me want to patronise the establishment though.

oh, moustache

Still stubbly.

Moustache day 2

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:38:53 GMT

Not a lot of progress, as you can see, just stubble.

I'd rather not shave my chin for a few days because it got a bit of a skinning from the razor when I removed my old beard (this takes quite a while to do, even with a short beard like I had) and the skin is still quite sensitive. On the other hand, just think how well exfoliated I am.

Movember

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:49:38 GMT

One thing I didn't mention is that I was going to take part in Movember. In case you are allergic to clicking links, this is a charity thing in aid of prostate cancer, or prostate cancer charity at least, which involves my growing a moustache during November.

With this in mind I shaved off my Rafael Benitez beard last night and am wondering quite what sort of moustache I should grow. A month isn't long enough to produce anything walrus-like, but I can probably get something respectable going. I shall of course post pictures; today's is not very exciting really.

If you feel like it, you can donate to my moustache by clicking here.

Links for 2009-10-31 [del.icio.us]

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PDT

An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All | Magazine
Wired on the anti-vaccine movement.

aaaaaaaa

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:44:49 GMT

just go to sleep for fuck's sake

it's been at least four fucking hours and probably more that you're racing around, jumping on my legs with claws, I throw you off, then you sit about, and maybe I distract you with some dangly toy or maybe not but either way it's claws in the fucking leg again at some unexpected time

I'm really fucking sick of it, just fuck off - no, really, fuck off. Stop it, just stop clawing at my feet and my legs and whatever else is around. Claws on top of claw scratches on top of claw scratches end up really hurting. Just LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE FUCK'S SAKE.

The Met gives us the final middle finger

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:46:09 GMT

Menezes police officer gets top IPCC role

A top Scotland Yard officer who was personally criticised for failings in the Jean Charles de Menezes shooting has been appointed to the leadership of the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Commander Moir Stewart will be the IPCC's new director of investigations and a member of its management board.

Menezes was shot dead on July 22, 2005, after being mistaken by armed police for a suicide bomber.

At the time Stewart was a top aide to Met commissioner Sir Ian Blair, serving as his staff officer. The IPCC report into the killing of the innocent Brazilian found Stewart had failed to tell Blair of a "major" development, which suggested the wrong man had been shot. Blair claimed he did not know this until the next day despite many inside the force soon fearing that an innocent man had been killed.

Stewart was also a senior figure in the Met team at the Old Bailey trial in which the force was convicted of catastrophic failings in the case. During the trial the Menezes family claimed the Met had tried to smear the character of their loved one.

There are clear messages here:

1. "The IPCC isn't going to do anything to us, and even when it makes noises, they don't mean anything. Let's just make that really obvious, though, shall we, in case the message hasn't got across?"

2. "Fuck you."

These are not of course unusual messages to receive from the Met; I expect to see many more relating to assorted (occasionally fatal) beatings handed out recently, too.

Links for 2009-10-28 [del.icio.us]

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PDT

NYT: Obama just doing the same stuff now
A leading pro-Obama outlet says he "has clung to Bush's expansive claims of national security and executive power."

Physical agents

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:45:32 GMT

The idea that my hands are part of me and not to be clawed at seems to be an accepted one. However, my legs and feet are not in the same category, despite being the same colour and consistency, and are perfectly valid attack targets or climbing poles. The torso is something of a grey area.

Basically I'm a floating face connected to hands and arms, and I perch on top of a moving platform made of legs, which can be climbed to get closer to me. This isn't such a bizarre interpretation of the world, given that for a lot of the day I sit on a chair, which doesn't feel anything, can be climbed and the seat and back of which must feel a lot like trousered legs to a clawed animal, only not saying "argh fuckit gerroff".

Links for 2009-10-18 [del.icio.us]

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Why we must shut down coal burning power stations « Tipping Point
Yesterday (17th Oct), like at the Kingsnorth climate camp last year, almost 1,000 ordinary people risked police beatings, arrest and imprisonment in an attempt to take over and ultimately decomission one of the UKs largest contributors to CO2 emissions.

kitten and music related

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:15:56 GMT

This video, apart from being very good (and leading me to buy the album on Emusic) absolutely hypnotises Mimi. The first time it was on, she sat for a good four minutes watching it with dumb-kitten-face on. On repeated viewings she has been mostly hypnotised but more easily distracted.

life

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:43:44 GMT

"So what are you up to at the moment?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty much stepping on kittens right now. And listening to Radio 3."

libel reform plz

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:36:10 GMT

Yet another example of this country's libel laws being a complete fucking joke.

Today's published Commons order papers contain a question to be answered by a minister later this week. The Guardian is prevented from identifying the MP who has asked the question, what the question is, which minister might answer it, or where the question is to be found.

The Guardian is also forbidden from telling its readers why the paper is prevented – for the first time in memory – from reporting parliament. Legal obstacles, which cannot be identified, involve proceedings, which cannot be mentioned, on behalf of a client who must remain secret.

The only fact the Guardian can report is that the case involves the London solicitors Carter-Ruck, who specialise in suing the media for clients, who include individuals or global corporations.

Careful observers have pointed out that in Questions for Oral or Written Answer beginning on Tuesday 13 October 2009, number 61 is:

Paul Farrelly (Newcastle-under-Lyme): To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of legislation to protect (a) whistleblowers and (b) press freedom following the injunctions obtained in the High Court by (i) Barclays and Freshfields solicitors on 19 March 2009 on the publication of internal Barclays reports documenting alleged tax avoidance schemes and (ii) Trafigura and Carter-Ruck solicitors on 11 September 2009 on the publication of the Minton report on the alleged dumping of toxic waste in the Ivory Coast, commissioned by Trafigura.

I have a feeling that that might be the question in, er, question.

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:13:05 GMT

I took a walk down by the river today, from Hammersmith Bridge to the east for a while, past the River Café and assorted Wharfs where I Will Never Be Able To Afford To Live. There were swans on the river, and I saw the Harrods Furniture Depository across it, which is an interesting-looking building, or at least part of the roof is.

Then I walked back.

There's been an interesting effect from having this kitten around. I was thinking "what sort of a life is this for a sentient creature, stuck in a flat, just waking up, playing a bit, eating, going to sleep, then again and again, getting older and fatter, until you die" and, you know: that's what I do. That's what I've been doing for years now. I even signed up for another year in this place. I am about two hundred times the volume of Mimi of course so the flat is even smaller for me (to a kitten, it must be like having a fair-sized building of your own to wander about in) but what more is it that I do given the opportunity? Walk down to the market, go to the local, go on the internet?

Furthermore, there's always been the illusion around that I could always pack up and move whenever I wanted, go anywhere, do anything - hey, I'm a free agent, no debts, no responsibilities - just somehow I choose not to. The addition of a responsibility to a cat makes me look at this illusion and think that that the true parts are just as true as before (it's not that much harder to move around with a kitten) but they're not doing me any good.

eh

ffs

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:28:04 GMT

Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize

I don't have anything particularly against the man and he's clearly preferable to the last holder of the office, but this is a joke. I hate to point it out but I'm struggling to see any concrete Change in US foreign policy. The fact that his administration isn't invading any new countries (yet) I'm afraid doesn't quite cut it for me.

Mind you, it's not as bad as Kissinger having won it.

pain

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:31:50 GMT

Okay, climbing onto my lap by the method of jumping onto my shin or thigh, inserting claws then pulling self up has to stop because it's getting actively painful now, past "ouch how cute ouch" towards more "jesus fucking christ argh get the fuck off me". And my left leg looks like someone has fired a double-barrelled shotgun loaded with wasps at it.

pencil and paper query

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:34:58 GMT

Does anybody actually play Rolemaster these days?

If that means nothing to you fair enough, but I remember having a copy of both MERP and Cyberspace when younger, both of which were cut-down versions of Rolemaster/Spacemaster, and I was reminded of them recently. I mostly remember them for the immense tables of criticals and fumbles that they had for every type of injury or weapon, and Rolemaster apparently had *even more*.

According to the ICE site and also various forums it seems that Rolemaster Classic, a reformatted version of Rolemaster 2, was released in 2006/7, and seems to be the latest. I'd potentially buy that just to read it (nobody wants to play pencil and paper RPGs these days anyway, it appears) though nobody seems to be selling it in this country and the three core books would end up costing about sixty quid. That would seem quite a bit of money.

They sell PDF versions apparently but that's no fun.

Kitten Showcase

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:39:36 GMT

Okay, kitten pictures - or rather, mostly video, as kittens don't stay still to have pictures of themselves taken apparently.

Kitten Showcase

It's even got a frickin RSS feed.

I spend some time worrying that there really isn't enough to do in a small flat for a kitten - bearing in mind it'll be a year before I leave this place - but I have a feeling that a paper bag, a goldfish on a string and some plastic bottles to chase around are the kitten equivalent of a World Of Warcraft subscription.

not a position I wanted to be in

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:12:20 GMT

My mad friend brought me a kitten yesterday. She popped round and I saw that she was carrying a suspiciously large bag, which, when she got into the flat, I saw contained a litter tray and a bag of cat litter. I started saying "why have you got a litter tray and a bag of cat litter in that bag" when she showed me a handbag, from which a small furry black and white head suddenly popped out.

This isn't entirely out of the blue as I did say at some point in the past that I missed having cats about and - not seriously I might add - asked if I could borrow one of hers. However I was fairly clear that I didn't really want to get a cat because the flat was too small and the lease doesn't allow pets. Actually I've not checked the lease specifically for that but I'm pretty sure - generally flats don't.

The fact remains that this is not by any means a big flat. Knock through a few walls and it would be a not-enormous bedsit. I've also just renewed the lease for another year. The danger of any landlords or agents coming round and saying "omg kitty OUT" is very slim, as the landlord seems happy enough to take my money and leave me alone unless I complain, and the letting agents, fairly typically for the profession, are more than happy to take his money and leave me alone. They're supposed to do an inspection every year but actually they've only ever done one, in the first year, presumably to see whether I had milk bottles of urine piled up around the walls or had replaced the kitchen with a meth lab. (People keep pets in flats where it's against the lease all the time, it's very common.) Also, this kitten seems very well house-trained and knows what a litter box is. It is still a worry though.

It also remains a tiny flat and what is a kitten going to do here? It seems the answer is climb all over me with sharp claws while I'm working under stupid deadlines, then hide behind the sofa.

I don't know. I should have been firmer about it and said "look, no, okay, stop no put the kitten away no I mean it take it away I didn't ask for a kitten I don't even want to look at it or see its cute feet GO AWAY" but I wasn't. This is not a good time for me to be taking on extra responsibility; I'm stressed as a bastard and have enough trouble with my own life. But it's a kitten, man. Me and this rubbish tiny flat are suddenly all it has in the world, and even the thought of sending it away literally makes me cry. It's not fair to put me in this sort of position.

Links for 2009-09-21 [del.icio.us]

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:00:00 PDT

France: Stress and worker suicides mean the future's not bright at Orange | World news | The Guardian

del.icio.us links for 9-21-2009

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:04:07 GMT

France: Stress and worker suicides mean the future's not bright at Orange | World news | The Guardian

(tags: work france)

Links for 2009-09-16 [del.icio.us]

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:00:00 PDT

BBC NEWS | UK | Plan to update libel law for web