I’m in the middle of a large Django project, my first one using the framework. It’s bloody wonderful, it really is. I don’t understand why Django developers aren’t going on about it more – about how lovely it is to work with. Developing web sites in Django is a beauty-full experience. I didn’t know it could be like this. I don’t know what it’s like to find Enlightenment in the way the Buddha talks about it, and I don’t even really know what it’s like to meditate, but this approaches what I imagine they mean.
Pony-Powered Enlightenment Bullshit
This sounds like bullshit, of course, and I confess I’m spinning this out more than is warranted, but there is an immense calm, neatness … read on »
Archive for the ‘ideas’ category…
An Epic Search For an Epic Search For Truth
Logicomix, An Epic Search For Truth
By Apostolos Doxiadis, Christos Papadimitriou, Alecos Papadatos and Annie Di Donna
I have enjoyed comics since I was a child, when, fascinated and entranced by Hergé’s Adventures of Tintin, I argued heatedly with my friends, who all preferred Asterix.
I still read Tintin occasionally, and I enjoy more consciously grown-up graphic novels, but I never thought I’d be treated to a comic-book account of Bertrand Russell’s quest to establish the foundations of mathematics. The idea of such a book is incredible, yet here it is, a story told passionately and illustrated beautifully, which does justice to the men and their ideas. And they’re all in here: Frege, Hilbert, Cantor, Gödel and Wittgenstein….
Read the rest on my philsophy … read on »
Certainly Not My Kind of Book
Oddly for someone whose political affiliations have always lain in the left tradition, I’m more and more fascinated by, and attracted to, the philosophy of Roger Scruton, who is a conservative. I find his manner of setting forth arguments – both in writing and on television – to be irresistible. It’s somehow both gentle and passionate. But it’s more than that: I really do agree with many of his ideas.
Anyway, I was looking at Mark Dooley’s biography of Scruton on Amazon and noticed this 5-star review:
This certainly is not my kind of book. It is a Christmas present for which I was asked so clearly it IS the kind of book enjoyed by the person who asked for it.
The Resources of The World Are Limitless
I struggled to come up with a web development angle for this one. I had a brief hope of executing some dazzling metaphorical sleight of hand when I read Thomas DeGregori’s discussion of the “usability” of rocks among proto-humans, but in the end I gave up and decided just to roll with it…
The world’s resources are limitless. I’m not joking. In a world of finite materials – and a finite 88 keys on a piano – resources are no more limited than are melodies and harmonies. Even if we stick to the Western musical scale, we will never run out of tunes. This is because tunes are not raw materials, somehow just there, waiting to be discovered: they come into … read on »
In Praise of Argument
I’m argumentative, it’s true. Is that bad? I can’t resist taking a stand, taking sides and making a case. So, in that tradition, in this post I’m going to make a case for argument itself, because I feel it’s under threat. Actually, I feel a rant coming on, rather than a reasoned argument. So be it…
I’ve got into trouble for my argumentative reactions to the statements of others. I might say “nonsense!” or “no, that’s not the way things are at all,” and then I’m criticized for my arrogance. Apparently I should have said “my humble opinion is – and you don’t have to believe it, because it’s just my humble opinion, I mean, what do I know really? and … read on »
The Great Man-Made River Project and Libyan Democracy
UPDATE 21st Feb 2011: Despite the general tone of this post, in which I show admiration for the achievements of the Great Manmade River Project and sympathy for Gadaffi’s political philosophy of direct democracy – I have no illusions about the real nature of the regime, and I FULLY SUPPORT any revolutionary pro-democratic action that is now taking place, and ABSOLUTELY CONDEMN the violent actions of the government.
I listened to a Radio 4 programme on the Great Man-Made River project in Libya. For the moment at least, you can listen to it here. It’s the mother of all water engineering projects, and as I’ve said before in this blog, I have an odd fascination with this kind of thing. Apart … read on »
Anniversary of The Slave Trade Act, 1807
March 25th is the 200th anniversary of the Slave Trade Act, “An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade”, the Act of Parliament which outlawed the trading of slaves. It was the first of three Slave Trade Acts, and slavery was actually abolished only with the Slavery Abolition Act 1833. The Central Office of Information says:
“Although it would be another 30 years before slaves gained their final freedom – when slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire – the Bicentenary in 2007 gives the opportunity to remember the millions who suffered; to pay tribute to the courage and moral conviction of all those – black and white – who campaigned for abolition; and to demand to know why today, … read on »
Brian Rowan's Glaswegian Anthropology
I must record Brian’s apparently original theory as to why Glasgow is more friendly than Edinburgh. But first, some background. I have always enthused romantically and vaguely about Glasgow’s atmosphere, usually contrasting it with Edinburgh’s. I will say, whenever the subject arises, that Glasgow is more friendly, that it has an exciting edgy atmosphere, that the women are more attractive (sorry all you Edinburgeresses), that people talk in the street, that people are approachable and open, and so on. But until recently I had come to wonder if it wasn’t just my western bias: I am from the west coast and had come to know Glasgow much better than Edinburgh. I had also come to realise that it was a … read on »
Musical Snobbery?
The other night we interviewed a prospective flatmate with the help of a good friend of Laura’s, the lovely Kris, an Australian nutritional expert. Our interviewee was Australian himself and fresh off the boat, so perhaps Kris’s Oz-related small-talk put him at his ease. So this guy Daniel – despite having an irrational fear of elevators – turned out to be a great guy, into experimental music from the rock and modern orchestral worlds (though not jazz). In particular we talked about Iannis Xenakis‘s Persepolis, a stunning, tectonic piece of work that can barely be described as music at all. Daniel was the first (and last?) person I’ve met who knows about it and so I was delighted to be … read on »
For Leonhard: Why Climb Mountains?
In his little piece Mountaineering as a Life Style Danish mountaineer Jan Elleby answers the question why climb mountains? with this:
Curiously enough this question is only posed by people, who have not climbed any mountains themselves. For if you by yourself have experienced the adventures and quality in life that mountaneering may offer you, then you would never be asking this question.
This is unimaginative, clichéd rhetoric. The question has become more gripping for me since I started doing it, which disproves his argument. If there is a rule at all, it’s not this:
But this:
©2010 Alistair Robinson