MSM ← the digital glebe

Head in the Clouds 2

May

2013

They call it progress: “Just a year after launching its $50-per-month plan, Adobe has made its Creative Cloud the only way to get the new versions of its full software suite. Customers “overwhelmingly” prefer it.” CNET They must be talking to the wrong customers, as of writing I can’t seem to find a single person ...

Does Fear Still Sell? 8

Apr

2013

I think the ‘bobos’ have had their chips to be honest. If there’s hope, it lies with the proles. “Concern about the environment is legitimate, but catastrophism transforms us into cowering children. Distrust of progress and science, calls for individual and collective self–sacrifice to ‘save the planet’ and cultivation of fear: behind the carbon commissars, ...

Myth of the Flat Earth 7

Apr

2013

Wikipedia is finally catching up at last. Myth of the Flat Earth. “Since the early 20th century, a number of books and articles have documented the flat earth error as one of a number of widespread misconceptions in popular views of the Middle Ages. The misconception has had no currency in historical scholarship since at ...

Know Thy Enemy 3

Apr

2013

“When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?” John Maynard Keynes Almost to a man, the four main parties in UK politics -Lib Lab Con SNP- all repeat the following mantra with little deviation: “Climate change is the greatest threat faced by humanity and the most important political issue of ...

The Game is the Game 8

Jan

2013

So, you’re the head of a major corporation -let’s call it EnormoTech Inc. You’ve had a good run -as far as business longevity goes- you’ve been a player for twice the average lifespan of a top-500 UK company, therefore you’ve just hit 25 years of age. Success came when you were young and hungry; now ...

Time’s Arrow 5

Dec

2012

We are mortal beings. Our lives are linear and each of us have had a beginning and will have an end. Because of this, we -in the west- tend to interpret the world in the same way; we assume the Universe had a beginning, and therefore, will also have an end. To my mind this ...

Product Entropy 8

Dec

2012

Red diesel isn’t what it was, anyone working farm machinery these days will tell you so. A loaf of real bread -as opposed to the standard supermarket muck- will cost you almost double. Over the course of this year, I’ve noticed a marked reduction in the quality of rolling tobacco, scotch whiskey, car tyres, coal, ...

Another Omni Shambles 4

Nov

2012

By Motm But don’t worry those who missed it there will be another two along in a moment! I am of course referring to the very recent police commissar elections, the biggest non-election it seems in history; ill conceived, badly defined, politically manipulated, poorly documented and pushed relentlessly by my local BBC radio. And yet ...

BBC Unbiased = Wrong 3

Nov

2012

By Motm Every day we are bombarded by adverts, hoardings, commercial breaks, product placements ,Google and online cookies to buy the latest things or follow the latest diet or medical advice. Add to all this the political propaganda not just from government but local councils and NGO’s etc. ALL telling us they know best and ...

Media & the Markets 11

Oct

2011

The market without news. The markets & the media go hand-in-hand, but finding an article that explains this clearly is like searching for a needle in a stack of needles. [this blog-post isn't it either, btw]. If there’s no ‘news’ the market doesn’t move, and in a static market no-one makes any money. Therefore, News ...