Scribble, scribble, scribble

I suppose this is what they call a blog. Except that blogs are supposed to be updated more often than this is.

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Tuesday 2006-08-22

over the rainbow

My parents recently came to visit our daughter, bringing cards and presents from several of their friends. One of them is called Dorothy Tinman. We were very disappointed not to receive anything from her friends Toto Scarecrow and Munchkin Wickedwitchofthewest.

("I say, I say, I say, where do you go to weigh a pie?")

Tuesday 2006-08-15

change on 2006-08-15 at 02:59:32

Page changed: index.html

New child!
Sunday 2006-08-06

irreducible complexity

Gosh, how come the creationists haven't spotted this one?

History has built irreducible complexity and variety into the bounteous world of organisms.

(Emphasis mine.) Of course, what Stephen Jay Gould meant by that phrase, in his essay "Red wings in the sunset", has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with what Michael Behe meant when he used the same phrase several years later. Gould meant only that the world is too complicated to be fully described by simple "monistic" schemes like Abbott H Thayer's theory that all animal colouration serves the purpose of camouflage.

(Gould's essay appears in "Bully for Brontosaurus", published in 1991; it first appeared in 1985 in Natural History magazine. "Darwin's black box" was published in 1996. I wonder whether Behe had read Gould.)

Saturday 2006-08-05

for your security

McCaughan's Law of Customer Centredness: Whenever any measure is described (by a corporation to its customers) as "for your security" or "for your convenience" or anything of the kind, the real reason for the measure is "for our profit margins" or "for our convenience".

Case in point: on aeroplane flights you're likely to hear some spiel along the following lines: "Attention, please. Here is an important security announcement. For reasons of security, you must remain within the class of seating for which you hold a ticket. If you attempt to enter any other class of seating, our staff will direct you to return to your own class. Thank you for complying with this important security measure." Security. Ri-i-i-ight. Real reason: maintaining the distinction between seating classes, so as to increase the feeling that the more expensive seats are exclusive and desirable.