jra's thoughts

Category: Rants

  • Landlords – Les Propriétaires

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    jra
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    This posting on Boing Boing reminded me of something I wanted to mention about Switzerland. Though I sometimes makes it sound like heaven, with beautiful Swiss girls begging to marry you, cows that give chocolate milk when you milk them, and every man with an assault rifle, that’s not the whole truth. Swiss landlords are…

  • Welcome to the USA

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    The new ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorizations) that the US has instituted is really, really lame. Everything about the system screams, “Stop! Don’t come here! You are a suspicious foreigner and we don’t want you.” Check out this insane message that pops up on the website before you can even start: You are about…

  • Grub 2 and the Law of Software Envelopment

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    I was reading a bit about Grub 2’s modules, including this page for gfxterm, a reimplementation of VGA console mode for Grub 2 — VGA console mode isn’t good enough because it cannot display Arabic, simplified Chineese, nor Inuit glyphs. And, let’s face it, the kinds of Inuits frobbing their boot loaders can’t possibly be…

  • Of words, arms, and freedom

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    I’m sick, and back in England. Not that the two are related… no, not at all. But the fact that I was irritable and chanting “I hate England” in my head all morning as I made my way in to work doing various errands on the way, might be due to one or the other…

  • Royal Mail and the Colour Red

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    I just got a little note from Royal Mail telling me that I need to come pick up a packet at the post office. It has this choice bit of stupidity on the back: Royal Mail, the Criciform, and the colour red are registered trademarks of Royal Mail. Christmas – Sorry you were out, Copyright…

  • 350

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    No, not 300, that’s a movie. 350. Parts per million CO2 concentration. Pass the word. Oh, right, it’s just a number, not words… PS: This posting does not constitute an admission that CO2 causes global warming. But I happen to agree with everything that anti-carbon campaigners believe in, even if I think that global warming…

  • The OC

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    (Good lord is this a day for blogging. I suppose sometimes the dam breaks and the thoughts spill out…) Today I got a question from Jon: What is OCA and OCP? MSF is getting into the acronym business like everyone else! The simple answer: OC = Operating Centre, or Cell depending on the person. OCB…

  • A message…

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    …from America, reaching out to every corner of the globe, into the hearts of those who have watched us struggle and fail to meet our potential over the last 8 years: Yes We Can! Like a drug-addled celebrity, we’ve hit rock bottom, and now we’re ready to turn our lives around and meet our potential.…

  • HQ folks: Don’t Do This

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    Hopping on the meme-wagon for a second here… if you care enough, read these three posts about paper pushing in the NGO world: This Job Is Not Always Fun De-escalating the paperwork in development Kill Your Reports In the last one, Paul considers what happens after the reports make it to HQ, from the point…

  • Why doesn’t this already exist?

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    Yesterday, I was walking in town and there was a nice guy playing a clarinet in front of North Face. I intentionally fumbled with my coins for a while so as to enjoy his music a bit. Then I paid him a tip and walked along, enjoying the clarinet as it faded behind me. Why…