Letters Remain

Category: humour

  • List of Eponymous Laws and Adages

    We’ve all heard of them: Boyle’s Law, Keynes’ Law, Metcalfe’s and Murphy’s. Wikipedia’s list of eponymous laws is your one-stop resource for those observations and predictions that are named after a person. For others that don’t make the cut, see the ‘adages’ category.

  • Charlie Brooker’s American Road Trip

    With a lengthy US road trip in the pipeline (’09 or ’10, hopefully), I was pleased to read Charlie Brooker’s commentary on his recent excursion to “the Kingdom of Road Trips”. My ideal holiday is a road trip. All that variety! And sitting down! It’s like watching television, but better, because every so often you…

  • Sex Map

    Remember xkcd’s map of online communities? Well, Franklin Veaux has gone and done the same… but for sex. I always thought I was pretty well-versed in slang of all types, but the sex map tells a different story. Hopefully this isn’t a sign of ageing. via Rudius

  • Cartoon Off: Randall Munroe (xkcd) vs Farley Katz (The New Yorker)

    Farley Katz challenges Randall Munroe to a cartoon off: as expected, hilarity ensues. The Rules—each contender is to draw: The Internet, as envisioned by the elderly. String Theory. 1999. Your favorite animal eating your favorite food. In the obligatory post-contest interview: Cartoon Lounge: Tell us a little bit about yourself and xkcd. Randall Munroe: Well,…

  • Dali on ‘What’s My Line?’

    This short video of Salvador Dali’s appearance on What’s My Line? is rather entertaining. Naturally, he’s as surreal as his art. At one point a contestant mused: “You are a human being?”

  • Public Servant Blogs

    Listening to Law in Action this week, I noticed that it’s now being broadcast not on BBC Radio 4, but on BBC null. Really though, I was listening to Clive Coleman’s show this week as he profiled (if swiftly) three of the four public servant bloggers that I subscribe to: PC David Copperfield Bystander of…

  • The Peter Principle

    The Peter Principle is the maxim that in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence. Specifically: It holds that in a hierarchy, members are promoted so long as they work competently. Sooner or later they are promoted to a position at which they are no longer competent (their “level of…

  • Collective Noun for Geeks

    In expected atypical style, my colleagues and I had a discussion on ideas for the collective noun for (software) developers. The obvious candidates rolled in: A …geek …thread …hash …(dis)array … of developers. However, after dwelling on the issue for too long we decided the most appropriate was an embarrassment of developers, or the more…

  • Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe (Again!)

    It’s not often I actually laugh out loud while watching something on TV, but these last few days I’ve been re-watching Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe on YouTube and have been laughing constantly. Its sarcastic look at TV and Charlie Brooker’s customary cutting remarks and commentary keeps this show as one of the best I’ve seen. If…

  • Children Can’t Differentiate Between Toys and Nutritional Items

    “Children can’t differentiate between toys and nutritional items” No, it’s not a classic piece of ‘Onion‘ reportage; it’s a quote from Miriam Gruß, a member of the German parliamentary children’s committee, on why the Germans plan on banning Kinder Eggs (are these available in the US?). Charlie Brooker’s characteristically hilarious retort is best placed here.…