Data, words, code
I normally assume that nobody reads my
blog
. Turns out I was wrong. Or at least, some Pakistani publisher has pinched
one of the posts
to include in a book.
Would have been nicer of them to ask first, but I’m still flattered
If only I were in the UK, I wouldn’t miss documentaries like Adam Curtis’The Trap: what happened to our dreams of freedom?:
The central argument in The Trap is that modern society is based on a bleak view of humankind hatched during the Cold war, when US military tacticians studied game theory in an attempt to predict what the Russians would do.
The result was years of terrifying détente. But this beat a nuclear holocaust, so game theory seemed to work. It brought stability. And it was then applied to mankind as a whole: the belief grew that we’re fundamentally selfish creatures concerned only with our own interests – and that, paradoxically, this very selfishness should be encouraged, since the end result is widespread economic stability.
More academic treatment of the same idea is in Philip Mirowski’s book [Machine dreams: economics becomes a cyborg science](http://www.librarything.com/work/143008) (on the great pile of worthy tomes I may read one day). Also perhaps some of [Deirdre McCloskey’s writing](http://www.deirdremccloskey.com/books/virtue.php) covers similar topics.
meh. Why do the people who make stock cubes make them
entirely of salt
?
ION, life still good.
The entirety of my hatred is aimed at T.com. I’ve not wanted to physically hurt anybody for quite some time, but after paying stupid amounts for an internet connection that Doesn’t Work for a full fortnight I’m ready to maim whichever poor repairman finally turns up.
Insert your own expletives. I’ll sit here whimpering, and wishing I was back with good ol’ NTL.
Finally, I’m now back with broadband, a [room of my own](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Room_of_One’s_Own), and enough free time to read the news. There might actually be another post here inside the next couple of months.
I’m now in Berlin, tryng to learn German and drifting around Kreuzberg. I’m here for at least the next three months, although I might extend that if Berlin continues to rock as much as it has for the week I’ve been here.
More happy-smily XKCD. And life hasn’t stopped being good yet, either
Berlin still good.
I’m living in Kreuzberg, which is something like Berlin’s answer to Camden. This bar is a street away from me, and there are so, so many other great places nearby.
On karohemd‘s suggestion (thanks), I headed off to K17 on Friday. Start by imaging slimelight. Then take out most of the druggies, add in a floor of 80s goodness, reduce the price, get rid of the paranoia-inducing door policy, and tilt the gender balance to 75% female. Unfortunately, you also have to get rid of the 50p coffee and the pretty boys – despite being surrounded by stunning-looking women, the men seem to make no effort beyond putting on a clean t-shirt. Yes, I know I’m being hypocritical, but I feel like next time I’ll have to do the whole “daubing my face in inexpertly-applied black makeup” thing, just so *somebody* does.
There are other good things about Berlin – but the goth bits seemed easiest to translate for LJ.