The Lost Realm

Having a barnicle attached to a delicate part of your anatomy is a definite problem. At least he found a way to remove it. Not a very dignified technique, but at least it worked.

I wonder if this sort of thing is a problem for whales.

Have your debit card stolen, check your bank balance and win £291.40.

Professor Dijkstra, famous for so many of the now fundamental theories and algorithms used daily by computer scientists everywhere, has passed away.

I can remember sitting in my undergraduate classes, looking over Dijkstra's shortest path algorithm and realising that it was a simple and elegant solution for something I had been trying to solve on my own for months. I can remember reading “GO TO Statement Considered Harmful“, which is considered to be the beginning of the structured style of programming that I have taught to more students than I can remember. I can remember desperately trying to remember how his name was spelled during an exam.

It is strange thought to think that computer science is such a young field that most of our founders are still with us. It is sad to realise that one less of them walks with us today.

I have now experienced true boredom. Yesterday I signed up with Centrelink to stop myself from going broke while I look for work. The first step in this process is the most brain-numbingly boring seminar known to mankind. I believe the ancient Egyptians actually used it as a form of torture. Luckily, they soon realised just how evil that was and switched to simply pouring scarab beetles into their victims' ears and watching while the little critters snacked on cerebal cortex. We can only hope that Centrelink makes a similar discovery.

So, if you're looking for a computing geek with strong problem solving and programming skills, drop me an email and ask for a resume. You too can employ the part of my brain not destroyed by Centrelink's torture devices.

Smoking is bad for you, smoking is bad for those around you, and smoking is bad for your cat. A new study shows that cats with smoking owners are twice as likely to develop feline lymphoma. That's not a statistic to cough and splutter at. If you needed another reason to quit, do it for your feline friend.

I wonder if the RSPCA (and other equivalents) will start prosecuting smokers with pets. That would be an interesting precedent to set: people being sued on behalf of their terminally ill animals.

The world is full of people with really strange habits. Some people are into the weirdest things.

That said, I've just found a reason to buy a DVD player.