The Bastard Academic

I'm not a one for resolutions or anything, I prefer to at least try to be a bit more practical than that. Instead, now that I've had time to consider what I want to do this year, here my list of upcoming projects. Let me know what yours are: 1) Re-evaluate the website and blog, and actually keep to a posting schedule. Might help if I started using artwork/photos. 2) Social Media application for my desktop: I'm getting a bit sick of having and average of 20 browser tabs open at a time, so lets see if I can't design an app, even if it's just a fixed browser thing, I can use to track my SM activity in one place so it's not clogging up my precious browser memory. 3) Stop wasting time with my writing projects: My biggest issue here is that while I can write some flowery prose or engage in worldbuilding like I'm Slartibartfast, I don't actually have a tale to tell. I need to adjust my focus here, and maybe I'll get something out of it. 4) Top Secre...

“I don’t care to belong to any club that will have me as a member” Groucho Marx Much of the past 17 years has been dedicated to fighting fundamentalist extremism, largely of the religious persuasion. This is understandable, as the religious mindset, certainly in those areas of the globe where faith is a majority holding, affects and informs the cultural values of society, and certainly in the West we have found ourselves at odds with extremist Islamic groups. Fundies of the Muslim persuasion have been at the forefront f these combative efforts, although we have also seen the dangers of the looming Christian theocratic state. It is fair to say while this will be an ongoing struggle, it is one we are coming to understand very well and are able to combat. But what of other types of fundamentalist creeds? What of political fundamentalism? This is, I fear, something we are neglecting to talk about, instead preferring to remain steadfastly tribalised to the point where discuss...