I'm not a fan of blogging. I don't like the implications of the word. In the vernacular sense of the word a blog is a diary or journal of personal events. Using the general definition of the word 'blog' then even this website is a blog. I'll admit to knee-jerking everytime someone mentions the says 'blog' or 'blogging'; I can't help but think about all those mundane blogs detailing people's personal lives. The events and thoughts of most personal blogs are dull. Even my own daily routine is uninteresting but that's not to say what I study is dull.

This is a re-publishing of an article I found on the web, it originates from a controversial website called amerika.org. I found this article insightful because it approaches philosophy: a useful and necessary subject for all people.

Some two or three weeks have passed since my last article. Laziness and busy-ness (not business) have consumed my time, I've had plenty ideas for articles but little motivation to type one out. Well, I've found some motivation after having an interesting lunchtime discussion at my university's research club. Highbrow conversation start to finish = I'm happy.

There was talk of physics, computing, philosophy and a brief pejorative monologue of the Sun newspaper.

I've been pleased with the NY Times as a good source of interesting articles so naturally I found this recent article about Warren Buffett to be of high interest to myself. Mr Buffett is an investor that I respect and believe the principles of his investment strategy are sound; however, his recent support of the bail outs and of quantitive easing (printing of more money) is questionable in my book. I can't help but see the reason that Mr Buffett supported Obama and the financial stimulus as self-serving. Good for the few, not the many.

A recent study undertaken by people at Glasgow and Exeter Universities concludes that females should not trust flashy males. These people equate to hipsters: all show and no substance. I could have told the researchers that before they began their research. A walk down the main street of any city will suggest this and once you talk to such people you can see why this immutable truth is an axiomatic tautology.

This is what I find beautiful: biology highlighing a mechanism of nature. We should trust nature to illustrate the best solution for everything... but that's another story.

This is an article that continues my dislike of modern atheism. Most people fail to understand my dislike. Do I dislike the anti-religious stance? No. Is it the militancy of their convictions? Sorta but not exactly. An apt parody is this: "The immutable truths that I believe are valid because I believe in science and rational thought."

Scientists are human, too. They are error prone and are just as irrational as anyone else. You might say that over time such irrationality will 'come out in the wash'. Unfortunately I have little faith in group thinking (truth by commonality), and the notion that it will lead society to discovering deeper truths about the universe. Truth is not always the most popular idea. I've observed enough of the scientific community, particularly in my own branch of science, to know that the most popular idea isn't always the 'best' but the one that receives the most propaganda and hence becomes the most popular.

Some investment gurus are suggesting that investing in gold is good hedge (bet) against inflation and/or stock market collapses. While the dollar / pound weakens then your savings will also decrease in value as measured against stronger foreign currencies and against commodities such as oil or gold.

The economists that I like to follow are bullish on Gold and are bullish on China. Read on for why.

This follows on from an NY Times article with the same name. The article is worth a read and points out many ugly truths that most people won't try to consider: the guys in charge of the Obama administration's economic policies don't know what they're doing. They never had a clue and still don't have a clue.

If I had enough money I'd set one up. The best known micronation is Sealand, an old WWII sea fort in International waters. Although sovereignty is disputed, no formal acceptance of sovereignty, there is no formal acknowledgment that Sealand is British. The imagination can run wild with ideals about what to do if you had your own Sealand.

Yes, I stole that title from the Guardian newspaper but posting comments is free. I wish to invite people to join the website by clicking on the link on the left hand side. Signing up is easy and then you simply log in to comment. Either my articles are too boring/ridiculous to comment on or people are shy/lazy. I'm leaning towards the latter.

You can add this site to your RSS reader by clicking the link in the bottom left corner of the website, and/or read my latest musings on Twitter.

This from a New Scientist article that was released on Friday, their article is a commentary on a 3 paged document that appeared on arxiv.org. I read the NS article then the paper. Naturally I'm sceptical of anyone that makes stock market predictions. If the predictions become true that I'm curious to know if it was a fluke or a genuine prediction. I've read books about investing and trading, I'm also a mathematically inclined person, so I figure I could provide worthy criticism to this recent claim.

In short: it is an interesting article that merits more attention but shouldn't be taken without criticism.

We hear so often that in politics left and right are at war with each other. But as our circumstances get more extreme thanks to climate change and lack of resources, we may see a type of convergence that is predicted by mathematics.

The more we explore the alternative side of life on this blog, the more we run into hacking. This writer has a fair knowledge of computers but the finer details of hacking are elusive. As recent news stories about hacks, DDoS attacks, identity theft and spying illustrate, hacking is just going to get bigger -- so we investigate it.

As a writer, I realised that my goals of increasing my own understanding of 'things in general' is not dissimilar to what a hacker does. As I mention in the About section that symbols or imagery may appear familiar and easily understood yet there are many things in the universe that are poorly understood, and one way to find out is to "hack" them.

"There is so much talk about green shoots of recovery on CNBC that I think I'm watching the Gardening Channel." Peter Schiff on CNBC (26/06/09).

One of the few people that predicted the collapse of the economy before it happened was Peter Schiff. When science makes a testable prediction people are receptive to the idea. They watch on with eager interest to see what the outcome will be. When it comes to something like economics it seems that no one wants to hear about the bad news: house prices can't rise forever, prices of tech stock won't rise forever, the Western economy can't continue to thrive on credit and spending money. We live in a bubble economy Peter said and few people listened. If someone can make a testable prediction then I'm willing to listen, if that prediction is correct then I'm much more eager to listen. The secret of his predictions is common sense: don't spend more than you can afford and if someone sounds too good to be true then it probably is too good to be true.

Orphic Hymns, No. 1

The histories of European occultist and esoteric tradition exist almost solely in the obscure and incoherent ramblings of medieval philosophers or in the cold detached voices of modern scholarly articles; they are as difficult to find as they are to understand; and they are marginalized or ignored by mainstream academics, theologians and society. But there is one mode of art which continues blatantly to interweave the themes of occultism and esotericism: black metal.

In this article I interview Dr. Keith Kahn-Harris whom is the author of 'Extreme Metal: music and culture on the edge'. You may remember seeing him in the metal documentary 'Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey'. I'm glad that Keith agreed to to this fascinating interview and hope you enjoy reading it.

I chose to interview Keith because, like myself, he is keen to study metal music from an academic point of view. He is able to see beyond the apparent noise and sensationalism, he sees something deeper. He also provides an interesting insight into his childhood -- growing up in a Jewish family and listening to metal music. Find out more about him on his website.

Here is something more recent from the Guardian website. An 8 part study of the philosophy of Heidegger. The final part was released on 27/07/09.

While some of my friends have recommended his works I have to admit that I haven't read Heidegger's Being and Time, it is on my to do list. From having a quick glance at it in the bookshop recently it looks intimidating and will require a lot of time to digest properly. I'm not one to read through such books quickly and miss the meaning only to say that I've read it. People that speed read and miss out on content annoy me, anyway I digress.

My thoughts on recent developments in software. Second time writing this, damned back end of the website ate the first attempt. This version is not so erudite. :-/

Sometimes people need a reality check. This is a demonstration of humour mixed with physics to highlight the need for realit when dealing with petty grievances. It intended as satire.

Coffee Causality Conjecture

Abstract: We *boldly* suggest that making coffee and being outside of the department simultaneously is prohibited by the cosmic censorship hypotheses. Our results show that physics still works.