There’s lots to think about in the write up on recent studies into the relation between neural wiring and the concept religion at the New Scientist. A really simplified version would be that the brain has a couple of built in biases that make the concept of religion arise almost naturally. One is that we have different cognitive systems for… Read more →
Author: Mr. McLaren
Aside
Note, I am rescinding the previous statement about the ultimate snack food. The One True Ultimate Snack Food is now the Luxure Cashews from Natursource. That is all.
What I’ve been up to
As you might have guessed from my continuing absence, work has not slacked off yet. However, that’s not the only thing that’s been contributing–real life has also been hopping a bit. A short summary: Sunday night Trish and I took Sarah to a sleepover, and then went to dinner and a show. Or maybe “a gig” would be more accurate.… Read more →
Lottery
Among the artifacts were a few scribbled notes and I recognized the handwriting. Chris McLaren was a film major who worked for us in the early ’80’s, a skinny kid who wore black clothes and spiked hair and had an intense interest in Alistair Crowley, Roman Polanski, the Illuminati and role playing games. Even when you were face to face… Read more →
Friends of my youth, a last adieu!
Reading last night about the death of Philip José Farmer, it occurs to me that the authors whose stories are part of my memories of early days, and who got to make impressions on me when I was much more malleable–and thus had a greater effect on my life–are a limited resource. And one that will only run out faster… Read more →
Aside
Still so busy that it hurts. However, not too busy to have a laugh reading some entries in the “Simple English” Wikipedia.
A Few Quick Words on Soundtracks.
I require another 72 hours between now and Tuesday morning, please. Baring that, let me make a very quick post and get back to the salt mines. On the weekend I had a chance to watch All Hat, the adaptation of Brad Smith‘s “modern day Ontario western“. I generally like Smith, and I liked the book, so I figured it… Read more →
Possibly I Am Just Sappy
Very rarely does one of those “ten photos, each with a paragraph of text” photo features in one of the major papers make me tear up–I want to say never, but my memory is not the wondrous thing it once was“Tho’ much is taken, much abides” so that might be a bit of a reach. It’s moot anyway, since this… Read more →
Excuses, Excuses
And that really says all that needs to be said on the subject without risk of boring you with my job-talk, except perhaps to say that this week isn’t looking likely to be any better.. Bless the bus slogan generator for encouraging brevity in cliched posts. Before I leave though, I can’t resist one more: Read more →
White Lily
The one-armed man walks into a flower shop And says: What flower expresses Days go by And they just keep going by endlessly Pulling you Into the future Days go by Endlessly Endlessly pulling you Into the future? Read more →
Email Client Questions and Rants
So, I’m thinking it’s time for me to change my personalWork is not up for grabs, and it requires Outlook, but since I can’t both be connected to the work network and the outside world at the same time I’m not sharing work and personal stuff–they are different profiles. Actually, I rarely use the thick client for work email, living… Read more →
Aside
Boy, I wish I had been running WinSplit Revolution for a couple of years now–essentially since I first got the widescreen monitors. What a handy tool. Essentially it’s a little app that intercepts configurable hotkeys and uses them to map windows into specific screen coordinates–it makes the process of working with many open windows easier. It’s the first “leave it running all the time” tool I’ve added to my toolkit in quite a while. And it’s donationware. Yay.
Now I need to find an equivalent for my Ubuntu boxes.
To treat with excessive leniency, generosity, or consideration
I was not particularly indulgent with the Catholic Church and Pope Inquisitor, when I last discussed plenary indulgences on here. (Quoting Hitchens doesn’t count.) I see that the indulgences are newsworthy again, with some discussion this week of a piece in the Times. I’m mostly amused that part of the point of the piece is that most Catholics apparently don’t… Read more →
Observational Items
I believe that it is not hyperbole to say that the existence, even in conceptual form, of the Chompr is the final clear sign that Western society has slipped completely into decadence. First of all, if you can’t hold a sandwich in your hand, you shouldn’t be trying to eat it. Second of all, you should be able to engineer… Read more →
Aside
While I am less enamoured with the idea of the bacon explosion than the rest of the internet, I admit to an unhealthy curiosity about the idea of a bacon chocolate bar. Of course, the odds are better of my buying an amusing bacon t-shirt than actually trying either of those. And while all this bacon stuff amuses me, some people will take it Just Too Far, Man.
