I'm amused by the Grauniad's mention today of "William Gibson's Neuromancer, a radical and difficult work which has become the set text of the cyberpunk sci-fi genre."

Obviously I'll never again need to feel hopelessly outclassed when people earnestly discuss Ulysses or Gravity's Rainbow.

Also, this article in the world's most august scientific journal debates the claim that the budget spent on the Human Genome Project has produced a 141-fold return for the (presumably US) economy in the years since. If true, this would imply that my wages from that period benefited the wider world to the tune of at least tuppence ha'penny, which I'll have to mention the next few times I'm asked what I've been wasting my life on.

It seems we have come to the attention of the Improbable Research Blog. I happened across the paper while browsing Nature's website the other day - I don't normally do this, so there's the vague possibility that this isn't the only one I haven't been told about. I don't think I'll be putting it on the CV.

We announced completion of the Project three years ago today. It seems much longer. Within a week the turnover of flatmates had convinced me to quit and move back here. I gave my notice in the same day.

The bathroom's not finished, and it turns out that the usual rule about workmen never being available (even for an emergency) outside the usual hours doesn't apply when you'd like it to - the tiler's only available on Sunday, which totally hoses my plan to spend the weekend in Glasgow seeing people at Eastercon. I'll go over tomorrow and after he's finished on Sunday - and maybe stay until Monday depending on what people are doing.

Today I've been rebuilding Zachariah, as some sort of event on Tuesday hosed the power supply and two rather nice hard drives. I have a third with nothing important on it, so in principle I could try swapping the logic boards to do some data recovery. Even partially dismantling a hard drive, of course, is not a job for the nervous, so . . . how bold am I feeling?

Beltane's going well. There was a walkthrough on Tuesday with all the cueing, and Amy insisted that Fred and I produce a coal on the monument in some pretty fierce wind. Amazingly, we managed it, although we then managed to allow it to blow away. Ho hum.

And, also, Graham is happier again because once more the General is not. I understand that the Prez has also fallen off his bicycle.

I have scanned a couple of images that I must remember to show you. Please remind me, if I don't do so in the next day or so.

Also, I notice that Sister Ray claim to have an early Hüsker Dü album called Ultracore. Anyone heard of this? I know of a song (on Land Speed Record?) of that name, but no album.

According to the Reg, the Chromosome 16 paper is out. I didn't have anything to do with 16, and from the list of contributors I don't think anyone I know did either.

If you're interested in which chromosomes have had this sort of paper published so far, there's a diagram here. (As you've probably guessed, this entry is mainly for my own reference - I'm going to shamelessly leave it public regardless, though).

Hang on a minute . . .

You bastards!

Nobody told me 13 was out! They'd bloody better have some reprints left . . .

[Slightly later]

Goddammit, how much more are they not telling me about?