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<title>Rants</title>
<link>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/</link>
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<copyright>Copyright 2010</copyright>
<lastBuildDate>Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:01:38 +0100</lastBuildDate>
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<docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs> 

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<title>Tweets</title>
<description><![CDATA[<p>All my tweets since I joined last year, in case you don't use Twitter</p>]]></description>
<link>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2010/02/tweets.html</link>
<guid>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2010/02/tweets.html</guid>
<category></category>
<pubDate>Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:01:38 +0100</pubDate>
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<title>Sexism against men group</title>
<description><![CDATA[<p>Following the interest in <a href="http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2005/11/sexism_against.html">this post about sexism against men</a>, and discussion of forming an action group, I've created a Google discussion group where we could discuss possible actions. Here are the essentials. Feel free to join up and discuss things related to this topic.</p>

<p>I emphasise, that personally I'm not interested in starting something rabid. I'd like to do something to create true equality of opportunity, not yet another "we'd like to be more equal than you" movement. I'm also not interested in equality per se, only equal opportunity - non discrimination on the basis of gender. It's quite obvious that the genders are statistically speaking different in a number of features.</p>

<p>* Group name: hominism<br />
* Group home page: <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/hominism">http://groups.google.com/group/hominism</a><br />
* Group email address <a href="mailto:hominism@googlegroups.com">hominism@googlegroups.com</a></p>]]></description>
<link>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/12/sexism_against_2.html</link>
<guid>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/12/sexism_against_2.html</guid>
<category></category>
<pubDate>Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:41:22 +0100</pubDate>
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<title>Screw Carbon Taxes (unless they&apos;re at source)</title>
<description><![CDATA[<p>Trying to figure out carbon footprints for manufactured products is absurd. Let's take an extremely simple example. It must be easy to work out how much carbon it would take to produce and sell something as simple as a woodscrew, right?</p>

<p><img src="http://www.gilestv.com/images/screw.jpg" align="left" hspace="10"/></p>

<p>Take a look at my attempt below and tell me if I've put anything in which is wrong (not if I've missed anything - I know I have). My aim here is to show how impossibly complex a full analysis would be, not even to try attempt a full analysis. I also want to show that an incomplete analysis doesn't even give you a rough lower bound - it could even be too high if you don't take everything into account (although it's not likely to be).</p>]]></description>
<link>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/09/screw_carbon_ta.html</link>
<guid>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/09/screw_carbon_ta.html</guid>
<category></category>
<pubDate>Sat, 12 Sep 2009 16:59:27 +0100</pubDate>
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<title></title>
<description><![CDATA[<p>Rigihof hotel directions page needs work.shuttle costs 25 CHF, which is not mentioned on the web page and they only tell you after you've sat on it waiting for it to leave for 20 mins. Tram stop Winkelriedstrasse is not on the list on the ticket machine. There are 3 exits to HBHF and it took me 1/2 an hour to find where the tram No 10 goes from.... http://bit.ly/4tbU53</p>

<p>Otherwise, a nice hotel...</p>]]></description>
<link>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/09/rigihof_hotel_d.html</link>
<guid>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/09/rigihof_hotel_d.html</guid>
<category></category>
<pubDate>Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:28:16 +0100</pubDate>
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<title>Dawkins and probability</title>
<description><![CDATA[<p>I really like Dawkins' book "The God Delusion". Although I agree with his conclusions especially regarding the pernicious effect of religion on society, the part I don't agree with are Dawkins' arguments from probability.</p>]]></description>
<link>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/08/dawkins_and_pro.html</link>
<guid>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/08/dawkins_and_pro.html</guid>
<category></category>
<pubDate>Mon, 24 Aug 2009 10:37:01 +0100</pubDate>
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<title>Funny co-ordinates</title>
<description><![CDATA[<p>Thanks to @roessler for <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=48.068903,12.862501&ie=UTF8&ll=48.067591,12.86212&spn=0.002466,0.004823&z=18">these</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fucking,_Austria">co-ordinates</a>: </p>]]></description>
<link>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/08/funny_coordinat.html</link>
<guid>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/08/funny_coordinat.html</guid>
<category></category>
<pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:03:26 +0100</pubDate>
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<title>Sexism against men survey</title>
<description><![CDATA[<p>Since<a href="http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2005/11/sexism_against.html"> my post on sexism against men</a> has attracted so much interest, I decided to create a small survey to collect more opinions. Perhaps there is potential for some political action here. Please fill in my survey <a href="https://spreadsheets.google.com/a/hogben.eu/viewform?hl=en_GB&formkey=dGN0RFRkWk9oMThMaEViVjJHc2Zac1E6MA..">here:</a> </p>]]></description>
<link>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/07/sexism_against_1.html</link>
<guid>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/07/sexism_against_1.html</guid>
<category></category>
<pubDate>Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:52:57 +0100</pubDate>
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<title>Crypto Breakthrough - Fully Homomorphic Encryption</title>
<description><![CDATA[<p>This seems to me to be one of the most important breakthroughs in many years:</p>

<p><a href="http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1536414.1536440 ">http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1536414.1536440<br />
</a></p>

<p>Using this scheme, one can arbitrarily compute on encrypted data – i.e., one can process encrypted data (query it, write into it, do anything to it that can be efficiently expressed as a circuit) without the decryption key. A user can store data on an untrusted<br />
server in encrypted form, yet still allow the server to process it, respond to (encrypted) queries etc... There is a list of “killer” applications for fully homomorphic encryption. For example, you can now process data on a completely untrusted cloud provider.</p>]]></description>
<link>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/06/crypto_breakthr.html</link>
<guid>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/06/crypto_breakthr.html</guid>
<category></category>
<pubDate>Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:47:33 +0100</pubDate>
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<title>Amazing optical illusion</title>
<description><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/2009/06/23/possibly-the-best-optical-ilusion-i-have-seen-all-year/">http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/2009/06/23/possibly-the-best-optical-ilusion-i-have-seen-all-year/</a></p>]]></description>
<link>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/06/amazing_optical.html</link>
<guid>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/06/amazing_optical.html</guid>
<category></category>
<pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:03:29 +0100</pubDate>
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<title>My Electricity Usage</title>
<description><![CDATA[<p>Here is my electricity usage. I'm tracking this because I installed photovoltaics (Y Axis is KwH):<br />
<script src="https://spreadsheets.google.com/gpub?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftbaoebshgeq225lhq2bam0m0a5mf6u0b.spreadsheets.gmodules.com%2Fgadgets%2Fifr%3Fup__table_query_url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fspreadsheets.google.com%252Ftq%253Frange%253DA2%25253AB100%2526headers%253D-1%2526key%253D0AuQ3XjcvqoBbcFY0dVpEMENGTkhOMDZUS21YWGxBV2c%2526gid%253D0%2526pub%253D1%26up_title%3D%26up__table_query_refresh_interval%3D0%26up_scale%3Dfixed%26up_values_suffix%3D%26up_annotations_width%3D25%26up_display_zoom_buttons%3D1%26up_display_exact_values%3D0%26up_display_annotations_filter%3D0%26up_display_legend_inNewline%3D0%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.google.com%252Fig%252Fmodules%252Ftime-series-line.xml&height=320&width=450"></script></p>]]></description>
<link>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/06/my_electricity.html</link>
<guid>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/06/my_electricity.html</guid>
<category></category>
<pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:44:43 +0100</pubDate>
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<title>Funny site</title>
<description><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://lmgtfy.com/?q=how+do+I+insert+a+table+in+Word&l=1">http://lmgtfy.com/?q=how+do+I+insert+a+table+in+Word</a></p>]]></description>
<link>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/05/funny_site.html</link>
<guid>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/05/funny_site.html</guid>
<category></category>
<pubDate>Tue, 26 May 2009 13:43:22 +0100</pubDate>
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<title>MS Word Numbering</title>
<description><![CDATA[<p>Is it just my usage pattern or is this the most screwed up feature ever to show it's face in any application. <a href="http://www.gilestv.com/images/WordNumbering3.swf">I took a movie</a> or <a href="http://www.gilestv.com/images/WordNumbering2.swf">2</a> of a typical interaction with this feature, just to show the world I'm not making it up. They would be quite amusing if I wasn't trying to finish an important (to me) doc....</p>

<p>In the movie you'll see</p>

<ul>
<li>"Continue numbering" with the previous number as 1, turn a number to 97 or something</li>
<li>Set number value (how can that be misinterpreted OR difficult to program??) turn a number to 97 and indent it by the wrong amount which then can't be undone without turning all the numbers in the entire document to one long list...</li>
<li>Various failed attempts to copy bits from numbering parts which turned out OK but mysteriously screw up when pasted in this bit</li>
<li>Starting a new line does not produce a new number for some reason</li>
</ul>]]></description>
<link>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/04/ms_word_numberi.html</link>
<guid>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/04/ms_word_numberi.html</guid>
<category></category>
<pubDate>Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:01:09 +0100</pubDate>
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<title>What to fear</title>
<description><![CDATA[<p>Like this... esp the bit about medical errors. I avoid hospitals like the plague these days. <a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/goekler03242009.html">http://www.counterpunch.org/goekler03242009.html</a></p>]]></description>
<link>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/04/what_to_fear.html</link>
<guid>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/04/what_to_fear.html</guid>
<category></category>
<pubDate>Fri, 10 Apr 2009 08:25:55 +0100</pubDate>
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<title>Wampserver on Vista</title>
<description><![CDATA[<p>Spent ages trying to get it to work and couldn't - it said it was running but just gave me a blank page on localhost and 127.0.0.1 . For the benefit of anyone else who is struggling with this, I found out that this is what you have to do:</p>

<p>Step 1 - find this file<br />
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts</p>

<p>Step 2 - open it</p>

<p>Step 3 - save it on the desktop (Vista won't let you save it even as admin)</p>

<p>Step 4 - find a line in the hosts file that says<br />
::1             localhost</p>

<p>Step 5 Copy it to overwrite the original at C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts</p>

<p>Voila'</p>

<p></p>

<p><br />
</p>]]></description>
<link>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/04/wampserver_on_v.html</link>
<guid>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/04/wampserver_on_v.html</guid>
<category></category>
<pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:19:57 +0100</pubDate>
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<title>The department of ridiculously implausible denials</title>
<description><![CDATA[<p>Why do reputable news agencies insist on publicising obvious lies as "just the other side of the story"? Some examples:</p>

<p><br />
<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7972702.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7972702.stm</a><br />
"The spokesman of the Chinese embassy in London said that there was no evidence to show Beijing was involved.</p>

<p>He suggested the findings were part of a "propaganda campaign" by the Tibetan government in exile. "</p>

<p><HR/></p>

<p>"BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese officials on Wednesday denied a so-called "media war" over the March 14 riot in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, saying that the majority of foreign journalists were covering the issue fairly."<br />
<a href=" http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/zt/zgxz/t423192.htm"><br />
http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/zt/zgxz/t423192.htm</a> (OK that one is from the Chinese embassy but I bet it was reported verbatim elsewhere)</p>

<p><HR/></p>

<p>President Robert Mugabe has said Zimbabwe has contained cholera - as the UN and a UK charity warned the deadly outbreak was getting worse.</p>

<p>Save the Children said: "If anything is certain in the chaos of Zimbabwe today it is that the cholera outbreak is not under control."</p>

<p>Mr Mugabe also said Western powers were plotting to use cholera as an excuse to invade and overthrow him. <br />
<a href=" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7777178.stm"><br />
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7777178.stm</a></p>

<hr/>

<p>"The Zimbabwean Government has rejected widespread criticism of a new media law passed by parliament on Thursday.</p>

<p>Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa told the BBC there was nothing in the legislation which was intended to stifle dissent. "</p>

<p><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1795125.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1795125.stm</a></p>]]></description>
<link>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/04/the_department.html</link>
<guid>http://www.gilestv.com/rants2/archives/2009/04/the_department.html</guid>
<category></category>
<pubDate>Wed, 01 Apr 2009 07:42:47 +0100</pubDate>
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