This is one of the coolest maps that floats around on the internet. It get re-tweeted and shared regularly.
It shows the parts of Ireland and the UK that pronounce scone to rhyme with “cone” and those that pronounce it to rhyme like “gone” (the poor deluded fools).
IMHO this has to be the pinnacle of the internet. But it rarely gets a citation for where it came from. I discovered that it is from a University of Cambridge study on the decline of regional dialects. There are a few interesting things in there including – like differences in pronouncing the “r” in “arm” exactly correspond to the Scottish-English border. The researchers reckon they can place where you are in the UK to within 35 miles based on how you pronounce certain words.
For me the main use of the excellent “scone” map is to identify where to prioritise the location of the compulsory re-education camps for when I come to power. Together we will end the use use of the blasphemous “gone” pronunciation.
In 1998 everyone* in Ireland wanted to know who was bringing the horse to France.
Shockingly it turns out that not everyone was. Some of my Irish friends here in Stockholm who would be the right age had no idea what I was talking about when I made this reference!
It is a (lengthy but) amusing video about how Apple gets away with manufacturing defects that other laptop makers would not. And worse their customers excuse them and then keep paying the premium for these poor experiences.
I have been using a MacBook almost exclusively as my work machine for about 6 months now. A later post will talk about how that has gone for me. Right now though I want to talk about “The Apple Test” – my way of deciding whether it is worth your while having a debate with someone.
The test came about when I was having a chat over a beer with a long time Apple product user. It was good natured, but the guy, who did not have a technical background, didn’t accept my technical explanations for why other products might be better. Eventually I asked him:
“What would it take to change your opinion of Apple stuff”
His response was that there was nothing that would change his mind.
That is when I realised I was wasting my time. If your position is that no argument will change your opinion, then you are a zealot. And it is pretty pointless engaging such people in a debate.
I now use the same standard with a lot of other discussions. Lets say I have someone strongly attached a a position e.g. Trump, Global Warming is a hoax, Brexit. Rather than butt heads trying to shift the immovable – ask them the question – what is the thing that might change your mind?
Worst case they will make it obvious you are wasting your time having a discussion with them.
Best case they will have a think themselves about what it would be. And then maybe they will be more open to persuasion?
Rather than come across all holier-than-thou I accept I am as bad as the next person. There is a strong instinct to reflexively reject an argument that is against a position they you hold strongly. Ask yourself the same question from time to time – what would change my position?
And the other important thing is – be open to shifting what you think. It is important you do this regularly. It is a sign that you are receptive to different opinions, different evidence. You want to find the best answers.
Here is a question for you. What is the last thing you changed your mind on? 🙂
I have a confession. I have a twitter crush on Dr GIllian Kenney aka MedievalGill. She is one of a number of historians I follow there – probably an expression of my thwarted desire to be a historian. She specialises in “medieval sex magic women” (her description). I have not read her academic work, but her presence on Twitter is a joy.
The reason I am mentioning her now is because I was reminded about one of her pieces of writing from the time of the Irish gay marriage referendum. Back then (summer 2015) she was annoyed by all the people talking about “traditional marriage” in the narrow selective terms of the last 100 years or so. As an expert in the area (she has build her career on this) she instead wrote a great on what “traditional Irish marriage looks like when you go back 1000 years.
I can’t find the original one now, but a version of it is available on History Today.
There is a great section in it that I keep referring people to:
“The idea of family was thus dynamic and prone to change. In addition to engaging in multiple marriages and divorcing at will, the widespread use of fosterage meant that people could belong to much bigger family units than a nuclear one. Children could have parents who had been divorced. There were stepchildren, foster children, children born to concubines and raised in a wife’s household, children raised in religious establishments (perhaps raised by many mothers) and so on.”
When I look at the country around me, and my own situation I feel happier knowing that there is no normal!
I love Spotify. After a few years dabbling with the nightmare that is iTunes it has me back listening to music again. And as a middle aged man (there I admitted it), I can use it to learn about new music as well. Well mostly.
Spotify’s recommendations should help me find new stuff that is similar to what I like. It seems to be able to filter out the fact that the kids have been using my profile to listen to what ever kid friendly chart music they like. But recently my weekly mix has been a little skewed I suppose you would say.
I can understand how it is sending me loads of 60’s and 70’s rock. A little while back I put together a play list of music from that era and it may have thought I was obsessed with it. But where the feck did the Dutch folk music come from? Its getting better, but at one stage one third of what I was being suggested was gutteral, consonant choked, crooning from the land of polders. This cannot stand.
There isn’t a process for purging your spotify listening history (definite feature need there). So instead I am engaged in the process of trying to retrain their algorithms. That is sort of fun itself. I immediately dislike any Dutch folk music, as well as the artist responsible. I am skipping over 70’s rock when the track is listed (I am told Spotify weights your perception of a song if you listen to more than 30 seconds of it). And I take a little time every day to listen to very different stuff that I like, but might not have listened to as much recently – like trance music. That alone has been good, as I reconnect with other music.
But it is interesting to contrast this with how you would do this with a friend. The ultimate aim of these assistants is to mimic and be as seamless as dealing with humans. Like as if you had a friend who was a DJ who was engaged full time in finding music for you to listen to, er…
But such a friend would only need a quick word to get the hint that if they ever play you Dutch folk music again then you will pour treacle over their (metaphorical) mixing tables. With the machines the process is slower, more incremental. For now, the personal DJ is better. If I had one of course.
I was wondering why it is I post stuff to social networks for them to monetize, when I have a perfectly good blog here. So lets try posting here for a bit instead.
Public statuary in Ireland is a mixed bag. But I would like to nominate this statute of Richard Crosbie (the first man to fly in Ireland when he made a baloon ascent) located in Ranelagh gardens as the most god awful piece of crap commissioned in the country.
Now Rory Breslin is a well regarded sculptor, but this piece, put up to commemorate Crosbie’s flight, is junk. I don’t know was the design imposed on him, but…
It is supposed to represent Crosbie’s youthful curiosity, and interest in flight. But he flew in 1785. So no one would have known what a paper air plane was. And propellers would not make their first appearance (on ships) for another 40 years. And as for putting one on a peaked cap?
The whole thing is twee, affected, and artificial. I cringe whenever I see it.
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