by Carl Howard | Sep 11, 2012 | Blog Topics, Resources, Food and Environment, Travel
Iran’s GDP per capita is $6200 according to the 2011 CIA World Factbook (although it’s likely reduced now since the embargo was intensified). This puts it as the 85th richest per capita out of 191. It’s less rich than Colombia, Botswana and Romania but richer than...
by Carl Howard | Sep 7, 2012 | Blog Topics, Links
Amusing: if Shakespeare wrote Javascript A sobering look at the recent Pussy Riot verdict: in addition to the 3 members who got several years, another man is facing a much longer prison term but is not being covered by international media. The ultimate Streisand...
by Carl Howard | Sep 4, 2012 | Blog Topics, Interesting Stuff, Travel
The stereotype of Iran is that it’s a desert. While this was a close match for the centre of the country, the north is surprisingly lush, with plenty of green valleys. The desert itself was mostly rocky in my experience — not the sandy dunes that feature in the...
by Carl Howard | Aug 31, 2012 | Blog Topics, Links
The attack of the straw feminists Massimo Pigliucci on The Ethics of Belief: a classic of skepticism from the 19th century that argues that “it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence”. Natalie Reed’s...
by Carl Howard | Aug 28, 2012 | Blog Topics, Interesting Stuff, Travel
Getting in:As mentioned in the previous post on Iran, this is quite complicated. As with the Central Asian republics there’s a 2 step process where you first need an authorisation (obtained through whoever you’re organising the trip with) and then you can use this to...
by Carl Howard | Aug 24, 2012 | Blog Topics, Links
From the annals of stupidity: Nook ereader does an auto-replace in some books of “Kindle” with “Nook”. The result: a charming passage in War and Peace about how the soldiers had nookd their fires Another Onion classic: power grid restored in India meaning 300 million...
