Media Lab Europe to close

Well, well, there’s a blast from the past. According to The Register the Dublin outpost of the MIT Media Lab which was set up with much hype at the height of the Internet boom is to close. The reason? “Observers say the Lab’s biggest drawback as far as private-sector supporters were concerned, was the lack of near-term commercial potential for technologies developed there.

The [Irish] Minister for Communications, Noel Dempsey, [who provided some of the Lab’s funding] acknowledged that the lab was closing, and said it was a disappointment. He said its failure can be explained in part by the economic downturn that particularly affected the technology sector but also by the changing attitude of business to ‘non-directed research’.”

Nobody who knows anything about the attitude of most companies to research will be in the least surprised. If it doesn’t contribute to the bottom line before the CEO’s stock options mature, then forget it.

One problem with long-duration space missions…

This lovely cartoon by Chapatte of Les Temps appeared in today’s International Herald Tribune.

Thanks to Gerard for the link.

Shuffle mode

Dan Hill has a typically thoughtful meditation on the implications of the iPod Shuffle.

Who did you say you were?

Ever get the feeling that someone doesn’t think you’re up to the mark?

Portrait snatched today in Shelford.

Still Life with bowls

I took the kids bowling the other day, and while they were demolishing skittles sat with a cup of coffee and a camera watching other groups.

Contradictions

On the same day that the New York Times is reporting that the ringleader in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal has been sentenced to ten years in gaol, the Observer reports that “two US defence contractors being sued over allegations of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison have been awarded valuable new contracts by the Pentagon, despite demands that they should be barred from any new government work.”

Prince Harry’s dress sense

From an interesting Observer piece on Harry’s social set:

“It could have been worse. At Cotswold Costumes, Harry had tried on an SS costume only to find it was too small. On Friday the shop did not deny it had supplied the outfit to the prince, nor that he had tried on an SS outfit. ‘I’m not saying anything. I don’t think it’s appropriate,’ said a woman who declined to give her name. However, by Saturday morning, the shop said it was no longer stocking the outfit.”

Apple: iProfit Maxi

The Observer has a big splash about Apple today. My contribution to it is here.

Prince Harry’s Nazi blunder

Acres of synthetic moral outrage from the British tabloids, leavened only by a nicely ironic column by John O’Farrell in the Guardian. Sample:

“What’s almost as distressing is that taxpayers’ money was spent sending this boy to Eton, and this is the best they could do. Surely some sort of refund must be in order? Did Clarence House check the league tables for percentage of pupils gaining grades A-C in racial purity? So that’s why his art teacher at Eton said she helped him with his A-level coursework; she had to paint over that great big portrait of Von Ribbentrop.

Despite endless scandals and embarrassing gaffes, these privately educated rightwing wasters are still the only people that the royals mix with. It’s no wonder that our royal family have absolutely no idea about what is normal or appropriate behaviour.

The fancy dress party in question was hosted by one of the pro-hunting upper-class twits who invaded last year’s Labour party conference. The fact that one of the guests sold this picture to the tabloids tells us as much about their morality as Harry’s costume. Last time he got into trouble for punching a photographer. This time you can’t help feeling he was a bit slow off the mark.” [Thanks to Boyd Harris for the link.]

En passant, one charitable explanation for the gaffe is that Harry is probably typical of his generation in knowing virtually nothing about the Nazis other than that they favoured funny moustaches amd had preposterous salutes. He had, in other words, the Monty Python view of National Socialism.

On this day…

… in 1941, James Joyce died in Zurich, at the age of 59. Thanks to Pete for the reminder.