The Musings of Chris Samuel

Thanks to Damien Miller on Twitter for this pointer:

A Brief, Incomplete, and Mostly Wrong History of Programming Languages

Very very very good!

I do like this XKCD about the Kindle 2..

Sometimes when you ask for something to be translated to a language you don’t know it’s a good idea to get the resulting translation translated back into your own language..

English: No entry for heavy goods vehicles. Residential site only

Welsh: I am not in the office at the moment. Please send any work to be translated

(Via)

GetUp are trying to get donations to cover the costs of airing a great spoof government FuelWatch advert to try and get the politicians on both sides to think a bit more sensibly about what they’re doing.

Update: It’s now on YouTube.

Plus there’s a fact sheet.

Hat tip to Jeremy for the pointer via Jabber.

By Bruce Schneier:

You know you’ve got a problem when you can’t tell a hostile attack by another nation from bored kids with an axe to grind.

Also, on a crypto related humour note – The Traveling Cryptographer’s Problem, via Bart.

At the ripe old age of 86 Humph has left the building..

The master of trumpets, wit and innuendo will no longer be hosting I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, leaving us ISIHAC addicts to ponder what will happen next ?

Perhaps the BBC will finally get around to publishing that final compendium of Mornington Crescent rules, which might finally bring together the warring standards bodies of the game in a mark of respect to its most notable (and knowledgeable) referee¹.

Humph could be surreal, rude, funny and incisive all in the same sentence. His wit, humour and timing was second to none and he will be very much missed.

Here’s to you Humph, don’t get caught in the Dollis Hill Loop..

1. it is, of course, sheer irony that the Wikipedia page for Mornington Crescent has part of its entry labelled as requiring citation; don’t these people listen to the wireless ? [back]

From Bunny- The Book Of Random:

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In 2004 the ever wonderful Clarke and Dawes did a very special (and still topical) MasterMind on John Howard and his governments history¹ and why they got re-elected.

Now they’re back for the 2007 election, with a quick quiz on “The achievements of the Howard Government” (links to a transcript and video streams of the broadcast) which is well worth watching!

1. Those outside Australia may need to look up what a “non-core promise” is. [back]

This is a neat little spoof of the Federal Governments climate change propaganda by GetUp! in Australia. They’ve been raising money to try and get it aired during the AFL Grand Final tomorrow (Saturday 29th).

You can watch it on YouTube as well..

Wonderful! (Via)