Musings Why doesn’t somebody develop a “shuffle” that works? March 28, 2013 / March 29, 2013 by Dave I have an android phone, an ipod, and itunes (and several other mp3-playing-capable programs) installed on various computers. None of them can shuffle songs worth beans, and it’s easy to see why. Shuffle, as it now exists on every platform I’ve seem, just puts the songs in random order. On some platforms (like my stupid […] Read more »
Musings Dolphins and PR March 5, 2013 by Dave The general opinion of dolphins is pretty positive. There are certainly exceptions, but that’s certainly the “usual” view – seen, for example, as opposed to the typical view of sharks. Now, I’m not saying I love sharks, but I do think it’s possible that dolphins are just more PR/media conscious than sharks are. For example, […] Read more »
Movies and TV Monday Mornings February 10, 2013 / February 17, 2013 by Dave Monday Mornings is a brand spanking new series (I’ve only seen one episode so far). It’s a David E. Kelley show, which initially caused me some doubts – Harriet’s Law was a disaster. Several earlier shows (Ally McBeal, Boston Public) disintegrated fairly early on, and then proceeded to limp for years on the strength of […] Read more »
Movies and TV Jack Reacher February 9, 2013 / March 29, 2013 by Dave I was one of many who was caught between shock, disgust, and amusement when the news came out that Tom Cruise had been cast in the lead role of 2012’s Jack Reacher, the first movie made from one of Lee Child‘s series of novels about a former MP of the same name. The main problem […] Read more »
Musings Is the Catholic Church a Force for Good in the World? February 9, 2013 by Dave There was a debate in 2009, hosted by Intelligence Squared UK, and available in full on YouTube. The topic was “Is the Catholic Church a Force for Good in the World?” and the debaters were Christopher Hitchens and Stephen Fry (against) and Ann Widdecombe, M.P. and John Onaiyekan, Archbishop of Abuja (for). It can’t have […] Read more »
Coding 2n Coding December 14, 2012 / January 15, 2013 by Dave I’ve been thinking about cryptography for some time, and I thought I’d post this here and see if anybody comes back with anything. Basically, I think there’s a very easy way to encode any data you want in a way that’s uncrackable for all practical purposes. I should mention that I am in no way […] Read more »
Movies and TV Skyfall and Underwater Combat December 2, 2012 / December 14, 2012 by Dave I just saw Skyfall, and was quite impressed. Daniel Craig provides all the usual Bond-ness, as well as a believable action hero. Javier Bardem never fails to please as a crazy / creepy villain. Even Ralph Fiennes, who I hadn’t realized was in the movie and thus initially assumed was the bad guy (on the […] Read more »
Tughan Family Genealogy Notes on the Tughan Family November 1, 2012 / November 18, 2013 by Dave Samuel Tughan York Street Flax Spinning Mill, Belfast Margaret Watson Born 1841, Radley, Co. Armagh. Married 1865 Children The Genealogical Index shows the births between 1872 and 1878 were recorded in the Town of Antrim. Harry (born 1868. Married to Sarah Shilliday) William (born 1873. Died, Bangor, June 1912) Nathaniel (born 1873, single in 1911) […] Read more »
Musings Celebrating Death September 11, 2012 / November 1, 2012 by Dave I realize that this is likely to offend some Americans, and maybe other people as well, but it’s been running around my head for some time. My intention isn’t really to offend, no matter what you might think, but I think the topic could use some airing. What I’m talking about is the parallel between […] Read more »
Movies and TV Same old same old July 25, 2010 / July 25, 2010 by Dave | 3 Comments on Same old same old I suppose it was inevitable, with the massive proliferation of TV channels and the constant hunger for new shows, that repetition would become more obvious. I don’t mean just the spin-offs from established franchises (all the CSIs or Law and Orders), but rather “new” shows that are clones of other new shows. Let me give […] Read more »