Danny's Pathologically Polymathic: January 2010

more clueless journalists at The Australian - Deltoid

they will swallow any idiocy whatsoever that agrees with their prejudices

A Tale of Obsession, Fudge and the Ordnance Survey - Map Addict [my review]

the iPad and the Efficient Frontier - 9gag [via @GeordieGuy]

Red Hat launches a new portal/hub/forum - OpenSource.com

Australian bans small breasts in adult magazines and films - STOTC

depictions of anyone who *looks* like they're under 18 can be Refused Classification

the core reason why I won't buy an iPhone or iPad - DefectiveByDesign

more on the logistical problems in Haiti - BBC

housing, depressions and credit collapses - FT

is the US love affair with the car coming to an end? - AlterNet

on the Lancet on the aid industry - Humourless

risk reversal in equities - QuantPrinciple [via @marklauer and @seancarmody]

I'm stuck in limbo waiting for my visa

the High Commission won't provide any information about the status of appeals/applications, so I've heard nothing since I got notification of its receipt on December 17th

if this is "cutting edge" FBI technology, we're in trouble - Times [via @NewtonMark]

an Bin Laden mock-up was based on a photo of a Spanish MP taken from the Internet

emergency relief is all about logistics - Keizer

Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang [my review]

Australian Classification Board: semen is fine, urine and menstrual blood are out - MSnaughty

and there's no such thing as female ejaculation

Fama thinks the Efficient Markets Hypothesis has worked perfectly - NYer [via @seancarmody]

bubbles don't exist, it's not a problem that economics can't model recessions, and so forth...

poor British pensioners are burning books to keep warm - CNBC

a review of Famine: A Short History - NewRepublic

the Indus Valley script is still controversial - NationalAE [via Chapati]

the Pine Island Glacier may be past the point of no return - NewScientist

the IPCC doesn't consider dynamic ice-sheet effects...

Google Chrome is nice, but I won't give up my vertical tab bar - Mozilla

(I would also miss Addblock Plus and options for selective cookie control.)

learning to read Latin rather than translating it - Middlebury

Google will face-down China on censorship - SEland [via @neerav]

if the world ends in 2020, global warming won't be a problem - Deltoid - Crikey

why is The Australian pushing Monckton's gibberish?

shippers have taken 37 cartons - 5 cubic metres - of our goods away

some biological microphotography - WebEcoist

Keen versus Battellino on debt - PeterMartin

(is it just me that finds Scribd really painful to use?)

the Ajami script may shed light on African history - Boston [via Chapati]

the word "Allah" is not especially Islamic - Informed

the 1806 Vellore Mutiny - OutlookIndia [via Chapati]

UK temperatures to hit -20 Celsius - BBC

and gas supplies to industrial users are being cut

(meanwhile, it's 30 degrees here in Sydney, at 10pm)

the tree-climbing goats of Morocco - WebEcoist

how raw power triumphs over the rule of law - ChrisFloyd

a roundup of Iceland debt stories - AutomaticEarth

why don't they just make bikinis compulsory? - SMH

they could do this on planes too - a good contribution to "security theatre"

today is my last day at work, after sixteen years here - Anatomy

Iceland's president vetoes repayment of Icesave's UK/Netherlands debts - Guardian

is "official flashmob" an oxymoron? - LibrarianIdol [via RB]

US unemployment compared to previous post-war recessions - MinneapolisFed

Angel Falls: the world's tallest waterfall - TwistedSifter

Hugo Claus' novel about collaboration and confusion in post-war Flanders - Wonder [my review]

an overview of China's macroeconomics - MPettis

(with an argument for GDP-linked bonds tacked on)

how ugly will California's default be? - NewGeography

horrifying example of US terror interrogation practice - DailyDish [via @NewtonMark]

"There is nothing against you. But there is no innocent person here. So, you should confess to something so you can be charged and sentenced and serve your sentence and then go back to your family and country, because you will not leave this place innocent."

pollution is destroying the Taj Mahal - Frontline

photos from the Scottish Highlands - SteveCarter [via @MargaretKinney]

top 20 Australian censorship panics of 2009 - STOTC

writeup of a weekend away in 2008 - Kangaroo Valley

the Y2010 issue strikes (Bank of Queensland Eftpos) - SMH [via @jonseymour]

Geoff Huston on NXDOMAIN substitution - CircleID

tips for making resolutions stick - LifeHacker [via RW]

houses are still over-valued in most of the world - Economist

Australia and Hong Kong lead the pack

I've started a blog about our relocation to Oxford - Oxford Blog

some good news from the Muslim world - Informed

Iceland will pay UK, Netherlands $6 billion to cover bank losses - Independent

this seems grossly unfair to me: why should private bank deposits be treated like sovereign debt?

distracting car technology - Jalopnik [via RW]

Bob Ellis in fine rant mode on war and terrorism - ABC [via @stilgherrian]

"We bomb Afghanistan so well-educated Nigerians don't blow up aeroplanes over Chicago"

Puppet Theater in Contemporary Indonesia: New Approaches to Performance Events [review]

25 blasphemous quotes protest Ireland's blasphemy law - blasphemy.ie