Blog Posts

This is a story about the sort of "open" that matters to me, and how I got to this point.

This post is about the apparently mysterious art of indicating (that's "using your blinkers" for any Americans reading this) when driving on New Zealand roads (although this is likely to be relevant in most places people drive, obviously making suitable substitutions for left and right).  After the nipple, the indicator - featured in all motorised vehicles warranted for road use in NZ - is perhaps the most intuitive interface ever devised.

I just want to clarify something. I find the reaction that some people have when I say (as I fairly often do) that I'm an atheist... well, disappointing. The most common responses, particularly from those who are theists, are "well that's just another religion" or "you're just a another kind of fundametalist".  These are reactionary, unflatteringly glib, and smack of indoctrinated aversion. So I'd like to take this opportunity to clarify a few things.

Atheism is not a religion. It is the conscious, deliberate absence of religion.

Some of you might've seen the recent foray into the complex issue of software patents on television. The heroic attempt was made by The Court Report on Channel 7, but it's really not the sort of discussion that's suited to a 5 minute collection of sound bites. It needs more like an hour long in depth expose to set the scene, providing suitable background explanation, and then demonstrate the total idioticy of software patents.