February 27, 2004
February 26, 2004
Viruses: biological and technological
I'm sick. I depend upon my computer for entertainment and communication today, because my wife has turned into a cleaning fury. Is this why my mail is so delayed and some websites have slowed to a crawl?
Outsourcing Inside
Scaryduck talks about the BBC/LandSec outsourcing deal in passing:
The sale of BBC Technology killed of the illusion of St Greg in some quarters, as did the outsourcing of property management and the construction of the Grey Lubyanka in White City, where jobs would mysteriously disappear en route from other locations.It's interesting to view the deal, which saw developer Land Securities effectively become the BBC's property manager and partner, from the inside, because from the outside, or at least the property industry, it's viewed as a roaring success and a model for the future.
February 24, 2004
Brits, Hacks and No Longer Single
Are us Brits getting too intimate with our computers?
And should professional journalists like me even be blogging?
WHSmith stops selling CD singles. It's the end of the world as we knew it, and I feel fine.
February 23, 2004
Animal Rights: Deadly games of childish politics
Why do people choose to put animal lives before human ones? What sort of person thinks it is just fine to publish the home addresses of scientists and their families
Well, as it turns out, people who have no respect for the law:
Animal activists target judges
Once, when I was driving home from Suffolk, I heard a show on Radio 4 where they quizzed animal rights activist on why they thought it was acceptable to publish scientists' home addresses on the internet. Then the journalist, quite rightly, challenged the intervewee on why she wouldn't reveal her real name, and why she wasn't prepared for the BBC to publish her name and address on the website. Her answer was, of course, that she was afraid of attacks from the scientific community. Boy, she hasn't spent much time around scientists has she?
Interestingly, the activists fell back on a similar excuse for the publishing of judges' family details on the web:
But Greg Avery, a spokesman for Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, said the animal rights movement was not interested in judges' personal details. He said: "Somebody involved in the industry has set this up. I don't believe that it is anything to do with the animal-rights movement."So, let's get this straight: the scientists are publishing the family details of the judges who are protecting them? Uh, yeah, of course.
The problem is, of course, that many of these activists live in little self-reinforcing circles of fantical belief. Make no mistake, that's what they are: fanatics who beleive their own conviction puts them above the law. Certainly they show a fanatic's contempt for the law. With no-one within their circle to challenge their beliefs, they grow and develop in strange ways. They tell each other that there's no scientific basis for animal experimentation, and scientists only do it because companies pay them, as one suggested on Today the other morning. When he was confornted with the question: "And why would companies pay for this if it doesn't do any good?", he had no answer. He'd never thought about it, nor sufficiently interrogated his own beliefs.
This is the politics of the schoolroom, given deadly life by adults. Without any intellectual frame of referenec that lets them analyse their own beliefs, we come down to "cute fluffy animals good, nasty scientists bad". The irony, of course, is that the very scientists they call "bad" have to pass every action they take through committees of ethics. Clearly, the activitists have no such safeguards.
February 20, 2004
Mucus Trooper, Lights Are Gonna Find You
For anyone who like words, The Word Spy is an invaluable read, giving you a feel for the linguistic zeitgeist.
More importantly, it has given me a new phrase to describe my wife at the moment: mucus trooper. These are the noble souls who troop into work every day, carrying their flu and cold germs along with them as happy little passengers. These germs are promiscuous sorts, and before long we have a whole new load of mucus troopers to keep the clan going.
If I get another cold, it's straight to bed for me.
February 19, 2004
A River Runs Around It: The Future of the Quaggy
Ladies and gentlemen, please take a look at this picture:
This is a new sign that has recently appeared near Lewisham station. It talks about the river Quaggy, which you can just about see at the bottom left of the picture. This river, once the heart of Lewisham's life, has been relegated to a concrete and brick funnel of water skirting around Lewisham town centre. The Qwaggy Waterways Action Group (QWAG) want to do something about this. This sign is just the first step in a campaign to reopen the river for public use and enjoyment, or so the sign says. It encourages us to head to this website for more information. Go ahead and have a look. I'll still be here when you get back.
Do you see the problem? No? Go back and have another look. See the bit, down the page a bit, listing future meeting in 2001. Oh dear.
What a way to blow the publicity your brand new sign is generating.
February 18, 2004
Token Post
Feeling too rotten today to post anything intelligent, so here's a pic from the archive that sums up how I'm feeling:
February 17, 2004
BBC censoring?
Make up your own mind:
BBC Censors Discussion of Multiculturalism:
Shuts off Microphones on Libertarian Alliance Spokesman
[via Samizdata
Trees, Journo Power and Democracy
A tree isn't just a tree for urbanists
A politician say that us journalists really run the country. Excellent. All will change immediatly.
Nice to see someone's doing something to connect politicians and people
Local politician in blog use shocker
Another local politician has gained a decent web presence. The Labour councilor for Blackheath ward, just up the road from me, has joined the small group of blogging politicians.
Cllr Andrew Brown: My home page
[via Tom Watson]
February 16, 2004
Shops, Comics and Houses
Potentially bad news for my wallet
If only Dad were still alive to share this with
London's sites for new homes. Has anyone told Frisby?
A Tip for the Tip-seekers
Y'know, there's a danger in asking for donations to help keep your blog running. I blog I read with some regularity started plugging the PayPal tips box fairly frequently. I made my decision not to danate based on the criterion "would I really miss this site if it disappeared?". The answer was "no", so I didn't donate.
Then I got to thinking. If I wouldn't miss the site if it disappeared, why was I bothering to read it? It's gone from my list of regular visits. So, in an attempt to make some money from his blog, the writer has lost one reader.
Does it matter? Probably not, if he's more interested in the money than the readership. However, if readership is important, you do need to be really sure that what you're offering is worth money to people before you start asking for it.
Ecto Redux
Others are having problems with Ecto, although it works just fine for me. However, the support response looks good.
Just thought I'd mention it, as I plugged the software a few days ago.
