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March 2011

Writin' my book chapter in Starbucks (urgh), leechin' their wifi (over VPN), waitin' for friends (hurry!) breakin' the law (of averages).

Perhaps we could have product placement in academic publications to help with funding? This tweet sponsored by Simon Jenkins. #HigherEdWed

Lolling at argument that in ~15yrs we'll hit WW2 levels of debt and then will need rationing again. Yep, was caused by debt, not the war.

That BMJ article really is the scariest thing I've read in a long time. To see it all in one place, spelled out so clearly.

If I can hear someone's music in the British Library from their headphones, is it reasonable to ask them to turn it down?

If your tube line is suspended, can you get a refund or only for delay? I hate the alternate Liverpool Street route.

AHRC claim it's coincidence that their research is relevant to Big Society (para 2); did they say this to BIS, though?

Metro can't see the irony of advising people to rush to their travel agent after reading 100 Places to See Before They Disappear

Really running out of time to become fluent off-page regarding my Fouault-Pynchon paper. Might just defy @jennifermjones and read it. Haha!

I love the University of Portsmouth's online payment system for conferences. Wish we had that kind of thing at Sussex.

"A Progressive Knotting Into": Ill-Thought Out Montage in Postmodern Policy, err, I mean "Fiction" #bigsocietyresearchproposals

Barely Afloat: Nautical Comradeship and Misguided Quest Narratives in Melville's Moby Dick #bigsocietyresearchproposals

BTW: government contends this is "clarification" of the Haldane principle. The clarification being that it is now annulled.

Wonder when my institution, Sussex, traditionally one of the most left-leaning universities, will announce its 9k fees. :(

My day today is hectic with this conference, back to London for Primal Scream gig, then to Norwich tomorrow for Wittgenstein conf.

Early morning trains justify in-transit tea procurement. Sorry to everyone who is always up at 5, I'm just not used to it!

Off to Sussex for the Picture This conference on epistolary writing, my role in organizing having been the tech.

FFS Cameron, why do we want "multi-billion pound tax cuts" on fuel when it costs an NHS, support for disabled people & an education system?

The US really should invest more in history education. Andrew Holmes is attempting to use Nuremberg defense in "kill team trial".

Running a workshop on Twitter. Anybody have suggestions for clients that are portable (ie. can go on a USB stick?) Deck needs Adobe Air

Damn. Just unwittingly recommended a book to a senior academic who, it transpires, supervised the thesis on which it was based. #networkfail

Today: start next thesis chapter, work more on Zombies book chapter, more on Pynchon conference paper #roar #phdchat

Just watched pilot of Lynch's Twin Peaks. Fantastic. Don't drink the coffee. There was a FISH IN THE PERCOLATOR!

Scrivener for Linux appears to have serious problems with portability; getting symbol lookup errors on Ubuntu 10.10 32 bit.

Helen is downstairs listening to some free-jazz chanteuse. I'm upstairs pumping out Leftfield Tour audience recordings through headphones.

.@sarahthesheepu although they supported, for instance, res #1895 establishing EUFOR as military "stabilization force" in Bosnia

Merkel: "We unreservedly share the aims of this resolution. Our abstention should not be confused with neutrality." What was it then?

Surprisingly, my MP forwarded my letter about the maltreatment of Bradley Manning to William Hague and is awaiting a response.

Trying out some of @thesiswhisperer's seven-day article tips. Currently savagely mangling yesterday's work in massive re-shuffle.

Trying to get my head around REF 2014. What info is there on quantity of output per institution (or per person)?

Conference paper accepted yesterday for Portsmouth, today another in Glasgow and Durham in two weeks. Better get working. #phdchat

So they only tell me, just as I arrive, that the Victoria Line is suspended. Now going on a horrendous cross-London trip.

Just confirmed: I'll be speaking on Pynchon, slavery and Enlightenment on June 17th at Portsmouth University's CSL.

Guess I should counter my Twitter echo chamber effect by following some right wing nutters, but it's too depressing.

Seems Upper Crust staff must now prefix order price with "only". I'm guessing their advisor on subtle linguistic tricks isn't Derren Brown.

For all those looking at WhisperCore for full on device Android encryption: beware closed source security apps, you don't know what they do

Hurrah! Just heard back from publishers and my book chapter is still on for publication, just taken longer to edit than planned. #phdchat

... and that is *not* in any way to detract from the suffering of many many people, just an observation on what we can change politically.

Coverage of Japan (about which our politicians can do little) is seriously distracting focus from Libya (about which they can) #noflyzone

UCU have proposed strike action for the 24th of March. This is 1st day of Picture This conference. More details on rescheduling by Wednesday

To be fair, you can tell the Burger King boss was joking: he said British food was bad and started Burger King to fix it.

A wild Sunday night: I have finished my comprehensive indexing of Foucault's use of the term "Enlightenment" in English and French.

Deplorably distracted from syllabus writing by bits of Beckett: "The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new"

Twitter: you obviously suck at UX, hence why we want diversity. If your client was Tweetdeck, you'd have a point.

I thought Twetdeck's "Manage API rate automatically" was supposed to stop me getting API rate exceeded errors... it's failing.

WWI section of my literature syllabus is looking great! Paul Fussell, Owen, Sasson, Woolf's Mrs Dalloway and some Freud.

Analysts say meltdown would not necessarily lead to a major disaster because light-water reactors would not explode even if they overheated

Gah. I have to design a literature course from 1860-1945. I'm fine post 1900, but struggling on the earlier stuff.

Feeling very disgruntled about how long this census is going to take. Also "it is used to help plan and <s>fund</s> cut services"

If you're interested in academic publishing @dhlbrown is live tweeting a workshop from Sussex right now. #phdchat

Provisional programme for first conference of the UK Pynchon Network sorted; awaiting approval from co-organizer.

Also, it seems the best way to deal with comment nuts is to sit back and let them triple post their way into incoherence.

I started with an idea for focus that has held 2/3rds of the way through my (Literature) doctorate. #phdchat

Can someone clarify exactly what is meant by tonight's #phdchat topic? What is focus as opposed to topic/title?

Looks like I will be en-route home during #phdchat tonight; will participate when possible, but dodgy signal on the London-Brighton line!

Stallman at Sussex thoroughly excellent; proper writeup tomorrow or day after as and when I get time. I also have a recording...

Oh great. So on #IWD I get horrible Twitter spam asking "have you been cheated on? Expose that hoe". Somewhat shows why we need #IWD.

Page 150 of Max Weber's Theory of Social and Economic Organization and he's still doing definitions of terms. It's like a contract.

We don't have kids but the new Disneyland ads are so manipulative that I wish we did JUST so I could tell them they were going to Disneyland

For International Women's Day I recommend people read about Grace Hopper, who programmed the first computer compiler. #IWD

A small, famed, Beckett quotation to round off your evenings: "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail better." (Worstward Ho)

Have a review of Joe Moran's "Interdisciplinary" forthcoming in the next issue of Rupkathka; going for the Open Access, yeah.

Has anyone on #rheum received clinical advice on cardio risk associated with disease? It's a major problem, but hardly any awareness. #rheum

Mmm, listening to KLF spin-off project The Orb's Aubrey Mixes: The Ultraworld Excursions. Very fine it is too. #likeyoureallycare

Every time I look at train prices I despair. Seriously, £130 for an open return to Durham. How does this encourage people not to drive? :(

Just to clarify: was from a theatre critic who gave his name, does write for the Guardian, but wasn't from an official email address.

Just received an interview request from the Guardian for forthcoming theatre piece... anyone know procedure to verify it's genuine?

Oh for heaven's sake. Sussex do EXACTLY the same thing. Email is NOT secure for transmitting payment details. @sussexuni

UEA want my card details by email for conference registration. I've just told them that's not happening and why. #securityfail

Glad my quip amused people on #phdchat, but more seriously: if you would do your work as your life, is it really a split that needs balance?

. @ernestopriego what I took from that: Jobs thinks those in liberal arts are too stupid to use pcs and need easier toys.

Reading David Grossman's The Smile of the Lamb. Not comparing well with See Under: Love (prob my fave book) or The End of the Land so far.

My crazy lecture proposal for Lost Highway has been accepted. To please @jonhickman it will also mention Terry Pratchett.

Any institution that doesn't go to 9k devalues itself. Like placebo with drugs, if you pay more, you think it works better @jennifermjones

Don't know what I did, but my Google Reader suggested items list is now full of baby photos and pro-life groups. Gah!

Ok. Assange has totally lost it. The @wikileaks account is now merely a self-serving publicity machine for his personal rants. Shame.