Some guy has made the awesome task of teaching school children to divide by zero easy by inventing the number "nullity".
A task even Newton and Pythagoras could not accomplish according to the BBC.

Unfortunately, the stinging criticism this laughable trainwreck of journalism managed to attract is resulting in it being polished into something less embarrassing but, the web being what it is, the original is preserved for eternity by the esteemed Ben Goldacre here. 

Even better is the fact that the guy is now putting himself up for an online Q&A next Tuesday. gedhrel should get out his best gnashing dentures and go for the guy's gonads.

andygates posted recently of things SteamPunkish and reminded me of something I had intended to share, but never did, because I got distracted before I managed to get around to it.
That wonderful thing was The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello.

I have just watched a couple of Keith Olbermans special comment pieces:

They reminded me what comment journalism looks like and made me wonder when I last saw anything this good.

We might like to think that UK news is better than the sterilised pap that the americans churn out, but this just made me think that our own news shows demonstrate the same signs of castration that are all too obvious accross the pond.

A breath of fresh air. (On MSNBC of all places. Whoever would have thunk it?)

... skean has given the game away.
I have had my arm twisted into releasing the footage that has remained forgotton for so long.
Captured in the dark days when sciolist used to live in the dungeon.
Is this what he and spike150 used to get up to behind that closed door?

The secret footage.


Sorry guys.

A weekend filled with too much fun and not enough sleep.

Friday night started down at the Pitcher and Piano where I was meeting Wiebka, a friend who was staying over night on her way to London. The whole experience reminded me exactly what I hate about the centre of Bristol on a Friday night. To whit: Queueing for ages at bars crowded with annoying twats and having to tip toe between the piles of vomit (frozen hard or still steaming depending on freshness) on the way out. We bailed on it after a couple of hours and went and sat in comfy leather armchairs in the Hillgrove instead, followed by staying up yakking until the small hours.

Wiebka was on an early train so I had to get up, while it was still dark, and navigate through unbelievably thick fog to take her to the station. The temperature on my dashboard was reading -5C. How can it be foggy and that cold at the same time?

Saturday was spent meeting a bunch of internet friends in RSVP in Bath for gaming and drinking. I got to have a substantial play with Shadow of the Collosus which is everything I expected it to be. I am looking forward to its european release even more now. I played a few games of Buzz! which has these hand held light up buttons that really add to the fun, even if my skills at recognising the songs is lacking. I sang a duet of Tainted Love to Singstar on the big screen and somehow managed a reasonable score for a performance that probably sounded like a truckful of pigs being prepped for the abatoir. It is an ace game for making a drunken tit of yourself to. I don't think it surpasses the eyetoy's physiscal comedy though, on the basis that those spectating still have to listen to the dying pigs.

I only got a little sleep, after staggering into the YMCA in the small hours, due to the thunderous snoring of some guy in the dorm. Loudest snoring ever. Even after being woken up by a few people he would just spark out and start shaking the walls again moments later.

Sunday was spent staggering home, to recover while watching the latest episode of lost. Then some DIY with the assistance of crawlingkhaos followed by going to see The Constant Gardener with him and Dr. Bob. The film is very good indeed and I would recommend it. Very convincing performances, plot and politics. All told with mixed up flashbacks in a way that allows you to grow to understand the characters current actions in a very different way as the movie progresses. It is also beautifully shot with a fantastic contrast between the rich earth textures of Africa against the smooth greys of London's concrete and stone. The final credits run over film projected onto the cracked plaster of some shanty town wall which reminded me of my African cinema experiences (although those were generally accompanied by a mono soundtrack from a speaker that had been out in the rain to long, rather than Vue's nice surround sound). Cracking stuff. 

The ever reliable Ben Goldacre's Bad Science article in last weeks Guardian was a corker. Rather than the usual pillorying of the quack of the week, this one is a serious examination and explanation of the systemic problem that lies at the heart of science journalism in the everyday media.

The main point being that there are no scientists doing it. Everyday science journalism is driven by an agenda that encourages a poor understanding and allows science to be presented in parody. The journalists would rather blame the scientists for poor presentation, than admit to the fact their system might be the problem. A system in which unpublished research, filtered through a PR department full of humanities graduates, into a soundbite press release, which is misinterpreted into an agenda fulfilling scare story, which is sub-edited by somone who does not understand it into something "the layman" will be able to understand and which is then commented on by a pundit who would never dream of reading the research were it ever actually to be published in a proper journal, in a way which underlines their view that scientists are all wacky boffins who are out to kill god.

Is there any wonder the stuff is usually utter tosh?

Google have set up a site using their maps technology to allow for easy comparison of the city before and after the flood.

The site allows you to flick from the flood view to the usual satellite view with the buttons in the top right corner.

Scary things to note are the inter-state off ramps and the stadium and running track near the middle.