Earlier today, I noted on Facebook that it was sad that This article by Kristopher Schau was in Norwegian, because in my mind, it exquisitely shows how Norway is dealing with the mind-boggling tragedy that is dealing with the deaths of 77 people in Oslo and Utøya in 2011.

It bears keeping in mind that Kristopher Schau is famous for things that have very little to do with political commentary. He’s a comedian first and foremost, and if you’ve heard of him outside of Norway, it is probably for him being part of a 3-piece rock group Hurra Torpedo, who did a stirring, kitchen-appliance cover (!) of Total Eclipse of the Heart.

Without further ado..

“Court notes, week 1″ by Kristopher Schau

Translated by Haje Jan Kamps (more…)

Reading this blog post on the Netflix technology blog made me come to a realisation: In many of my previous jobs, I’ve had to beg and bribe to make people blog about what they have been working on. I’ve just realise that means I’ve been working with the wrong people on the wrong projects.

Mark my words: if anyone ever works for me, and complains that blogging is a chore, and ‘not in their work description’, they’re getting fired. No ifs, no ands, no buts.

If you’re not excited about enough about what you’re doing to want to shout it from the rooftops and tell the world about it, you’re doing the wrong job for the wrong company.

The Design of Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

One of those fantastic books that makes you re-consider everything around you: Why do things look the way they do – and most importantly – why are some things easier to use than others?

Filled with great examples and more than a little bit of common sense, I think this is a must-read for everybody – designers and mere mortals alike.



View all my reviews

“At some point, it became OK to laugh about rape”, I claim, and am met with looks of horror. “What”, people will say, “the ever-loving god are you talking about”, they will continue.

It is true: Most people would agree that sexual assault is not a laughing matter. We all know, or are aware of people who have been subjected rape. In the US, more than 25% of college age women report having experienced a rape or rape attempt since age 14.

Rape is the most denigrating and one of the most cowardly of crimes: Committing a crime hideous of nature, that often takes the victim longer to get over than that the suspect spends in a jail cell – if they are ever actually convicted of their crime, that is.

Repeat after me: Rapes ruin lives. Rape is not funny.

Why is Prison rape OK?

And yet, when it comes to prison rape, the tune is very different. It appears that people are more accepting of it. “Don’t bend over to pick up the soap”, they’ll say. “He’ll be bunking with Bubba at Broadmoor”, or “He’ll be someone’s bitch soon enough”.

What in the world is going through your mind, people? The criminal justice system has a whole array of penalties – Fines, community service, prison sentences, mental facilities and (in some cases) capital punishment. There’s no civilised society that has “rape” on the menu as punishment for a crime.

Rape is rape. It doesn’t matter if it is committed in an upstairs bedroom at a party, a park after dark, or in a prison cell. It’s revolting, wrong, and should be strictly punished.

I don’t care what a person has done to land themselves in prison – there is no crime that is punishable by rape, and as a society, we cannot be standing idly by and ignoring that this is being done. The fact that in some prisons, rape is the rule, rather than the exception, makes it only more disgusting.

Rape is rape. Rape is not funny. Enough with the jokes about prison rape, already.

When I was 16 or so, a friend of mine died. It was all very strange how it went; she had a heart defect, and was on heart medication to help her defect. Then, one day, she calls her boyfriend with a cryptic message. He gets worried, and travels across the town to go see her. By the time he makes it to her house, her mother has found her. They call an ambulance, but she dies before the ambulance crew arrives. It turns out she has taken around 12 of the very potent “take one every 24 hours” heart medication pills, in what appears to have been a suicide.

There was no note. There was no message. There were no warnings or problems that anyone knew of. Only she knew why she did it, but she didn’t tell anybody. (more…)

I have spent a bit of time playing the FaceBook game Mob Wars: La Casa Nostra recently (Wanna join my mob? Add me!), and noticed that its purchasing model is actually quite sophisticated – and in order to make the maximum amount of money from your property portfolio, you are going to have to be a little bit careful.

If you haven’t played the game, basically you are a mobster, who tries to fight him (or her-)self up in the world. You get in fights, you do jobs, and you fight bosses. Part of all of this is that you use the money you earn to buy property, which then, in turn, makes you more money. (more…)

If you’ve been a good boy or girl, the only time you would come across the Miranda warning (or, as it is more frequently known, the Miranda Rights) or the Police Caution on the dozens of cop shows on TV. Both of these warnings are given as soon as possible after someone has been arrested. On telly, the accused will often reply with a poignant “Sod off, wanker” or similar. Come to think of it, the same happens in real life.

Anyway, on TV, these warnings are often rattled off at incredibly high speed. If you take a closer look, however, you’ll see that the two apparently similar warnings are different. Very different. The Miranda rights in the US and the Police Caution in the UK are, in fact, the exact opposites of each other. (more…)

I have a huge problem with all the panic that happens every time a ‘terrorist’ manages to make a half-witted attempt at blowing up a plane…

True terrorists have no qualms about going on suicide missions, but are frequently screwed by being really bloody unintelligent. There’s are sure-fire way of getting a bomb on board a plane, which nobody would be able to do anything about, and which current detection methods can’t even track. (more…)

Says the Observer: “Shocking details of techniques used to inflict pain deliberately on children in privately run jails have been revealed for the first time in a government document obtained by the Observer.

Some of the restraint and self-defence measures approved by the Ministry of Justice include ramming knuckles into ribs and raking shoes down the shins. Other extraordinary passages in the previously secret manual, Physical Control in Care, authorise staff to(…)”

Read the full article here. (more…)

O2 is charging £10 for 3GB if you hook your iPhone up to a computer and use it as a modem. If you want to buy another 1GB of data use on your iphone yourself, however, you have to shell out £10. Welcome to the lunatic world of O2′s pricing plans.

I’m a heavy iPhone data user, I’m happy to admit that. I use e-mail almost obsessively, I browse the web, I listen to music, and I settle pub arguments with the power of my sleek glass-and-plastic-and-brains device like it’s going out of fashion. (more…)