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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Please Drink This Alcohol-Free Beer Responsibly
Huh? *
How am I expected to irresponsibly enjoy an alcohol-free beer? By selling it to people as "the real stuff"? It's certainly not by drinking it - you'd have to drink somewhere in excess of one-hundred and sixty-seven bottles of Beck's Blue, for example, to get the same amount of alcohol as you'd get in … -
Democracy At Work
Earlier this week, I had a strange experience, but it requires a little bit of back story.
Spend enough time with me, and you'll hear me gripe about the problems of our democracy: the faults of the plurality voting system, gerrymandering and it's long-term ripple effects, party politics, the motivations of politicians, and much more, even … -
This repost was published in hindsight, on 12 March 2019.
Ruth wrote:
Since I last posted, I've been fairly busy, one way and another. First, Dan and I travelled up to Preston where I was forced to allow that it isn't a complete pit after all because it does have a couple … -
Hoghton Tower
Claire and I just got back from a weekend in Preston, taking the opportunity to visit my folks as well as to (as is now traditional) go to the annual "Symphony at the Tower" at Hoghton Tower (which Ruth and I buzzed by hot air balloon on our way back from Scotland, earlier this year).
Highlights … -
Internet Explorer 8 More Popular Than 6
Today is a good day for the web. Internet Explorer 8, which actually has reasonably good standards support, is now more widely-used than Internet Explorer 6, which is horrific to code for (Internet Explorer 7 isn't much better).
It's always been hard to write good quality web sites that work in Internet Explorer 7 and below: … -
A Plague Of Seagulls
This summer, I've been tormented by three beasts, who I'll call Mr. Pecky and Mr. & Mrs. Squawky.
Mr. Pecky is a herring gull. Two or three mornings a week, between about 5:30am and about 6:15am, he'll land on the flat roof of the utility room, outside my bedroom window, and repeatedly peck at his own … -
Claire Goes To Pisa
So, last weekend Claire moved out of The Cottage and into her new flat, the top floor of a somewhat-slanted building on Queen's Road which I've tken to calling Pisa. I gather she's planning a flatwarming party in the afternoon - if you're on the Abnib Events SMS list, you'll already have heard about this, …
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The Latest Stupidity From The Internet Explorer Team
Have you seen the latest stupidity that the Windows Internet Explorer team have come up with? Ten Grand Is Buried Here.
The idea is that they encourage you to give up whatever browser you're using (assuming it's not Internet Explorer 8), calling it names (like "old Firefox" if you're using Firefox, "boring Safari" if you're using … -
Scotland Etc.
A quick summary of a holiday (and a series of associated trips on the side) that Ruth and I took a fortnight ago (yeah; I've been busy). Ruth has already written a little about the trip. I'd hoped to blog "on the move", but a combination of low signal and low energy after a day …
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Pagan Wanderer Lu In HMV
It's been a long time coming, but it had to happen sooner or later.
Here's the announcement on the Pagan Wanderer Lu blog.
In other news, I have so much blogging to catch up on, and a couple of posts half-written, but no free time. Sooo... par for the course then.
Also: Happy Birthday, Claire! -
"Pisa" - Claire's New Place
"Pisa" - Claire's New Place. Read more about her move here.
Also available on YouTube.
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Zero Punctuation Reviews Duke Nukem Forever
And it's a work of art. Go watch it.
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Alton Towers
Went to Alton Towers on Friday for the first time in years, along with Ruth, Annie, JTA, and his sister Harriet. Highlights include:
Actually wandering around the towers, as opposed to just spending time on the rollercoasters. Who knew there was a ruin in the middle of the theme park (yes, I know, we all knew, … -
There Is Such A Thing As Working Too Hard
And while I've failed at hitting it, having scooped up my laptop and gone down to the beach only to have to turn around and come back when the sun disappeared behind thick, dark clouds, Ruth seems to have grasped the concept quite well. She's reading papers in anticipation of her final ever exam tomorrow, …
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Satisfied
I saw XKCD #584 - "Unsatisfied" - this morning. In the comic (in a slightly Sliding Doors way), a man chooses between one of two lovers, and spends the rest of his life thinking about the other one in a "what if" kind-of way, leaving him ultimately unsatisfied with his life, regardless of which he …