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Simon Phipps's personal commentary

Right to kiss [SocioPolitico]

Not that I will be able to try it, as I'll be away from the one I love on Friday, but it seems that the way that one kisses is programmed from birth. The article also suggests to me that one is being watched more often than one might think.

posted at 4:00 PM (UK) | Comment? (0 so far) | links to this post | |

Missing Firefly [PhotoTravel]

I want to see a firefly again. I haven't seen one since I was 17, when I saw several while camping near Chicago. Minimal research seems to suggest that Florida is a great place to go to see them (apparently the greatest concentration in the US is on the Florida-Georgia border [pdf file, worth reading the whole thing]) and if not there, Jamaica, so I think it's time for some deeper research. The whole eco-system is fascinating. It seems that some fireflies attract males just in order to feed on them, although in the main it's a more amorous intent that makes them glow.

They are a summer thing, of course (although there are tantalising hints that Pyractomena Borealis has a winter distribution too), and I'm well aware that they are getting rarer, but I'm holding out hope for an encounter one day - other people are reporting sightings - some people even grow their own, and the risk of intoxication seems great! Although there are no fireflies in Britain, maybe I should also spend the summer searching for a glow-worm over here - people are already organising walks for 2003 to hunt for them.

posted at 11:48 AM (UK) | Comment? (0 so far) | links to this post | |

In God We Trust or Fidelis Defensor? [SocioPolitico]

It seems that Britain is being challenged in more ways than the obvious. All us British Subjects know that our gracious Queen still bears the title bestowed by the then Pope (with some irony, as it turned out) on her ancestor Henry VIII of 'Fidelis Defensor', defender of the Faith - that's what the 'F.D.' on the coin to the right stands for. While originally applied to Catholicism, the Queen is the head of the Church of England, the lead constituent of the Anglican Communion (of which the American Episcopalian Church is a member).

What US citizens may be surprised to discover is that their revered President is also on a mission from God. So the question for today is: should US pennies be redesigned to say "F.D." instead of "In God We Trust"?

posted at 7:35 PM (UK) | Comment? (0 so far) | links to this post | |

Worth the Intrusion? [Webtech]

I just stumbled upromise, a US company that uses all the nefarious tracking mechanisms at the disposal of credit rating services to gather small sums of promotional commission from selected retailers and other companies one might trade with (hotels, airlines, insurers etc) and then accumulates it all in a college fund for your kids. I think this is the first really useful application I have found (from a consumer perspective) for all the intrusive tracking I know to be going on behind the scenes. Does this make it worth the loss of privacy? Should I be wishing I could get this in the UK?

posted at 7:02 PM (UK) | Comment? (0 so far) | links to this post | |