Rant on flag colours

 I passed through a journal the other week which had the tagline saying (roughly) that the writer lived "in the only country where you can live in red white and blue freedom"

I thought at the time: "I don't know what nationality you are, but you've already managed to insult the British, the French and the Americans"

I had of course, forgotten the right of Czechs, Dutch, Norwegians, Faroese, Icelanders, and a fair number of others to also be insulted...

It's a very popular combination of colours for a flag.

Research funded by climate sceptics confirms global warming

 The Earth's surface really is getting warmer, a new analysis by a US scientific group set up in the wake of the "Climategate" affair has concluded.

The Berkeley Earth Project has used new methods and some new data, but finds the same warming trend seen by groups such as the UK Met Office and Nasa.

The project received funds from sources that back organisations lobbying against action on climate change.

See BBC news for the rest of the article.

Fountain pens

It's interesting to see how many of my friends are pen geeks.  Stationery porn is how I think of it - the drool that ensues over different coloured inks, propelling pencils and the precise choice of the hardness of pencil lead.

For anyone who wants to geek over ink, here's a nice little article. 

If you're looking for a pen or pencil, you can't do better than Cult Pens.  Their range is wide, their site makes it easy to find what you're looking for, and their customer service is excellent.  They'll change things without a quibble, even when the mistake wasn't theirs (speaking from personal experience here).  They respond to queries (telephone or email) quickly and with friendly, helpful staff.  I've bought from them before (found the leads for my 40 year old propelling pencil in the B hardness that I prefer), have a new fountain pen from them and am happily toying with the delights of different colours of ink.