Category Archives: humanities

words on planets

Posted on Wednesday, 2002 October 09 by Anton

I did not know that Astronomy Picture of the Day is mirrored in multiple languages. (That list misses at least one: romanised Russian.) I stumbled onto the mirrors while seeking the origin of the name of a feature on Venus. … Continue reading →

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one foot in the cradle?

Posted on Monday, 2002 October 07 by Anton

Turns of Phrase: Meldrew Last week [August] a poll by the survey firm MORI identified Meldrews as a new social type — aged between 35 and 54, rebellious and with little time for authority, unhappy with their lives and the … Continue reading →

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fontomentals

Posted on Friday, 2002 October 04 by Anton

Most people seem to read the Web in schoolmarmish Times Roman. I read it in friendlier Lucida Sans. I wonder what effect font has – when the reader chooses it – on the perception of tone in writing.

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bestial noises

Posted on Friday, 2002 October 04 by Anton

A while ago I used the phrase “. . . Senator Feinstein would screech . . .”. It now occurs to me that if the senior Big Gummint Democratic Senator from California were a he I’d probably have used the word “howl”. I guess … Continue reading →

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aren’t they cute

Posted on Thursday, 2002 October 03 by Anton

In Dave Langford’s latest Ansible: FANTASY DEFINITIONS MASTERCLASS. Years ago John Clute, John Grant, and their Encyclopedia of Fantasy team wrestled with tough problems of defining fantasy and telling good from bad. If only they’d had the help of Tom … Continue reading →

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