In the Dark

Tangentially related to yesterday’s post, I’m reminded that, some time ago, a friend of mine, based in Germany, who happens to be a lawyer (Rechtsanwältin), informed me that defamation is a criminal offence under German law. This is different from the UK and Ireland, where defamation is a matter for the civil courts. Here is a translation of Section 187 of the German criminal code (Strafgesetzbuch):

Sections 185 and 186 are related to this. The law applies to acts committed in Germany, such as sending messages by email or via social media using a computer based there.

I mention this law for two reasons. One is that to point out to readers that they have legal recourse if a person based in Germany is intentionally defaming you. The other is to suggest that, if you are based in Germany and are in the habit of committing repeated acts of intentional defamation, it may be in your best interests to desist.

I hope this clarifies the situation.

I’m grateful to Franco Vazza for pointing out this superb bit of product placement in the advertisements on yesterday’s blog post:

I wonder what advert it will place under this one? Will it cause an infinite regress?

I’m sitting in the bar of the National Concert Hall in Dublin ahead of tonight’s concert but I have enough time to congratulate all the winners of this year’s Royal Astronomical Awards. The full list of awardees, announced this afternoon, can be found here.

In particular, I’d like to congratulate John Peacock on his Gold Medal!

John is an occasional commenter on this blog, and may even read it sometimes too!

Well, it’s been a miserable Christmas Eve with heavy showers of sleet and God knows what else nearly all afternoon. Nevertheless I’m determined to make an attempt to get into the Christmas spirit for tomorrow. If Fats Waller can’t do help me achieve that, nobody can. Here’s his classic version of Jingle Bells on which the general atmosphere of hilarity and inspired chaos allows his superb musicianship to shine all the more brightly. Few ever managed to play Harlem Stride piano as well as Fats Waller, and he’s on top form in the opening choruses of this record.

It’s December 19th 2022 and my 2023 RAS Diary has arrived in Ireland, this time with an added Brexit bonus of a customs declaration!

The diary part of the RAS diary, being I suppose intended for academics, actually runs from October to December the following year. In previous years it has arrived in time to use it for Semester 1 but for the last three years it hasn’t arrived in the post until December, meaning that I couldn’t use the first three months in the new diary. The heavy delay of the diary is matched by that of the RAS house journal Astronomy & Geophysics which usually takes a couple of months to reach Ireland. I notice that this year’s wasn’t even sent out from Burlington House until 7th December…

Apparently about a quarter of all Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society (including myself) are located “overseas”. Those in far-flung places presumably get everything even later than I do here in Ireland.

This year’s diary is a much brighter orange colour than the picture suggests. I’ve included a picture here along with various others from over the years.

Although many of my colleagues seem not to use them, I like old-fashioned diaries like the one above. I do run an electronic calendar for work-related events, meetings etc, but I use the paper one to scribble down extra-curricular activities such as concerts and sporting fixtures, as I find the smartphone version of my electronic calendar a bit fiddly.

I know quite a few people these days are asking what Mastodon is. Fortunately, I see in the latest Private Eye that some leading experts have given their opinion on the matter:

I hope this clarifies the situation.