80s environmentalism

80s environmentalism

I just remembered, as I put a drinks can in the recycling, that in the 1980s, when I was at school, we were told by teachers to crush cans before putting them in the rubbish bin, because that reduced their size in landfill. That, for the record, was 1980s environmentalism! We had “bottle banks” where we could recycle our glass – one for clear, one for green, and one for brown, or mixed colors. But that was the only recycling…

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Uncountable nouns – A difficulty for non-native speakers of English

Uncountable nouns – A difficulty for non-native speakers of English

Long ago, a good friend of mine told me about some softwares he had bought. You cannot say “softwares” I told him, it’s “pieces of software”, or some other construct. He did not believe me, but I was right, though in those pre-internet days, it was difficult to prove. More recently, I edited the Pound Sterling page on Wikipedia because it said “There is a variety of theories”. Again, ‘variety’ is uncountable, so the correct version of the verb “to…

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Misinformation in November

Misinformation in November

I want to ask you for a favor. Next month – November 2020 – is a month of great importance for the United States, but also for the world. This is not a political post, although I have my own views, and will give them away, below. I want to ask you for a simple favor no matter who you vote for. The ask If you see anything amazing on Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, or Instagram do not share it until…

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Why rugby should be the model for other sports

Why rugby should be the model for other sports

It is currently half time in the Six Nations rugby game between Italy and Ireland. The game is being played eight months late because of the reason. My wife is American and so is not familiar with rugby (or, if I am honest, particular interested in spectator sports), so I sometimes find myself explaining things. Today she asked why the players in rugby are so much better behaved than in Association Football (aka soccer). The reason, in my opinion, is…

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Low FODMAP gluten free curry recipe

Low FODMAP gluten free curry recipe

This recipe serves four, with no left-overs, or generously serves two, with left-overs. It is low FODMAP taking into account the research done by Monash University at the time of writing (Monash), gluten free, and lactose free. Rather than having a separate ingredients list, I have identified each item in bold. Feel free to experiment with the amounts of the spices in steps 5 and 6. I like to add more ginger than I describe here, but everyone’s taste is…

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Human trafficking and QAnon

Human trafficking and QAnon

The New Hampshire Human Trafficking Task Force, along with a lot of other prominent organizations, have co-written and co-signed an important letter in the struggle, at this election cycle, for truth. Read the letter here

Language or langwidj

Language or langwidj

I may be unusual, but I often think about how language changes naturally and unnaturally. Sometimes, it evolves, and sometimes it changes by the actions of individuals with powerful ideas. The above could be written: I may bee unushual, but I often þink abowt how langwidj chanjiz naturaly and unnaturaly. Sumtymz, it evolvez, and sumtymz it chanjez by the akshun ov individualz wiþ powerful ideaz. þis may bee mor difficult to reed, but þat myt bee a result of familiarity…

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Caffeine withdrawal

Caffeine withdrawal

I am addicted to caffeine. A lot of people say that, but I want to explain what it really means, and how I came to avoid caffeine altogether. Over the long weekend that just passed in the US, my wife and I went glamping. Glamping means multiple different things to different people. But on this occasion, it meant a wood-framed, canvas-walled building with an internal bathroom, two bedrooms and a kitchenette. It’s camping without the inconvenience of traipsing to the…

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Linux: Installing using apt

Linux: Installing using apt

If you are using Linux and are relatively new to it, you might have come across kind and helpful people telling you to type a command like: Or something similar. Though this is really helpful, I sometimes worry that people do not know what the command does, and so they do not really learn how to use these features generally. They just learn how to resolve this very specific problem. So here’s a little bit of information about the command…

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