Look mum, no wires!
This post is coming to you without wires. Well, actually there's a whole pile of wires involved, but they're all buried under the bed. This laptop is wireless though, and that's pretty cool.Even cooler is the fact that it really was plug and play. I clicked through a few dialog boxes but that was it. Now though I think I've got to go through some security stuff, but that's it.
The unreported resistance
To read the Iraqi Blogs at the moment you'd think there was some kind of surge in the Iraqi resistance going on. Reports of heavy bombing, more explosions than anyone remembers for months, and rumours that the resistance are deploying an anti-aircraft gun. Meanwhile nothing is reported.Some of you doubtless think this is a conspiracy theory and that if there was anything to this the news would pick it up. Sadly tis not the case. In the UK dozens of bombings and shootings in Ireland went unreported throughout the troubles, it just wasn't news anymore. When I holidayed in Ireland I was amazed at how routine reports of murders and shootings had become on the local news - and how none of them ever made it to the broadcasts of the mainland BBC.
Riverbend under fire
Salaam watching movies and listening to the explosions
Other Iraqi blogs
Time to get out of the house
Or maybe I should take a leaf out the book of these three bored German teenagers.My better halfs' company backed credit card could be perfect for this. If only I knew where she keeps it.
Brilliant Orange
I've almost finished reading this very fine book. According to the cover it's about 'the neurotic genius of Dutch football', which is true. Really though it's about the Dutch mentality and Dutch culture over the last thirty years or so. There are interviews with architects, rockers, artists, buskers, sociologists and of course the odd football player or coach. While nominally about football the books theory is that the dutch play football the way they do because Holland is the way it is.
Holland is flat, and the Dutch had to make their own space ergo Dutch footballers think differently about space, this is a typical idea explored in the book. Ruud Van Nistelroy was recently quoted saying that the idea was interesting, but he wasn't too convinced by it.
On the other hand in the same interview he went on to explain why he doesn't think he's that good a footballer, he wants to be a Dutch number 10, all perfect passes and clever through balls. The fact that he's a classic English number 9, a relentless goal machine, physically imposing and mentally focused isn't all that admired in Holland. The book nails this perfectly, and then tries to explain why the Dutch would rather play well and lose than win with ugly football.
Mostly though the book is great because it uses football to open up Dutch life in a way that the Dutch don't. There's a look at how Holland went from dull, conservative and old fashioned in the 1950's to vibrant, thriving and trendy in the 1970's. All this combined with explanations of how total football actually works, why no one plays like that anymore, and why Louis Van Gaals Ajax side were at once better and worse.
I've almost finished reading this very fine book. According to the cover it's about 'the neurotic genius of Dutch football', which is true. Really though it's about the Dutch mentality and Dutch culture over the last thirty years or so. There are interviews with architects, rockers, artists, buskers, sociologists and of course the odd football player or coach. While nominally about football the books theory is that the dutch play football the way they do because Holland is the way it is.
Holland is flat, and the Dutch had to make their own space ergo Dutch footballers think differently about space, this is a typical idea explored in the book. Ruud Van Nistelroy was recently quoted saying that the idea was interesting, but he wasn't too convinced by it.
On the other hand in the same interview he went on to explain why he doesn't think he's that good a footballer, he wants to be a Dutch number 10, all perfect passes and clever through balls. The fact that he's a classic English number 9, a relentless goal machine, physically imposing and mentally focused isn't all that admired in Holland. The book nails this perfectly, and then tries to explain why the Dutch would rather play well and lose than win with ugly football.
Mostly though the book is great because it uses football to open up Dutch life in a way that the Dutch don't. There's a look at how Holland went from dull, conservative and old fashioned in the 1950's to vibrant, thriving and trendy in the 1970's. All this combined with explanations of how total football actually works, why no one plays like that anymore, and why Louis Van Gaals Ajax side were at once better and worse.
This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke This is not a joke
Whats right with the right
(and wrong with the left)
(and wrong with the left)
Five reasons to love the right. Normal service will be resumed shortly.
The right likes liberty
Man was born free and is everywhere in chains. On an ideological level the right tends not to like chains. Worship what you like, believe what you like, do what you like. Free speech, free press, free everything. Small governments that keep their nose out of people's lives. Ultimately this cannot be reconciled with collective action and paternalism.
The right likes property
If you have stuff the right pretty much believes you can keep it. The left is not always so forgiving.
The right likes potential
The right really does hold that anyone can be anything they like, if only they put the hours in. Create a free enough society and the rewards will all flow naturally to the people who put the most effort in and deserve most. It's a nicely egalitarian idea in an odd kind of way.
The right likes growth
Economic growth is a pretty big thing. If you've got it all is well, if you haven't all isn't. The right cares more about increasing the size of the pie than distributing it fairly. This is not an entirely bad idea as most of the eastern block found out.
The right is unashamedly patriotic
Largely because they tend to have been responsible for most of it the right tends to feel strongly about the past achievements of the nations they live in. This is much neater than the situation on the left where you can only feel properly patriotic about stuff everyone did, so the whole British Empire is a cause for handwringing and apologies since it was an elitist concern. If you're not careful this can take the fun out of (say) thrashing a bunch of colonials on their own turf at a game invented in a posh school because just kicking the ball with your feet was too hard...
Not Raging
Chris Locke has escaped his Rageboy persona long enough to write something interesting. It's at Mandarin Design and is an article about all the cool freeware tools he uses to run his blog.Chris' blog looks stunning, and there's no doubt the guy can write. But unlike his idol Hunter S Thomson Mr Locke long ago gave up writing about anything but himself. So I stopped reading his blog, it was, despite the general insanity and anarchist tendencies, dull. Looked stunning though.
Here's a bonus three word review of his last book, Gonzo Marketing. 'Too much style'
A different kind of terrrorist
For some reason there's been almost no news beyond the syndicated wires about the arrest and conviction of one of America's ten most wanted criminals. Even though he's a terrorist.Read about it here
There's a longer piece at Salon But you need to click through the ads to see it.
Could it be because he's white, american and claims to be christian?
Oh, and if you're not annoyed already, read this.
This is worrying as well. I'm not sure that it represents value for money either.
Tunes!
Yesterday afternoon I remembered that now we have broadband I can plug in my headphones, turn on my Radio@Netscape radio and rock out. U2, Tori Amos, Nine Inch Nails and right now a blues? singer called Joe Henry. I've missed you all.Bring the noise.
update Johnny Cash and Joe Strummer covering Bob Marley's Redemption Song. Wow!
Sinterklaasavond
Or Sinterklaas Evening as it might be known in English is the 5th of December. However our Sintaklaas party was postponed due to illness, so my introduction to this rather lovely Dutch ritual was postponed until the 7th. Here's how it worksGuests arrive and like all good guests they throw candy on the floor. Called pepernoten this is special Sinterklaas candy, a mixture of small ginger nuts and sugary shapes. Decorations over it is time to move to stage two
Singing Sinterklaas, as I mentioned earlier on this blog, is attracted by singing and has been known to leave candy as a result. On Sinterklaas day though there is a chance he might leave even more so you sing extra hard, especially as in our case we were two days late and he was probably already on his way back to Spain. We weren't sure things would work but then...
A knock at the door I was sent to investigate and lo and behold there was a sack full of presents outside! I looked around for evidence of who might have left it, but they'd gone. Given the time it takes our lifts to do anything I think you'd have needed some kind of magic horse to leave the sack!
Present giving Each present comes wrapped in a package, and attatched to it is a poem. Sometimes there are other instructions on the present, such as 'wait five minutes' or 'don't open A until you have B' and so on. Presents are handed out, poems are read and everyone is very thankful that Sintaklaas is so kind.
Here is a poem that was for me. It's from one of the Swarte Pieten, Sint's helpers.
"Dear Martin
When Sint came down to Osdorp square
English Martin was standing there
Hoping for candy and toys
But who got it? All the smaller boys
Later that evening, Piet was told
Martin isn't 27 years old
Inside he's really only three
You must give him something from me
Something that will give him a laugh
When playing games in th bath
And so Piet did
Is this OK kid?
Piet
Although this poem was nice (and I got blowing bubbles!) some are a little more pointed. Poems about how I need to get a job (and things to help me do it) and a suggestion that my other half could be a little more patient with my language skills both appeared. Observant chap this Sint, but always good humoured.
Is there anyone out there?
I've just added some tracking stuff to the site courtesy of web-stat. I was a bit inspired by the work I'm doing at the moment with Web-Abacus, but no-ones going to give me enterprise strength software to run on a blog.Not that I need it. I'll be surprised if I'm getting more than ten distinct visitors a day. Of course I have got page rank now, a whole two points of it, as far as I can tell thats thanks to an early link from Lucky Goldstar. My old blog has five (down from six).
Questions for interviews?
I'm in the middle of writing a job application for ASICS. The question I need answered but can't find information on is whether or not they're ethical when it comes to manufacturing their products? The only thing on their website about corporate responsibility is a decision not to use PVC cause it's bad for the environment.If anyone knows please leave a comment.
Will the Republicans ever learn?
This video (.ram download) is of a commercial aired by the Republican Club for Growth.No sooner has it aired than Dean slaps a fundraising request on his website and the money rolls in to respond. He'll get another $200000 and get to air an advert directly refuting these points. Its exactly what happened a few months ago when the Bush campaign ran attack ads elsewhere in America.
Someone somewhere needs to slap them with a big cluebyfour.
On the other hand someone should slap Dean with a big cluebyfour about his trade policy. Hes right to talk about the need for fair trade not free trade, but the whole steel tarriffs issue was a non-starter. Not only did the economist suggest that they were doing about four times more damage to the US economy than good, but they're naked protectionism of a very bad kind indeed.
Raising the bar
Sigh, its tough this freelancing business. Like in every business you've got to have an angle, and like every business some old pros have got the best ones stitched up. Take my old boss Steve Johnston, he's decided to freelance some dough while he waits for his new business - which is about supplying posters of cars and other things to hang on your walls - to take off.I mention this because Steve's angle is that he's a 'google consultant'. So he knows why I've linked the words I have.
(course he also knows I'm currently PR 0, must do something about that...)
Not given a different job
Sigh, not only did one employer not want to interview me, but when I wrote attempting to change their mind they complained to the recruitment agency. Chief complaint - how had I got the email address?Anyone who runs an online company - as this one was - has got to consider their email address common property. I've been lucky enough to meet the heads of some big internet companies, a couple of billionairres, founders of hot silicon valley start ups and world class design agencies. The one consistent thing is their email address. Its always either
firstname.lastname@company.com
or
firstname@company.com
They're switched on enough to know that being contactable is not a bad thing, that email addresses are best when they're simple and that talking is good. I suspect that despite all impressions I previously had to the contrary, this was not a company I wanted to work for.
Once given the job...
If I become Internet Deployment and Communication manager for Philips my first act will be to have the job application tool rebuilt. It's awful. I have just sent in an application after following a link in a job description to 'apply online'.Having filled in a form I have now been told that 'should they find any matching vacancies' they'll get in touch. In otherwords I have just spent an *hour* (no helpful .doc upload here) pissing about with the formatting of a html document in word (and word is not an HTML editor anyone with a brain would choose to use) only to be told that I might have to do it again.
I am off to find an email address and cause problems. Likely to be more effective than chancing everything to this system again.
Update It did infact work, it just gave me a message at the end of the process telling me it failed. Which is about as poorly as one can design a user interface.
Numbers go all fuzzy
Yesterday *every* news channel (and I have many to choose from) was dominated by the news that US soldiers had killed 54 attackers following an ambush. Around 8PM a story emerged that Iraqi police could only confirm 8 dead including one definite civilian. That story is now something of a footnote to the main news.This report is interesting. The figure of 54 was based on soldiers reporting casulaties they saw / caused. The figure of 8 is based on counting bodies. That's not to say the idea that some bodies were removed is ridiculous, but 46 bodies? Surely there'd be blood, not to mention bits.
This is like Vietnam reporting, when any firefight was reported as a victory and troops regularly made up casualty numbers after battles. This is important. Yesterday we were told that 54 dead attackers represented 'the heaviest fighting since the end of the war', the kind of event that could impact on policy decisions. 8 dead might not have that kind of influence, but no-one seems to know for sure and the figure of 54 is in the public consicousness. It is at this point and many others like it that policy and reality start to diverge.
Liberty closed!
I had no idea that the Statue of Liberty had been closed to the public for security reasons. Here's a link to a campaign to reopen Liberty. She's my favourite gal in all of New York, and its a terrible shame she's been locked away.On a slightly more serious note the muesum and other bits and bobs inside the statue are fantastic, and seeing her from the ferry just isn't the same as looking up from Liberty Island.
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