Writerly

Context: Game of Thrones, Dothraki expression. e.g. “Dragons are extinct. It is known.”

It has a nice ironic resonance. The use of the passive voice is quaintly overconfident, a sly tactical evasion of responsibility for whatever is claimed: it’s not *me* that knows, it is … other people, everyone. Ask anyone! It’s the same as “everyone knows that!” but more emphatic and clever: it IS known, dammit, and that’s all there is to it!

So I will be using it ironically from time to time, as a snarky response to overconfident declarations — subtler than a facepalm.

Cranky critics of SaveYourself.ca often say I’m “close minded” because I don’t present “all views.” As if I’m ethically obliged to defend theirs! (That’s a tired, simplistic application of the notion of journalistic balance. Like I’m a news anchor or something.)

Accusing anyone who disagrees with you of being close-minded: now that is a closed mind!

My job is to write about science-based self-help for common pain problems. That’s the perspective I have devoted myself to studying and articulating. If readers want a different point of view…hey, the rest of the internet is full of it.

Fantastic news! England is finally starting to fix its awful libel laws, and it’s the best news I’ve heard in years. Sometimes the world actually gets saner. I have had personal experience with some legal bullying, and so this dry legal news feels quite juicy and personal to me.

What’s the difference between legitimate criticism and libel? It doesn’t matter — it costs critics too much to make their case in court, so all it takes to shut most critics up is an inexpensive accusation. Legal bullying goes on all the time. Many writers have been silenced and cowed by the threat of an unjust lawsuit they begin to afford to defend themselves against. Many assume they are safe because their cause is just and they could win in court, but it’s not until they face an actual libel lawsuit that they begin to realize that winning means spending triple your retirement savings on a legal fees. Being “right” can start to feel pretty hollow when you can’t remotely afford to prove it.

This problem is everywhere to some degree, but English law favours bullies to an absurd degree, and the costs of defense are astronomical — many times what it costs anywhere else. This gave rise to the bizarre practice of “libel tourism”: suing anyone from anywhere in England.

Science writer Simon Singh started the push for reform after he was sued by the British Chiropractic Association for criticizing their members. Years later, it looks like English libel law is actually going to get fixed. Kirsty Hughes, Chief Executive, Index on Censorship: “Finally, the government is to stop libel tourism so wealthy foreign claimants can no longer use our High Court to silence their critics abroad.” It’s not over yet, but it’s looking really promising.

Follow #LibelReform on Twitter.

Bluetooth pairing (of wireless keyboards, mice, trackpads) in OS X is just a mess: unreliable, unclear, hassle-y. Thought I was going to have to switch to wired keyboard to post this gripe!

I paired my keyboard to my iPad at a coffee shop, and when I came home it was the usual pain in the arse to get it to talk to my Mac again. First the Mac can’t “find” the keyboard, even though it’s clearly on, and it won’t find it until you turn it off and on again, which is not as straightforward as you might think, because you have to HOLD the power button to turn it off, which is counter-intuitive. When the Mac finally does “find” the keyboard, then it starts failing to “pair” with it, but there are no error messages — it just doesn’t do it, and all you can do is curse and try again. As usual, I just ended up trying over and over again until eventually, on the 6th try, it worked.

I have absolutely no idea what changed. I never do.

It is not obvious whether the Apple wireless keyboard and trackpad are on or off to begin with. (The mouse has a toggle, so simply does not have this issue — it’s state is physically represented and unambiguous.)

On the keyboard, the light comes ON when you press, but then you have to hold it for a surprisingly long time before the light turns off. It is then off … but it looks the same as when it was on. When it is on, there is actually no obvious way to verify that it is on. (There is a way, but it’s non-obvious, and I forget between incidents.) And when it is off, there is also no easy way to confirm that. However, even when it is on, OS X may not “find” it — leading to the rather natural question, “Is it really on?” Which you can’t confidently confirm. And so on…

Finally, there is a substantial complication! There are two ways to turn it on! You can press once, and after a brief delay when you wonder if anything happened, the light comes on … or you can press and hold for a LONG TIME, and the power light starts flashing: which is a pairing mode. Even though it seems to be highly relevant, this is not mentioned in any way shape or form in the bluetooth connection window. Nor does it actually seem to be NECESSARY, as you CAN connect without it!

Confusing!

Do you ❤ Peter Dinklage in Game Of Thrones? See him in this excellent, quirky, mellow 2003 film, The Station Agent.

Will Ferrell pulls off earnest drama in a pleasingly simple, engaging character-study. Respectable use of comic skills in dramatic context.