The Power of Social Media

In the future, we may well look back on the past week and describe it as the week that the power of social media became apparent to pretty much everyone in the UK. This week social networks have allowed the powers of light to win three victories over the powers of darkness. It started on… Continue reading The Power of Social Media

Misunderstanding Time Travel

I promise I’ll get round to a longer blog entry over the weekend, but I couldn’t resist commenting briefly on this paragraph from Peter Bradshaw’s review of The Time Traveler’s Wife. It is very silly and of course cannot submit to close inspection. Making brief visits to an unalterable past is one thing, but how… Continue reading Misunderstanding Time Travel

Defending Homeopathy (Or Not)

Neal’s Yard Remedies are purveyors of the finest magic water. Water that remembers magic ingredients that have been dissolved into it and diluted until no memory of the ingredients can possibly remain. Yes, they sell homeopathic treatments. Someone in their PR department decided it was a good idea to get involved in the Guardian’s “You… Continue reading Defending Homeopathy (Or Not)

Michael Reiss: Creationist

Following last weeks entry about the media and MMR I have another post brewing which goes into more detail about the central message of Ben Goldacre’s excellent book. That central message is that you usually can’t trust science and health stories in the press because they are usually written by people who don’t understand the… Continue reading Michael Reiss: Creationist

What I Did At Mashed 08

I was at Mashed 08 at Alexandra Palace yesterday. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to go back today, but I’ve made some progress on my project from home. It was a successful day all in all though. Here’s what I did. Watched Jonathan Tweed talk about the BBC /programmes api. If I hadn’t already had… Continue reading What I Did At Mashed 08

Human Dinosaurs

Having just been saying how much I like the new Guardian URL scheme, it was interesting to see the URL for this article from today’s paper. The article is about some early hominan[1] remains that have been found in northern Spain. The URL is http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/mar/27/archaeology.dinosaurs I can obviously see why it’s in the science section.… Continue reading Human Dinosaurs

New Look Guardian Web Site

The Guardian has released a new version of the front page of its web site. Apparently it’s the first indication of things to come. My initial impression is that I like it, but I’ll almost certainly have more to say once I’ve lived with it for a few days. Emily Bell goes into more detail… Continue reading New Look Guardian Web Site

And Finally…

Kudos to the Guardian‘s Rosie Swash for pointing out that sexism is alive and well in the music industry. And finally, good news for Kate Thornton during this most difficult of weeks. She may have been axed from prime-time TV, but she can be comforted by the knowledge that Louis Walsh thinks her breasts are… Continue reading And Finally…