:: GussetBLOG ::

:: Friday, May 16, 2008 ::

Link Dump

Einstein letter shows disdain for religion 'Albert Einstein regarded religions as "childish" and "primitive legends", a private letter he wrote a year before his death has revealed.' - Glad that's cleared up. I'm sick of religious people telling me Einstein believed in God.

Vatican says aliens could exist and may be free from sin! Only decades rather than centuries late to the band wagon now.

Sweet Dreams Security
"An outfit named Sweet Dreams Security is making designed objects for a more paranoid age; from spiked railings, barbed wire and CCTV camera covers in the shape of cute animals to heart-shaped chains and (perhaps more practically) lace curtains shaped like anti-burglar grilles."
[via null device]

"Over the last 50 years, Syd Mead has created startling pictures for clients all over the world. His technique infuses finished scenarios with a vivid reality, allowing the viewer to gain a look into many visions of future worlds. He has designed and illustrated for corporations, motion pictures, themed entertainment, and a wide range of transportation projects. Syd's combination of recognition and creative imagination has graced scores of films, books, and other exhibits. His film work includes Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Blade Runner, Tron, 2010, Aliens, Short Circuit and other films."
[via Jen]

Labels: News, Politics, Religion

:: Dan 16.5.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Turnkey / Sound Control goes bust
"Sad (-ish) news for British music gear buyers - Sound Control group, who own a string of enormo-shops and Turnkey, the UK distributors for Moog, DSI, Jomox and more, have appointed administrators after failing to find a buyer: "Following a review of the Group’s operations the Administrators have today made the difficult decision to close 10 of the Group’s trading locations and bring to an end its telesales and internet sales activities. These changes to the Group’s operations have resulted in 163 redundancies with immediate effect." The group has a turnover of £50m and employed 338 people across Britain. Obviously their competitors, like Dolphin Music, are delighted."

Sad news.
Look out for bargains!

Labels: Instruments, News

:: Dan 2.5.08 [Arc] [1 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Two teenage boys have been jailed for life for the murder of a woman who was killed for dressing as a Goth
I can't remember whether I've commented on this case before or not but I have been following it.

Passing sentence at Preston Crown Court, Judge Anthony Russell QC described the attack as "feral thuggery" which raised serious questions about the "sort of society which exists in this country".
He added: "This was a terrible case which has shocked and outraged all who have heard about it.
"At least wild animals, when they hunt in packs, have a legitimate reason for so doing, to obtain food.
"You have none and your behaviour on that night degrades humanity itself."

Strong words, totally justified. It's a sad, sad society we live in. Any form of prejudice grieves me but this one in particular stands out as she was so beautiful and caring and it is such a pointless waste of a young life. My heart goes out to her boyfriend, whom she was trying to protect, and to all her friends and family. RIP

Labels: News, Politics, RIP

:: Dan 29.4.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Irwin fans 'in revenge attacks'
"Dead stingrays with their tails cut off have been found in Australia, sparking concern that fans of naturalist Steve Irwin may be avenging his death."
Once again I am astounded by human stupidity.

Labels: Ecology, News

:: Dan 22.3.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Seven new deadly sins: are you guilty?

Fewer confessions and new sins

According to the (American) Catholic priest interviewed about this on BBC News 24 this evening (unfortunately the video isn't online) this shows how the Vatican is using reason. When did they ever worry about that?


[image source]

Labels: News, Religion

:: Dan 10.3.08 [Arc] [1 comments] [links to this post] ::
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"Tibetans launched the Tibetan Freedom Torch Relay in Olympia today under intense scrutiny and harassment from Greek police and 15 to 20 Chinese government officials."

"Despite the excessive police resence, the twelve Tibetans carried out the lighting ceremony in frontof the ancient archaeological site of Olympia, Greece, pre-empting hina’s Olympic Torch Relay launch there later this month. The TibetanFreedom Torch represents the hopes and aspirations of the Tibetan people or freedom and justice and will be carried to more than 20 countriesworldwide, reaching Tibet on the eve of the Beijing Games. The Freedom torch also highlights Tibetan opposition to the Chinese government’s politically motivated plan to carry the Olympic Torch through Tibet"

Edit: 14.03.07 Website linked above has been taken down already. Hopefully this reuters link will last longer.

Labels: Amnesty, News, Olymipcs, Politics

:: Dan 10.3.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Noise more important than environment says NAT

Labels: Acoustics, Environment, News, Noise, Politics

:: Dan 21.2.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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China feels heat as activists take their cue from Spielberg. 'Focus on Darfur as human rights campaigners salute film director and vow to target main sponsors of the games'

"The director stepped down from his role as artistic adviser to Beijing late on Tuesday, citing his opposition to China's support for the Sudanese regime responsible for the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. He accused China of not doing enough to press Sudan to end the "continuing human suffering" in the troubled region. China imports two-thirds of Sudan's oil and in return is said to be the African country's biggest arms supplier."

Well, it's been a long time coming. It's a shame that it took the Darfur situation to prompt it rather than an objection to China's human rights record in general and the crack down on free-speech and peaceful protest that is directly related to the games themselves. However, it's a step in the right direction and he should be applauded for that. [2006 Amnesty report: China: The Olympics Countdown - Failing to keep human rights promises. There are plenty more up to date sources on specific issues if you search.]

Athletes too are raising awareness

"For the last 20 years team members have been obliged to sign a contract as a condition of taking part in the Games. But for the first time a clause had been inserted into the Team Members Agreement stating athletes must not comment on politically-sensitive issues during the event in Beijing." [BBC news]

The IOA deny this is a problem, as the events should be "about sport" and nothing else. But shouldn't sport be about something? Isn't it about bringing people together? Former British Olymipic swimmer Duncan Goodhew made a good point about how pivotal the Moscow Olympics was in bringing about change in Russia [I think the comment has been edited out of the above article since] but that doesn't mean we should take a back seat and just wait for things to change. Putting on more pressure will speed up the process and now is the perfect opportunity.

Labels: Amnesty, China, News, Politics, Sport

:: Dan 14.2.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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"Wonder even sang a little dittie, with a harmonica, that was sung as if he were reciting the musical scales in ascending and descending order to the name of “Ba-rack O-ba-ma.”"
Stevie Wonder sings for Barack... and it sounds awful. What was he doing?

In my mind it works best sung to the tune of Long Distance Clara from Pigeon Street. He should have tried that.



[That wonderful example of Alan Rogers artwork is available as a print from easyart.com. Thanks for the bandwidth!]

Labels: Animation, Art, Humour, Music, News, Politics

:: Dan 6.2.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Clockwork - Stokes Croft
Originally uploaded by Kristie....

Bristol's most fabulously orange venue is to close in May. =[

Labels: Bristol, Clubs, Flickr, News

:: Dan 5.2.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Afghan journalism student sentenced to death for reading about women's rights

"A young man, a student of journalism, is sentenced to death is by an Islamic court for downloading a report from the internet. The sentence is then upheld by the country's rulers. This is Afghanistan – not in Taliban times but six years after "liberation" and under the democratic rule of the West's ally Hamid Karzai.

"The fate of Sayed Pervez Kambaksh has led to domestic and international protests, and deepening concern about erosion of civil liberties in Afghanistan. He was accused of blasphemy after he downloaded a report from a Farsi website which stated that Muslim fundamentalists who claimed the Koran justified the oppression of women had misrepresented the views of the prophet Mohamed."

Sign our e-petition at www.independent.co.uk/petition

______________________________

Is a Small Island in the Indian Ocean Holding Prisoners in the War on Terror?

"MPs and human rights group have accused ministers of a cover-up over government knowledge of rendition flights and the use of British military bases to hold suspects after the United States launched its war on terror more than six years ago.

"Now ministers have blocked an attempt by an influential parliamentary committee to secure the release of secret military papers which they believe will reveal whether the British island territory of Diego Garcia was used as a detention center for rendition prisoners."

Labels: Amnesty, News, Politics

:: Dan 4.2.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Morning. I am offline at the moment. My PC died last Friday (power surge wrote off the power supply and mother-board and due to age rendered processor and RAM useless) so only have internet access in work, which I obviously try to minimise. Webmail is blocked. Should anyone really want to contact me for some reason, I can still pick up Flickr and Murdockspace messages, but not Facebook. I bought a new PC from yoyotech last night. Thanks to Spoksey for specing that up for me. Normal service will resume soon.

News

From Sunday's Independent:
"At present, Britain does not routinely fingerprint airline passengers (see page 3 for the US attitude). But starting two months from tomorrow, several million travellers each year will have their fingerprints, and photograph, taken twice before being allowed aboard a domestic flight."
The referenced article about the US attitude is here.
I mailed this to a security consultant friend to find out how it came about. Apparently it's down to commercial reasons, so every one gets to access one set of shops. Wooo.

Rambert Dance Company's ‘Britney Breakdown’
(I did some acoustic work for Rambert a couple of years ago. Lovely people.)
"Rambert Dance Company's ever-popular Season of New Choreography is an exciting opportunity to see brand new work created by some of Rambert's versatile dancers. The company has a track record of nurturing young choreographers. One of these is Hubert Essakow, who has commissioned a new work from Richard Thomas for Adey to sing live with the dancers. You won't be surprised to know that she gets to sing the word "arse" quite a bit."
(You may remember Richard Thomas from sitting behind the piano on TMWRNJ and as the person who provided the music for and co-wrote Jerry Springer the Opera with Stewart Lee.)

Spotted

Filthy, muck-strewn white van on the M5 on whose back door a mischievous passing finger had scrolled, "Cleaned by the NHS."

Busses

Chatting to "That'll be the Day: The Musical: The Fleece woman" on the bus stop yesterday morning. Tells me about her job then asks what I do. I say I work for an engineering practice in the centre. "Is that an admin role?" she asks. What!? Look at me. Glasses. Beard. Carrying laptop bag. I'm an engineer you cheeky cow.

I sat on the bus today, reading The God Delusion, next to someone reading the Bible. Book II of Psalms to be precise. What a wonderfully secular society we live in.

Labels: Art, Literature, News, Personal, Secuirty, Spotted, Travel

:: Dan 31.1.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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You don't expect to see the phrase "widespread gusset anxiety" in the Guardian everyday, but it was there yesterday, when quoting Jeremy Paxman nonetheless.

Paxman raises smalls problem with M&S [full text]

Quote:

Jeremy Paxman, the Newsnight anchor famous for grilling cabinet ministers and airing his robust opinions on subjects as diverse as the future of broadcasting and the latest entries in Who's Who, has now voiced his dissatisfaction on another matter of importance to the nation: Marks & Spencer underpants.

The broadcaster is so concerned about the declining standards of men's underwear that he has written to Sir Stuart Rose, the chief executive of M&S, detailing his "anxiety" about its gussets, which he said no longer offered "adequate support".

"Like very large numbers of men in this country, I have always bought my socks and pants at Marks & Sparks," he wrote. "I've noticed that something very troubling has happened. There's no other way to put this. Their pants no longer provide adequate support. When I've discussed this with friends and acquaintances it has revealed widespread gusset anxiety. I do feel that someone should take up this mighty battle.

I have to say I'm with him on this, on two counts:
1. I also buy my underwear in Mark's and its quality has been declining over the years, and
2. It gets the word 'gusset' in the broadsheets.

[via lmg]

Labels: Fashion, Gusset, Humour, News, Politics

:: Dan 23.1.08 [Arc] [1 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Sony has become the last of the four majors to agree to release its music DRM free

Labels: Copyright, DRM, FOSS, Music, News

:: Dan 19.1.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Americans seek international database to carry iris, palm and finger prints



"Although each participating country would manage and secure its own data, the sharing of personal data between countries is becoming an increasingly controversial area of police practice. There is political concern at Westminster about the public transparency of such cooperation."

Labels: ID, News, Politics

:: Dan 15.1.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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"America has told Britain that it can “kidnap” British citizens if they are wanted for crimes in the United States. A senior lawyer for the American government has told the Court of Appeal in London that kidnapping foreign citizens is permissible under American law because the US Supreme Court has sanctioned it." read more

This story was published a month ago but I missed it at the time. Found on Hijack.

Labels: Amnesty, Freedom, News, Politics

:: Dan 11.1.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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"TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson has lost money after publishing his bank details in his newspaper column. The Top Gear host revealed his account numbers after rubbishing the furore over the loss of 25 million people's personal details on two computer discs. He wanted to prove the story was a fuss about nothing. Clarkson published details of his Barclays account in the Sun newspaper, including his account number and sort code. He even told people how to find out his address. "All you'll be able to do with them is put money into my account. Not take it out. Honestly, I've never known such a palaver about nothing," he told readers. Clarkson admitted he was "wrong" after he discovered a reader had used the details to create a £500 direct debit to the charity Diabetes UK."

Labels: ID, News

:: Dan 7.1.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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"The fun-loving Burmese regime has apparently found a non-violent method to restrict satellite TV access to foreign news services - hiking the cost of a licence by 16,700 per cent from 6000 kyat (£2.50) to 1m kyatt (£400, or "three times the average annual salary", as the BBC explains)."
[via The Register]

Labels: Amnesty, News, Politics

:: Dan 3.1.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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"Playing a musical instrument is better exercise than having sex (but not as good as chopping trees)"

Labels: News

:: Dan 3.1.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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That's one hell of a fuckin' headline.

I impulse bought the News of the World for the first time in my life yesterday. I have scanned it for news content but have found nothing but hierocracy and footballers sex lives. (The "England ace" referred to btw is a footballer apparently.)

Here are the current top five stories on the website:
EXCLUSIVE: England ace in sex video shame ("New shocking video reveals two players in vile orgy")
WINEHOUSE: Gangsters threaten to kidnap Amy ("Pay £100,000 or we kidnap Amy" - Have they not seen Ruthless People? I'd not pay you 100 quid for her. In fact, I might pay you that to take her away.)
ROONEY: Tranny cousin wants to be bridesmaid ("The plump relative... He's been pictured tarted up as a SCHOOLGIRL on a night out—sporting short skirt, red knickers, long nails and a blonde wig... he'd turn the big day into a joke." Not passing judgement on transgender behaviour there then.)
BEER: 2008 will be year of the £4 pint
SEX: Daughter snapped mum cheating with her fella

And my favourite quote from the cover article:
"The film of Richards' roasting — a sick act which involves one man having sex with a woman from behind while she gives a second oral sex — was passed on to friends' mobiles by the swaggering pair."

They don't even seem to have the balls to print the term Spit Roast in full. Note the use of the worlds 'vile' (in headline) and 'sick' (in the copy). Moralising on group sex. Yet elsewhere on the site we find videos of "Brian's temptation: The arrival of sexy blonde au pair Helga" and "Dear Jane Episode 2: Sexy behind-the-scenes video with lesbian storyline." It seems that lesbianism and affairs with au pairs are not so ill judged.

The main article goes on to talk about several alleged rape cases and to speculate that "...Richards might care more when he realises how the scandal will put his budding England career at risk under new coach Fabio Capello — a renowned disciplinarian who demands the best behaviour from his players." So forget the law taking care of such matters. Let's moralise on it ourselves, trial them in public, and only worry about the image of the beautiful game. Without even passing comment on current proposed rape law reforms or that "less than six percent of reported rapes currently result in a conviction, down from 33 percent in 1977."

It's a sad state of affairs that this is the state of reporting in "Britain's biggest-selling newspaper."

Labels: Media, News

:: Dan 24.12.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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A business trust is looking at sites for a Christian showplace to challenge the theory of evolution

"The 5,000-capacity park will be the first of its kind in Britain, but not in the world. In Orlando, Florida, hundreds of thousands of visitors make pilgrimages to the Holy Land Experience, where they can see a bloodied Jesus forced to carry his cross by snarling Roman soldiers."


[source msnbc]

"By producing its own films, the trust believes it will be able to provide an antidote to modern culture. It says on its website: 'On television today there is so much sex and violence, it is no wonder our youth are binge drinking ... '"

I fail to see the logic there. And I'm not taking the quote out of context. (Unless the Observer have done that already, but I doubt they would need to.)

"'Evolution has falsely become the foundation of our society and we need the television studio to advocate Genesis across this land in order to remove this falsehood, which presently is destroying the church foundation.'

"The theme park's anti-evolution bias and its emphasis on Genesis has raised eyebrows among planning officials, according to Jones, who originally wanted to build the park at the site of an old B&Q store but was refused permission by the council.

"'Wigan council slammed the door in our faces. You mention the C [Christian] word, and people don't want to know,' Jones said."

Go Wigan!


[originally a b3ta image, sourced here, worth a read for a laugh]

Labels: News, Politics, Religion

:: Dan 17.12.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Man hurt using gun to change tyre
A US man has injured himself in both legs after attempting to loosen a stiff wheel-nut by blasting it with his gun. Shooting at the wheel from arm's length with his 12-gauge shotgun, he was peppered with buckshot and debris. He sustained injuries from his feet to the middle of his abdomen, with some pellets reaching as high as his chin, police said.

If only he'd hit himself in the nuts he'd have qualified for the Darwin awards.


[thanks weyheyhey for the image]

Labels: Humour, News

:: Dan 14.11.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Great news!
Graffiti prison terms overturned
[via natali]
Previous post on the subject.

Labels: graffiti, News

:: Dan 30.10.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Quick, someone tell the American's about this. It could bring them record levels of friendly fire with someone else to blame!

Labels: News

:: Spokesy 19.10.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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"Somethings are best left unsaid."

[thanks ana]

Labels: News, Video

:: Dan 26.9.07 [Arc] [1 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Dotcom
Originally uploaded by _saturnine.

In sharp contrast to the M.E.N.s impartial journalist approach to the Krek and Mers case, Bristol Evening Post has jumped hard to the right today and is outraged as "£200,000 VANDAL SPARED JAIL"
*Sigh*
Although, he was already on a suspended sentence and broke the terms, so to an extent he probably should be expecting a sentence. What this highlights though, and my reasons for bring it up, are the huge differences in sentencing between magistrates and the partisan reporting in local press.

Labels: Art, News

:: Dan 22.9.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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The UK media are applauding the fashion industry's announcement for London Fashion Week that under 16yo models will be banned and that models will have to prove that they don't have an eating disorder.

It’s the lamest cop out solution the industry thought it could get away with. All they have done is shift the burden of dealing with it onto the models themselves rather than deal with it sensibility but not picking stick thin models.

As Bob Carlos Clarke put it, "the female fashion editors have colluded in the demise of their own sex by going along with the ludicrous charade of supermodels. Fashion poses a far greater threat to modern woman than pornography, with its wild demands that she conform to that freakish body shape."

Labels: Fashion, News

:: Dan 14.9.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Amnesty has infuriated the Vatican by expanding its definition of human rights to include access to abortion for rape victims and women whose health is at risk from giving birth. And about time too. The linked article explains the reasoning behind it well as well as giving some background behind the organisations soul searching of the last couple of years. There was more detail on this in the last issue of their magazine although I can't find the copy on line at the moment. I'll update this post if I find it.

Labels: Amnesty, News, Politics

:: Dan 13.8.07 [Arc] [1 comments] [links to this post] ::
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"If someone left an envelope with a crisp 10,000 yen ($80) note in it, would you:
A - get on the phone to your favourite restaurant and find out if they have a spare table
B - get down to the bank and deposit it
C - take it down to the nearest policeman and hand it over intact?
If you live in Japan the answer, it would seem, is C."

This story, about the mysterious appearance of envelopes containing nothing but cash and a hand written note requesting that something worthwhile is done with it, caught my attention on PM on Radio 4 yesterday.

Unfortunately I cannot claim to be as socially minded, as previous evidence would attest. I found 20 Euros on the floor just outside the toilets in Bristol "International" Airport a couple of years ago and pocketed it as I walked past. Mrs P, who would have seen me pick it had she been looking in the right direction, chose to ignore this explanation and ever since has accused me of earning it in exchange for services rendered to some unknown third party. My "whorish" tendencies are still frequently referenced when it helps her cause in an argument. At least I know what I should do next time now.

Labels: Humour, News

:: Dan 3.8.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Ashton Court organisers expected to announce bankruptcy in next few days once they emerge from their counting room. The loss of the expected revenue from Sunday's washout [cancelled due to weather], to the tune of at least 250 grand, plus the costs already incurred, will lead to a bankruptcy announcement shortly.
Full article
Sad, if not surprising, news. R.I.P.

Labels: News

:: Dan 17.7.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to ban the sale and use of recorded music containing ultra low frequency bass."

Noise nuisance is a serious problem, but you can't just ban music with bass. And especially "ultra low frequency bass." I hazard a guess they don't no what they are referring to there. What I'd call ultra low frequency would be well outside of the audible range.

They then get a bit delusional and imply there is some sort of conspiracy to irritate them: "It is created by the selfish actions of those who enjoy inflicting it upon the population by purchasing special loudspeakers (whoofers[sic]) to transmit the noise at large volumes through the open windows of their houses and vehicles. Such noise is deliberately recorded by the industry in order to encourage this behaviour.."

Among the first few signatures on the petition you'll notice, "U. Should Fuckoff",
"you fucking loser."

[via parasite]

Labels: Acoustics, Humour, News

:: Dan 12.6.07 [Arc] [1 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Crackdown on lunar-fuelled crime
"Extra police officers are to patrol the streets of Brighton on nights when there is a full moon. It follows research by the Sussex force which concluded there was a rise in violent incidents when the moon was full - and also on paydays."
[Found this in a one liner in the Metro last week, Null Device finds a slightly more detailed link]

Labels: News

:: Dan 12.6.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Pentagon Confirms It Sought To Build A 'Gay Bomb'
"Berkeley watchdog organization that tracks military spending said it uncovered a strange U.S. military proposal to create a hormone bomb that could purportedly turn enemy soldiers into homosexuals and make them more interested in sex than fighting."

Labels: News

:: Dan 12.6.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Virtual Rape Is Traumatic, but Is It a Crime?
"Last month, two Belgian publications reported that the Brussels police have begun an investigation into a citizen's allegations of rape -- in Second Life."

Timely that this story should crop up today. Last night I sat at my laptop preparing my set for the gig tonight whilst Mrs P sat at the PC next to me playing World of Warcraft. (It's almost like being a couple, we both just sit staring at a screen, but at least we're in the same room.)

Some dwarf character kept asking her for sex. We both thought this was amusing, especially as he wouldn't drop it despite warnings "hubby" was watching and a couple of jokey warnings from me. Eventually they ended up stripping to their virtual underwear and dancing around on a bed. It all seemed like fun at the time, and the dwarves shocked explanation of "We're being watched!" when someone else walked in was priceless. Afterwards, as we made our way to bed, she asked me how old I though the other person might have been? "14," I answered, quite sure of myself. There's no doubt in my mind they weren't somewhere between 12 and 16 so I took a medium.

Come the morning she was feeling sheepish, upset she may have had non-existent, almost-nearly-but-not-quite, virtual, cyber-sex with a minor. I reminded her that it was her that had been led astray, she was the new player in the game, she was the innocent in this alleged crime. It didn't cut mcuh. I'll see how she feels after reading that story. ^

Labels: Gaming, News

:: Dan 4.5.07 [Arc] [1 comments] [links to this post] ::
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I was searching YouTube a couple of weeks ago for some footage of Lyre Birds, as you do, and found that BBC Worldwide have a YouTube account full of some of the best of the Beebs output. They don't allow embedding, but it's a start. Very forward thinking of them, for such a huge and bureaucratic institution. I guess in such a large organistaion there are always going to be both forward and backward thinking people. Well done anyway, auntie. (I'm starting to sound like The Guardian, aren't I.)

Following that, even better news, the BBC Trust has given the nod to the BBC iPlayer. With cross platform support, including GNU/Linux promised in two years. They were going to use DRM on Windows so how are they going to work that on an open platform?

Channel 4 on demand ("4oD") already online. Warning: it tries to embed Spyware, my Spybot caught it.

Labels: Media, News

:: Dan 1.5.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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"From Hitler to Pinochet and beyond, history shows there are certain steps that any would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms. And, argues Naomi Wolf, George Bush and his administration seem to be taking them all."
[via dev.null]

So plausible as to be quite scary. You can see where Blair/the UK government have avoided the same risks (eg prisons) but have gone along with others (eg ID cards).

Now, how do you stop someone making that final step? They are just waiting for an opportunity, to move against it you would need to rebuild all of the erosion already caused.

Labels: News, Politics

:: Dan 25.4.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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"Is this the definition of petty?" asks Grom as BA cut a shot of Richard Branson and a Virgin Atlantic tail fin from the in-flight version of Casino Royale. On the one hand I don't have a problem with removing of product placement from films as I hate seeing it in there in the first place, and the Bond films in particular are terrible for it. But if individual corporations are editing their own cuts how long will it be before someone decides to start adding ads rather than just taking them away?

It's already possible; just watch any TV ad for products that go by a different name in the US. Along with the poor accent dubbing you'll also notice the product they are holding has a brand name or logo slightly altered and it doesn't quite track the movement properly. Frosties are the first example to come to mind for doing this. This practice is even more common in non-English speaking countries.

Newspapers are already seeing the benefits of more-valuable, better-targeted ads for online readers. How long before other media move the same way, with audience specific product placement? And at what point is artistic intent compromised? To be honest I think it has been already, but it's only going to get worse.

Labels: Media, News

:: Dan 23.4.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Why do mass shootings always seem to happen in educational establishments? Why don't lone gunmen walk into huge corporate offices full of mindless automotons "working for the man" and mow down a bunch of those capitalist pigs? Or a shopping centre and go for the consumerist sheep grazing in the bargain bin on the detritus of a mass producing culture? Or a media centre and take out the core of hate-spreading crustaceans, filtering the news like plankton, disseminating bigotry and intolerance dressed up as "national pride" and "tradition"? I'm not saying they should do that of course, I just want to know what makes them choose schools and colleges.

It's difficult to know how to react to news like this. My personal psychological defence to any situation I don't know how to deal with is to joke about it. Not in a disrespectful way, but just to try and look at it from a less depressing angle. I tried putting this disclaimer before the text above but it destroyed the shock value of the joke. R.I.P.

Labels: News

:: Dan 17.4.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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The Imus vs Rutgers debate in the US at the moment has intrigued me. Some of the media there are playing the bigoted racist angle by selectively only using photographs of the female basketball team that only show black players, there are white players on the team too. They are quick to call Imus's comment – he called them "nappy headed hos" – racist and sexist, which it could be, or it could just be a very badly judged joke. I don't know.

(I'll quickly make the point here that I had never heard of Imus before this and my initially impression of him is that of someone I would dislike and would be unlikely to agree with.)

Parts of the media have then attempted to position his comment (and in part explain it) but showing use of similar phrases in gangster rap and saying that it's perfectly normal then. (I'm thinking of Channel 4 news in the UK when I say that.) Yet they never question the borderline racism in preventing white people using words that are seemingly acceptable from a black person (in my mind as long as the context is the same it should be ok) or the issue of the glorification of sexism and degradation of women in rap culture.

By using that phrase was he pointing out the inherent hypocrisy in the allowable use of language? Or intentionally trying to provoke a response? Or just being naïve? I think he might actual just be stupid, but calling for his resignation because of that is ignoring the bigger issue and exacerbating a double standard.

Labels: Feminism, News, Politics, Rasism

:: Dan 12.4.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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"Singapore has said that it will ban a documentary about the detention of a former leftist activist because its "distorted and misleading" portrayal of events could undermine the government."

Trailer:

Labels: Amnesty, Censorship, Film, News

:: Dan 11.4.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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The Tech Report - Wikipedia is no longer reliable, says co-founder

Labels: News, Wiki

:: Dan 11.4.07 [Arc] [2 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Terry Jones on the Iranian treatment of captives
[via rms]

Labels: Amnesty, Humour, News, Politics

:: Dan 5.4.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Stilettos ‘sent fetish thief over the edge’
"A shoe fetishist who moved to London found the fashionable footwear there so exciting that he robbed a series of women of their shoes to satisfy his sexual obsession, a court was told."

"He said, although he was sexually attracted to women and had had a sexual relationship with a girlfriend as recently as November 2005, his past relationships with women had been somewhat complicated by the fact that he would find a particular girlfriend’s shoes more sexually attractive than the girl herself."

Um, this definitely wasn't me either, btw.

He should have read The Boner Theory of Economics

Labels: Fashion, Fetish, News

:: Dan 4.4.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Thanks for your concern, Lawrence, but this wasn't me:

"Drink-driver jailed
A teenage passenger was killed by a drunk driver days before he was due to receive compensation for an earlier accident. Nicholas Chlebko, 18, from Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire, died after his friend Daniel Pope, 18, drove into a lamppost in December. Pope was jailed for five years at Bristol Crown Court."

And for the record, neither is this, this, this, this, this or this.

Labels: News, Personal

:: Dan 4.4.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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"Good Morning,
Just to let you all know that the kettle on the 3rd floor is broken. Please use the kettle on 2nd floor if necessary.
Regards"

More news as it happens.

Labels: News

:: Dan 28.3.07 [Arc] [1 comments] [links to this post] ::
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There was an interesting article about the new wave of feminism in the Big Issue a couple of weeks ago. In particular it sited as issues pushing this resurgence as the growth of anti-abortion groups that obviously contradict pro-choice values and the commercialisation of the female form in lads rags like Nuts and FHM.

It notes that The Nuts website has an "Assess my Breasts" section for women to upload pictures of their tits to so men can letch at them. The terms and conditions when uploading photos include "[I agree] that I waive all moral rights or any similar personal rights" and "[I agree] that all photographs... whether or not retouched, altered or worked-up... and any statement and or words published in conjunction therewith… shall be deemed to represent and refer to an imaginary person and not myself."

Pretty disrespectful, no?

A collection of links to feminist blog and websites was included at the end of the article. I've corrected the mistakes in the URLs:
www.object.org.uk
www.ussu.info/women
charliegrrl.wordpress.com
www.antisexism.org
www.nusonline.co.uk/
mindthegapcardiff.blogspot.com

The only point I'd pick up on was the comment about the role of the internet, saying, "It's ironic that something so negative in so many ways – which has brought us the worst of the pornography industry – is also helping bring feminists together." The internet is a communication tool. It can be used for good and used for bad, just as any other tool could be. But that's another argument.

Coinciding with seeing this I also heard an interview on Radio 4 on the same day about council pay scales:

"This month is the deadline by which local authorities in England and Wales must implement an equal pay structure for men and women." [RealAudio link]

I can't believe that they were arguing that there simply isn't the budget to pay women the same! That should have been budgeted for LONG ago, and if the money still isn't there it should come from the men's pay. Simple as that.

Labels: Feminism, News

:: Dan 26.3.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post]