There’s been a fascinating discussion at Slate (via 11D) about whether Wal-Mart is good or bad for the US. Go and read it, but my take is that at least some of the argument boils down to: 1 Wal-mart reduces prices by driving a hard bargain everywhere, but particularly onContinue Reading
My cousin’s in the International Maths Olympiad, which is currently on in Slovenia. It’s a competition for those who are under 20, haven’t been to university yet, and with those conditions, are the top mathematicians in their countries, and hence the world. Six contestents per country. After we found theContinue Reading
After my gloomy posts on global warming, I had to link to RealClimate’s recent post on tipping points – a superb summary of all the various things that might tip the planet into a new (probably unpleasant) climatic stage.Continue Reading
My employer has recently introduced a new policy for all sorts of family friendly stuff – among them, a “breastfeeding friendly workplace”. I work in the CBD. We have employees spread across a few different buildings. They have put aside one room in one building for expressing breastmilk. Completely uselessContinue Reading
Today’s book review (I’m not promising weekly any more!) is Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change, by Elizabeth Kolbert. It is a fairly slim book, based on a series she did for the New Yorker in 2005, and I read it after reading the review onContinue Reading
I’ve been reflecting, during the World Cup, at how good we Australians are at watching sport in the middle of the night. But it’s part of being a sports fan, here. We’ve grown up watching pretty much any world class sport in the middle of the night. Think Ashes tests,Continue Reading
Via JennyD, I found an on-line Myers-Briggs personality test. I did it out of curiosity to see if my rating would have changed from when I did it 10 years ago at some work love-in. It hadn’t, I’m still INTJ – Introverted, intuitive, thinking, judging (the opposites are extroverted, sensing,Continue Reading
I loved reading Fever Pitch, (one man’s story of the highs and lows of being an obsessive Arsenal fan) when I first found it, but I never thought it would apply to me. But watching the World Cup last night with Australia spending most of the match futilely trying toContinue Reading
I’ve decided to slow down a bit on this blog. Notwithstanding all my crowing posts about work-life balance, it’s catching up with me. I started a new job just over three months ago, which I am finding far more interesting and enjoyable than my old job. The main thing isContinue Reading
Yes, I’ve succumbed, I’ve got a Blackberry. I’ve read many articles about how terrible blackberries are, since they encourage you to be available at all times. Laura at 11D hates the idea, after her husband has been forced to get one. But I think that just like many other things,Continue Reading