Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

A strange and moving story. Thirty-one year old Kathy H. looks back over her life to her days at Hailsham school and tries to make sense of it.  Initially Hailsham seems like a typical boarding school but gradually the reader becomes aware that the world it exists in has a dark secret, the full nature of which is not revealed till the penultimate chapter.  Mallory Towers meets 1984 is how you might describe it, though Ishiguro is a much better writer than both Blyton or Orwell.  When reading Ishiguro I  continually find myself struck by the power of writing: how a string of simple words describing the lives of ordinairy people can produce such a gripping experience.

The Role of Proof in Software Development

Many software developers seem to think of proof as a of a sort of mathematical bludgeon that is used to intimidate people into accepting that a piece of software is correct. However, I see proof more as an explicit statement of the reasoning and assumptions that went into the construction of the software.  I see constructing a proof as more a way of exploring the problem and detecting errors than a way of convincing others.

Mark Chu-Carrol on Haskell

Over at Good Math, Bad Math, Mark Chu-Carroll is doing a series of articles aimed at teaching the functional programming language Haskell.  I will be keeping a watch to see how this develops because MCC is a bright bloke and usually has interesting things to say about whatever subject he writes on.  The first few articles are already up:

• Why Haskell?
• Haskell preliminaries: inplementations and tools
• Simple functions in Haskell 

"Here is a List of Incorrect Things..."

This video of Wings by the Fall brought back memories for me, even though I had not seen the video nor heard the song before.  It is classic early Fall: a rambling gothic tale backed by a driving beat. Great stuff!

Answers To Questions

A 'meme' transmitted via Snail's Tales:

• Explain what ended your last relationship.  Nothing: it is still on-going.
• When was the last time you shaved?  1981.
• What were you doing this morning at 8AM?  Looking out over Bagshot from the window of the train on my way to work.
• What were you doing 15 minutes ago?  Watching The Simpsons with my daughter, Zoe.
• Are you any good at math?  I'm better than most, but there is still a lot that is beyond me.
• Your prom night, what do you remember about it?  If I had one, I've forgotten all about it.
• Do you have any famous ancestors?  King Edward I, Hammer of the Scots (but then a large proportion of the British population have royal ancestors if you go back that far).
• How many different beverages have you had today?  Coffee (caffeinated and decaff) and a sip of cocoa when I made some for Zoe half an hour ago.
• Do you re-use towels after you shower?  I put towels to wash if they smell when they are damp.  (If you wash them after a single use then you might as well be using paper towels.)
• Some things you are excited about?  Finding, or reading about, new ways of understanding familiar things. 
  
• Do you sleep with the door to your room open or closed?  I work in an open-plan office.
• Who did you lose your CONCERT virginity to?  See here.
• Last thing received in the mail?  A letter from my bank offering me a loan of 16,000 pounds.  I shredded it and put it in the recycling bin.
• Do you like what the ocean does to your hair?  I see to it that the ocean doesn't get anywhere near my hair.
• Have you ever received one of those big tins of 3 different popcorns?  No.  If I did I would shred it and recycle it.
• Have you ever been to a planetarium?  Yes, I went with my wife to the London Planetarium about 10 years ago.  As soon as the lights went out my wife closed her eyes and slept through the whole show.
• What's the most painful dental procedure you've had?  Probably a filling, but I haven't had any of them since the early 1970's.
• What is out your back door?  A concrete path and a lawn with an S-shaped mushroom 'ring' on it.
• Any plans for Friday night?  Sleep.
• Do you ever leave messages on people's answering machine?  Occasionally.
• Do you draw your name in the sand when you go to the beach?  No, I draw my daughters name (and she runs around  after me rubbing it out).
• Have you had to take a loan out for school.  Never.
• Do you know the words to the song on your MySpace profile?  MySpace is for kiddies.
• What is your favorite flavor of JELL-O?  Jell-o is for kiddies..
• Describe your keychain(s).  My work key-tag is a triangular plastic warning sign saying "Danger 415 volts!".
• Where do you keep your change?  A small leather purse.  When I was young I used to use small plastic bags (the sort banks use to put coins in), but a girl friend took pity on me and bought me one of these purses for Christmas.  I have used them ever since.
• When was the last time you spoke in front of a large group of people?  1994, in a variable star meeting at the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge.
• What kind of winter coat do you own?  None.  I get by with an umbrella and a light-weight 'kag-in-a-bag' to keep me dry, and multiple pullovers to keep me warm.
• What was the weather like on your graduation day?  Don't know.  I was on holiday abroad in late July 1979, when my graduation ceremony took place.