Monthly Archives: August 2004

swashing the buckler

Posted on Thursday, 2004 August 12 by Anton

The Master of Ballantrae (1953) is a swashbuckler done right; from a book by R L Stevenson. Technicolor, of course, though not as luminous as in Scaramouche. Fifteen years after Robin Hood, Errol Flynn is my age, which gives me … Continue reading →

Posted in cinema | Leave a comment

no guru, no method, no logo

Posted on Wednesday, 2004 August 11 by Anton

The Fly Bottle: Crest, Colgate, Autonomy, Alienation, Not Voting, Etc. The traditional Marxish theory of consumer culture is that the dark arts of marketing and advertising germinate within us ‘false’ desires. A false desire is one whose satisfaction serves not … Continue reading →

Posted in humanities | Leave a comment

Great Hackers

Posted on Monday, 2004 August 09 by Anton

quoth Paul Graham: But VCs are mistaken to look for the next Microsoft, because no startup can be the next Microsoft unless some other company is prepared to bend over at just the right moment and be the next IBM. … Continue reading →

Posted in economics, neep-neep, psychology | Leave a comment

language is bluffing

Posted on Monday, 2004 August 09 by Anton

One David Mortensen observes: . . . language is a code employed only by code-breakers: that none of us knows the language we speak as a fully explicit system. Instead, we bluff our way through, filling in the gaps in our knowledge … Continue reading →

Posted in language, psychology | Leave a comment

mixed message?

Posted on Monday, 2004 August 09 by Anton

Seen on the tail of a car: I CAN TELL WHAT YOU’RE THINKING AND YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF and below that Show Me Your Tits

Posted in California | Leave a comment

can the disco ball be improved?

Posted on Monday, 2004 August 09 by Anton

This site has a new page, comparing three algorithms for packing nodes on a sphere. Comments invited. It’s the first time I’ve used a table in HTML! 480 12.869074 14.172741 16.211562

Posted in mathematics, me!me!me! | Leave a comment

the inherent instability of euphemisms

Posted on Saturday, 2004 August 07 by Anton

I nearly received (but for the grace of Pobox filters, which are very good) a spam entitled more pleasure for you and her erasmus stairwell. Is that what the kids call it these days?

Posted in spam | Leave a comment