The official Ozymandias is a classic and well received all round, but it's not very realistic.
So I've done my own version which I think answers the deficiencies of realism in the classic. Apologies to Shelly.
Oswald McDuff
I met, whilst travelling in an antique land,
a stranger, smartly dressed and on his own
who beckoning, drew near me, with his hand
a welcome bidding, and a winning smile,
a twinkling eye, an aspect oh so grand,
Then in his foreign tongue these words he read:
"You've just arrived in this historic place
the home of kings and queens though now long dead"
And on his shiny badge, the words inscribed
(lest there be any doubt in those who seek)
"official metropolitan tour guide"
but no-one listened... and I heard him say
that if I had the extra time to spare
the five pounds special guided tour today
Sam Liddicott 2011
The original is below, which I am sure you will agree was in need of improvement, as well as desart spelling properly. Old poets can get away with anything these days.
Ozymandias
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desart. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Shelley 1819
Saturday, 12 November 2011
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Goodbye Ubuntu - probably
Ubuntu has been great. I've had years of top-notch software, for free, and with access to the source code which I have had to hack about from time to time.
But it may be time to say goodbye. Ubuntu's direction is entirely their concern but it is getting in my way.
So if I can't like it, and I don't want to lump it, I may have to leave it.
The Ubuntu/gnome strategy seems to be to replace a nearly-done application with a much less done application which will catch up real soon.
For instance:
And then there are problems with using launchpad their issue-tracker. The typical ubuntu bug-report scenario is like like this:
Ubuntu use of launchpad seems designed to disuade people from using launchpad. Rather than the point of "report all bugs" it is the point of "being insulted for reporting any bug".
In an effort to fix this (it seems) bug reports are now automatically closed if no-one from the Ubuntu team has responds in an arbitrary the time-frame.
What makes it worse is that Shuttleworth abandoned his bug-bounty idea; so it is impossible for individual users financially support Canonical or Ubuntu, or get support or contribute to support on issues that matter.
Individual users (non-enterprise customers) are reduced to the level of beggars who can contribute if they don't mind being insulted by launchpad. But any value in the contributions will likely leak away through inaction.
I like ubuntu but they don't like me, and there is no way to pay them any money as I'm not corporate enough to be worth bothering with.
I think that Mint is where it is at; while ubuntu is "debian done nicely" - Mint seems to be: "ubuntu with the bugs actually fixed"
so long, and thanks for all the fish.
It's been really great, and if it's been mostly one-way, it's not for want of trying.
But it may be time to say goodbye. Ubuntu's direction is entirely their concern but it is getting in my way.
So if I can't like it, and I don't want to lump it, I may have to leave it.
The Ubuntu/gnome strategy seems to be to replace a nearly-done application with a much less done application which will catch up real soon.
For instance:
- gthumb image viewer gets replaced with eog (eye-of-gnome) which can't print more than one photo to a page
- rhythmbox gets replaced with banshee
- beagle gets replaced with tracker
- gnome 3 shell gets replaced with unity
- tomboy gets replaced with gnote
And then there are problems with using launchpad their issue-tracker. The typical ubuntu bug-report scenario is like like this:
- file a bug
- wait 1-2 years
- bug gets marked as invalid
This doesn't mean it isn't a valid bug, it means the bug team can't/won't work with it - perhaps because the person who reported the bug got a new computer after a couple of years, and so wouldn't be able to confirm if a fix was ever released. - If you are lucky, the bug was fixed upstream and you may get the fix in a future Ubuntu release, along with some different long-term bugs.
Ubuntu use of launchpad seems designed to disuade people from using launchpad. Rather than the point of "report all bugs" it is the point of "being insulted for reporting any bug".
In an effort to fix this (it seems) bug reports are now automatically closed if no-one from the Ubuntu team has responds in an arbitrary the time-frame.
What makes it worse is that Shuttleworth abandoned his bug-bounty idea; so it is impossible for individual users financially support Canonical or Ubuntu, or get support or contribute to support on issues that matter.
Individual users (non-enterprise customers) are reduced to the level of beggars who can contribute if they don't mind being insulted by launchpad. But any value in the contributions will likely leak away through inaction.
I like ubuntu but they don't like me, and there is no way to pay them any money as I'm not corporate enough to be worth bothering with.
I think that Mint is where it is at; while ubuntu is "debian done nicely" - Mint seems to be: "ubuntu with the bugs actually fixed"
so long, and thanks for all the fish.
It's been really great, and if it's been mostly one-way, it's not for want of trying.
Thursday, 3 November 2011
There are no human rights
There are no human rights, only obligations.
If I strip a human of his rights and abuse him, it is me that becomes inhuman and a brute, not him.
If, therefore, the removal of rights changes me and not him, then the rights are really vested in me as an obligation.
It is my obligation to act as a human, and (dare I say it) to treat others as I would be treated.
It is sad to see that close on the heels of worldwide recognition of human rights comes the terms under which humans can be denied those rights; certain classes of felony, enemy combatants, terrorist suspect, and so on.
I wonder if the talk of human rights is merely a precursor to wider defined abuses which are legally justified and now morally acceptable.
Once we see that the rights do not exist, only as an obligation, we are free to wonder how inhuman brutes obtain positions of authority in a political democracy.
If I strip a human of his rights and abuse him, it is me that becomes inhuman and a brute, not him.
If, therefore, the removal of rights changes me and not him, then the rights are really vested in me as an obligation.
It is my obligation to act as a human, and (dare I say it) to treat others as I would be treated.
It is sad to see that close on the heels of worldwide recognition of human rights comes the terms under which humans can be denied those rights; certain classes of felony, enemy combatants, terrorist suspect, and so on.
I wonder if the talk of human rights is merely a precursor to wider defined abuses which are legally justified and now morally acceptable.
Once we see that the rights do not exist, only as an obligation, we are free to wonder how inhuman brutes obtain positions of authority in a political democracy.
Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Ulrich Schnauss
I've been introduced to
possibly a replacement (when programming) for Jean Michelle Jarre as I'm starting to need something new.
However, thanks to Paul Parsons and Richard Parsons, I'm enjoying Pink Floyd.
Ulrich Schnauss
possibly a replacement (when programming) for Jean Michelle Jarre as I'm starting to need something new.
However, thanks to Paul Parsons and Richard Parsons, I'm enjoying Pink Floyd.
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Weightless - anti-headache music
Maybe this is another piece of music that could cure a headache. By posting it here I will be able to find it when I have a headache.
MARCONI UNION - WEIGHTLESS
Sadly the website does not have a "buy this music now" link anywhere in site. I guess I'll have to keep my money and just re-click the link each time I have a headache.
Link above broken, youtube works:
MARCONI UNION - WEIGHTLESS
Sadly the website does not have a "buy this music now" link anywhere in site. I guess I'll have to keep my money and just re-click the link each time I have a headache.
Link above broken, youtube works:
Monday, 10 October 2011
Positive discrimination for the reckless
There is a stretch of road I find very distracting. There are a few miles of speed cameras and varying speed limits.
I find speed cameras to be like the ruby eye in King Solomon's Mines, and when I see one I doubly make sure that I am within the speed limit. This is a distraction.
The bigger distraction comes from the fact that the speed limit signs are not easily visible around the camera areas. I think the back of a forward facing camera should display a speed limit on the rear which faces the driver.
Such camera deployments cause me to alter my priorities and to take abnormal action in order to avoid, at any cost, a fine or points on my license.
While such distraction and such abnormal action may be dangerous to some drivers, the effect of the cameras and hard to spot speed limit signs might cause reckless drivers to slow down.
So I wonder if the overall consequence is a decrease in accidents among reckless drivers and an increase among the less reckless drivers - a sort of positive discrimination. To make it fair.
I find speed cameras to be like the ruby eye in King Solomon's Mines, and when I see one I doubly make sure that I am within the speed limit. This is a distraction.
The bigger distraction comes from the fact that the speed limit signs are not easily visible around the camera areas. I think the back of a forward facing camera should display a speed limit on the rear which faces the driver.
Such camera deployments cause me to alter my priorities and to take abnormal action in order to avoid, at any cost, a fine or points on my license.
While such distraction and such abnormal action may be dangerous to some drivers, the effect of the cameras and hard to spot speed limit signs might cause reckless drivers to slow down.
So I wonder if the overall consequence is a decrease in accidents among reckless drivers and an increase among the less reckless drivers - a sort of positive discrimination. To make it fair.
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