Monthly Archives: December 2012

Getting Inside Cells

Posted on December 31, 2012 by the archivist

For the past 20 years, on and off, I’ve been building computer simulation models of growing populations of strange imaginary living things, many of which were very like biological cells. I was still doing it last year. But as I … Continue reading →

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Bulgarian Smoking Ban

Posted on December 30, 2012 by the archivist

H/T Furor Teutonicus on the UK-style Bulgarian smoking ban. Prog also commented on it 10 days ago. First this on 4 Dec 2012: Bulgaria’s Parliament considers easing the full smoking ban in closed public spaces that was imposed in the country on June 1, … Continue reading →

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Real Cancer Sticks At Last

Posted on December 29, 2012 by the archivist

A few news items caught my eye. All doom and disaster stories of one sort or other. The USA is about to walk off a fiscal cliff, it seems: Markets fall amid fading hopes of last-minute fiscal cliff deal Stock … Continue reading →

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The Usual Barking Madness

Posted on December 28, 2012 by the archivist

I’ve spent the last three days lying half asleep in front of a TV set. It hasn’t given me any wish to own another one, though. Today’s comments were food for thought. From Magnetic: “For the next few months, strive … Continue reading →

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Rose Is Back!

Posted on December 27, 2012 by the archivist

Great news! Rose has got herself a new computer, given to her as a Christmas present (I think). Her last one died three or four months ago, and there had been silence ever since. We were all getting very worried. Junican … Continue reading →

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Certainty and Uncertainty

Posted on December 26, 2012 by the archivist

We seem to be living in a new age of conformity. Everyone must conform. Plurality of opinion is increasingly disallowed. The mass media plug one particular orthodoxy, and nothing else. Everyone is being ‘nudged’  or bullied into conformity. Three particular … Continue reading →

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Happy Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2012 by the archivist

Have a Happy Christmas everybody, and a Prosperous New Year. According to Simon Clark, antismoking zealots have been editing out Santa’s pipe. And I leave you with news that Female traveler ‘goes nude’ at Beirut airport to protest smoking ban … Continue reading →

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Moral Arrogance

Posted on December 24, 2012 by the archivist

I’ve never been on a fox hunt, and I doubt I ever will. They were banned in England over 10 years ago by the then-newly-elected Labour government of Tony Blair. Which was, very arguably, the start of the modern bully … Continue reading →

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The Changing Face of Science

Posted on December 23, 2012 by the archivist

H/T Bishop Hill for a thoughtful essay on the state of modern science: CLIMATE SCIENCE: OPINIONS, BALONEY AND BLOGGERS by David Whitehouse: The fact is that the internet is changing science and the debate about climate science is a good example of … Continue reading →

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Tobacco Products Directive

Posted on December 22, 2012 by the archivist

I was a bit concerned when I read on Taking Liberties that the EU is proposing in its Tobacco Products Directive that: Cigarettes, roll your own tobacco and smokeless tobacco with “characterising flavours” (eg menthol) will be banned. What? No rolling … Continue reading →

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