Hugh MacLeod: Big Media has no-one to imitate

SpaceShipOne (SS1) coverage:

• up-to-the-minute updates
• SS1 flight explained

Slashdot: "Open MS Passport" MyUID Goes Beta

Going to keep a good eye on this one today: Mojave Airport Weblog

This month's print issue of Partysan features photography previoulsy published here.

Maybe I am going to Ikea this week. Maybe not. It depends. It's complicated. See, there is this chair that I really like. Designed by Thomas Sandell the VÅGÖ chair is bound to be become a modern classic. It's plastic. It's durable. It's suitable for use indoors and outdoors. I might use it as a coat rack. Or as a balcony chair. Or I buy six and use them as a sofa. At € 20 the chair comes quite cheap. But the first hurdle still needs to be overcome: going to Ikea.

Since I don't want to go there alone, the going-to part requires acute co-ordination. Furniture shopping at Ikea on a Friday afteroon or Saturday is not an option because I am too stubborn to voluntarily queue up at check-out for more than one hour. That leaves Mondays till Thursdays. Now you should think I'd be flexible enough to shuffle my schedule in a manner that it provides for some time to get to Ikea, buy the chair (and maybe the obligatory pack of 100 tealights) and get back home before sunset. But somehow that seems impossible. There is always something more important that comes up. As I see it now it's a matter of priorities; there is really noone to blame. But one should not give up easily. If you want something, you need to fight for it. And sometimes the things that appear most trivial turn out to be most complicated.

So maybe I am going to Ikea this week. Maybe not.

So when does Chelsea Clinton get her book deal?

SpaceShipOne will launch its attempt to become the first non-governmental flight to leave the earth’s atmosphere tomorrow.

How ricin poisoning is treated:

Because no antidote exists for ricin, the most important factor is avoiding ricin exposure in the first place.

Fellow European citizens, there is a lot of soccer in the news these days. So maybe you haven't noticed that two days ago, the European Council has agreed on the final draft of the constitutional treaty. Europe will finally get its very own constitution. Hooary! Why don't we open a bottle of champagne and celebrate? Do we even care? Should we?

Let's just have a quick look at this final draft:

• A Constitution for Europe
• Eine Verfassung für Europa

Flipping through the pages, you'll notice that it consists of roughly 265 pages and more than 60,000 words. Compare that to the 4,600 words of the U.S. Constitution and you should not be too surprised why the EU needs to employ so many bureaucrats and civil servants. Well, ok, maybe it's not fair to just compare those two documents, especially since the new EU Constitution is still much shorter than the existing treaties it is supposed to consolidate.

So what's in there for you?

Article 2: The Union's values
The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, liberty, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights. These values are common to the Member States in a society of pluralism, tolerance, justice, solidarity and non-discrimination.

Article 3: The Union's objectives
1. The Union's aim is to promote peace, its values and the well-being of its peoples.
2. The Union shall offer its citizens an area of freedom, security and justice without internal frontiers, and a single market where competition is free and undistorted. [...]

[...] The Union shall respect its rich cultural and linguistic diversity, and shall ensure that Europe's cultural heritage is safeguarded and enhanced.

Other interesting factlets:

Article 46: The principle of participatory democracy
[...] 4. No less than one million citizens coming from a significant number of Member States may invite the Commission to submit any appropriate proposal on matters where citizens consider that a legal act of the Union is required for the purpose of implementing the Constitution.

Article 50: Protection of personal data
1. Everyone has the right to the protection of personal data concerning him or her.

Article 59: Voluntary withdrawal from the Union
1. Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the European Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements.

As homework for tomorrow, please prepare a short essay describing the differences between the European Council, the Council of Ministers, and he European Commission.

And happy birthday, Nico!

Did you notice? There were almost 10,000 empty seats at last night's Euro 2004 match Italy : Sweden. Yet technically, the stadium was sold out. That's a tad bit difficult to explain to football supporters waiting in lines in front of the stadium offering premiums in order to get one last ticket.

Then again, watching the match on large TV screens at a local pub or bar is also fun, especially if you get the benefit of a news broadcast during halftime. Oh, another decapitation in Saudi Arabia? One beer please!

The German Social Democrats launched an election blog focusing on the upcoming local elections in Germany's most densely populated state, North Rhine-Westfalia (NRW). Michael Groschek, Secretary General of SPD NRW, officially inaugurated the weblog today, 100 days before the elections.

From the recent Zeitgeist:

... is not as big as you think.

TIME: Meet Joe Blog

Why are more and more people getting their news from amateur websites called blogs? Because they're fast, funny and totally biased.

Exhibit A: Big White Guy
Exhibit B: A troubled teenager

I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.

Why don't you just blame it on...

1. immigrants;
2. Osama bin Laden;
3. the police;
4. baby boomers;
5. the ozone hole;
6. the Catholic Church;
7. women;
8. Modern Talking;
9. jet lag; or simlpy
10. Germany.

Cologne police have published several images showing the main suspect in the bombing that shook the city earlier this month. Funny enough the image was taken by a surveillance camera used by Cologne-based VIVA TV that has offices close to the restaurant which was the targeted in the bombing. Minutes after this image is taken the suspect allegedly parks the nail bomb, believed to be attached to his bike.

Now don't get me wrong. I hope this terrible crime will get solved. I hope the right person will go to jail. I hope police are successful in finding the bomber.
But let this also be a reminder that public surveillance may have an impact on all of us, being filmed and photographed whereever we move whenever we enter public (or not so public) space. And let this also be a reminder that we all are innocent until proven guilty. Next time you get filmed by CCTV, you may find yourself on newspaper frontpages throughout the country. Another price of freedom I am not sure I am willing to pay.

Greece just tied against Spain (1:1) but the local Greeks are going nuts like Greece won the entire tournament. That's what I call passion.

UEFA's Disciplinary Commission is investigating a spitting incident and the TV evidence is pretty obvious: Francesco Totti spat Denmark's Christian Poulsen in the face. Totti go home, you pig! Euro 2004 doesn't need that kind of rude behaviour.

PS And get a new haircut while you have some spare time.