Tag Archives: Thomas Nowell

Report from the Grand Tribunal of Stonehenge: Ars Magica UK convention 2010

For anyone reading this who does not really know me well, Ars Magica is a roleplaying game set in 13th century Europe, as it was believed to be. Dragons live in the mountains, wizards study in lonely towers, and faeries haunt the forests. It’s not a computer game — it is a game played like Dungeons & Dragons by people with pencils, paper and funny shaped dice. This was the fourth annual Ars Magica convention here in the UK; I ran the first two, Neil and Sheila ran last years in Cambridge and will host the event in 2011, and there have been three now in the US as well, held the same weekend. This was the largest so far: a total of 37 people being at at least some of the event, though not all were gamers, some were guests of friends dropping in to say hi! Continue reading

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Charting the Unknown: Ghosts, Memory & the Progress of Time

OK something mildly interesting tonight – very much a preliminary set of thoughts on something Becky and I are still working on. Before she started her PhD we undertook some simple research on reports of “paranormal experiences” together, using a novel new methodology which is actually quite close to that used by the SPR in the 1894 Census of Hallucinations. And something has already come up that I find fascinating! Continue reading

Posted in Debunking myths, Paranormal, Science, Uninteresting to others whitterings about my life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Radical Politics or a useful response to economic change? Basic Income Guarantee Schemes

I don’t normally write on things I know little or nothing about, but recently I developed an interest in Basic Income Guarantee (or Negative Income Tax) schemes. The idea is surprisingly simple – everyone is paid a straight forward dividend or cash payment sufficient for their needs, all equally, and those who wish can work on top. Continue reading

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