Shalee lhaih 2013: Shiaghtin 20

Jerrey feedoo hiaghtin ny Shallee Lhaih. Shoh ny lhiah mee yn çhiaghtin shoh chaie:

The Armchair Naturalist (Johnson P. Johnson)

Lioar feer vie ren mish y aachooinaghtyn er y ghraih aym er najooraghys. T'eh screeuit dy mie ass towse, lane aitt meein as ynseydaght imlagh. Cha nel Johnson insh leaght dhyt, agh t'eh soilshaghey cooishyn as cur beggan fys dy baghtal as caarjoil. Ta ny caslyssyn jesh as fondagh, as t'eh maylartey bun-chooishyn nish as reesht do nagh gaillee uss anaase. Lioar yindyssagh da sleih aegey as aasit. Share dhyt lhaih duillag ny ghaa y cheayrt; cha nel lheid ny lioar cooie dhyt roie ny trooid. Cheau mee queig meeghyn taitnyssagh lhee.

Corvus: a life with birds (Esther Woolfson)

Bea-skeeal ben as ny h-ushagyn t'ee er gummal maroo. Ta'n lioar caghlaa eddyr skeealyn er cliaghtaghyn ny h-ushagyn, beggan bea-skeeal, as smooinaghtyn er ushagyn, "ushagys", deiney, bea and ny kianglaghyn t'eddyr ocsyn. Ta bea-oaylleeaght ayns shen, chammah's fallsoonys. Ghow mee soylley jeh, agh shegin dou gra dy row eh ro-liauyr er lhiam, as dennee mee nagh row ee lane shickyr er cree ny lioar, agh foddee dy screeu ish ny va foee as cha nel eh cooie dooys! Smooinee dy vel ee daa wheesh ny smoo na lioaryn Gerald Durrell (agh lhisin goaill rish nagh nee skeealeenyn t'ayns shoh). Veagh ee ny share as laue reagheyder elley currit 'sy chooish, foddee, dys keyllaghey ee dy meein. T'ee mie dy liooar as anaasoil gyn ourys, agh nel mian aym ee y chur da carrey erbee çhelleeragh.

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The end of week twenty of the Reading Project. Here's what I've read this week:

The Armchair Naturalist (Johnson P. Johnson)

A great book that reminded me of my interest in natural history. It's written very well, full of mild humour and quiet instruction. Johnson doesn't lecture, but he illustrates and explains clearly and amicably. The art is pleasant and very skillful, and he alternates topics fairly well to avoid you losing interesting. A fine book for readers of any age. Best for patchwork reading, not something to plunge through (it's taken me five months).

Corvus: a life with birds (Esther Woolfson)

A mixture of autobiography, bird anecdotes, as musings on birds, birdhood, humanity and its opinions of birds, life, and the interactions between them all. There's a fair dose of biology in there, and a dash of philosophy. I enjoyed this book, but I have to say at times I found it long-winded and skimmed over some of the longer dryer passages (especially things I already knew), or the semi-lyrical prose sections that sometimes crop up. I felt like Woolfson didn't have a firm vision for the core of this book - although possibly it's exactly what she wanted to write and that happens to be too mixed for my taste. At times I got the feeling that the hand of an(other?) editor would have been a boon, gently thinning out the essence of the book. It's twice the size of any Gerald Durrell book in my collection, for example; though in fairness there's a difference in style. Decent, and genuinely interesting, but not something I feel the immediate urge to press on anyone.

Bardaght Tang

春阳画地金
慢河围岛流
桥下苍鹭站
歇脚听水喃

Screeu mee y daan beg shoh rere aght ny h-eash Tang. T'eh çheet er ny vaik mee rish shooyl thie ec jerrey laa obbree. Shoh lhieggan Gaelg dhyt:

Grian arree daaghey thalloo airhey
Awin lhiastey clamey ellan veg
Coar ny hastan fuirraghyn fo droghad
Scuirr mee as deaisht rish ushtey tutleragh

Shalee lhaih 2013: Shiaghtin 19

Jerrey nuyoo hiaghtin jeig ny Shallee Lhaih. Ta mee er screeu rouyr er ny lioaryn er y gherrid; ta shen soo ram traa as bree assym, ny smoo na ta mee son ceau ad er lheid y chooish. Neeym eab ny coontaghyn y yiarraghey jiu. Shoh ny lhiah mee yn çhiaghtin shoh chaie:

Estrys (Sian Lewis)

Lioar mie dy liooar bentyn rish sleih aegey, sollaghar as shickyrys. Er lhiam dy row ny sleih soilshit magh dy mie, as chreid mee ny h-eddyrobbraghyn eddyr oc. Cha nee yindys ec jerrey ny folliaght - ta ny cowraghyn baghtal dy liooar da lhaihder - agh ny yei shen ghow mee ram soylley jeh'n aght feayslee eck as arganeyn cagh bentyn rish y chooish.

Strawberry Marshmallow y.l. 4 (Barasui)

Cha nel monney faagit dou dy lhaih nagh vel foawragh as trome, as ren mee briwnys dy chionnaghey red aasagh ny ghaa. Chionnee mee SM4 as ish y lhaih 'syn un laa - s'tappee eh manga y lhaih, agh ta'n lioar eddrym shoh myr palate cleanser lhiggee dou lioaryn elley y lhaih. Shen ny ta mee garganey, aghterbee... rere y 'traih, ta'n ym-lioar shoh foast lane aitt as eddyr-obbraghey taitnyssagh paitçhyn ta beggan neuchadjin. Ta'n ellyn foast mie, ga nagh vel eh lane vaghtal ny keayrtyn er cre'n chaillin ta Barasui dy tayrn.

Alice in Waterland (Mark J. Davies)

Coontey covestit jeh Lewis Carroll as yn awin Thames as Alice in Wonderland. Ta reddyn anaasoil aynjee, as veagh eh ny share dy beagh anaase mooar aym er Carroll; agh cha nel dy feer. Ny yei shen, as mish cummal rish yn awin hene, ghow mee soylley jeh. As ta'n lioar shoh jannoo baghtal cooish ny ghaa bentyn rish y skeeal as rish Carroll hene.

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The end of week nineteen of the Reading Project. Recently I've drifted into writing longer reviews, but honestly that takes more time and energy than I really want to expend on this little self-motivational project. Here's what I've read this week:

Estrys (Sian Lewis)

A decent book about young people, pollution and certainty. I found it well-done, with believable characters and well-observed interactions between them. I particularly liked the older Bethan's friendship with Meirion as one of the few people who'd tolerate her more eccentric behaviours. The solution to the mystery was no great surprise, but I enjoyed the unpicking of it and the way the characters dealt with their discoveries.

Strawberry Marshmallow v. 4 (Barasui)

Since nearly all the books left in the pile are huge and heavy-going, I fancied grabbing something lighter. It's like a delicate sorbet to cleanse your palate before the next monster. As with the rest of this series, it's a light, fun read with charactes I still enjoy, and consistently solid art (just the occasional tendency for the girls to look too similar).

Alice in Waterland (Mark J. Davies)

An interwoven account of Lewis Carroll, the Thames and Alice in Wonderland. There's some interesting bits of information in there, and it clears up a few things about Carroll and the story, as well as giving me a bit more idea about life at the time. As I live near the river I found it quite interesting for that too. It'd probably be more rewarding if I had a big interest in the whole Alice thing, which I don't really, but never mind. Decent.

Shalee lhaih 2013: Shiaghtin 18

Jerrey hoghtoo hiaghtin jeig ny Shallee Lhaih. Shoh ny lhiah mee yn çhiaghtin shoh chaie:

The language instinct (Stephen Pinker)

Stoo trome, son y chooid smoo. Va ny cabdillyn çhengoaylleeagh casley rish ny ta mee er ny lhaih hannah, as er lhiam nagh row ad ny share. Dennee mee nagh row Pinker shickyr my v'eh son screeu oaylleeaght ny lioar ny theay, as t'eh lhiemmey eddyr mynphoyntys as neuvaghtallys. Cha nel eh soilshaghey magh kuse dy hampleyryn dy mie: myr sampleyr, hoilshee eh dy vel ""I haven't done any work" y red cheddin as "I haven't done no work" nagh mie lesh sleih ennagh; agh cha dug eh geill erbee da'n phiyr elley, "Have(n't) you done any work?" as "Haven't you done no work?". Er lhiam nagh dod oo gra dy nee "obbalagh" eh "ayn" 'syn tampleyr shen myr t'eshyn dy ghra. Ayns buill elley dennee mee dy row eh jus meechiart, as ren shen brishey'n argane dou. As eh screeu lioar bentyn rish Ooilley-Ghrammeydys, er lhiam dy lhisagh eh er ngoaill stiagh ymmodee sampleyryn ayns çhengaghyn elley, agh she beggan beg t'ayn. Cha nel shen cur barrant aym er. Obbyr woal, dy firrinagh. Ta mee coardail rish arganeyn Amorey Gethin son y chooid smoo.

The Difference Engine (William Gibson & Bruce Sterling)

Screeu Gibson Neuromancer, as ta co-vlass orroo. Ta taghyrtyn breeoil as cleaynagh ec y jees, as screeueeaght vie, agh ta'n aght screeuee neuhickyr as t'eh goll 'sy voglagh ny keayrtyn. By anaasoil dou yn eie oc er Lunnin elley - she eie cadjin t'ayn nish, agh cha row eh ec y traa shid - as beaghyn as kiarailyn ny karracteyryn. Ta'n lioar rheynnit ayns tree, as dagh trass bentyn rish karracteyr elley 'syn un chooish, as ta kiangley faase eddyr oc. Er lhiam dy vel y bree lheie assdaue dagh keayrt, as ta jerrey ny trassyn moal. Chammah's shen, ta Gibson as Sterling covestey skeeal contoyrtys, far-hennaghys, coontaghyn jeh'n far-Lunnin shoh, as cochialg cramp, as cha nee eiyrtys fondagh t'ayn. Ta'n stoo sheshoil lane çhaghnoaylleeaght as broid, as ta'n cochialg lane sleih gyn sheeanys erbee, ny monney elley. Gollrish Neuromancer, ga dy nee cree ny lioar t'ayn, ta'n cochialg hene jus lheie ersooyl gyn cooilleeney. She dhossan dy "artyn pabyr-naight" as y lheid eh jerrey ny lioar, stoo dree nagh vel cur jerrey fondagh urree. Dennee mee nagh ghow mee veg assjee agh soilshaghyn sollagh as eie cochialg nagh ren ad hene rieau feaysley dy slane.

Cha nee lioar ghennal t'ayn noadyr, gyn jerrey mie da peiagh erbee. T'ee lane ymmyrkey olk as taghyrtyn olk. Foddym cur neuhastey da shen er y fa dy vel ad far-Victorianagh, agh cha mie lhiam ad. Er y laue elley, ta Shapaanee ayns shen, as fer gorrym: y chied nyn lieh-ninja lane yindys as graih er reddyn Sostnagh, as y jeh elley ny 'leab gyn fa erbee dy ve ayn, choud's hoig mee. Cha nel ad cur red erbee da'n skeeal, as ta blass meehaitnyssagh oc: agh she blass 1970 t'ayn, cha nee blass 1870.

T'ad gra dy nee lioaryn ard-smooinaghtagh t'ayn, agh erreish dou lhaih Neuromancer as The Difference Engine, er lhiam nagh vel mee son lhaih lioar Gibson erbee elley. Cha nel ad feeu; ta red ny ghaa feeu ayndaue, agh t'ad dree, chaarjyn, dree agglagh. As shoh doilleed adsyn ta jannoo reddyn noa, foddee: nee y nah fer obbyr ny share lesh ny h-eieyn v'ayds.

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The end of week eighteen of the Reading Project. Here's what I've read this week:

The language instinct (Stephen Pinker)

Dry. The linguistics-heavier sections are similar to what I've read before, and didn't seem especially well-done. Pinker seems unable to decide how pop to be - getting quite technical in some places, but failing to flesh out interesting examples. For example, I was interested by his note that "I haven't done any work" is functionally equivalent to the oft-deplored "I haven't done no work", but Pinker didn't continue on to consider "Have(n't) you done any work?", which only has a non-standard equivalent in the negative "Haven't you done no work?". Amorey Gethin has mentioned a number of other issues with the book as a whole. I also disagreed with some of his grammaticality judgements, which caused some problems. For example, "mice-eater" is just not correct in my English, sorry Pinker. The interesting question is not "why is an irregular plural permitted in this compound, but not a regular plural?" but "why do children make this mistake?". Pinker's whole idea is to support Universal Grammar, but he seems to rather jump at evidence; at the same time, I found the dearth of non-English examples a crippling weakness in such a project.

The Difference Engine (William Gibson & Bruce Sterling)

This book is in some ways very similar to Neuromancer. It has some striking passages, evocative ideas, and the earlier stages of each of the book's three main divisions are quite gripping; although the style is uncertain and occasionally a slog. I was drawn in by the (now familiar) vision of a mechanical London they'd created, and by the lives and schemes of the characters. However, the early spark of each section seemed to fizzle out, and it became harder-going. Gibson and Sterling mix together an adventure plot with pseudohistory, with exploration of their fictional London (complete with really quite a lot of technicality), and with an increasingly convoluted conspiracy full of (towards the end) blandly-unlikeable characters. Most tiresomely, they pull the same non-ending as Neuromancer did, but even more so: one of the major characters gets an actual ending, but the conspiracy plot that they (misguidedly?) decided to centre the story on just drifts off into nothing, and the book concludes unsatisfactorily with a motley collection of in-story news clippings and extracts that add remarkably little and are quite hard work.

It's not a cheerful book either, with no good coming to anyone, and is riddled with attitudes and situations that are probably a decent approximation of Victorian, but none the more welcome for it. The petty prejudices of all the characters leave a nasty taste in the mouth but I can overlook them; on the other hand, I could have perhaps done without the only Japanese characters being ninja-approximations with a worshipful attitude to everything British, and the only black character being a slave with no apparent point at all. Neither were necessary, or even relevant.

Ground-breaking they may be, but the duo of Neuromancer and The Difference Engine seem enough evidence to confirm that I wouldn't enjoy reading any more Gibson. There's cool bits in what he writes, fair enough, but heck can he be tedious. Maybe that's one of the problems of originality - the next person to come along can grab onto some of your ideas and do something better or more elegant with them.

Bad assignments

So recently I've been doing a part-time university course. Programming, specifically the MIT OpenCourseWare course Introduction to Computer Science and Programming 6.00. And I'm a bit torn at the moment, because in some ways I'm really enjoying it - filling in gaps in all my self-taught programming knowledge, solving problems, learning stuff - and at other times it's incredibly frustrating. Sometimes, that's simply because I can't do something, let's be fair. At other times, though, it's because the assignments themselves throw up arbitrary obstacles.

Several times, I've run into assignments that seem to have been written by someone studying the code of their own program and basing the specs entirely on what they see. Questions give you information that's technically accurate, but deeply unhelpful in working out how the success of failure of your solution is going to be measured. On other occasions, you're building something that'll plug into a larger bit of code rather than working by itself, but the assignment doesn't make it easy to work out the mechanics of what it's doing and the ultimate purpose of the component.

Each trigger class you define should implement the following interface, either directly or transitively. It must implement the evaluate method that takes a news item (NewsStory object) as an input and returns True if an alert should be generated for that item. We will not use the implementation of the Trigger class (which is why it throws an exception should anyone attempt to use it), but rather the function definition that specifies that an evaluate(self, story) function should exist.

Implement a word trigger abstract class, WordTrigger. It should take in a string word as an argument to the class’s constructor.

WordTrigger should be a subclass of Trigger. It has one new method, is_word_in. is_word_in takes in one string argument text. It returns True if the whole word word is present in text, False otherwise, as described in the above examples. This method should not be case-sensitive. Implement this method.

Because this is an abstract class, we will not be directly instantiating any WordTriggers. WordTrigger should inherit its evaluate method from Trigger. We do this because now we can create subclasses of WordTrigger that use its is_word_in function. In this way, it is much like the Trigger interface, except now actual code from the class is used.

Let's pretend for a moment that this is an engineering course instead. It's like giving out an assignment like this:

In this assignment, you will design a vehicle capable of carrying four people and half a ton of luggage hundreds of miles by oxidising hydrocarbons in an exothermic reaction. The skeleton code produces a road and designates Driver, the person in charge of the vehicle: you do not need to understand this code.

1) Build a function Wheel that will rotate through 360 degrees in a single plane while maintaining contact with a surface. The function takes a single input, Axle.

2) Build a function Turner that will rotate an argument Turnee +/- 0-360 degrees around a pivot in a plane 90 degrees to the plane of Wheel's surface. The function takes two inputs, Rotation and Turnee, but cannot be used directly.

3) Build a function Steering, which will change the direction of travel of the car when a user moves their hands in a roughly circular motion. At this stage, your work should pass stages 1-6 of Vehicle Inspection.

4) Build a function Body, which assembles four Wheels, two Axles, your existing Turner and Steering code, and the module Engine (you do not need to understand this module). Now you have a functional car.

Now imagine doing that if you've never seen a car before, and if no details of Vehicle Inspection are publically available. At each test, you receive only a brusque statement like "Failed test 4 because the function turned right when it should have turned left." You must analyse these statements to establish exactly how it is the tester expects your function to operate, then rebuild and retest. You don't really know what kind of data is being fed into your functions, or how exactly they're supposed to relate to each other. Most of the time, you can't perform testing yourself, because most of the functions don't work in isolation.

While it's possible to eventually work things out, the requisite information is spread over several pages, and you really need to reread things multiple times - and possibly draw out secondary notes of your own - to find out what the question actually is. This is not good design.

At other times, they're wildly variable in how much support they offer. An early question suggests several (basic) methods you can use to solve (basic) difficulties, all of which have come up earlier. The final question entirely fails to mention that in order to achieve their requirements, you actually need to build a completely separate function that can build components for you and store information about them in an archive; a technique which has never been mentioned during the course. I eventually found that one out when I got the suggested solutions, having given up when I couldn't find any way to build items in a loop with names based on a variable to meet their requirements.

I don't mind writing programs, or solving problems. Those are fun things. I do mind when my progress stalls because I can't work out what's expected of me, or when a problem must be solved in a particular way, but this relies on secondary work that isn't even mentioned. I do mind when I can't really work out whether my code's doing what it needs to, because I neither fully understand what that is, nor am I able to test the code myself.

So yes, I'm really quite grumpy at the moment.

Shalee lhaih 2013: Jerrey Averil

Jerrey kerroo vee ny shalee. Soilshee dou y drogh-naight...

Hoshiaght ny bleeaney: 128 lioaryn

Hoshiaght ny mee: 105 lioaryn

• Lhaiht aym:
• Kerroo hiaghtin jeig: 1
• Queiggoo hiaghtin jeig: 1 lioar ass y charn, as lioar elley er eeasaght
• Sheyoo hiaghtin jeig: 2 lioar
• Shiaghtoo hiaghtin jeig: 1 lioar
• Scryssit er y fa dy vel eh foawragh as er lhiam nagh lhaihin eh arragh: 1
• Kionnit aym er y fa dy by vie lhiam ad: 2
• Currit dou er eeassaght: 1
• Goit aym er bun elley: 0

Myr shen, ta mee er scryssey 6 veih'n rolley, as er chur stiagh 2 noa, as ta... 101 faagit er y rolley. Mollaght.

• Lioaryn lhaiht aym y vlein shoh (y chied cheayrt): 47

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(ta lioar elley ayns ynnyd Towards the End of the Morning er y fa dy dug mee ish da carrey ennagh

(there's a placeholder book for Towards the End of the Morning, which I gave away)

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End of the third month of Reading Project, and let's see the bad news...

The Beginning: 128 books

The start of this month: 105 books

• Read this month:
• Week fourteen: 1 book
• Week fifteen: 1 book, and another on loan
• Week sixteen: 2 books
• Week seventeen: 1 book
• Chucked because it's dock-off and I don't see that I'll ever read it: 1
• Lent to me: 1
• Bought because I felt like it: 2
• Other acquisitions: 0

So I've knocked 5 off the list, but bought another 2, so... oh, pants. Another 101 still to go...

• Books read (for the first time) this year: 47

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Immeeaght y trass-vleeaney

Lhig dooin jus jeeaghyn er yn immeeaght derrey nish...

Shen 17 'sy chied vee, 14, 13 as nish... 5. Ta 101 lioar faagit dou, as t'eh foym ad y yiarrey dys 50 rish jerrey ny bleeaney. Rere shen, t'eh orrym 51 lioar y lhaih ayns 8 meeghyn: shen just harrish 6 'sy vee, ny fer as lieh 'syn çhiaghtin. Agh s'baghtal eh dy vel mee ny s'melley nish, er y fa nagh vel agh lioaryn trome ayns çhengaghyn joarree faagit dou! Cha nel mee shickyr dy noddym cooilleeney'n obbyr...

Beggan staydraa dhyt:

• Lioaryn: 101
• ...'sy Vretnish: 21
• ...'sy Ghaelg: 3
• ...'sy Ghermaanish: 2
• ...'syn Çheenish: 5
• ...farskeealaght: 53
• ...neufarskeealaght: 35

Shalee lhaih 2013: Shiaghtin 17

Jerrey shiaghtoo hiaghtin jeig ny Shallee Lhaih. Shoh ny lhiah mee yn çhiaghtin shoh chaie:

Tu cefn i'r cyfan (Elgan Philip Davies)

S'doillee eh jerrey er straih y chur, er lhiam, as lhaih mee ny kied ym-lioaryn bleeantyn er dy henney, myr shen she obbyr chreoi t'ayn da EPD. By hrome eh ny keayrtyn: cha nel mee loayrt ny lhaih 'sy Vretnish mennick dy liooar nish, agh chammah's shen, she lioar phaitçhyn t'ayn as lioar Chreesteenagh, as rere cliaghtey ta reddyn ry-yerkal assjee er ny h-oyryn shen. T'ee screeuit mie dy liooar, as cha row mee jerkal dy 'aagagh EPD wheesh gyn freggyrt ec y jerrey, agh jeant dy mie er lhiam son shen. Trooid as trooid, ny lioar vie ta cur jerrey fondagh dy liooar er y 'traih. Er lhiam dy vel eh jannoo eab mie dy ve Chreesteenagh dy baghtal gyn jannoo lane sharmane jee hene, agh nee shen croghey er dy reih hene.

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The end of week seventeen of the Reading Project. Here's what I've read this week:

Tu cefn i'r cyfan (Elgan Philip Davies)

The close to a series is always going to be tough to write, and it doesn't help that it's several years since I read the first few volumes. I found this a bit hard going as my Welsh is somewhat rusty, but also because it's both an (older) children's book and a Christian one, which makes it predictable in a couple of ways. The writing's pretty solid, and I was pleasantly surprised by the extent to which it left questions open at the end - even introducing further complication in an epilogue. So on the whole a decent read that tied up things enough, and to my mind managed to be explicitly Christian without descending entirely into a sermon, though obviously your mileage may vary.

Carnane thie

Ta lectreyr çheet ec 8yv mairagh as v'eh orrym ooilley'n stoo aym y scughey do beagh rheamys echey rish dagh boalley. Shen doilleeid mooar. Ta mooarane stoo aym, as t'eh oardrit rish ny boallaghyn son y chooid smoo, dy cadjin. Shen jerrey'n obbyr hug mee jerrey er ec meanoie (as myr dooyrt mee, t'eh çheet ec 8, myr shen... 6 ooryn cadlee, my vees aigh vie aym). Cha cosoylagh eh dagh ooilley cooid thie y scughey; ta kuse jeu ro-hrome. Cha noddym ad y chur ayns shamyr elley, er y fa a) t'eh gobbraghey ayns dagh shamyr, as cha nel lectraghys rere y leigh ec shamyr erbee jeu; as b) cha nel traa ny niart dy liooar aym lane chooid ny shamyr ayms y hroggal sheese ny greeishyn my lomarcan dys shamyr elley!

Agh ny jean boirey, ver ad jerrey er yn obbyr rish daa laa. Wahll, tree foddee. Cha nel shen monney... ga nagh noddym jannoo ymmyd jeh red erbee as ad 'sy charnane shoh.

Cha nel fys aym cre'n laa ghoys ad toshiaght er yn çhamyr aarlee...

Sackyn jeen noi beishteigyn dys cooney eirinee reise

Ta Undinys Eddyrashoonagh Ronsee Reise (marish lught-dellal GrainPro Inc.) er groo sack plastagh vees coadey rassyn noi ushtey, beishteigyn, roddanyn as binn assee elley. Ta'n sack shen kiaddit er son myn-eirinee gyn tasht resh fondagh, ayns çheeraghyn boghtey erskyn ooilley; ec y traa t'ayn, ny h-Ellanyn Philippeenagh, yn Chamboyd as y Vietnaam. Ta ram jeu tashtey rassyn ayns sack cadjin 'sy thie. Gyn coadey mie, ta kuse dy eirinee coayl wheesh as 15% ass y troar oc, as ta quallid ny t'er mayrn leodaghey myrgeddin. Myr sampleyr, t'ad soo stiagh ushtey ass yn aer as brishey. Ta'n "IRRI Super Bag" lhiettal ocsygien as gaal, as lhiggey dhyt tashtey rassyn rish lane vlein gyn leodaghey y chooid vees foghaney.

Chammah's shen, t'ad cumrail beishteigyn as roddanyn - cha nel mee shickyr er cre'n aght dy vel eh cumrail roddanyn, agh er lhiam dy vel eh bentyn rish lhiettal y soar, foddee, do nagh vel fys oc dy vel rassyn 'sy tack. Ta'n UERR gynsaghey eirinee er ymmyd lheid ny greieyn eirinee, as dys maylartey fys keirdey. Er y fa dy vel ny sackyn yn-aaymmydey, cha nel ad ro-gheyr, shen scansh eddyr oc as ram eieyn elley, myr sampleyr troaryn as ceaghley gienneydagh orroo, as ad un-ymmydagh son y chooid smoo. My t'ad geeck y lane phrios, shen $3 (SUA) y sack; 1-3% faill mee cadjin y lught obbree ayns ny h-Ellanyn Philippeenagh. Cha nel mee shickyr er cre'n prios bee orroo ayns shen, agh t'eh jeeaghyn dy vel ad er nyn gur magh ec sheshaghtyn-giastyllagh a.r.e.

Bree ass sahll 'uillee

Ta lughtyn-dellal 2OC, Thames Water as iCON Infrastructure er nyannoo coardailys vees jannoo ymmyd jeh sahll ‘uillee dy yientyn bree ayns Lunnin.

Ta sahll ‘uillee ny h-ard-voirey d'adsyn ta reaghey, glenney as freayll seose sornaigyn. T'ee roie dy aashagh tra t'ee çhiow, as myr shen t'ee skellal roish sheese y veilley-niee, agh 'syn ushtey feayr heese t'ee cochruinnaghey myr sahll stooalt reesht. Ta'n stoo shoh toghtey sornaigyn, as cha aashagh eh sahll y ghlenney magh. Ta Thames Water ceau mysh £12m 'sy vlein er yn obbyr.

Nee ad çhaglym sahll 'syn tornaig ec buill er lheh, agh t'eh foue y doilleeid y lhiettal rolaue liorish çhaglym sahll ‘uillee ass thieyn bee as thieyn greasey bee. Ta'n sahll hene yn-ymmydey myr conney, agh erreish da covestey marish jeeyl 'syn tornaig t'eh foddey ny s'doillee shen y yannoo. Er lhieu dy vow ad mysh 30 thunney dagh laa.

Ec y traa cheddin, t'ad troggal stashoon lectraghys noa ec Beckton ghoys toshiaght dy yientyn bree ayns 2015. Cha nee ad ymmyd jeh ooyl noa ass troarag, rere 2OC, agh croghey er y tahll ‘uillee chammah's ooyl lossreeyn ‘uillee as geirr ‘uillee. Er lhieu dy nee eh troarey 130 ooryn Gigawatt (GWh) dy lectraghys yn-chummalagh 'sy vlein, dy liooar da 40,000 thie. Nee Thames Water kionnaghey 75GWh jeh er son boayl mooynlee as farrys jee-hailjey Breckton. Shen bun pooar yn-chummalagh er prios soit daue, chammah's aght dy leodaghey bluckanys-sahllagh as y leaght oc son shen.

Shalee lhaih 2013: Shiaghtin 16

Jerrey sheyoo hiaghtin jeig ny Shallee Lhaih. Shoh ny lhiah mee yn çhiaghtin shoh chaie:

Bakuman y.l. 15 (Ōba Tsugumi, Obata Takeshi)

Fondagh, myr t'eh dagh keayrt. Er lhiam dy vel ad beggan ass credjue dys freayll karracteyr ny ghaa 'sy skeeal, foddee, fir oddagh faagail gyn boirey orrym; agh t'eh mie ny yei shen. As ta anaase mooar aym er y "chimmeeys" ta goll er rish jerrey ny lioar. Er y laue elley, cha nel monney aitt 'sy lioar shoh: t'eh lane ard-haghyrtys, as cha nel monney spotçh aynjee, ny caa da Obata soilshaghey magh rheamys yn ellyn echey.

Eberron Campaign Setting

Lioar heihill anaasoil as mie-screeuit, er lhiam. T'ad er ny reaghey as oardraghey dy mie, ga dy bare lhiam ayndagh smoo er y fa dy vel ee lane focklyn as eieyn noa cochianglt. T'ee lane vree as annym gyn cosoylaght, as s'baghtal eh dy ren ad ram obbyr urree. Er lhiam dy vel ee share na Ravenloft 'syn aght shen, aght ennagh. Cha noddym jannoo briwnys fondagh gyn cloie, agh er lhiam dy ghoin taitnys assjee.

---

The end of week sixteen of the Reading Project. Here's what I've read this week:

Bakuman y.l. 15 (Ōba Tsugumi, Obata Takeshi)

Decent as always. I feel like they're pushing credibility to keep a couple of characters in the story when they could be allowed to fade out gracefully, but decent nevertheless. I'm also pretty interested to find out what's going on with the "crime wave" at the end of this volume. On the other hand it's not as amusing as most of the volumes; this one's full of melodrama, without much in the way of jokes, and Obata doesn't get a chance to show off the range of his art.

Eberron Campaign Setting

An interesting and pretty well-done setting book, I would say. It felt well-organised (though a more extensive index would have been nice given all the new terminology), characterful and clearly an awful lot of work went into it. It's very hard to evaluate it playwise from just a reading, but it feels like fun.

Cur tostid er Facebook / Shutting up Facebook

Click here for English.

Shoh aght bunneydagh dy wooghey reddyn boiragh nagh vel oo son nyn vakin er Facebook. Jus fow Stylish son Firefox - ny red ennagh casley rish son dty yeeagheyder quaagh hene - as cur stiagh y coad heese:

@namespace url(http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml);

@-moz-document domain("facebook.com") {

div.ego_column, .storyInnerContent.storyContent
{
display: none;
}
}

Ta shen mooghey y barr soilsheenagh jesh as ny "Upcoming Events" 'sy stroo bea. Dy meeaighar, s'cosoyolagh eh dy jed eh er brishey dy leah ec Facebook. Nee'm eh y yannoo ass y noa tra ta mee dy chaghlaa.

NOA: Shen tappee. Nish t'eh brishey feer çhaghteraghtyn. Agh v'eh fondagh dy liooar daa laa er dy henney, creid mish. Ta mee er scryssey ny nagh vees gobbraghey.

NOA 2: Kiartit!

@namespace url(http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml);

@-moz-document domain("facebook.com") {

div.ego_column
{
display: none;
}

[title="Upcoming Events"], [title="Upcoming Events"]+div
{
display: none;
}

div[class^="_4"]
{
display: none;
}
}

---

English

This is a simple technique to block out some of Facebook's more annoying ads and unwanted junk. Grab a copy of Stylish for Firefox - or something equivalent to edit how websites appear (a CSS overriding tool) on whatever browser you prefer - and use the following code, or an equivalent:

@namespace url(http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml);

@-moz-document domain("facebook.com") {

div.ego_column, .storyInnerContent.storyContent
{
display: none;
}
}

That should block out the right-hand ad bar, plus the wretched "Upcoming Events" in your feed. Sadly Facebook will no doubt break it soon, as they seem to change their design regularly just to stop this kind of thing, but I'll try to keep it up to date.

EDIT: And as predicted... I've crossed out the bit that's now liable to break things, by blocking actual messages in your feed. It worked fine two days ago. That's quick work.

EDIT 2: Fixed!

@namespace url(http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml);

@-moz-document domain("facebook.com") {

div.ego_column
{
display: none;
}

[title="Upcoming Events"], [title="Upcoming Events"]+div
{
display: none;
}

div[class^="_4"]
{
display: none;
}
}

Shalee lhaih 2013: Shiaghtin 15

Jerrey queiggoo hiaghtin jeig ny Shallee Lhaih. Shoh ny lhiah mee yn çhiaghtin shoh chaie:

Hyperion (André-Paul Duchateau & Franz Drappier)

Castreycair. Va mee caillt eck, myr dy row skeealyn sleaie ayn nagh row mee er nyn lhaih, agh cha nel choud's ta fys aym. Cha row monney fys ayn mychione shennaghys y skeeal ny'n seihll v'ayn. Er lhiam nagh row Hyperion, ard-charracteyr yn skeeal, neuchinjagh as va ymmyrkey quaagh echey. Ny keayrtyn v'eh lane leighalagh da fer v'er ny chur fo bondiaght hoshiaght, eisht ny sheeagheyr aggleydagh, eisht soaieaghey er carrey gyn oyr erbee hoig mee (cha nel garaghtee ny oyr mie as uss ny sheeagheyr, ghooinney). Agh shegin dou gra nagh vel y 'Rangish aym feer vie. S'mie eh yn ellyn, lane-daahit as breeoil. Ta'n caslys coodagh soilshaghey magh ny lhisagh ve folliaghtagh derrey jerrey'n skeeal, er lhiam, as myr shen cha nel trimmid erbee 'syn "'olliaght" hene.

Modern Japan: A very short introduction (Goto-Jones)

Lioar feer vie elley 'sy 'traih. Ta Goto-Jones cooilleeney dean y lioar dy fondagh, gyn jerkal rouyr roie-ynsaghey dou, chamoo broojey stiagh mynphoyntyn nagh vel bentyn da'n chooish - t'eh cur shennaghys baghtal as so-hoiggal dooys as mish gyn ynsaghey erbee er. Erskyn ooilley, er lhiam dy row snaie d'arganeys fondagh ny trooid, as eshyn cochiangley ny cabdilyn myr skeeal cohassooagh. S'anaashagh dou fakin cosoylaght eddyr yn Çhapaan as yn Vretyn Vooar. Ta çhionnid bentyn rish enney ashoonagh ayn, rere Goto-Jones, as ta shen casley rish ny h-arganeyn t'ayn dy kinjagh er enney Goaldagh nish, gyn Impiraght erbee as rish cliaghtaghyn as boodeeyssyn caghlaa as lhaggaghey fo traa as caghlaaghyn cultooragh as trimmid bun-argidys.

---

The end of week fifteen of the Reading Project. Here's what I've read this week:

Hyperion (André-Paul Duchateau & Franz Drappier)

Okay, but not fantastic. I felt rather lost, as though there was a lot of background I didn't know that would have fleshed out the pretty sparse story. The main character, Hyperion, didn't feel very consistent me to and seemed to behave pretty oddly, switching from nobly-excessive loyalty to an ex-captor pirate (I think?), to shrinking pacifism, to randomly attacking an ally for reasons I couldn't work out. To be fair, my poor French didn't help there. The art's pretty good, and in full colour, which is nice. The cover gives away what may be supposed to be a twist near the end.

Modern Japan: A very short introduction (Goto-Jones)

Another very impressive book from this series. Goto-Jones hit just the right note for me, not making assumptions about prior knowledge, nor weighing the book down with unwanted detail. Most importantly, I felt like there was a strong thread of... not exactly argument I suppose, but narrative, through the book that held the sections together into a coherent whole. I was struck by how much the tensions of identity in Japan (as he describes them) seem to parallel discussions in the UK about what British identity actually means, with no Empire and with old traditions and communities fading through time, cultural change and the pressure of capitalism.

Yn Çhiarn Dunsany: Yn aght haink y Noid er Thlunrana

Er foddey er dy henney va fadeyrys ayn, as ashlish ass ny shenn laghyn, dy jig e noid er Thlunrana. As by vie er enney date y deyrey as y giat hig stiagh y noid ny hrooid, agh cha row fadeyr erbee er loayrt er enney’n noid, er-lhimmey jeh shoh: v’eh lesh ny jeeghyn agh cummal mastey deiney. Derrey jig yn laa shen, va Thlunrana ny lamaserai folliaghtagh, ny h-ard-çhiamble obbeeys – as ny h-atçhim ny glionney v’ee aynjee as ny thallooyn mygeayrt y mooie. Nagh ard as keyl ny h-uinniagyn v’eck! As ad cho quaagh rish foaddey ‘syn oie, heill y theay dy yeeagh adsyn ort lesh sooilleyraght youyllagh reddyn as folliaghtyn dorraghey oc. Quoi ec va fys er ny fir-obbee as ny lhiass-‘ir-obbee as ard-‘er-obbee mooar y voayl keillit shen? Hooill magh ad as breid as bayrn as cloagey orroo, doo voish kione dys boyn.

Ga dy row y jerrey faggys jee, as harragh noid ny fadeyryssyn yn oie shen hene trooid y dorrys foshlit jiass hug ad Giat ny Briwnys er; ny yei shen ooilley hannee carrick cloaie Hlunrana folliaghtagh foast: shenn, atçhimagh, dorraghey, fo chrooin owanagh deyrey ry-heet. Cha by vennick eh dy b’lhoys da deiney tayrn faggys da Thlunrana er oie, tra dirree neese cauaig injil ny fir-obbee ass shamyryn dowin, guee er Nane gyn enney dooin as cur aggle er ny craitnagyn heeb er y gheay; agh er yn oie s’jerrinagh hene haink y fer b’lesh y bwaane rish ny queig biljyn as thoo doo er, er son fakin Thlunrana reesht roish my jig y noid niauagh chum mastey deiney n’oi as cur jerrey urree.

Seose y ghlion dorraghey as eh gollrish dooinney dunnal, agh by hrome ny h-aggleyn er; ren e ghunnalid ad y hurranse, agh chroym eh beggan foue. Dentreil eh ‘sy yiat jiass t’ad cur Giat ny Briwnys er. Haink eh stiagh ayns halley dorraghey, as shooyl seose greeishyn marmyragh dys fakin Thlunrana ec y jerrey. Ec kione ny greeishyn va curtan velvad croghey, as hooill eh ny hrooid stiagh ayns shamyr fo vrattyn ass towse, agh va’n dorraghys aynjee ny s’dooey na yinnagh brattyn erbee. Ayns shamyr ghroamagh çheu hoal jee, trooid aae follym, honnick eh fir-obbee as cainleyn bolley oc cliaghtey obbeeys as druightaghey myr sannish. Va ny roddanyn ooilley ‘sy voayl gimmeeaght roue, snaue sheese ny greeishyn as kirrickaghey as jeestyrnee. Hooill dooinney bwaane y thoo doo trooid yn çhamyr shen neesht: cha yeeagh ny fir-obbee er, cha daag ad jeh sansheraght.

Hie eh shaghad trooid curtan, velvad doo foast, as çheet stiagh ayns shamyr varmyr ghoo raad nagh darree red erbee. Lonree cainle volley lomarcan 'sy treeoo hamyr; cha row uinnag erbee eck. Er y laare rea, fo voalley rea, va paalan sheeidey ny lhie, as ny curtanyn dooint; she casherickys casherick y voayl drogh-aaishnagh v'ayn, yn ard-olliaght hene. Rish y ghaa lhiattee va cummaghyn croymmey, deiney ny mraane ny clagh keiltagh, ny beiyn ynsit dys tostid. Tra daase kiunid ny folliaght erskyn surranse, ren y fer b’lesh y bwaane rish ny queig biljyn as thoo doo er goll seose rish y phaalan sheeidey, as tayrn y curtan lesh greim dunnal as boirit, as gearey. As hie y fadeyrys er cooilleeney, as cha row Thlunrana arragh reesht ny h-atçhim ny glionney; daag ny fir-obbee ny hallaghyn owanagh oc as çhea trooid ny magheryn, keayney as bwoalley nyn gleeauyn, son she garaghtee y noid va ry-heet noi Thlanrana trooid y dorrys jiass (va enmyssyn Giat ny Briwnys), as t’eh lesh ny jeeghyn agh cummal mastey deiney

---

Ta'n skeealeen shoh çhyndaait ass How the Enemy came to Thlunrana liorish yn Çhiarn Dunsany. Ta'n skeeal Baarle bunneydagh ry-lhaih er Project Gutenberg.

Shalee lhaih 2013: Shiaghtin 14

Jerrey kerroo hiaghtin jeig ny Shallee Lhaih. Shoh ny lhiah mee yn çhiaghtin shoh chaie:

Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka y.l. 3 (Urasawa Naoki et al.)

Shoh treeoo lioar y manga bentyn rish co-chummal robotyn mastey deiney, as red ennagh lorgey orroo dys marroo robotyn s'niartey y teihill - she aascreeu jeh ayrn y skeeal ard-ghooagh Tetsuwan Atom t'ayn, myr skeeal scrutagh lane dunverys as dorraghys. She skeeal ennaghtagh dy liooar t'ayn, er lhiam, as t'eh jeant feer vie. Er lhiam dy vel Urasawa er nyannoo obbyr 'ondagh, ellyn yindyssagh as blass feer so-chredjue 'syn aght t'eh scrutaghey dooghys as aigney ny robotyn. T'adsyn er gaggey ayns caggey agglagh, son y chooid smoo, agh t'ad nyn neiney ny yei shen as ta staartaghyn cadjin oc. 'Syn ym-lioar shoh, ta fer jeu gra dy vel ad ooilley er nynsaghey beggan dy ennaghtyn rere aght deiney, fer as fer: kuse jeu graih, aggle, as kuse elley dwoaie. Va eiyrtys ec shen orrym, aght ennagh. Lioar feer vie.

Er y laue elley, she lioar noa t'ayn, as myr shen cha nel mee er chur lhag erbee 'sy charnane... As mish er seyrey. Shen bea dhyt.

---

The end of week fourteen of the Reading Project. Here's what I've read this week:

Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka v. 3 (Urasawa Naoki et al.)

This is the third book in Urasawa's manga about human-robot society, a reworking of a section from Tezuka's seminal Tetsuwan Atom which I haven't read yet, to my shame. This is a pretty dark, menacing vision, with the world's most powerful robots hunted down by an even more powerful entity that brutally murders them. It's quite an emotional book, to my mind, and very well done, with great artwork and a very convincing consideration of the robots' natures and minds. Nearly all served in a terrible war some time ago, but have normal roles in society nowadays. In this volume, of them them suggests that all of them (the most advanced robots, I took it to mean) have learnt something of human emotion: some love, some fear, and at least one has learned hatred. Somehow I found that quite effecting. A great book.

Yeah, it's not a lot, despite a week off work. And this was a new book, so not even a dent in the pile.

Shaghrynys: faasagh as faasaag

Shalee lhaih 2013: Jerrey Mee Vayrnt

Jerrey treeoo vee ny shalee. Ren mee dy mie?

Hoshiaght ny bleeaney: 128 lioaryn

Hoshiaght ny mee: 114 lioaryn

• Lhaiht aym:
• Nuyoo hiaghtin: 5, agh va 2 jeu ayns Jerrey Geuree, m.s. 3
• Jeihoo hiaghtin: 1 lioar lomarcan
• Kied shiaghtin jeih: 4 lioaryn
• Nah hiaghtin jeih: 2 lioar
• Treeoo shiaghtin jeih: 3 lioaryn
• Scryssit er bun elley: 0
• Kionnit aym er y fa dy by vie lhiam ad: 4
• Goit aym er bun elley: 0

Myr shen, ta mee er scryssey 13 veih'n rolley, as er chur stiagh 4 noa, as ta 105 faagit er y rolley. Obbyr vraew!

Oh, as shoh towse noa cha smooinee mee er derrey nish:

• Lioaryn lhaiht aym y vlein shoh (y chied cheayrt): 42

---

(ta lioar elley ayns ynnyd Towards the End of the Morning er y fa dy dug mee ish da carrey ennagh

(there's a placeholder book for Towards the End of the Morning, which I gave away)

---

End of the second month of Reading Project, so maybe things have improved?

The Beginning: 128 books

The start of this month: 114 lioaryn

• Read this month:
• Nuyoo hiaghtin: 5, but 2 were 2 in February, which leaves 3
• Jeihoo hiaghtin: 1 solitary book
• Kied shiaghtin jeih: 4 books
• Nah hiaghtin jeih: 2 books
• Treeoo shiaghtin jeih: 3 books
• Removed for any other reason: 0
• Bought because I felt like it: 4
• Other acquisitions: 0

So I've knocked 13 off the list, and added a mere 4, which leaves 105 on the list. Not too bad!

Oh, and here's a new statistic I hadn't thought of before, somehow:

• Books read (for the first time) this year: 42

Shalee lhaih 2013: Shiaghtin 13

Jerrey treeoo hiaghtin jeig ny Shallee Lhaih. Shoh ny lhiah mee yn çhiaghtin shoh chaie:

The Last Lingua Franca (Nicholas Oster)

Ta'n lioar shoh cur geill da linguas franca as yn eie dy nee Baarle ee y lingua franca fondagh er son dy bragh nish; ny dy jig Sheenish, foddee, 'syn ynnyd eck. T'eh mie dy liooar, agh shegin dou gra nagh dod mee jannoo briwnys er cre'n lhaihderaght chiarit eck. Ta'n lioar beggan trome myr çhengoaylleeaght y theay, rere lioaryn elley ta mee er nyn lhaih; er y laue elley, cha nel ee ny tekslioar noadyr. Lhaih mee ish moal dy liooar, er y fa dy v'eh orrym ram shennaghys, tashtyn-fockle joarree a.r.e. y hoo stiagh marish yn eie hene. Shen Oster cur geill da feanish, as shen red mie; beggan ny sloo, foddee? Mannagh vel anaase as fys ayd hannah er ny cooishyn er lheh, s'doillee eh cummal seose geill; ta cabdil feer liauyr er Pershish as mean Euraishey, as lhie eh dy trome orryms; cha nee cooish chadjin studeyrys 'sy Heear... Cha s'aym c'red vees share. Ghow mee soylley jeh, as er lhiam dy vel briwnys s'jerree ny lioar fondagh dy liooar. Er y laue elley, ta mean ny lioar myr obbyr chlooidee, er lhiam - cha row snaie fondagh roie ny trooid (wahll, cha nee lioar oaylleeaght chreoi t'ayn, agh cooish heshoil). Myr shen: t'ee feeu, agh t'ee beggan quaagh as er lhiam dy vees eh ny share da'n chooid smoo jin gyn eab dy hoiggal (ny lhaih) dagh ooilley red 'sy liooar mannagh vel fys ayd er hannah.

Ancient Rome on Five Denarii a Day (Philip Matyszak)

Ny coontey mie, aitt as ynsee jeh'n Raue mysh 100BNJ, lane vynphoyntyn shennaghyssagh as cultooragh. T'eh beggan trome lesh fysseree ny keayrtyn, agh cha nel eh ort cur gys cooinaghtyn dagh nhee 'sy lioar. Ta aaraaghyn as meeryn cooie breckey y clane dy mie as soilshaghey magh bree as annym ny Romanee, chammah's y coontey shennaghyssagh ainjyssagh (as craidagh ny keayrtyn) ta Matyszak hene cur dhyt.

Dyn y Syrcas (Derfel Williams)

Cooinaghtyn dooinney preaban, voish toshiaght e ghraih er y phreaban derrey daag eh y bea arraghee er son bea smoo shickyr as soit. Anaasoil dy liooar, agh beggan aaobbragh er lhiam, gra ny reddyn cheddin dy mennick. Agh ta'n skeeal shoh er son lhaihderyn moaley as myr shen s'cosoylagh dy vel eh beggan aashagh er y fa shen.

---

The end of week thirteen of the Reading Project. Here's what I've read this week:

The Last Lingua Franca (Nicholas Oster)

This book's about linguas franca and the ideas about English remaining as an eternal world language, or being overtaken by Chinese or what-haveyou. It's decent enough, but I've got to say I couldn't quite fathom the intended readership. It's really pretty dense as a piece of pop linguistics (I've read my share) but it's clearly not a textbook either. It goes into quite a lot of historical detail, and throws in lots (really, really lots) of linguistic examples throughout, which is excellent scholastic practice but does make it pretty heavy unless you're really into those languages and cultures - there's a very long section about Persian and mid-Eurasia, for example, which most people in the West (like me) are utterly ignorant about, so that was heavy going. I'm not really sure what I think would improve it, though - it's just in a slightly odd niche. I'm glad I've read it, and I agree broadly with the book's conclusions, though I've got to say I didn't really feel like there was a strong thread of argument running through the book - it's more a patchwork most of the time, but then it's social and cultural linguistics, not physics. So, broadly, it's worth a look, but be aware it's slightly genreless and you'd probably do best to just flick through it and focus on the bits you're most interested in, rather than trying to soak in everything.

Ancient Rome on Five Denarii a Day (Philip Matyszak)

A fine, amusing and educational account of Rome in about 100AD, full of cultural and historical detail. It's a little bit dense at times, but it's not like you're obliged to memorise all the names and cross-references. The main thread of the account (which is pleasantly wry) is peppered with pithy quotes and fragments that illustrate the Roman character, attitudes and concerns of the day.

Dyn y Syrcas (Derfel Williams)

Reminiscences of a circus man, from his boyhood love of the circus to the end of his own career in search of a more settled life. Interesting, though a bit repetitive to be honest; however, it's part of a Quick Reads initiative partly for people who don't read much, and that may be partly why.

Shaddoge sauçhey

Ta lus-oayllee Ollooscoill Florida croo shaddoge vees ny sauçhey da sleih ta goaill stoo lheeys. Rere coontey jeianagh 'sy Canadian Medical Association Journal, ta 85 stooghyn lheeys ayn (ec y chooid sloo) nod eddyr-obbraghey marish shaddoge. Shimmey stoo lheeys cadjin ta nyn mast'oc as ad cooney noi cooishyn slaynt scanshoil. Chammah's shen, ta'n earroo shen gaase dy jeianagh: ayns 2008, va 17 stooghyn ayn dod eddyr-obbraghey marish shaddoge as croo fo-eiyrtys trome, agh shen 43 rish 2012. T'ad goaill stiagh shiartanse dy statinyn, stooghyn lheeys noi çhingyssyn cree as canghyr, as noi-veiyn.

Ta ny stooghyn lheeys shoh goll er ee. Ta bea-feddynaght ("bioavailability") injil oc, dy ghra myr shen, cha nel agh beggan jeu roshtyn ny killagyn erreish da goll er ee; myr shen, ta'n towse beill foddey ny smoo na'n chooid vees bentyn rish y chorp. Chammah's shen, t'ad goll er soe-obbraghey ec yn ensyme CYP3A4. Dy meeaighar, ta shaddoge as messyn mooinjer lhiettal CYP3A4 dy neuchaghlaaee. Shen eiyrtys stooghyn kemmigyn, furanocoumarinyn. T'adsyn lhiettal CYP3A4 do nagh dod ad lheie ny stooghyn lheeys; myr shen, ta cooid foddey smoo roshtyn y fuill, myr anlught. Foddee sleih surranse failleil aarey, ennalagh ny baase doaltattym kyndagh rish.

Ayns y çhalee, ren lus-oayllee towse cooid furanocoumarin ayns ymmodee arraghyssyn shaddoge, as feddyn aalaghtyn-meshtit as towse furanocoumarin feer veg oc. Er lhieu dy vel cooid furanocoumarin fo stiurey un yienntag, er y fa dy dooar ad co-cheintys feer 'ondagh. Myr shen, er lhieu dy nod ad sheelraghey arraghys sauçhey da sleih ta goaill ny stooghyn lheeys 'sy chooish; as t'ad er ngoaill toshiaght er yn obbyr shen. She aalaght-meshtit pomelo as shaddoge jiarg t'ayn, as she mess s'miljey va dean bunneydagh ny shalee. Er lhieu nagh bee y mess noa ry-gheddyn ec y theay rish queig ny shiaght bleeantyn.

T'ad er nyannoo prowaltys seyrlann er eiyrtys soo ny shaddogeyn "sauçhey" ("UF914") er killagyn deiney, as cha vaik ad fo-eiyrtyssyn jeeyllagh erbee. Ny yei shen, bee eh orroo prowaltyssyn-lhee deiney y yannoo dys shickyraghey nagh vel doilleeid erbee ayn.

Imraaghyn

Genetics and Breeding: Characterization of Furanocoumarin Profile and Inheritance Toward Selection of Low Furanocoumarin Seedless Grapefruit Cultivars
Chunxian Chen, Paul Cancalon, Carl Haun, Fred Gmitter, Jr.
Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science
2011-09, 136:358-363

Grapefruit–medication interactions: Forbidden fruit or avoidable consequences?
David G. Bailey, George Dresser, J. Malcolm O. Arnold
Canadian Medical Association Journal
2012
DOI:10.1503 /cmaj.120951

Lectraghys shooylagh

Ta Buffalo Grid (colught Lunninagh) prowal aght dy lhieeney shooylvaneyn liorish jeshaght lhieentagh ymmyrkagh ta croghey er soilshey ny greiney. Ayns çheeraghyn ennagh, cha nel lectraghys ry-gheddyn dy aashagh; t'eh ort shooyl ymmodee meeilaghyn dys balley as gienneyder pooar pedryl echey. T'eh deyr myrgeddin, faggys da faill lane laa 'sy çhiaghtin ny keayrtyn. As er y fa nagh vel monney tooryn çhellvane ayns ardjyn çheerey, ta'n çhellvane ceau ny smoo pooar dys troggal kiangley fondagh na ayns ardjyn as ram tooryn ayndaue.

Ta'n saase noa lughtey kishtaghan-pooar ymmyrkagh liorish soilshey ny greiney, as eh y chur gys balley ennagh er roar. Ta kionneyder cur çhaghter teks dys kionnaghey lectraghys: shen mysh 20% costys lectraghys gienneyder pooar. 'Sy traa ry-heet, by vie lesh Buffalo Grid ny colughtyn shooylvane y choyrlaghey dy cooney lesh y costys shen; nagh beagh sleih ceau ny smoo argid er shooylvaneyn dy beagh lectraghys ry-gheddyn gyn costys?

Chammah's shen, ta sleih jannoo ymmyd jeh shooylvaneyn er son dellan nish: kionnaghey reddyn ny eer geddyn faill. T'eh fo Buffalo Grid prowal elley y yannoo ayns Sierra Leone, raad ta delleyderyn caffee kiarail dy chionnaghey troar caffee liorish shooylvane. Ta'n lheid scanshoil ayns ynnydyn gyn coryssyn argidoil fondagh as sheer-ry-laue. Ta argid glass gaueagh dy liooar, nagh vel? Shen un fa nagh vel shin shooyl mygeayrt as lane phoagey d'airh ain (agh er lhiam dy noddin dy hurranse un cheayrt gyn assee...).

Art New Scientist er y chooish, liorish Anil Ananthaswamy.

2013-03-09, earroo 2907: "Text your way to a phone recharge"