Author: Dan Q
Dan Q is a software engineer, a director of a voluntary organisation, a trainee counsellor, a keen geocacher, and an amateur magician. He lives with his partner and her husband in a polyamorous triad, and occasionally finds time to blog.
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Bat Out Of Hell At 40: What The Hell Explains Its Appeal?
Of life’s great mysteries, surely among the most impenetrable is how Bat Out of Hell, Meat Loaf’s adolescent wet dream of an album that was released forty years ago today [October 21, 1977], came to be one of the best-selling albums in the history of the record industry, cracking the top five in some rankings, … -
Male incompetence is a subtle form of misogyny
Have you ever dated a man who ‘can’t cook’?
Do you know a guy who’s rubbish at cleaning or any other kind of domestic chore?
Of course, you do.
It might not be their fault; many men are raised in traditional families where women do all the household tasks, ironing their little prince’s pants and serving up regular, … -
My Sammelband has Frisket-Bite: A Short Glossary of Delightful Library Terms
Two weeks ago I asked Twitter if anyone had favourite obscure and/or delightful library or archival words. Here are some of the best replies:
Tête-bêche: From philately, meaning printed upside down or sideways relative to another. (Tara Robertson)
Respect des fonds: A principle in archival theory that proposes to group collections of … -
Why BoJack Horseman's Representation of Asexuality is Important
Netflix’s BoJack Horseman was quickly put on many people’s radars when the newest season released in September addressed asexuality. During the new season, Todd Chavez explicitly comes out to BoJack saying that he is asexual. As someone who is asexual, this representation means a lot to me. Not only am I actually being represented, but … -
London's Transport Chief Can't Do Early Meetings As She Uses Southern Rail
London's Deputy Mayor for Transport avoids early morning meetings because she relies on Southern Rail to get into the office.
Val Shawcross' office was trying to set up a meeting and in an email wrote: "Val actually is a morning person but has to use Southern trains to get in to the office so … -
Slaughterbots
Stop Autonomous Weapons -
Review of Mission Burrito
This review of Mission Burrito originally appeared on Google Maps. See more reviews by Dan. Mission Burrito, 2 King Edward St, Oxford OX1 4HS, United Kingdom. Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Review of
This review of originally appeared on Google Maps. See more reviews by Dan. , . Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Pleasant park with a better-than-average selection of play equipment suitable for children of all ages and a large field for games/sports.
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I see you've changed your Twitter handle, @librarybilkent! Your site still looks like you've #stolen the #webdesign from @bodleianlibs, though (and changed the license to a #CreativeCommons one, although the fact you forgot to change the #GoogleAnalytics ID is a giveaway...).
RT https://twitter.com/scatmandan/status/909799082616647684 -
In 1973, I invented a "girly drink" called Baileys
My dinner-party party piece for many years was to say, “Well, actually, I invented Baileys. You know, Baileys Irish Cream. I did that back in 1973.”
If one of the unfortunate listening group is a woman – and this is based on actual past experience - she is likely to respond something like … -
"I Forgot My PIN": An Epic Tale of Losing $30,000 in Bitcoin
In January 2016, I spent $3,000 to buy 7.4 bitcoins. At the time, it seemed an entirely worthwhile thing to do. I had recently started working as a research director at the Institute for the Future’s Blockchain Futures Lab, and I wanted firsthand experience with bitcoin, a cryptocurrency that uses a blockchain to record transactions …
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The First Time I Met Americans
HANOI, Vietnam — I first visited the United States in the summer of 1998, when I was invited to attend a literary conference in Montana with four other Vietnamese writers. We flew from Hanoi to Taiwan to Los Angeles. As we crossed the Pacific Ocean, passing through many time zones, I buried myself in … -
The Web began dying in 2014, here's how
Before the year 2014, there were many people using Google, Facebook, and Amazon. Today, there are still many people using services from those three tech giants (respectively, GOOG, FB, AMZN). Not much has changed, and quite literally the user interface and features on those sites has remained mostly untouched. However, the underlying dynamics of power …
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Welcome To Nauru, The Most Corrupt Country You've Never Heard Of
Nestled in a cluster of islands in the central Pacific Ocean is Nauru, a small country with a totally insane story.
In 1980, the island nation was considered the wealthiest nation on the planet; in 2017, BusinessTech listed it as one of the five poorest countries in the world.
This is a story of a country that journeyed … -
An Extremely Close Reading of Pop Song Duets
MOST SONGS give you only one perspective: She will always love you. Billie Jean was not his lover. You can check out of “Hotel California” but you can never leave.
But popular music history is studded with the occasional duet that serves more of a purpose than simply an excuse for the …