hug tree

fairfax attempts to bring back the 90s, disables "right click"

2011-12-19T19:22:00.002+13:00

while I don't exactly hold stuff.co.nz to be a paragon of "doing things properly", this is just absurd:

FairFax Media attempts to bring back the 1990s

kinda sad they didn't also make the page background a two frame flashing gif of a starfield.

recipe "programmer's breakfast"

2011-12-17T20:23:00.002+13:00


ingredients:

  o spiral or tube shaped pasta

  o cheese (any kind but edam is sort of boring)

method:

cook pasta until not really done (still a bit tough, for texture / excitement). mix with grated cheese (quite a lot, half a cup?) and microwave for a minute or so (until a bit of the cheese goes crunchy but not much).

stir immediately to ensure cheese is evenly distributed.

consume on sunday morning during non-stop weekend long coding session. try not to die.

NSFW: Slutty Storm Troopers

2011-12-01T20:56:00.002+13:00

The guy at the desk next to me

2011-11-30T11:47:00.002+13:00

Portrait in MS Paint

my favourite hairstyle

2011-11-28T23:25:00.001+13:00

they say a picture is worth a thousand words. i somehow doubt they've seen this picture.

this is where i live now

2011-10-23T10:12:00.003+13:00

@Farrarmates #WeArethe99percent

#occupy the space under the couch.

Dr Giles Weighs in on Neutrinos

2011-09-26T23:54:00.001+13:00

An understandable summary of the faster-than-light neutrino experiment.

For the full technical paper you can click here

The recently-announced result of the OPERA experiment is very surprising and exciting, as well as baffling. The general scheme of the experiment is to use the particle accelerator at CERN (on the Swiss/French border) to fire lots of neutrinos at a detector in Italy. The results of the measurements in the Italian detector can tell us about how neutrinos propagate. The major goal of the experiment was to measure a particular aspect of neutrino oscillations which has been predicted but never measured. However this paper is far more fascinating and news-worthy.

Although the flagship of CERN is the 27-km circumference LHC ring, which (among other things) is searching for the Higgs boson, there is a lot of other stuff underground there. The LHC is fed by smaller accelerators that get the protons up to a high enough energy to be fed into the main beam. The OPERA experiment uses a beam called CNGS that is aimed at the detector in Gran Sasso, Italy. (hence the very factual acronym: CERN Neutrino beam to Gran Sasso) The set-up can be understood through this picture:

The beam is diverted off every now and then into a big chunk of graphite. The protons plow into this and get smashed into all sorts of stuff, but the most important for this experiment are things called pions and kaons. These decay after a short time into muons and muon neutrinos, and it is these neutrinos that are detected at Gran Sasso. Regular readers will know that neutrinos interact extremely weakly with matter, so they are able to travel 730 km through the ground to Italy as easily as light from the Sun comes to the ground through the atmosphere.

The neutrinos that get to Italy do occasionally interact in the OPERA detector, and their energy and arrival times can be measured. The OPERA detector consists of two 600 ton slabs, each made up of alternating lead/detector layers. When a neutrino interacts with the lead it produces charged particles which in turn fly through the detector and cause the little flashes of light which the detector actually measures. The results come from 16111 measured neutrinos.

The chunks of proton beam which are smashed into the target at CERN are extremely accurately timed with atomic clocks, and the distance between the source and detector is measured to an accuracy of plus or minus 20 cm using GPS. The timing is complicated by the fact that the bunches of protons are not sharp: they hit the target at a range of times. But the distribution of protons in the bunch is known, so by comparing the range of arrival times with the range of input times of protons statistical procedures allow the average total time between neutrino production and reception to be measured to within about plus or minus 10 nanoseconds or 10 billionths of a second (which is the time it takes for light to travel 3 metres).

9 hours

by car (WITH TOLLS!) but only

2.43501 milliseconds

by light beam, or

2.43495 milliseconds

by neutrino!

The final result of all of this is that the OPERA guys calculated how long the neutrinos took to get to the detector, and compared that to how long light would take. They got the surprising result that neutrinos arrive 60 nanoseconds faster than light would. Because the uncertainty of their measurement is only 10 nanoseconds this is a very significant, and essentially proves that the neutrinos traveled faster than light. The only escape route would be to discredit some element of their analysis, which I can't really do for you sadly. So option one is that someone will redo the experiment, or they will collect more data or reanalyze the existing results and find a mistake somewhere, and physics will go back to normal. This is pretty boring though, so let's consider option 2.

Option 2 is that the neutrinos really truly did travel faster than light. There are probably already a thousand different theories floating around about why or how this could be, and no way to tell which (if any) is true. So let's think about what this result proves wrong.

Firstly, there's the 'ultimate speed limit' aspect of Einstein's theory of relativity. This is a really huge deal, much bigger than even "Einstein was wrong!" headlines suggest. Einstein's postulate was that light appears to travel at the same speed for all observers. Making this assumption and doing some deep thinking leads to certain consequences of how measurements of 'rods and clocks' done at high speed vary from what you'd expect in a non-relativistic world. But fundamental to practically all physical theories is the idea of Lorentz invariance. This is a technical term for the fact that even with these weird relativity effects, the laws of physics look the same for everyone traveling at any speed.

Faster-than-light neutrinos break Lorentz invariance, which is a big problem for all these theories that assume it's an exact law. But the really weird thing about all this is that it's the first measurement to ever see such an effect. There are extremely strict limits from all sorts of other experiments on violations of this invariance principle. So even if this experiment is fully verified it's not like all the stuff that's based on these theories is instantly wrong. It's kind of like how relativity didn't suddenly make Newton's laws stop working, resulting in all the planets flying off into deep space. Maybe it's a hint of some next level of physics that we're only just seeing now.

Another interesting aspect of this experiment is that it's on neutrinos. Because of their extremely weak interactions, neutrinos are in many ways the least well-understood particles in our current theories. While most people think we have a very good handle on most of their properties, there is still lots of lively debate about the exact nature of neutrinos, such as their masses and the interpretation of neutrino oscillations. So perhaps it isn't surprising that this effect only popped up in this odd little corner of particle physics.

These results are exactly the kind of thing that physicists hoped for from CERN: unexpected, outside our current power to explain, and something that lots of theorists will have to struggle with to get to the next stage of understanding of our Universe. To them I say: good luck!

facebook like parade

2011-09-04T15:42:00.005+12:00

Finch made a thing that generates new and unique facebook group names, just in case you were short of things to like.

list of unfinished projects

2011-08-29T23:25:00.006+12:00

Embroidered westside rapper cushions
The Illegal Soft Toy Company website
Themed maracas
The Nimble Courting Academy website
Hypnodragon Novel
Apron for Sam
Coffee table
Embroidered handkerchiefs
Ella and the Death Rays
C'est Ça Sake

they're made of meat

2011-08-09T17:03:00.001+12:00

Short sci-fi film via Michael himself.

open letter

2011-07-27T14:19:00.001+12:00

Dear Supermarket Deli Chefs,

Not everything needs to have vinegar in it.

Yours Sincerely,
Michael D. Finchacabra.

handy household tip #3

2011-07-14T22:02:00.003+12:00

tip #3. remember to liberally douse your newborn in baby oil. a slippery infant resists kidnapping.

local governments hate everything but rugby

2011-07-10T19:54:00.008+12:00

it's fortunate that here in New Zealand business owners care about nothing so much as sports (specifically, when pressed, rugby union) or they might get upset about the fact that they won't be able to get new fibre optic internet connections delivered to their offices in auckland or wellington for the rest of the year.

continuing the popular recent trend of totally reasonable, sensible pandering to what are essentially large sporting events (and thus the number one priority for the well being of our economy and society as a whole) the wellington and auckland city councils have decided to issue a moratorium on civil works during the lead-up-to and actual-spheroid-fondle-fest of the 2011 R*gby W*rld C*p.

due to being legally obliged not to dig up the road or footpath, at least one major fibre infrastructure company has issued a "blackout" period in which they will not be undertaking new builds in the affected cities, and others are expected to follow.

while you might think that this means a brief (say, two month) period in which a fibre optic internet connection cannot be provisioned, this in turn has led to an artificial scarcity (as resources to enable this type of build are not unlimited) and so if you haven't already ordered your connection, you probably won't have a chance for the rest of the year.

fortunately the payout I expect of ~$72.00 for every man woman and child in NZ should more than cover the lost business every small ISP will face this year. easily. no question.

just another sensible decision from your democratically elected leaders.

i heart japan

2011-07-10T00:40:00.003+12:00

handy household tip #2

2011-07-09T17:17:00.002+12:00

tip #2. to avoid uncomfortable inefficiencies, make sure you take your pants off at roughly the same rate as you put them on.

thanks ella for this top tip!

pub quiz

2011-07-05T23:10:00.003+12:00

And after her death...

2011-07-04T22:03:00.002+12:00

And after her death Paul was haunted by her. On quiet nights he could almost hear her whisper...

thanks for this google

2011-06-28T23:11:00.009+12:00

www.wdyl.com

I also like the "alert me about cannibals" bit.

i want

2011-06-28T15:44:00.002+12:00

I want your job. I want your creativity. I want your body. I want your mind. I want your sushi. I want your gym membership. I want your teeth. I want your boots. I want your ipad. I want your motivation. I want your books. I want your knowledge. I want your mother. I want your illness. I want your ignorance. I want your bread. I want your wine. I want your religion. I want your cure. I want your music. I want your love. I want your optimism. I want your bed. I want your skin. I want your struggle. I want your design. I want your emotion. I want your room. I want your laugh. I want your coffee. I want your juice. I want your friends. I want your ability. I want your passion. I want your memories. I want your simplicity. I want your dress. I want your guilt. I want your popularity. I want your words. I want your reservations. I want your style. I want your honesty. I want your naivety . I want your company. I want your savings. I want your enemies. I want your hair. I want your seat. I want your date. I want your taste. I want your experience. I want your attitude. I want your purity. I want your respect. I want your anecdotes. I want your camera. I want your eye. I want your invitation. I want your insomnia. I want your touch. I want your confidence. I want your life.

I want you to text me.

happy birthday james

2011-06-27T18:32:00.002+12:00

probably the coolest thing i have ever seen

2011-06-26T17:59:00.004+12:00

Check out this guy.

There is an article about him here*. Basically he made a solar powered cutter and a solar powered 3.D. printer. Then he went out in the desert and made some hipster sunglasses and a bowl.

My first manually-operated solar-sintering machine was tested in February 2011 in the Moroccan desert with encouraging results that led to the development of the current larger and fully-automated computer driven version - the Solar-Sinter. The Solar-Sinter was completed in mid-May and later that month I took this experimental machine to the Sahara desert near Siwa, Egypt, for a two week testing period. The machine and the results of these first experiments presented here represent the initial significant steps towards what I envisage as a new solar-powered production tool of great potential.

How could a person not be into this?

*Thanks for another amazing link Michael Fincham.

step two

2011-06-26T16:44:00.002+12:00

step one

2011-06-25T18:24:00.002+12:00

New Blog - Farrar's Mates

2011-06-21T00:37:00.003+12:00

See it here

public service announcement

2011-06-20T01:15:00.001+12:00

every day the same dream

2011-06-15T23:55:00.004+12:00

via Sam

<3

"aww, this is lovely" - Michael Fincham

handy household tip #1

2011-06-15T22:28:00.005+12:00

keeping your canned goods on your windowsills visibly demonstrates prosperity to the community. your neighbours will thank you later!

just in case you were wondering...

2011-06-14T20:48:00.002+12:00

...this is what it's like to be a hula hoop.

and epic tale

2011-06-14T16:46:00.002+12:00

(Portrait of Paul as Centaur, 2011)

space themed design

2011-06-13T20:56:00.003+12:00

does auckland even need a rail tunnel?

2011-06-08T18:05:00.014+12:00

lost in all of this rational debate surrounding the presence of a taniwha on queen street in auckland is the very real concern regarding the awakening of a truly great Old One in NZ's territorial waters.

so long as unchecked oceanographic prospecting is allowed to continue in NZ, oil and gas companies must remain accountable for the ensuing lack of brevity of the lives of our people, should they drill too deep and reach too far in to the cavernous catacombs of r'lyeh (well known[1] to be located somewhere off the coast of NZ) and alight upon an unspeakable horror the likes of which man was not made to know.

for comparison:

taniwha

lizard-like (compare other native lizards of NZ)
sometimes helpful, sometimes monstrous
reputedly possible to dispatch with primitive weaponry and a small force of people

cthulhu

not composed altogether of flesh and blood
[can] never really die
possibly n-dimensional where n > n(our universe)
revival may result in a time in which "all the earth would flame with a holocaust of ecstasy and freedom"

i think you can see where the real threat lies.

1. "The Morrison Co.’s freighter Vigilant, bound from Valparaiso, arrived this morning at its wharf in Darling Harbour, having in tow the battled and disabled but heavily armed steam yacht Alert of Dunedin, N. Z., which was sighted April 12th in S. Latitude 34° 21', W. Longitude 152° 17' with one living and one dead man aboard." - H. P. Lovecraft

times are changing

2011-06-03T11:21:00.002+12:00

(self portrait 146)

stylish and functional body adornment

2011-05-31T23:23:00.006+12:00

did you ever admire the classiest class of tattoo, the lower back? could you perhaps not afford the high cost of a custom design? let me video tutorial you on how easy it is to make your own using a ~~pinko~~free software called inkscape.

come back next week for instructions on diy tattoo gun!

fan art: If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.

2011-05-31T17:52:00.004+12:00

Portrait: Sam as Carl Sagan

an old one but still a good one

2011-05-27T12:51:00.001+12:00

this is going to be an initiation ritual in my cult.

the author says a few words about style

2011-05-26T10:26:00.002+12:00

1,461 of 1,524 people found the following review helpful: a customer's review of ender's game.

mycology humour

2011-05-25T18:51:00.006+12:00

conventional wisdom dictates that there is only one mushroom joke on the internet.


Q.  What did the zoospore say as it was leaving the zoosporangium?
A.  "After you,  I encyst!"

Q.  Why did the fungus refrain from sex?
A.  Because sex is a pain in the ascus.

conventional wisdom might have this one.

i heart japan

2011-05-16T10:22:00.002+12:00

Thank you Finch. This is the future.

2011-05-15T17:37:00.004+12:00

Jack Sprat could eat no fat,
his wife could eat no lean,
and so between them both,
their marriage is a lie of practical expedience.

Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,

All the king's horses and all the king's men,

Couldn't be bothered.

frames of facebook

2011-05-15T12:35:00.001+12:00

the chances of anything coming from mars

2011-05-14T19:31:00.002+12:00

one of those blog posts that is just a list of links to other people's pages and has no original content

2011-05-11T16:46:00.003+12:00

1. This is a youtube video that Sam 'liked' on the facebooks. I like it IRL.

2. This is a short film that Finch linked me to. I'm not sure if I like it but it's interesting.

3. Posted by Slosh on the Facebooks; an article in Wired about wine. Can we tell the difference between cheap and expensive wine?

"The results should upset wine snobs everywhere: The 600 plus participants could only pick the more expensive wine 53 percent of the time, which is basically random chance."

one of those blog posts that is just a list of links to other people's pages and has no original content

2011-05-10T11:14:00.004+12:00

(The Power of Gates)

1. Too Cute

2. Art that looks like the inside of the dolls house but less dark.

3. My new favourite thing; thank you Finch.

"A client of mine once told me how on 7 nights a month her husband was possessed by a ghost that made the best sexual lover she ever had. But she confided in me that she never told her husband about the encounter."

You've got to read the whole page. It's pure gold.

one of those blog posts that is just a list of links to other people's pages and has no original content

2011-05-09T14:34:00.006+12:00

1. Of the self via Slosh and Sam

2. The cutest games in the world, thank you Finch

3. God hates shrimp

4. A comic, thanks Vinent

5. You have to see this via Finch

one of those blog posts that is just a list of links to other people's pages and has no original content

2011-05-08T17:36:00.002+12:00

1. via Giles.. Viles?

David Lynch Signature Cup Coffee from David Lynch on Vimeo.

2. For Finch
\

3. Art

dom post politics quiz seems to have died

2011-05-08T14:10:00.003+12:00

Last year my flatmates and I used to do the dom post politics quiz. We could never beat David Farrar who would post his result on his weblog.

Things are changing. Now David Farrar posts:

Sadly the Dom Post politics quiz seems to have died, but the NZ Herald now has one. It seems to be tougher – only got 6/10.

Ha ha! I did the quiz and I got 8/10. Take that Farrar!

UPDATE: Paul got 8/10 too.

japan is my favourite

2011-05-04T17:58:00.001+12:00

what is kissing? we just don't know.

see my vest

2011-05-03T18:04:00.003+12:00

(Self Portrait 146)

space-themed business card

2011-04-29T01:34:00.002+12:00

I bet you wish you had a space-themed business card.

diary extract 18/8/09

2011-04-24T14:59:00.002+12:00

What a hollow day. I walked to class with (redacted). The air was deceitfully like spring, warm and sweet. I (redacted) a (redacted) and meandered to class. When I was released the air had cooled. It was the cold bitter air of winter. (redacted) and I had coffee. I started to wander home before turning back on remembering that I had planned to purchase a book. Steppenwolf. The young man at the book shop stamped my loyalty card. Forty-nine dollars? Surely I was owed more than that. I began to walk home again. I ran into the man with the moustache. We greeted each other.
"Are you off to class?" I asked.
"No, why?" his moustache twitched.
"I was just making small talk but that seems inappropriate now."
"No, it's appropriate."
I laughed nervously "Oh, well, see you on Friday"
I knew I shouldn't have talked to anyone today. I felt far too awkward. Today was a day for sitting alone.
I decided to take the garden path by the stream. It's a beautiful path and in summer students read under trees there. It was too cold for that today. The blossoms came out of hiding too soon. I wanted to stay on that path forever.

diary extract 8/8/09

2011-04-24T14:37:00.003+12:00

1.05am
I am feeling a bit (redacted) (perhaps) because (redacted) and I debated about whether or not dogs (or other animals) can have personalities. I argued that even if they did have personalities our interpretation of animal behaviour probably does not accurately reflect that personality. I lost the debate due to a lack of definition of 'personality' and also because I'm not very articulate. (redacted) also changed the subject at the end saying his like for dogs was "subjective. What's the point then?

one of those blog posts that is just a list of links to other people's pages and has no original content

2011-04-24T12:11:00.002+12:00

1. Of women as objects via The Wellington Young Feminists' Collective

2. Of thoughts and justification via Slondre

3. Of nyan and cat Thanks Finch... thinch.

yup, that's a thing

2011-04-23T17:29:00.001+12:00

fan art

2011-04-23T12:36:00.002+12:00

Portrait 2: Preparing for Battle

one of those blog posts that is just a list of links to other people's pages and has no original content

2011-04-23T11:25:00.002+12:00

This is some art that has been floating around the internets.

Bureaucratics by Jan Banning

"Bureaucratics is a project consisting of a book (ISBN 978-1-59005-232-7) and exhibition containing 50 photographs, the product of an anarchist’s heart, a historian’s mind and an artist’s eye. It is a comparative photographic study of the culture, rituals and symbols of state civil administrations and its servants in eight countries on five continents, selected on the basis of polical, historical and cultural considerations: Bolivia, China, France, India, Liberia, Russia, the United States, and Yemen. In each country, I visited up to hundreds of offices of members of the executive in different services and at different levels. The visits were unannounced and the accompanying writer, Will Tinnemans, by interviewing kept the employees from tidying up or clearing the office. That way, the photos show what a local citizen would be confronted with when entering."

one of those blog posts that is just a list of links to other people's pages and has no original content

2011-04-22T20:34:00.001+12:00

thanks raplh... thalph

2011-04-17T12:02:00.000+12:00

Who does this remind you of?

Thanks Stuff

2011-04-14T21:12:00.004+12:00

thanks, stuff.

worst art ever

2011-04-12T20:22:00.004+12:00

I went to an art project opening with some friends last night.

It was awful and not just because there wasn't any free wine.

My entire evening was ruined. It was boring, depressing, irritating, arrogant and amateur.

The idea was "The vacant floors of a central office building will be occupied with its lighting controlled via a live data feed from the stock market." That's not really what happened at all. The lighting was controlled by some arbitrary algorithm that had something to do with what happened in the stock market earlier that day.

The artist, Colin Hodson, got up, made a speech, thanked a bunch of people. Someone asked him how it works but he "forgot".

In the media release Hodson actually said “the degree to which our lives are highly determined by a complex of economic systems that, to a large part, are running beyond our comprehension and control.” That's how he presumably came up with the idea of flicking the lights on and off in a building.

The work also includes a live webcam feed.

Also, John Phillips was there.

Holiday Slides

2011-04-12T18:50:00.004+12:00

ella de'ville's hideout is heavily fortified by this wall of writhing tentacles.

nasty jibe about poor people breeding

2011-04-05T20:11:00.005+12:00

My dear friend Finch linked me to this post by Deborah on The Hand Mirror. The article is about how the Welfare Working Group's final report has "nasty jibe about poor people breeding" as the report "considers that a component of addressing this issue is providing all parents within the welfare system ready access to free long-acting reversible contraception."

I'm just going to put it out there... Deborah is wrong.

Free contraception is a darn good idea! It's not as if the Welfare Working Group is forcing young mothers to sterilise themselves against their will. No, they're just putting it out there - take it or leave it.

Debora says "...if you are on the benefit, the government is going to control your fertility." This is blatantly false. At the moment many contraceptives are subsidised by the government. Condoms in supermarkets are subsidised. Is that the government controlling everyone that shops at a supermarket's fertility? No, because whether condoms are subsidised or not, you make a choice to buy and use them, just as women on the benefit may or may not choose to take advantage of the free contraceptives.

There are some other silly ideas in the post but I'm tired so that'll do for now.

vincent elizabeth konrad

2011-04-04T22:19:00.000+12:00

slut shaming; it's not ok

2011-04-04T15:36:00.005+12:00

via The Wellington Young Feminists' Collective

A large group of protesters are walking the streets of Toronto towards Toronto Police Headquarters today to rally against comments made by a police officer at York University's Osgoode Hall in January.

The "Slut Walk" was organized after students and staff became furious when a member of 31 Division told them they could avoid assaults on campus by not dressing like a "slut."

The officer made the remark at a campus safety information session.

Organizers of the walk said on their website, slutwalktoronto.com, that they are "tired of being oppressed by slut-shaming; of being judged by our sexuality and feeling unsafe as a result. Being in charge of our sexual lives should not mean that we are opening ourselves to an expectation of violence, regardless if we participate in sex for pleasure or work. No one should equate enjoying sex with attracting sexual assault."

The full article is here. Slut-shaming; It's not ok.

thanks james... thames

2011-04-04T10:00:00.000+12:00

via james

smbc

2011-04-04T08:55:00.002+12:00

lolz

2011-04-03T23:30:00.000+12:00

via paul via frogblog

so what?

2011-04-03T21:57:00.001+12:00

I can't even believe that's even a thing

2011-04-01T21:29:00.001+13:00

Friendship Application 008

2011-03-31T08:18:00.001+13:00

this is bloody amazing

2011-03-28T15:24:00.003+13:00

via nz young nats on facebook

it's funny 'cause it's true

2011-03-28T11:31:00.002+13:00

via Sam on facebook:

CIA's 'Facebook' Program Dramatically Cut Agency's Costs

one of those blog posts that is just a list of links to other people's pages and has no original content

2011-03-27T15:09:00.004+13:00

1. Thanks to James who found this sweet short film involving a robot

2. How facebook works

3. Thank you Finch for introducing me to the film Session 9

Although it looks like a horror film, it is actually a crime drama about a small asbestos removal company. It stars David Caruso.

Friendship Application 007

2011-03-24T21:17:00.003+13:00

you go girl

2011-03-22T23:00:00.001+13:00

i'm so there

2011-03-22T22:18:00.000+13:00

i am so glad this is a thing

2011-03-15T21:25:00.001+13:00

via Peter and via Sam independently (presumably).

Things Feminists Don't Complain About

2011-03-15T21:21:00.000+13:00

this is what's wrong with feminism

2011-03-15T19:18:00.005+13:00

I saw this video linked on a feminist blog. It is a "public health issue about the way that women are constantly sexualized, and how, by help of the media, young men and boys are trained to view and expect certain sexual behaviours, such as women being willing to submit to men’s sexual demands at any time and place, or the right to complete access to a woman’s body.”

I don't agree with many of the points that this girlie makes so I thought I'd just quickly go through what's wrong with this picture.

1. The first issue raised is that GQ Magazine contained some 'highly sexualised' images of some of the Glee cast. She says that the shoot is 'crossing the line into pornographic paedophilia' because it sexualises actresses who play high school characters on a television show.

No. This is not paedophilia. Paedophilia is sexually abusing children which is physically and emotionally harming children. There is a clear victim in paedophilia. A photo shoot of adults, that could at most be described as soft porn, is not harming children. The actresses in this photo shoot are old enough to consent and make decisions all by themselves. Lea Michele and Dianna Agron (both 24) are grown up, consenting women with minds of their own. These are women with minds capable of making their own decisions. To call these 'paedophilia' is to trivialise paedophilia.

2. Then she goes on to say that "it doesn't matter what age the actors are as they are known for their portrayal of high school students on a very popular high television show". It does matter. There is a difference between reality and fantasy. "This photo shoot is specifically representing fictional TV characters in a high school setting." That's right. Fictional. These aren't really teenagers, it's just made up and no children were harmed.

3. "This is no different from the countless pornographic style images that infantilise adult women and fetishise young girls." Then she complains about how the 'mainstream media' shows images of lollypops and catholic school girl outfits so that straight men get to have some "disturbing fantacy". Now she thinks that she gets to decide what a 'disturbing' fantasy is? Who gave her that right? She doesn't like the pictures so now it's not ok for consenting adults to produce or purchase them?

4. Then she just casually throws in that there is a 'larger social impact'. Where? Where's the science that a person's sexual thoughts impact society? Do you really think that these images translate to men thinking that they have the "right to complete access to a woman's body'? I'm not seeing the link here. I don't think that it 'clearly' harms women and women's sense of self respect.

5. She says images like this mean aren't treating women like "whole and complete beings" and that they "hurt both genders capacity for love and healthy sexual relationships in the future." Sexy images of women aren't hurting anyone; ignoring a woman's sexuality is not treating a woman as a "whole and complete" human being. This is the real harm.

6. She defines "sexuality" as "the capacity to have and express sexual desires and emotion." Yes, and if a consenting adult wants to be depicted sexually in a photo shoot then that person is showing a capacity for sexual desires and emotion. People that buy this magazine are showing a capacity for sexual desires and emotion.

7. Then she complains about how the 'religious right' policing sexuality and in the next breath says that she is not against video or images of people involved in "healthy sexual experiences" as if she thinks that she gets to decide what is a healthy sexual experience.

As Betty Dodson once put it "The thought police are at it again. We can't even feel free to have a fantasy life without interference from those sexless wonders who get paid to entrap otherwise decent people enjoying their private fantasy lives."

frames of facebook

2011-03-14T23:29:00.001+13:00

james told me off

2011-03-13T21:01:00.000+13:00

guess who

2011-03-13T17:35:00.000+13:00

Dear Dr (redacted),

Thank you for your email.

Please be assured that I regard rape as an extremely serious crime that
is unacceptable under any circumstances.

I am dismayed that my comments, as reported in the media, were seen as
condoning rape. I cannot stress strongly enough that this is not the
case.

With regards to the Christchurch looters, I believe it is important
that a strong message is sent that those who prey on victims of the
Christchurch earthquake will be dealt with severely under the law.

The idea of a double bunked prison cell, where prisoners live in very
close quarters for a large portion of the day, might be an outcome that
make any potential looters think twice.

Double bunking has been in place in our prisons for decades. Recently
the Government increased the number of double bunked cells to ensure
there were enough beds to cope with a forecast growth in prisoner
numbers.

I'm advised that there has been no increase in assault - of a sexual
nature or otherwise - among prisoners as a result.

Yours faithfully
(redacted) (redacted)

paul says the dadest things

2011-03-13T17:21:00.001+13:00

cooking show

2011-03-12T22:35:00.000+13:00

Thanks Josh

why don't people use clip art anymore?

2011-03-12T20:22:00.003+13:00

It's such an easy way to make your documents fun! Look at this clever man helping this female with things on a computer.

I can't even believe that's even a thing: this guy

2011-03-10T22:46:00.000+13:00

for a dear friend, i miss you

2011-03-10T22:10:00.001+13:00

spot the difference

2011-03-09T21:23:00.002+13:00

One of these diagrams I got from a software website. The other I got from a box labelled 'Free' outside a closing down Asian food joint on (redacted) Place.

once there was a fisherman...

2011-03-06T21:38:00.004+13:00

Once there was a fisherman in a yellow coat. In his left hand he held a plastic supermarket bag filled with corn. It was tied up in a tight knot. He had hand written a note on some lined paper:

Crew wanted for a fishing ship going from (redacted) to (redacted). Experience preferred but not necessary. Call (redacted) on (redacted)

He had the note photocopied over 60 times and put it around the city.

frames of the facebook (but not really)

2011-03-05T22:04:00.001+13:00

out of context

2011-03-03T21:20:00.007+13:00

Giggle Pins linked me to this Stuff article in which Sue Bradford said "All I can say is that there continue to be a lot of people on the left who are very keen on the idea of a party". Well Sue Bradford, I have news for you! We all like the idea of a party.

Who doesn't like parties?

boxed in

2011-03-02T20:02:00.000+13:00

still relevant

2011-02-27T23:12:00.001+13:00

Rejected wordings for the 2009 citizens referendum on smacking:

If you were two people, one of whom always tells the truth and the other whom always lies and I asked the second one if the first one would be telling the truth if he said smacking should be legal, what would they say?

via richard via dimpost via the past.

animal rights

2011-02-25T10:06:00.000+13:00

i wish i were invisible

2011-02-23T23:33:00.003+13:00

Self Portrait 145

i'm alright

2011-02-23T22:10:00.003+13:00

Don't worry, I don't even live in earthquake city anymore.

on eggs

2011-02-21T22:41:00.001+13:00

I only like boiled eggs ironically.

one of those blog posts that is just a list of links to other people's pages and has no original content

2011-02-21T21:56:00.006+13:00

(Self Portrait 144)

1. This an an amazing post by Chris Trotter in which he rips Bomber to shreds.

2. Mr. Michael Fincham pointed me in the direction of these rad photographs.

3. STFU

4. Everything is much better now.

5. PDF that literally made me cry at night. (Finch found that one too)

economics thing that i saw on anti-dismal

2011-02-20T19:25:00.002+13:00

This is an interview with David R. Henderson in which seven myths about free markets are explained. I thought it was really interesting.

frames of facebook7

2011-02-20T02:00:00.001+13:00

hug tree

fairfax attempts to bring back the 90s, disables "right click"

recipe "programmer's breakfast"

NSFW: Slutty Storm Troopers

The guy at the desk next to me

my favourite hairstyle

this is where i live now

Dr Giles Weighs in on Neutrinos

9 hours

2.43501 milliseconds

2.43495 milliseconds

facebook like parade

list of unfinished projects

they're made of meat

open letter

handy household tip #3

local governments hate everything but rugby

i heart japan

handy household tip #2

pub quiz

And after her death...

thanks for this google

i want

happy birthday james

probably the coolest thing i have ever seen

step two

step one

New Blog - Farrar's Mates

public service announcement

every day the same dream

handy household tip #1

just in case you were wondering...

and epic tale

space themed design

does auckland even need a rail tunnel?

times are changing

stylish and functional body adornment

fan art: If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.

an old one but still a good one

the author says a few words about style

mycology humour

i heart japan

frames of facebook

the chances of anything coming from mars

one of those blog posts that is just a list of links to other people's pages and has no original content

one of those blog posts that is just a list of links to other people's pages and has no original content

one of those blog posts that is just a list of links to other people's pages and has no original content

one of those blog posts that is just a list of links to other people's pages and has no original content

dom post politics quiz seems to have died

japan is my favourite

see my vest

space-themed business card

diary extract 18/8/09

diary extract 8/8/09

one of those blog posts that is just a list of links to other people's pages and has no original content

yup, that's a thing

fan art

one of those blog posts that is just a list of links to other people's pages and has no original content

one of those blog posts that is just a list of links to other people's pages and has no original content

thanks raplh... thalph

Thanks Stuff

worst art ever

More Holiday Slides

Holiday Slides

nasty jibe about poor people breeding

vincent elizabeth konrad

slut shaming; it's not ok

thanks james... thames

smbc

lolz

so what?

I can't even believe that's even a thing

Friendship Application 008

this is bloody amazing

it's funny 'cause it's true

one of those blog posts that is just a list of links to other people's pages and has no original content

Friendship Application 007

you go girl

i'm so there

i am so glad this is a thing