tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72813712024-03-14T02:58:35.220+00:00Reduce to Common Sense<a href="http://ranaban.blogspot.com/2007/11/big-title.html"> Simple rules can build complex systems </a>Ranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.comBlogger504125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-12976241288948579432021-06-17T15:10:00.003+01:002021-09-09T22:58:06.753+01:00No new posts since 2015. Ranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-3427450740423014092016-02-27T21:57:00.000+00:002016-03-04T04:02:04.890+00:00The Emperor's New TajMy childhood friend I've known well for her whole life recently presented a BBC programme about Indian history.
Sorry, but the Taj Mahal. It's rubbish. This is not a cheap joke about the local curry house. Yes I do mean the "real" one, the supposedly wonderful marble building in Agra.Some people say that pictures of it do not do it justice. That you need to see it for yourself. I have.
It's Ranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-61144044953943042822016-02-24T21:28:00.000+00:002016-02-29T14:33:13.872+00:0012 Albums
1. Bruce Springsteen – Greetings from Asbury Park NJ
2. Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollox
3. Pink Floyd – The Wall
4. Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell
5. Jim Steinman and Pandora’s Box – Original Sin
6. Marillion – B’Sides Themselves
7. Pendragon – The Jewel
8. Queen – A Kind of Magic
9. The Toll – The Price of Progression
10. Manic Street Preachers – Generation Ranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-52253836192482392822016-02-21T23:40:00.000+00:002016-02-22T12:48:21.546+00:00MorseCatching up on Lewis recently. Just reminded of how almost perfect have been the works of Colin Dexter, in particular the world of Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse.
The photography in the TV series is consistently stunning too, though it does give a very narrow view of the town. Of course those streets and squares have very specific and personal memories for me, but even without that Ranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-57157845491293795972016-02-21T22:45:00.003+00:002016-02-22T12:52:21.943+00:00backIt has been a long time. On reflection, I think the best practices that I thought should apply to the blogosphere, specifically the brevity, unclutteredness and independence that I thought were missing from that world, well they were being taken up by Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
This arena looks old already. Yet there are still times when I want to shout to the world. However I don't wantRanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-88165121140926850762015-05-01T23:33:00.000+01:002015-05-01T23:33:00.082+01:00No giftsNot quite a top five here, more a top two and bottom three.
When going to a wedding, or a christening or a baby shower or other similar event, particularly when the host has explicitly said that gifts should NOT be brought, you have a number of options:
Do as the host says, just come and celebrate the occasion but don’t bring a present. Again, that’s what the host wanted.
If you can think Ranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-73578960838764865662015-04-24T23:38:00.000+01:002015-04-24T23:38:00.037+01:00White House Deep House Red House
In one of the most expensive and most conservative areas of London, in a small street of sober Georgian terracing, there is one house that has been painted with bright red stripes. That isn’t new information, it was prominent in local and even national press. And incidentally in time I think the new paintwork currently seen as garish and out-of-character and objectionable will come to be seen Ranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-74538723812500144792015-04-24T23:03:00.000+01:002015-04-24T23:03:00.182+01:00CharlieIt makes me sick. People were murdered and you ARE helping to condone it. Every time you say that they were merely "mis-interpreting" the words of a book that they frankly explicitly hideously obviously using to justify their action.
Islam is not a race anyway, it is an idea. Some think a good idea and some think a bad idea. The sort of idea that is "encouraged" by nonsensical crimes ofRanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-85182953650089533912014-11-28T18:02:00.000+00:002014-12-02T17:27:02.541+00:00Getting Work Done
You have a small job that needs doing. Say the replacement of a fitting in your house or car.
You have a choice of two workers. You think the job should take about an hour. Each of the workmen quotes for the same time, say two hours. But that’s acceptable, it allows for contingency, the almost inevitable exposing of hidden issues, the development of requirement, and more importantly it is Ranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-48651995781211671552014-11-22T10:14:00.000+00:002014-11-22T10:14:43.593+00:00Psychic message Madame Artura Yesterday I got a message from a real psychic:
"I am now Madame Artura, twitter psychic - send me your bank details and I will send you some guff about one of your dead relatives"
It was routed through the account of near neighbor and local hero Arthur Smith
so clearly not a scam
bank details below for any psychics looking up
NV9JOW 3177VS
Ranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-90738429177054483152014-11-02T05:07:00.002+00:002014-11-02T05:10:13.874+00:00Simply DrugsThere seems to be a very basic divide in society. It defines where you stand in the political spectrum, as evident in the major split just this week on drugs policy. The media too prevent these two as the only choices in every debate. Simplistically, where you stand on this basic question is even taken to embody your general attitude to life, whether we will be your friend enemy or be your Ranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-40957301781856513922014-10-31T19:11:00.000+00:002014-10-31T19:11:00.216+00:00True BelieversAnother week another beheading another advance of IS
Meanwhile the #notinmyname bandwagon repeats that these are not representative of true M's
Yes - we do not expect that M’s everywhere need to state again, every time it happens, that it is nothing to do with you.
However - IS and Al-Q and the rest are not real M but western M's are? Rubbish. They are M just as you are. Accept it.
They Ranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-42562922247520567372014-10-08T17:53:00.000+01:002014-10-08T17:53:00.597+01:00Agility
Every new system we build is by definition new, therefore not clearly defined, therefore subject to change.
During many years trying to develop massive princely systems, I always believed there was a more agile way.
From the agile manifesto, my personal top five:
1. Released development is the measure of progress.
2. Welcome changing requirements - even late in development.
3. The bestRanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-27405722942322910132014-09-26T21:12:00.000+01:002014-09-26T21:12:00.128+01:00Busk Off
I don’t think I frequent the high street as much as I used to. Many high streets are struggling. Those opinions are not really related. Nevertheless:
• You don’t allow traders to set up stalls in the middle of a prime location (like a pedestrianized high street) without significant rent, so why buskers who are far more intrusive
• You don’t allow the music from top shop or record shop to Ranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-72899210627159258912014-09-26T17:50:00.000+01:002014-09-26T17:50:00.064+01:00CashbackMoved onto a new mobile phone contract. It is with one of the big 4 network providers but it is ridiculously cheap. How? Although the contract remains directly with one of the big four network providers, the sale was effectively through a broker and customers are expected to claim cashback Yet there are only two ways the broker can make money from this.
1. They expect people to misplace Ranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-18333259282465113542014-09-25T22:46:00.000+01:002014-09-26T17:01:53.907+01:00Getting HighBeing high up. Mad. Paying good money to go up to the top of the Shard or any other tall building is mad. You can get basically the same view from thousands of office windows. And that view is usually rubbish. You are so high up that you see very little.
Personally I think I get a much better view from my own kitchen window. You can see the details of the trees and features. You can Ranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-30069847042377737742014-09-02T22:32:00.000+01:002014-09-25T17:03:18.340+01:00And five from fiction
1. 1984 - George Orwell
2. The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts - Louis de Berniere
3. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
4. The collected short stories of Isaac Asimov
5. obviously, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective AgencyRanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-52536758190035456342014-09-02T22:30:00.000+01:002014-09-25T17:03:18.346+01:00Five Books
1. The Language Instinct - Steven Pinker
2. The Ancestor's Tale - Richard Dawkins
3. A Mouthful of Air - Anthony Burgess
4. Spell It Out - David Crystal
5. Common Sense - Tom Paine
As for fiction, five to follow later
Ranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-55542674604018776062014-08-14T22:40:00.000+01:002014-09-02T14:07:51.258+01:00More reasons to cut your childTo avoid having to tell people if it’s a girl or a boy To hang bits of metal from the holes to accessorise To avoid possibly difficult argument later when the cold might not actually want it done To provide a permanent mark of ownership so people know they belong To support the gold and jewellery business who would otherwise go bust
Ranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-75976120638538909952014-08-12T22:35:00.000+01:002014-08-12T22:35:00.318+01:00Possible reasons to cut your child
People in our culture have been doing it for hundreds of years
It has to be done anyway so just get it done as soon as possible
I know a little baby who barely cried so it can’t hurt much at all
My family/friends did it and I don’t know of anyone that got infected
It is my baby so I can do whatever I like to it
Ranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-1259672565426796142014-07-11T22:09:00.000+01:002014-08-12T16:34:25.656+01:00Finally a proper personal status updateGot a bit of time out of the office today, finally. Five separate assessments crammed in.
Met the teachers of both my children. My car had its annual MOT check. I had a routine dentist appointment. Had to make time for a medical visit too.
So five separate verdicts:
• Splendid progress, pretty damn excellent all round
• Most areas well above average, freakily unnaturally brilliant; a few Ranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-35360449457513339692014-05-09T19:22:00.000+01:002014-08-12T16:22:01.249+01:00Ha lal again Halal meat is in the news again. It has been fed to us and our children without being clearly labelled by vast stores and restaurants. Yet the question around halal remains a very simple one - if we are to eat animal products, do we search for ways to ensure that those animals can live and die in a manner that reduces their suffering, or do we prejudice that search by pre-defining an ancient Ranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-56785851219901573542013-07-18T17:34:00.000+01:002013-08-23T11:11:18.886+01:00Best Practice ManagementDid a bit of management training last week. Not for the first time, but it is always good to hear how each company spins it, the different focus of different focus of different organisations.
A first five five tips from my time on the course, though not necessarily from the actual course material:
1. You will got most benefit and best performance by concentrating on developing your Ranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-13977156796115021682013-05-10T22:55:00.000+01:002014-09-26T16:30:59.503+01:00Mr Wrong
I went to college with Michael Gove. He appeared to be a bit of a pompous snob even then. But at least I thought he was literate.
He attacked something written in the Guardian Education pages by the children's author "Mr Rosen criticised the test on the basis that there was no such thing as correct grammar"
Yet Mr Rosen said no such thing.
Ranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7281371.post-86219872468174528052013-03-09T08:47:00.000+00:002013-03-09T08:47:00.136+00:00Share Loss
If a share price decreases by 10% in one year then increases by 10% in the next year then the net effect is a decrease – the investor has lost out.
If a share price increases by 10% in one year then decreases by 10% in the next year then the net effect is a decrease – the investor has lost out.
This happens year after year after year.
If the price changes are more than 10% each year then the Ranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06207632255129272209noreply@blogger.com0