A little while ago, someone came to my daughter’s school and told the assembly that mobile phone signals were killing the world’s bees. It turns out that there is not much evidence to support this view. I grew up in Apartheid era South Africa, and was told things, by teachers and authority figures, that really [...]
Archives for November 2009
Typographical Snobbery
At one time, I was probably the biggest typographical snob (and bore) you were ever likely to meet. I grew up in a house littered with books about typography, and beautiful books. My grandfather typeset private press books, using hot metal, well into his eighties. My father had helped develop page layout software and hyphenation [...]
Why I Blog
Why would someone as unqualified and uninformed as myself have the sheer gall to present his thoughts and opinions in a blog? Perhaps I am just a narcissist, indulging myself with my own mental reflection. After all, very few people read what I write here. For me, though, that is part of the point. The [...]
Changing my Twitter Account Name
I recently changed my Twitter account name with someone who shares my real-world name. He asked politely, so I swapped, and it was all very easy from a technical point of view. The reaction I had was interesting. Some people I know were (naively, in my view) amazed I hadn’t demanded a lot of money, [...]
Review: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (Movie)
To spare any suspense, I ought to point out that this is the finest film ever made. Really. Also, there are spoilers in the following, so beware. This film was written, directed and produced by British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, in 1943. That is to say, squarely in the middle of the Second [...]
The Problem with Twitter
In case you haven’t noticed, there has been a big hullabaloo brewing in the last few days in the British media concerning twitter. A few days ago they were excitedly reporting on how trending topics on twitter were forcing traditional media organisations to back down and apologise for offensive articles. Today, the big focus is [...]