Computer Floss » BBC

The Oddity of the Pre-facto Quotation

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 10:47:50 +0000

I spend less time than ever these days reading about politics, not that I ever had a great interest to begin with, but I happen across the odd news report from Blighty now and again, just to stay knowledgeable throughout my exile from the Kingdom. I don’t know quite how long this particularly oddity that […]

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Reading List II

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 11:42:18 +0000

Once again, clearing up some enjoyable reading of the past few months: Books Thomas Paine. Rights of Man. One of the original libertarians, a term that has pretty much lost its original meaning these days. The core ideas that came forth from his work, radical at the time, are simple. That rights are inherent in […]

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Libel Reform and Quickie Research on Online Politics

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 08:42:10 +0000

For a mere £200,000, Simon Singh has won the right to free speech. He has won an appeal against the libel action brought against him by the British Chiropractic Association, when Singh pointed out the lack of evidence for their claims. Instead of honouring his right to commit his thoughts to writing and simply countering […]

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A Review of "Inside the Anthill: Open Source Means Business"

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:00:54 +0000

A recent radio broadcast on BBC Radio 4 (your grandmother’s favourite radio station) entitled “Inside the Anthill: Open Source Means Business” was advertised as “Gerry Northam goes behind the scenes to investigate ‘open source’ computer software“. (Spot the irony in going “behind the scenes” to investigate something that is done openly and transparently.) But let […]

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Want to Know the Facts? Turn off the TV and Logon

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:44:37 +0000

I’m going off-topic slightly here, but, in a way, I still remain on it. Swine flu is upon us. Members of the public who know nothing of epidemiology want to know the facts about the virus. Meet Thunderf00t, a YouTube user and producer of some rather excellent videos, at their best when debunking the pseudo-scientific […]

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On the Veracity of Sources

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 07:48:31 +0000

When I want to learn about something in free/open source software more generally, there are a number of different types of sources to look towards, each one with their own advantages and considerations, and each with an intended audience. So knowing about all of these types of sources serves as a good indicator of where […]

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