Phlegmatic

You don't need this laptop.

Trying to understand the EU's actions against Apple and the Republic of Ireland.

It's not shocking that professional employers judge applicants for client-facing roles partly on their appearance and their dress. What is shocking is that not only do state schools not teach this stuff, they sometimes don’t like it when employers try to do it instead.

Useful smartphone test. When I last bought a smartphone, I read lots of reviews, but one question that was never asked was “How good is it at making and receiving calls?”, that is “How good is it at actually being a phone”"?”

According to the latest Rowntree Foundation definition, someone in the top 0.32% of global incomes is now "in poverty". Muppets.

British WW2 propaganda posters.

Think you're good at Lego building? This guy is better.

If you were an American games company raising funds on Kickstarter for a new family card game "that combines speed, hilarious gestures, and your silly side for 2-6 players, ages 6+", and you weren't that familiar with politically incorrect British playground slang, what's the worst name you could come up with...?

"Nobody ever got sacked for buying IBM" …but maybe in this case, someone should have been.

When I was an auditor, this sort of clever statistical analysis was called a logic check. This is a good logic check on why American police might treat certain groups differently. (Hat tip to ford_prefect42.)

Archaeological evidence of a major bronze age battle in northern Germany c.1250 BC.

Seven Fantasy / SF Epics That Can Inform You About The Real-World Political Scene

The Jewish Chronicle gets hold of the report into Labour anti-semitism that the Corbynistas tried to bury

Headline of the Month (1)

Getting onto Stanford's MBA course. (I’m not involved in admissions, but I can’t imagine that any of my MBA students had to do anything like this.)

The Complete Conceptual History of the Millennium Falcon (including the influence of Space 1999)

A cube in a cube in a cube. Metalwork was easily my worst subject at school. This guy, not so much.

A weird (or perhaps not) correlation between maths and religion.

World rankings of country by average IQ.

How the West can win the new Cold War

Brexit - a story in maps (thanks parrotknight)

A really comprehensive fake name generator.

"Stabbing victim pulls knife out of own neck, kills terrorist"

Celebrating "the diversity of world culture" is now racist, apparently.

Then and Now photos of my hometown of Wrexham

Recommending someone for an award is now a heinous crime, apparently.

A 1984 television programme shows us how to send an email.

Interesting article for those of you, like me, who are late sleepers. (I agree that the world of work seems to discriminate against late sleepers, but everything else works in our favour. Entertainment takes place at night, not first thing in the morning, for example. In fact, when you think about it, must fun things do.)

Apple was founded by three people. Here's an article about the one who wasn't called Steve.

"Socialism...really?"

How IBM managed to charge $1.4million for a coin-toss simulator.

The Russian Navy is a LOT smaller than the Soviet Navy.

Someone asked me the other day if we had any "politically incorrect" board games in stock in the Shop. I had to admit that we didn't. I'm all for tweaking the sensibilities of the terminally politically correct, but I think even I would draw the line well before this point.

Bill Gates's philanthropy will achieve more than Mark Zuckerberg's. Why? Because while Zuckerberg is just giving money away, Gates is using his skills and his contacts to get things done.

"We are all Jews here." The US soldier who led a revolt against German prison guards.

Fitness advice: How to Lose Fat.

Reports of 'Giant Rats' in London leads to increased sales of Chainmail and +1 Longswords.

What does the galaxy need most after the destruction of the Second Death Star? A Central Bank. (I would actually love it if this is the plot for Episode VII, but then I liked all the stuff about taxation of trade routes in Episode I…)

McLaren's idea of what F1 cars might look like in the future.

The genius of Tusk. (And isn’t Christine’s hair truly tragic in that photo?)

The Stop the War Coalition's Greatest Hits.

19 Things You'll Only Understand If You're Absolutely Fucking Terrified of Spiders. (Like me. And don’t worry, there are no pictures of spiders in the article. And in fact, that is number 1.)

The correlation between being a Jeremy Corbyn supporter and being a conspiracy theorist nutjob.

Not one, but two fecking enormous models of the USS Missouri in Lego.

The Humanitarian Threat to Free Speech

Are "leading economists" really backing Corbynomics? No, of course not.

Ranking the 50 states of the USA in order of personal freedom. (1st: Florida; 50th New York)

What to buy the roleplayer who has everything*.

Had to happen. They're attacking roleplaying games now.

Orcs of New York. Giving a face to the Mordor diaspora in New York, one orc at a time.

OpenOffice is insecure.

* Well, in addition to a Shop on the Borderlands gift voucher…

"NHS 111 to blame for rise in A&E attendances is a really dreadful explanation for something that did, in fact, not happen". (Thankyou Steer for a good piece of analysis.)

Ed Miliband thinks that an Italian who runs an American company and lives in Monaco should pay "his (British) taxes". This is a Labour policy I can get behind – get foreigners with no connection to the UK to pay all our taxes. Brilliant. I would totally vote for this policy. (When you think about it, it’s pretty much the policy that successive Greek governments have adopted for years…)

The German government uses Battlestar Galactica LARP (on an actual warship) to train diplomats.

Apparently women aren't rational. (This is the latest in a long line of what I like to call ‘pseudo-economics’ books that litter the shelves of high street bookshops. Just as you find history shelves full of books about secret societies and how the freemasons are looking after the Holy Grail until the aliens land, you will find books in the ‘Economics’ section written by the sort of people who think Adam Smith is a member of One Direction. Pfft.)

Hmm. We've been thinking we could do with a projector for the business...

Schoolboy suspended for saying he could make classmate 'disappear' with the One Ring. Actually, the funniest thing about this story is that there is a town in Texas called ‘Kermit’. *

The To Kill a Mockingbird sort-of-sequel. Should we be suspicious? Yes. No. Yes.

Rotherham Council, the council that allowed 1,400 children to be gang-raped and sexually abused by muslims, is to be taken over by central government until elections can be held.

Is Rotherham the tip of the iceberg? "How much does the Labour Party know about the stench of corruption, sexual malfeasance, public maladministration and greed, incompetence and pro-Asian bigotry emanating from Labour's heartlands?"

Or is the whole Rotherham problem simply a case of a "rotten borough"?

Top 10 'Things that Ed Balls Has Forgotten'.

"How Sci-Fi's Most Prestigious Awards Became A Political Battleground"

Bryan Henderson doesn't like the phrase "comprised of".

"Big accountancy firm accused of saving people money" I particularly love the phrase “in blatant accordance with the law”.

Adding up the wealth of the poor - the meme that refuses to die.

The World's Poorest Man.

The Information Commissioner's Office is the public body that enforces privacy and electronic communication regulations. Guess what they forgot to renew.

Random Guardian comment generator.

Today is the 40th Anniversary of Margaret Thatcher becoming leader of the Conservative Party. The Labour Party has never had a female leader, but it clearly knows how to attract female voters.

* Has anyone else read ‘A World of Ice and Fire’? Lovecraft references I can take, but Sesame Street…?

A river changing its course over 28 years.

The 12 Gods of the Internet

Apparently Indians have to be told not to shit in the street. By the UN....

...with the help of this website and musical video. (Are Indian turds really shaped like wedding cakes?)

Will Straw would appear to be something of a hypocrite.

Parents let internet vote to choose their baby's name. Understandably, decide to go with second most popular name 'Amelia' and not the winner, 'Cthulhu'.

The phone call from an architecture student that prevented a disaster in Manhattan.

Dothraki or Cornish: Can you tell the difference?

Fed up reading ill-informed opinions on the interwebs? Amuse yourself by playing Bullshit Bingo!

Sauron: The Very Model of the Fantasy Antagonist (by ladyofastolat)

Crooked Dice: Great looking miniatures, and I hope they have a good IP lawyer.

A history of dragons in D&D

We're doing too much about climate change.

The original concept art for Star Wars.

Think you're a good artist? These people are better. (Number 12. A ballpoint pen? Wow.)

What was the Hugo Awards controversy about?

Joe Abercrombie knows better than to publish his thoughts.

Was the Post Office sold off too cheaply, and if so could anyone have known?

How to get fast internet access if you live in a small hut in Svalbard.

Pseudoscientific wank from the pages of audiophile magazines.

New York Public Library, 20,000 historic maps for free and Call of Cthulhu.

This is a nicer Silmarillion than any copy you own.

Celebrities that Look Like Mattresses

Why Hasn't Westeros Had an Industrial Revolution?

Game of Thrones TV series renewed for at least two more seasons.

Dunk & Egg news.

What impact would Scottish independence have on the national debt of the rest of the UK?

What did Einstein refer to as "the eighth wonder of the world"?

Sir Chris Hoy wants to drive Le Mans 24 Hours

Is the Co-Op ungovernable or is it simply run by incompetents?

How far down is the missing airliner likely to be?

Remembering when everyone hated Windows XP.

If Google was a Guy, part 1.

If Google was a Guy, part 2.

This is why basic economics should be taught to every child.