Tim Almond

There’s an interesting article in The Times about Google producing ads for groups that wanted support for Proposition 8, a vote in California to define marriage as only between a man and a woman, with a site owner complaining that the ads could be offensive to some of their readers.

The thing is, this is always a risk with Google ads. As far as I’m concerned, Proposition 8 is a wholly illiberal piece of legislation, and I don’t support it, but I don’t see what’s wrong with people campaigning for it being legal, and if you buy into Google’s ad system, one of the risks you run is that you get ads that don’t fit your message (I’ve had ads for homeopathic remedies despite my general opposition). Opt for other systems like referral ads for companies or try and tweak Google to only include companies you want, if you don’t like that.

Tags: Google // Add Comment »

Before I visited Comment is Free today, I decided to ponder on what Steve Bell’s cartoon would be. I figured that it would be a chimp caricature of George Bush being handed a P45.

I was wrong. They came up with a slightly arty photo of people queueing up to vote in the election.

However, elsewhere in the Guardian, Steve Bell came up with a satirical cartoon of a chimp caricature of George Bush singing the American national anthem while being flushed down the toilet.

Tags: Twat // 1 Comment »

Boris Johnson: Obama deserves to win because he seems talented, compassionate, and because he offers the hope of rejuvenating the greatest country on earth in the eyes of the rest of us. All those are sufficient reasons for desiring his victory.

Iain Dale: And I say this as an Obama supporter.

I think this says all you need to know about the current state of the British Conservative Party.

Barack Obama is, by Democrat standards quite moderate. He’s not the dangerous candidate that some people have tried to paint him as, and I certainly don’t think that it is the end of the world if he gets elected. But he is going to be a higher taxing, more statist president than McCain would be, that much is not in doubt. So, why are Conservatives in the UK supporting him?

Tags: Politics // 2 Comments »

I currently have an old Creative Music Player which I use in my car, but there’s a couple of problems with it:-

1. It’s not easy to control. The controls for track selection are on the side, so I get in the car, switch it to random and go. Which sometimes might mean suffering something that doesn’t suit my mood.
2. Lack of power. OK, I forget to take it out of the car and charge it up.

In addition, I’d like a really simple way to get tracks to it, such as by wireless, so I can transfer straight from my PC to the car.

What’s getting me wondering is whether there’s a way of putting a netbook like an Eee in the car with the display somehow mounted in the dash. Add a USB GPS and you’ve got a route finding, music, and when not driving, web surfing, email and all that. If anyone’s heard of something like this, I’d love to hear about it.

Tags: Technology, Music // 2 Comments »

One of my favourite bands in recent years are a rock/psychedelic band called The Secret Machines. They’re got a new album out in November (called The Secret Machines). Co-incided with the release is a free MP3 download of a track called Dreaming of Dreaming which I think is terrific.

It’s interesting to note that they’ve now got one of Interpol in their number, as I first saw The Secret Machines supporting Interpol in Bristol.

Tags: Uncategorized // Add Comment »

From The PA

The idea of withdrawing was first suggested 12 months ago by Peter Greenhalgh, councillor for highways in Swindon.

This came after a change to the way fixed-point cameras were funded. Mr Greenhalgh objected to central Government receiving the cash from fines while Swindon Council had to pay for the upkeep of the cameras.

Here’s a little prediction: More councils will follow what Swindon are doing, the government will change the funding system so that councils turn it into a nice little earner and the cameras will be back.

Incidentally, there’s at least 1 camera which I think would be a bad idea to remove which is in on a dual-carriageway near some residential estates in the town. Before it existed, it was used by boy racers, who at least go a bit slower now.

Tags: Politics // 1 Comment »

Terrific interview with Phil Spector from last night’s Arena on BBC4 which you can catch on iPlayer.

Some Darlene Love for Sunday morning:-

Tags: Music // 2 Comments »

Recently stumbled across Charlotte Gore’s blog, who is a self-declared Lib Dem Libertarian. Lots of interesting reads. Take a look.

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First up, Jacqui Smith:-

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has hinted that authorities may be given the right to access your online information from social networking and auction sites.

(Jacqui) Smith says in a speech that websites that offers a free account “are a potential hotbed for terrorist activity”, as the activity on them is not tracked.

She wants the relevant authorities to be able to track potential terrorists’ actions, although only names and locations would be logged, not the content of the message.

Oh yes, that’s one of the problems with the logging of email addresses. Once you get into networking sites (and secure ones at that, it becomes dark. The problem with the government plan is that not all web sites are within your juridiction, and many of those that are outside of it will be in countries that will diplomatically tell you to piss off if you send a request. So, the only people affected are legitimate people.

Then, there’s Andy Burnham:-

Video-sharing websites - such as YouTube - could be forced to carry cinema-style guidance ratings, it has emerged.

Ministers are planning to introduce tough new rules to make websites carry age certificates and warning signs on films featuring sex, violence or strong language.

The Culture Secretary said video clips may soon have to carry ratings such as the ‘U’, ‘PG’, ‘12′ and ‘18′ ones used by cinemas.

Which, is perfectly possible for cinemas because it’s all within your jurisdiction. But enforcing certificates on websites will add a cost to British websites that the rest of the world doesn’t have to meet. A US/Russian company will still be able to show videos without this.

Can someone pop in and see the cabinet, maybe explain how the internet transcends territories?

Tags: Politics, Internet // 4 Comments »

From The Times (who got a far better headline than I):-

The philosopher whose aim was to “reveal the law of motion of modern society” has become as fashionable as this season’s colour on the catwalk. Marx’s German publisher says sales have been soaring since the summer.

As the book is out of copyright and sales are up, I guess that means that new competitors will come into the market offering various editions of Das Kapital to reach different market segments? I’ll be selling a pre-faded edition for students which includes ready-written margin notes and dog-eared pages so they can look like they were reading it long before everyone else was.

Tags: Politics, Books // Add Comment »