Dear 3,

I'm staying in the UK for a few weeks, and decided to get a Pay as you go mobile broadband sim for my iPad. I originally got one with 1 GB, and now I would like to top it up. However, this has turned out to be practically impossible. I've tried several times to top up online via the my3 page, but I always get a technical error at one of the later stages of payment, the Verified by Visa bit. I've tried several different cards, all of which normally work, but to no avail.

I then decided to try registering, in order to try a top up from my laptop, as I generally assume that when something isn't working on the iPad, it's because it's an iPad. However, after I had dug out the sim card and found both the phone number and the sim number, I was told I would receive the password via text. I am at a complete loss to understand how I'm supposed to read a text sent to my iPad, as one of the device's many shortcomings is that it can't act as a phone. "But ah", you say "How could we know you have an iPad, instead of some actually useful device, like a sensible person would?". Well, when I bought the sim card, it came in a tiny cardboard folder which said "iPad" on the front, so if someone had thought ...

Første gang jeg tilbrakte noe særlig tid i Storbritannia, i 2006, husker jeg at jeg ble en smule overrasket over å oppdage de store forskjellene i pølse-kultur i forhold til hjemme i Norge, noe jeg har skrevet om tidligere. I Norge har de fleste butikker mange forskjellige typer pølse, men mange av dem har samme utseende, smak og konsistens, bare i forskjellige størrelser, og selv de mest spennende er ikke egentlig så veldig utfordrende. Her, derimot, later det til å være mye mer vanlig at en vanlig butikk har kanskje tre typer pølse, men da faktisk tre forskjellige typer, med forskjellige krydder og andre spennende tilsetninger som eple (veldig godt) eller chili (også veldig godt).

En annen viktig forskjell er naturligvis at pølser her så godt som alltid er ukokte, så mens du i Norge kan spise pølser rett fra pakken, eller bare med lettvint oppvarming, må du her gå litt grundigere til verks. Likevel, jeg føler det er verdt det ekstra bryderiet. Ikke bare har jeg vanskelig for å se at det skal gjøre noe bra for smaken å koke pølsene før man steker dem, men pølsene her er dessuten så gode at det er verdt det å bruke en liten halvtime på å steke pølser til frokost.

Etter å ha prøvd en bråte forskjellige pølser fra noen vanlige butikker, bestemte vi oss i går for å ta pølsespisingen til neste nivå. Vi gikk derfor til Crombies ...

Introduction

This is the first of a series of posts on Scots law, a subject in which I recently completed an undergraduate degree and will soon begin a postgraduate diploma to enable me to practise as a solicitor. The series comes at the request of Camilla, who asked me to explain the difference between Scots law and English law. Unfortunately, this is the wrong question, so I will first explain why the question as framed cannot be answered, then suggest a better question, and finally answer it.

It is often supposed, by people both within and outside the UK, and even in Scotland, that Scots law (if they know it exists at all) is basically the same as English law, but with a few slight local variations such as not being allowed to buy alcohol in shops after 10pm, and sometimes using different words for the same thing (claimant/pursuer, barrister/advocate, tomayto/tomahto...) . Some may even think that Scots law as a separate entity began in 1999 when the devolved Scottish Parliament was set up. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Scots law is as fundamentally different from English as English law is from Russian.

When I say this, I of course do not mean that the same set of facts will not often yield the same basic result. We would all be very surprised to find anywhere in the world a legal system which did not punish murderers and thieves, did not recognise the parent-child ...

Siden jeg for tiden deler en leilighet med Paul Anton (og en trivelig italiener, hvis matvaner skal forbli udiskutert), blir det til at jeg prøver litt nye ting til middag. Og siden vi ikke er noe videre glade i oppvask, og siden kjøkkenet er ca to kvadratmeter, blir det ofte ganske lettvint mat. Som for eksempel tapas.

Jeg kan antagelig telle antall ganger jeg har spist tapas på to hender, og begynnelsen av forrige uke hadde det antagelig holdt med én. Jeg kan imidlertid ikke fatte & begripe hvorfor, da tapas er aldeles genialt. Det er mulig jeg har sett på det som en slik irriterende motegreie, men det har jeg herved sluttet med, og jeg akter ikke å se meg tilbake. Å lage tapas er nemlig så enkelt som at du går på butikken og kjøper alt du ser som ser godt ut, og setter det på bordet sammen med en god rødvin.

Hvis du vil anstrenge deg litt ekstra kan det være godt å ta noe av det du kjøpte og slenge det i stekepannen et par minutter, men det kan funke fint uten også.

-Tor Nordam

Ian Rankin, “Life After Rebus Keeps Getting Better”
Edinburgh Book Festival – 24 August 2011
The DM Hall Event, chaired by Charlotte Higgins

I went to my second and last Edinburgh Book Festival event on Wednesday; again for free, thanks to my brother-in-law/flatmate who works for the sponsor company and won two free tickets at work. Cheers Seth!

To repeat what I said in the first of these posts, I took notes of what was said and have re-expanded them into this summary. Since I was taking down the most important points, the little connecting bits that link the paragraphs together are often not there, so please ignore the fact that it doesn’t all hang together properly. Also, please bear in mind that these are not all Ian’s words exactly, but the gist filtered through my brain.

CH: Sorry for the late start. Someone was ill in the Carol-Ann Duffy event – we don’t know what she said. [Laughter]

The focus of this event is on the second Malcolm Fox novel The Impossible Dead, due out in October.

You recently finished the long-running Inspector Rebus series in favour of a new character, Malcolm Fox, who works in Internal Affairs dealing with complaints against the police. How was the first Fox book The Complaints received? Did the public forgive you for putting Rebus aside?

IR: My publisher was worried. They wanted me to “stop the clock”, but I’d always been going to retire Rebus when he reached 60 ...

The Guardian Book Club: American Gods Ten Years On, with Neil Gaiman
Edinburgh Book Festival – 21 August 2011
Chaired by John Mullan

On Sunday I went to this event thanks to a kind soul on Twitter who couldn’t make it and gave me his ticket for free. Thanks @failedtheo! I took notes of what was said and have re-expanded them into this summary. Since I was taking down the most important points, the little connecting bits that link the paragraphs together are often not there, so please ignore the fact that it doesn’t all hang together properly. Also, please bear in mind that these are not all Neil's words exactly, but the gist filtered through my brain.

I arrived to a packed marquee-theatre and squeezed into one of the few seats available, right at the end furthest from the entrance. As I sat down I noticed that the guy sitting literally right in front of me had a badge saying “Author: Ian Rankin”. Maybe not such a bad seat after all. Ian, if you’re reading this, I hope I didn’t jab you in the back with my notepad too many times.

JM: The format is usually that I ask lots of intelligent literary-criticism-type questions and leave time for a few questions from the audience at the end. But today I’m going to rein myself in and allow more from the audience.

NG: And I know Ian Rankin has a question. [Ian Rankin puts his ...

For øyeblikket befinner jeg meg i en treroms leilighet i Edinburgh. Hadde det vært en hvilkensomhelst annen tid på året ville det vært en toroms leilighet, men når det er festival er det bare å slenge en ekstra madrass på gulvet i det lille kontoret, og vips har man en treroms, selv om det er fullstendig åpenbart for alle og enhver at det egentlig er en toroms, og at det egentlig ikke skal ligge en madrass der, blant annet fordi den er plassert slik at den blokkerer et par skuffer i kommoden, og dessuten gjør det umulig å sitte ved skrivebordet.

I denne leiligheten, som egentlig er helt kurant, og som sikkert ville vært perfekt om jeg hadde vært i Edinburgh for å feste på festivalen, men som gjerne kunne hatt et fungerende skrivebord siden jeg er her for å jobbe, finnes det dessverre ikke internett. Jeg har imidlertid et 3G-kontantkort til iPaden min, og de som finansierer oppholdet mitt har dessuten sagt seg villige til å betale for mer data, siden jeg normalt ville blitt plassert i en leilighet med internett. Da gjelder det bare å finne en måte å dele internett fra iPaden til laptopen, så man slipper å bli sprø av å bruke iPaden til alt mulig. Jeg gjorde dette før en gang, men jeg hadde glemt hvordan, så nå skriver jeg det like godt ned for fremtidig referanse. Denne fremgangsmåten burde forresten også funke med en iPhone, og forsåvidt også med andre dingser som har 3G ...

Ivrige etter å se litt mer av Skottland, satte Paul Anton og jeg oss på toget nordover i går. Vi hadde snakket med en dame på universitetet som liker å løpe opp på fjelltopper, og hun anbefalte en tur til et fjell som heter Ben Vrackie, som skulle være relativt tilgjengelig for et par turister som oss. Vi tok toget til den sjarmerende småbyen Pitlochry, som ligger nesten to timer nord for Edinburgh med tog, og begynte å gå fra togstasjonen.

Det viste seg at noen har lagt ned ganske mye arbeid i å gjøre Ben Vrackie tilgjengelig for folk uten seriøse fjellsko. Praktisk talt hele veien til toppen er det enten en smal grusvei, eller, i de bratte partiene, en meget tillitsvekkende trapp stablet opp av stein. Det var også satt opp et skilt som advarte mot farene ved å ferdes i fjellet, og det virket i det hele tatt veldig tilrettelagt.

Turen opp var for det meste enkel. Det er et ganske bratt parti på slutten, men det er bare slitsomt, ikke vanskelig, og slett ikke noe problem for hardbarkede vikinger som oss. Vi gikk i henholdsvis t-skjort og skjorte med oppbrettede ermer, og nær toppen møtte vi to fyrer med jakker, luer og votter som så ut til å være i ferd med å ta på seg enda mer klær, og som advarte oss mot at det blåste en del på toppen. Vi nikket og smilte og gikk videre.

Da ...

Many, many years ago (at least five), Finn Arne linked me to this essay on structured procrastination. I was struck by its good sense and wise suggestions. And I have been trying it out ever since. Not always with great success (unless you count knitting sweaters and reading books quite unrelated (or only vaguely related) to my work -- not to mention keeping up to date on geek culture and a selection of television series -- as a form of achievement), but certainly with a bad conscience (which is the standard second place when procrastination is concerned).

Recently, however, I found a very good tool. I have been well aware of the benefit of keeping to do-lists. The trouble is that they tend to either be on post-it notes or pieces of paper that I invariably lose, or expect to lose; and the other is that they frequently disappear from sight (and consequently mind) and therefore fail to remind me of the thing I need to do. This has not been a big problem in terms of getting things done, but only because I never quite relax and trust these notes. The downside to that, however, is a constant presence of low-level stress which is the perfect breeding ground for procrastination.

I have lately (over the last year or so) taken to using the ``Stickies'' application on my mac, and that worked quite well (because I would have a look at them whenever I was procrastinating, and therefore could do something sensible ...

-Tor Nordam