<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[RSS Feed]]></title><description><![CDATA[RSS Feed]]></description><link>https://ecency.com</link><image><url>https://ecency.com/logo512.png</url><title>RSS Feed</title><link>https://ecency.com</link></image><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2026 18:44:23 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://ecency.com/@alfar/rss" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[Sumerian Word of the Day - Ud]]></title><description><![CDATA[Ud is the Sumerian word for "sun". When the Babylonians arrived, this became Utu. There are a number of different types of sign in Sumerian - they used logograms (a symbol that represents a word)]]></description><link>https://ecency.com/@alfar/sumerian-word-of-the-day-ud</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://ecency.com/@alfar/sumerian-word-of-the-day-ud</guid><category><![CDATA[writing]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[alfar]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 11 Sep 2016 19:35:21 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://i.ecency.com/p/4qEixiWLF1TWErLps5Pf1tsugmhELvqHDgT78S2LKNVdAkXw8Kkfqvk25wndmaWuC2?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[How did cuneiform arise?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Now, the general belief is that the Sumerian writing system evolved from the above characters. The idea is that they turned them into crude outlines, which became simpler over time. There are some competing]]></description><link>https://ecency.com/@alfar/how-did-cuneiform-arise</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://ecency.com/@alfar/how-did-cuneiform-arise</guid><category><![CDATA[writing]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[alfar]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 11 Sep 2016 03:01:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://i.ecency.com/p/YpihifdXP4WUnwMqdPwuZgFs2XTmtiD56CZ9CfHxKvEGG7nzE7Y9VvqbcuPHCn5so34rqYf9byitCjvVwGqX8SczkFbizZdmaHvSiL6opCbj28xCJEFVaUN7f64u5YyiMuwhM3wYdF8nKBXy6e4gLVkD3vhoeoBXxTmiEf1byRYa?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Sumerian of the Day]]></title><description><![CDATA[The writing implement used in writing cuneiform was a reed that was cut at a slight angle so as to produce more of an arrow rather than a circle. The Sumerian word for this reed was, apparently, gi-dub-ba,]]></description><link>https://ecency.com/@alfar/sumerian-of-the-day</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://ecency.com/@alfar/sumerian-of-the-day</guid><category><![CDATA[writing]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[alfar]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 10 Sep 2016 00:03:30 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://i.ecency.com/p/KWcVEhPeHbuextyZpT9JjuVEF4vSq5e41aZeR2JHit4bwjkXsZ1bJ89WuPuG4wvCqWztYrQ8ALTME4m8UW?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Assorted Steemit ideas from a geek of many chromosomes]]></title><description><![CDATA[The first of these, I've plugged elsewhere but will put here as an actual posted idea for discussion - the multi-queue. The idea is very simple. You have a proto-story queue, which I am tempted to call]]></description><link>https://ecency.com/@alfar/assorted-steemit-ideas-from-a-geek-of-many-chromosomes</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://ecency.com/@alfar/assorted-steemit-ideas-from-a-geek-of-many-chromosomes</guid><category><![CDATA[steemit-ideas]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[alfar]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 09 Sep 2016 03:59:39 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Cursive Writing, Recipe Books and a Challenge]]></title><description><![CDATA[I include for your delight and/or memory exhaustion (it's a big file) and/or patience exhaustion (it's very hard to read) a scanned page from Caroline Duncan's handwritten recipe book from the 1800s. If]]></description><link>https://ecency.com/@alfar/cursive-writing-recipe-books-and-a-challenge</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://ecency.com/@alfar/cursive-writing-recipe-books-and-a-challenge</guid><category><![CDATA[recipe]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[alfar]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 08 Sep 2016 22:30:33 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://i.ecency.com/p/23KQwnti57stsyagYJUp18RQdKpxQRWTirzHhduB77JErypR3Z5HSX2xoeGdsvy5VfWPiFA9VdkjBrDoMRJHs88MES7rYzy?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Is the Universe natural, artificial or simulated?]]></title><description><![CDATA[This post is inspired by the following culprits: These two links are also important. So, onto the problem. Based on calculations published in New Scientist in the 1980s, it would require an energy density]]></description><link>https://ecency.com/@alfar/is-the-universe-natural-artificial-or-simulated</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://ecency.com/@alfar/is-the-universe-natural-artificial-or-simulated</guid><category><![CDATA[universe]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[alfar]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 07 Sep 2016 05:32:36 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[On the topic of fan fiction]]></title><description><![CDATA[My previous post, way back in the mists of time, was a short specimin of fan fiction. Admittedly, not the best that is out there, but that is neither here nor there. Attempting to write in this art form]]></description><link>https://ecency.com/@alfar/on-the-topic-of-fan-fiction</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://ecency.com/@alfar/on-the-topic-of-fan-fiction</guid><category><![CDATA[writing]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[alfar]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 05 Sep 2016 15:51:27 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Fan Fiction: Sapphire & Steel/Tomorrow People (original) crossover]]></title><description><![CDATA[This was originally written for a Tomorrow People fan fiction website. When that was closed, I copied it over to FanFiction.net, where it resides in obscurity today. As, indeed, do the two series it is]]></description><link>https://ecency.com/@alfar/fan-fiction-sapphire-and-steel-tomorrow-people-original-crossover</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://ecency.com/@alfar/fan-fiction-sapphire-and-steel-tomorrow-people-original-crossover</guid><category><![CDATA[story]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[alfar]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 28 Aug 2016 20:17:33 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Terrifying TV (for a child of the 70s or 80s)]]></title><description><![CDATA[This was the golden age for psychiatry, with children in their millions getting terrorised by perfectly reputable TV stations. I revisited my old haunts, to see if they were as good as I remembered. Children]]></description><link>https://ecency.com/@alfar/terrifying-tv-for-a-child-of-the-70s-or-80s</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://ecency.com/@alfar/terrifying-tv-for-a-child-of-the-70s-or-80s</guid><category><![CDATA[children]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[alfar]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 23 Aug 2016 23:40:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://i.ecency.com/p/S5Eokt4BcQdk7EHeT1aYjzebg2hC7hkthT45e9ZJj2XV1GdUNGR6mXUVbxfudgPFCkR18QN?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Learning a foreign language]]></title><description><![CDATA[Y'know, I learned French and German at school. I can even remember bits of it. Boring. I actually passed a French exam five years after my last French lesson - not by trying to remember any of it, but]]></description><link>https://ecency.com/@alfar/learning-a-foreign-language</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://ecency.com/@alfar/learning-a-foreign-language</guid><category><![CDATA[learning]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[alfar]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 23 Aug 2016 21:24:45 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Thoughts on Encryption and Encoding]]></title><description><![CDATA[Here are the basic ideas that we all know and love/hate (according to whether you belong to any three letter agency). A function can be symmetric (ie: applying it again reverses it), or it can be asymmetric]]></description><link>https://ecency.com/@alfar/thoughts-on-encryption-and-encoding</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://ecency.com/@alfar/thoughts-on-encryption-and-encoding</guid><category><![CDATA[security]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[alfar]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 10 Aug 2016 06:50:21 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Updated Great Bearded Geek Study]]></title><description><![CDATA[Derived from the better-known Eric Conspiracy, this does not attempt to prove the Eric-ness of the world, but rather to determine whether bearded Geeks (homo sapiens numerorum et barbam) are sufficiently]]></description><link>https://ecency.com/@alfar/the-updated-great-bearded-geek-study</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://ecency.com/@alfar/the-updated-great-bearded-geek-study</guid><category><![CDATA[geek]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[alfar]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 07 Aug 2016 08:12:18 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Great Bearded Geek Study]]></title><description><![CDATA[Derived from the better-known Eric Conspiracy, this does not attempt to prove the Eric-ness of the world, but rather to determine whether bearded Geeks (homo sapiens numerorum et barbam) are sufficiently]]></description><link>https://ecency.com/@alfar/the-great-bearded-geek-study</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://ecency.com/@alfar/the-great-bearded-geek-study</guid><category><![CDATA[test]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[alfar]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 07 Aug 2016 05:15:39 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Aircraft Fetishism II - The Sopwith Camel]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Sopwith Camel, featured in so many of Snoopy's dreams in Peanuts, flying for real. Documentary on Thomas Sopwith On his hundredth birthday, a Sopwith Camel did a flyover of his house, along with many]]></description><link>https://ecency.com/@alfar/aircraft-fetishism-ii-the-sopwith-camel</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://ecency.com/@alfar/aircraft-fetishism-ii-the-sopwith-camel</guid><category><![CDATA[aircraft]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[alfar]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 06 Aug 2016 19:59:54 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://i.ecency.com/p/S5Eokt4BcQdk7EHeT1aYjzebg2hC7hkthT45e582mSNCVQnF9QrqSZXwHcd26B6aV4YMvea?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Aircraft Fetish - The DH98 DeHavilland Mosquito]]></title><description><![CDATA[I will run a brief extract from my series on aircraft that have achieved Fetish Gold Standard for extreme... well, almost everything. These are the aircraft you love to love or love to hate. Unless you're]]></description><link>https://ecency.com/@alfar/aircraft-fetish-the-dh98-dehavilland-mosquito</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://ecency.com/@alfar/aircraft-fetish-the-dh98-dehavilland-mosquito</guid><category><![CDATA[aircraft]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[alfar]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 06 Aug 2016 19:52:18 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://i.ecency.com/p/S5Eokt4BcQdk7EHeT1aYjzebg2hC7hkthT45ePdR1e4Xfnz7v1ehMccEokk6bbvuY4vjLnA?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Game shows]]></title><description><![CDATA[Game shows. What on Earth could anyone find to write about gameshows? The skill and cunning of guessing what 100 people said might be found on a beach? Ok, below I've compiled a collection of videos of]]></description><link>https://ecency.com/@alfar/game-shows</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://ecency.com/@alfar/game-shows</guid><category><![CDATA[television]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[alfar]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 06 Aug 2016 04:15:42 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://i.ecency.com/p/S5Eokt4BcQdk7EHeT1aYjzebg2hC7hkthT45eF67xakCpMDHmQBmbHemu5ufc57yBKHDBdx?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[A tribute to the Comedienne Sue Perkins]]></title><description><![CDATA[Who, as well as annoyingly being unavailable, lives with her spouse and pet brain tumour. No word on whether the spouse has been taught to do any tricks. One of her amazing feats was to get a camera crew]]></description><link>https://ecency.com/@alfar/a-tribute-to-the-comedienne-sue-perkins</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://ecency.com/@alfar/a-tribute-to-the-comedienne-sue-perkins</guid><category><![CDATA[artist]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[alfar]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 06 Aug 2016 03:53:48 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://i.ecency.com/p/S5Eokt4BcQdk7EHeT1aYjzebg2hC7hkthT45eMznKuLHJuKK3PNBqnBNhwqBv9ngTiPPFTU?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[What is an Aspie?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Let's start you off on a short quiz. Is an Aspie: A fan of the Monty Asp Flying Circus tv series? A jovial asparagus? A person owning 76 metric tonnes of books, 144 science laboratories and a social life]]></description><link>https://ecency.com/@alfar/what-is-an-aspie</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://ecency.com/@alfar/what-is-an-aspie</guid><category><![CDATA[autism]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[alfar]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 06 Aug 2016 03:16:12 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://i.ecency.com/p/C3TZR1g81UNa7okXA53PmFrZZA4Nk4eQFNmQXFGCaiSZ88NqwkHvAeCC3k3aFRVNRyUf3bcM8jnVYcHbY6pE9Yo5bXxoXDkk9sfTxi73UndyNhRac55gNLE?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Liquid/powdered food, are they actually any good?]]></title><description><![CDATA[That's not a rhetorical question. They have similar nutrients to regular food, but we've known for a long time that nutrients weren't simply absorbed. So, really, the first thing to ask is "what is]]></description><link>https://ecency.com/@alfar/liquid-powdered-food-are-they-actually-any-good</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://ecency.com/@alfar/liquid-powdered-food-are-they-actually-any-good</guid><category><![CDATA[food]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[alfar]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 01 Aug 2016 08:28:39 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[My experiences with Open Source as a developer and advocate]]></title><description><![CDATA[This story starts back in the 1990s, when I was a regular contributor to Freshmeat and Slashdot. I first got my fingers burned when I received hate-mail from a couple of scientists because I'd posted a]]></description><link>https://ecency.com/@alfar/my-experiences-with-open-source-as-a-developer-and-advocate</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://ecency.com/@alfar/my-experiences-with-open-source-as-a-developer-and-advocate</guid><category><![CDATA[software]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[alfar]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 28 Jul 2016 23:40:24 GMT</pubDate></item></channel></rss>