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Archive for the ‘Social/Political Comment’ Category

BBC Science & Nature Programmes and The D Word

May 24th, 2009 No comments

The BBC has long been known for its excellent science & nature programmes. I grew up on them; some thirty years ago David Attenborough himself introduced me to Darwinian evolution through the process of Natural Selection in his seminal series “Life on Earth”. Yes, that was back in 1979 when I was just 12 years old. They have always been the ordinary person’s way into even the most complex science.

Now the BBC’s “South Pacific”, being shown back-to-back with Dr Alice Roberts’ “The Incredible Human Journey”, continue the tradition. Unfortunately in the last decade the rise of right-wing Christian fundamentalism and its insidious invention of “Intelligent Design” has begun to erode all the good work which has sought to enlighten and educate ordinary people. Read more…

Categories: Righteous Indignation, Social/Political Comment Tags: , , , ,

Smash EDO protest and Proportional Policing (post G20)

May 4th, 2009 15 comments

Having witnessed the Police presence in Brighton today for the “Smash EDO” protest, which led me to have to drive a 10-mile diversion to deliver my girlfriend to work, I read with interest the statement issued by the Brighton & Hove City Commander, Chief Supt Graham Bartlett, as follows: Read more…

Categories: Righteous Indignation, Social/Political Comment Tags: , , , ,

Adur Council Bin Men Command Sussex Police

March 13th, 2009 1 comment

Incredible. This morning (about half an hour ago actually) I witnessed an Adur Council refuse collection vehicle being driven into my childrens’ school at we arrived. The driver was self-righteously waving away parents dropping their kids off at school as he drove the wrong way up a narrow road which everyone voluntarily treats as a one-way street, and tried to maneuvre the lorry into the narrow driveway. I stayed clear, allowing him to pass.

A few minutes later, Read more…

Categories: Consumer Issues, Righteous Indignation, Social/Political Comment Tags: , , , , , ,

The Future of Air Travel – Someday, All Flights Will Be Made This Way

February 20th, 2009 No comments

I love taking my shoes off at the end of a busy day. It’s the first thing I do when visiting my friends’ houses. But through the airport security, when I’m already being made to carry my outdoor coat, having removed everything from my pockets and decanted everything including drinking water and each of my many bodily fluids (blood, urine, sweat, semen and both vitreous and aqueous humours) into 100ml bottles sealed inside a transparent ziplock bag (or even worse, to dispose of them, never to be seen again), removing my boots is really the last straw. Read more…

Categories: Righteous Indignation, Social/Political Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Secret Diary of A Christmas Humbug

December 25th, 2008 1 comment

0800 GMT: Yay it’s Christmas Day. I’m alone because my girlfriend is working today, and this year my sons are with their mum for Christmas day. I am going to make it a really good one. Read more…

Categories: Righteous Indignation, Social/Political Comment Tags: , ,

Chat Bots, Artificial Intelligence and Techno-Geeks

March 18th, 2008 No comments

Oh I just love technology. It’s all soooooo sweet the way it desperately tries to please us, like an overenthusiastic puppy that covers you in canine saliva and humps your leg energetically. Actually of course it’s the techno-geeks who create the technology who are projecting their desire to please onto their mechanoid creations. Unfortunately it all gets perverted by the marketing people.

Take the new trend in ChatBots, for example. Yes, as the name might suggest, it’s a software robot that sits chatting on MSN Messenger (or Live Messenger as it has become). Of course what it can chat about is strictly limited by its programming. However, you should at least have some hope that it knows something about its chosen subject. To extend the example, here’s a conversation I had with the robot entitled “My Fashionable Life” which claims to have “Answers for all of your fashion and beauty questions”.

Jon says:
hello
My Fashionable Life says:
Hello Jon! Welcome to My Fashionable Life, brought to you by CLEAN & CLEAR®.

To check out the info I have on the newest CLEAN & CLEAR® skincare line, just type “CLEAN & CLEAR.”
Jon says:
what is empire line?
My Fashionable Life says:
That’s a bit beyond my expertise. Please try asking me another way, or type “?” to see examples of questions I can answer.

Jon says:
what is a pencil skirt?
My Fashionable Life says:
Hi again, Jon. Check out the info I have on the newest CLEAN & CLEAR® skincare line! Just type “CLEAN & CLEAR.”

Type “home” to see everything I can do or just ask me a question!

Sorry, I know about skirts, but I don’t understand your question. Can you try rephrasing it? Or, to see all of my fashion info type “fashion tips.”

I have a ton of new makeup demos. Type “demos.” and check them out!

Jon says:
what is this season’s colour?
My Fashionable Life says:
That’s a bit beyond my expertise. Please try asking me another way, or type “?” to see examples of questions I can answer.

Jon says:
which fashion house does karl lagerfeld work for?
My Fashionable Life says:
You’ve totally confused me! Please try asking me another way, or type “?” to see examples of questions I can answer.

Oh dear. All my fashion & beauty questions? No, it’s just a gimmick conceived by marketing people to sell more “CLEAN & CLEAR® skincare” products. Will it work? I very much doubt it. But undoubtedly there is a small, dark office somewhere, where, slaving away over a hot keyboard in a little alcove, there’s a techno-geek who’s very proud of his creation, and imagining how much pleasure and life-improving goodness he’s bringing to millions. Ahhhh. Bless.

To enjoy the same magical experience, add “myfashionablelife@hotmail.com” to your MSN or Live Messenger.

Categories: A Bit of Fun, Social/Political Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

A Job for Salesman or No Man

February 11th, 2008 No comments

I went for a sort of job interview the other day. Yes I already have several jobs and I’m very happy with them, but an old friend and colleague was wanting me back working for his new company, an international consultancy of which he is the Technical Director. So I thought I’d at least go and have a chat over lunch. Lunch was quite nice food at silly London prices. The role was a brand new one – a sort of pre-sales consultant to work closely with clients, acting as a foil for the salesmen in a way, actually representing the best interests of the client even if it meant saying “sod off” to one’s own salesmen. A trusted advisor who knows inside-out the business of making information technology actually work for the business process. Functional fit, in the old language. Since integrity was always one of my strong points – push me towards corruption and dishonesty and I’ll push back twice as hard – I thought it sounded right up my street. The interview was with one of the sales team. Of course he talked that most specialised of languages reserved especially for salesmen within the IT industry – complete bollocks. That alone meant that he and I were never going to see eye to eye. Perhaps this is a rather flawed role after all. If the salesmen are part of the recruitment process, they’ll recruit a salesman. On day one at the client, the new recruit will be found out, exposed as just another salesman, and distrusted from the start. When will the corporate UK learn? Never probably, or maybe one day, but I might be beyond retirement age by the time plain simple common sense prevails in the consultancy business. It’s a shame… all those fine brain cells, MBAs, first class degrees and mission statements borne of high ideals – and it’s all made crap because nobody can get beyond the double-glazing sales ethos.

Categories: Righteous Indignation, Social/Political Comment Tags: , , , , ,

Terrorism, governments and fear: the results

November 24th, 2007 No comments

Very interesting results from the survey I’ve had on my web site for a while…

Read more…

Categories: Social/Political Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Father and Sons

October 13th, 2007 No comments

My sons keep talking to me in a language I don’t quite understand. I seem to have developed a catchphrase: “I see… I think.” which pretty well sums up how I feel. I understand the words, it’s the concepts I have problems with.

Of course this is nothing new; for centuries, indeed since the dawn of time, parents have had moments, sometimes long, langurous moments lasting years, when they have been unable to understand the first thing about their children. But this is different.

Being ages 8 and 11, their attentions are centred on trading cards such as Yu-gi-o and Pokémon. Even worse, about a year ago they started to design their own series of trading cards which have their own nomenclature, and they talk about them incessantly. Conversations such as “what did you do at school today” and “how’s life” seem to be short and stilted until the banter turns to the subject of DJ Cards, and then becomes suddenly animated, enthusiastic and passionate on the part of my sons. However I find myself feeling guilty at my lack of enthusiasm. Of course I love their imagination and their fabulous drawings, but I find it hard to keep up with it all when it’s a monotonic drone of cyber-dragons and machine prototypes which are, of course, of no consequence to a forty year-old man with all the stresses and responsibilities of real life.

I wish I was 10 again.

Categories: Social/Political Comment Tags: , , ,