It occurs to me that me continuing enjoyment of Young Adult literature well into adulthood (and arguably senility) is because it's a rare market segment where women getting to have an adventure is totally accepted and normal.

I thought this article was interesting, if overly long for the point it was trying to make. However, the alpha SF nerd in me feels compelled to point out ( Read more... )

Costa coffee have possibly the worst loyalty card system of all the coffee shops. You get 5p worth of store credit back for each £1 you spend, so essentially 1 free coffee for each 20 or so cups that you buy, which is about twice the number required by anyone else. Admittedly you can spend the credit on anything, but it's still not that great. ( Read more... )

It occurs to me that the game Civilization would make an excellent setting for a SF novel. There's a bunch of immortal leaders inexplicably in charge of nation states of short lived humans who proceed to mess with all sorts of aspects of their lives throughout time ( Read more... )

Well, I have finished The Walking Dead. Like Shaun of the Dead it succeeds because it decides to use zombies to tell a story about human beings, which is pretty much the only way I can end up not being bored to (un)death by zombies. It's a good story, but I question all those "game of the year" awards. It's more of a choose your own adventure film ( Read more... )

Advance notice that I shall be holding my 40th birthday party in Oxford on Sat 10th Aug. (Although I propose to hold my 40th birthday on the 9th, because I don't think the universe will co-operate otherwise.) Further details to follow. Partners welcome.

In recent years, I have discovered that my vestigial sense of (spiritual) faith has atrophied to the point where I can no longer be said to believe in any deity. I have always felt uncomfortable with the terms agnostic and atheist, and have therefore tended, when necessary, to self-describe as humanist. Today I had a conversation in which I kind ( Read more... )

38 Degrees are still up to their usual tricks. Since I really do care about legal aid, I decided to sign one of their petitions against my better judgement. They provide no means even to opt out of signing up to their mailing list if you do so. Hence this email (entitled "your awful email list policy").

Hello there ( Read more... )

I have been fairly vocal about my dislike of the Veronica Mars movie kickstarter, and I did promise DanielWhoseLJNameIHaveForgotten that I would explain quite why I disliked it so much. I'm not sure I can articulate it very clearly, but basically it goes against what I regard as the current spirit of the kickstarter model - communities of like ( Read more... )

So, Thatcher. We all know the bad. What I'd like people to remember is that she clawed her way up from humble beginnings and carved out a space for herself among the elite. Also, having got there, she tried her very best within her own paradigm to ensure that the ladder wasn't pulled up behind her. There has not since her been a British politician ( Read more... )