Nostr notes by Alistair K

Given how the US ambassador is really nothing more than a friend ...

2026-11-03T09:51:54Z

In reply to nevent1q…5eg0
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Given how the US ambassador is really nothing more than a friend of whatever president happens to be there, throwing him out is really just symbolic figurehead stuff so let's do it! Presidents can always find another useless friend to replace him with in any case.

I'm intrigued, and not in a happy way, that the newspapers ...

2026-08-24T00:51:12Z

I'm intrigued, and not in a happy way, that the newspapers are running article after article on rising living costs without mentioning that this is how employers routinely and systematically reduce employees' real pay: it's an intentional feature of capitalism.

Yet the reporters and the economists quoted all seem to pick words to avoid causality and choice: today I read that "food prices would tend to track up over time, so the fact they were at record prices was not entirely unexpected."

One could well think that the economists' inflation is as natural as, say, the expansion of an unconstrained ideal gas.

I don't remember ever having a corridor dream, but it's ...

2026-08-13T09:18:29Z

In reply to nevent1q…rq64
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I don't remember ever having a corridor dream, but it's clearly a standard genre. What happens in them? What's it like?

I'm guessing that it's about uncertainty and liminality?

Maybe exposure? Because anything could come out of those doors, anything could watch you through keyholes and you'd have no idea. It's like this in Umberto Eco's Baudolino, the imprisonment of Deacon John who is absolutely free in principle but cannot do anything unnoticed.

Or is it about choice?

I like that vaulted ceiling and am curious about how it shapes the sound in there.

Just been helping my son with chemistry, and accidentally flipped ...

2026-07-16T10:51:38Z

Just been helping my son with chemistry, and accidentally flipped the narrative. He was looking at the Haber–Bosch process for making ammonia. I asked him about what ammonia's good for, the timing of the development, the timing of World War 1...

He was so suddenly interested like he's never been interested in chemistry before.

Then we got onto older ways of extracting nitrates from urine, something that Germany also had an advantage in because they drank so much beer.

And then to the initial extraction of phosphorus.

And then to calculating that, if only one person were involved, it'd take about a decade of collecting urine to replicate Brand and Kunckel's work.

Apparently the chem teacher never talks about things like this.

Even though we've been talking about the importance of doing so since the 1990s, and it's supposedly REQUIRED by the national curriculum.

#school #chemistry #histSci #histSciTech

I decided that I'm going to help out local naggy anglophones ...

2026-07-11T22:03:14Z

I decided that I'm going to help out local naggy anglophones who can nae cope with reo Māori, just in case their reason for doing this is intellectual incapacity rather than racism.

Anyone want to help?

My son loves his necktie–and-blazer uniform. He says that ...

2025-08-06T21:30:20Z

In reply to nevent1q…w6f0
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My son loves his necktie–and-blazer uniform. He says that it's comfortable and it's one thing in the morning that he doesn't have to make decisions about.

He's not alone: a group of boys recently got into minor trouble for trying out the so-called "eldritch" knot (I don't know what's eldritch about it) in class instead of doing the work.

The blazer in particular is damned expensive but we are also at a school where, if the uniform's cost is problematic, the school provides it.

The main problem that I have with the uniform is that the blazer is conspicuously school-branded with a grossly amateurish shield design so you can't repurpose it easily. Even the shirts have embroidery on the collar points (but it's white on white so easily overlooked). I cannot fathom that we have been dumb enough to create a monopoly plus a captive market.

The monopoly is doing exactly what one would expect: no range for body shapes except what makes them a profit. Polyester and nylon; no choice of only-natural fibres. My son's lucky because I can adjust the clothes to fit him. Some of the other kids slump around in horribly misfitting bagginess – I don't imagine that this is good for their comfort, dignity and self-esteem.

A dress code should suffice; it's really just a uniform without branding.

We used to have a different neighbour's hens visit every day ...

2024-11-29T02:33:06Z

In reply to nevent1q…j9nf
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We used to have a different neighbour's hens visit every day to weed and de-beetle our vegetable garden. They never hurt the vegetables. I have a feeling that it's because we'd fed them so many scraps through the fence (we felt sorry for them; their humans didn't provide either company or stimulation) and they got bored with what we grew.

They used to spend the day around our place for garden and company, then go home for grain and roost.

I do like geese, and my maternal grandmother had a pet one that ...

2024-11-29T00:40:07Z

In reply to nevent1q…eq7a
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I do like geese, and my maternal grandmother had a pet one that used to follow her around. But our front lawn's pretty small, maybe only 10 square metres, and most of the dogs whom I want to keep it as a hangout space for are unlikely to be goose-friendly.

My own dog isn't very goose-friendly, either. He's curious about them but can't figure out how to approach them without provoking their defensiveness.

We'd also thought about fencing it for a chicken run.

See where the branding is on it? That's a water tank with a ...

2024-09-04T23:18:30Z

In reply to nevent1q…udjf
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See where the branding is on it? That's a water tank with a kerosene burner inside it.

You still need to pour the water in or fill it with a hose, and to attach a hose to drain it when you're finished. If you search old catalogues you can also find the rubber aprons for protecting the floor.

And old newspapers have articles about the fires.

I remember how the water from each stream in our area had its own ...

2024-09-02T01:15:24Z

In reply to nevent1q…5r36
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I remember how the water from each stream in our area had its own flavour, and there were koura in the drains that ran through our market gardens. And then I remember, almost overnight, the whole country was ruined with cryptosporidium.

I remember driving through and flying over a country of forest. These days, it's nearly all scarred grassland. It looks beaten, gashed, and hurting.

Recently I measured the nitrogen in our local brook. It was at the top of the chart.

No problem at all! Just keep lying – the 100% Pure campaign was ...

2024-09-01T23:08:26Z

In reply to nevent1q…uuec
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No problem at all! Just keep lying – the 100% Pure campaign was lies from the beginning and it brought tourists and propped up exports regardless. Throw in some of Peter Jackson's Tolkien pap and it's fine!

When you do encounter a dissenter who knows better, just swamp them by refusing to engage and advertising louder and harder – it's a proven method. That's how 100% Pure worked so well.

It looks like it could be a very restful reprieve from the sun, ...

2024-07-31T05:10:55Z

In reply to nevent1q…plqy
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It looks like it could be a very restful reprieve from the sun, but I am biased by thinking how it would feel in my college in Melbourne. I am imagining the combination of breeze and sun (and thinking of our ghastly hellhole dining hall – the architect was either evil or stupid; there's no other possibility).

I dropped out of undergrad architecture and was lucky to be able to get back in touch with it for my PhD, too. Good to see that I am not the only one.