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Gmail warning
If you use Gmail for anything non-trivial, this may be the time to think again and switch to some other service, since there are indications that Gmail has some kind of bug or backdoor which may allow your account to be hijacked.
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(Untitled)
I like that meme which goes, "here's a list of books, bold the ones you've read and strike through the ones you dislike".
This one is from Paul McAuley; his personal list of essential science fiction.
Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus MARY SHELLEY 1818
Journey to the Centre of the Earth JULES VERNE 1863
After London RICHARD JEFFRIES ( Read more... ) -
English as she is wrote
I was considering the two phrases, "walking distance of" and "walking distance from", both of which I've seen used. The "of" version is what I'd consider more correct, and I wondered how common the other was after seeing it in an LJ bemoaning poor English (no, really).
Google has the answer (or at least a pointer):
"Walking distance of" (4,410, ( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
Aleister Crowley said he could make himself invisible, and claimed to have walked around a town once in a red robe and golden crown, unnoticed by anyone. 1
"Oh Lord, old fellow, it's that bounder Crowley! Good heavens, is that a bath-robe he's dressed in? Heavens no, just ignore him or we'll be here all day."
1. Obituary, TIME magazine, Dec. 15, ( Read more... ) -
Dursprung
Dursprung is a self-facilitating media node who opts to refer to himself in the third person, as this aptly symbolizes his alienation from the so-called ‘mainstream ( Read more... ) -
Basic Training, or, Sergeant James Instructs
"Now this," said Sergeant James, "Is what we likes to call a fourth order Solomonic manifestation, or if you was a scholar, you might want to call it an afrit. Very common sort of thing, this. If I were to tell you all about our bothers with them in Palestine we would be here all day and no mistake. You will note the spidery limbs and the black ( Read more... ) -
Portal Of Evil
Portal of Evil is not to be confused with the much-loved Internet phenomenon, Goatse, whose abused nether region enlivened many a corporate email and put some folk off driving through the Eisenhower Tunnel for life. No, Portal of Evil (or PoE as its fanatically loyal members refer to it) is the self-styled "Yahoo of the weird", where homely college ( Read more... ) -
Captain Corelli's Mandarin: A Review
"Captain Corelli's Mandarin" (2001, USA)The comical misadventures of an Italian merchant skipper and a dignified Chinese potentate who find themselves sharing lodgings in prewar Liverpool. The thunder-faced Warren Clarke is mysteriously unItalian as the Captain, but David Yip furnishes a virtuoso performance as the unnamed Mandarin, suitably ( Read more... )
