Glastonbury 2007

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The only way you'd get me to Glastonbury nowadays is if you promised I'd be transported around the site in a litter and was able to retire to a decent hotel every night. The TV coverage was excellent, as always, but I didn't get organised enough to record much. I did snag the end of this performance by Arcade Fire though. Ah, Regine.....mmmmmmm!


And this bit of fun, 'Bottle Rocket' from the inaptly named The Go! Team.


Take a letter, Maria

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Crooked Timber - The myth of “The Myth of the Paperless Office”

John Quiggin ponders his (almost) paperless working life. I used to not like reading online and tended to print out articles that interested me but I now actually prefer an online source and I don't even buy a newspaper anymore. However good your indexing methods there is no contest when compared to a good digital search system. PDFs and EBooks have improved enormously over the last few years and sophisticated database systems, such as the one I use - DevonThink Pro Office - provide management tools that no paper based system can begin to match.

The “paperless office” is one of those catchphrases that gets bandied about for a while, only to disappoint and eventually be used in a purely derisive way...The death of the phrase was cemented by a 2001 book, by Sellen and Harper “The Myth of the Paperless Office”.

This book wasn’t a snarky debunking but a fairly sophisticated analysis, pointing out that a sensible analysis of task requirements could allow a significant reduction in paper use. But it was the title that stuck. No one would ever again refer to the paperless office with a straight face.

Six years later, though, looking at my own work habits, I find that I have virtually ceased to use paper, in all but a couple of marginal applications.

There are some interesting comments. For some people paper scores on juxtaposibility, and longevity. And some think the reduction in paper usage has more to do with print duplexing than with paperless systems.

Of course there are some things that only paper does properly: love letters, suicide notes, birthday cards and leaked memos to name a few.


Put this woman on the ticket

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Mrs. Edwards Comfortable With Gay Unions
Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards, kicked off San Francisco's annual gay pride parade Sunday by splitting with her husband over support for legalized gay marriage. 

"I don't know why someone else's marriage has anything to do with me," Mrs. Edwards said at a news conference before the parade started. "I'm completely comfortable with gay marriage." She made the remark almost offhandedly in answering a question from reporters after she delivered a standard campaign stump speech during a breakfast hosted by the Alice B. Toklas Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Democratic Club.



Keep talking

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BBC captive in 'bomb vest' video
The kidnappers of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston have released a new video of him in which he is wearing what he says is an explosives vest.In the tape, Mr Johnston says his captors have said they will detonate the vest if force is used to try to free him.
As distressing as these images of Alan Johnston are I can't help feeling that this video might just end up saving his life. It shows in graphic detail what is obvious to most of us anyway - an assault on the kidnappers would almost certainly result in Alan Johnston being killed. Whether it's by a bomb-belt or a bullet to the head seems hardly relevant.

The kidnappers are clearly jittery and suspect an attempt at a 'military' solution, that is, a group of hyped-up Hamas fighters storming their hideout. The Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniya, has already said that Mr Johnston's captivity could not carry on. 'We will not allow the continuation of the abduction of the British journalist. The issue of Alan Johnston must end'.

You can read that statement in many ways but I can't help feeling that Haniya want's an end to this affront to Hamas's authority, even if it's at the expense of Alan Johnston's life. If Hamas decides to use force to free him the consequences are now clear for all to see.

Distasteful though the video is it does at least show that Johnston is alive and in good health and if it dissuades reckless action on the part of Hamas or anyone else it might just prove to be his lifesaver.


HH wins

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Harman wins deputy leader contest
Harriet Harman is the new deputy leader of the Labour Party, after a seven-week contest to replace John Prescott.

The 56-year-old justice minister pipped favourite Alan Johnson and four other MPs to win the ballot of party and union members, Labour MPs and MEPs.

She got 50.4% of votes to Mr Johnson's 49.6% after all the other contestants' second preferences were reallocated.


UPDATE: She doesn't appear to be from the right stock for some people.
As Tim Worstall reminds us, the niece of the late Countess of Longford has just been elected to the deputy leadership of the Labour Party. She defeated a former postman who was orphaned at 12 and left school at 15. Up the workers!
For fuck's sake, we had that great example from the working class, John Prescott, for ten years. Not, I believe, even remotely connected to the aristocracy, just a complete bloody twat.



Disproportional representation

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Scotland - Poverty linked to spoiled ballots
A study into the Scottish election voting fiasco has found the highest proportion of rejected constituency votes came in the most deprived areas. The probe, by the University of Strathclyde, was triggered by the chaos which saw more than 140,000 spoiled papers in the May poll. It also found that more votes were discounted in areas where there were a larger number of list candidates.

Clearly it's not poverty, as such, which is the issue but the ability of voters to understand complex directions. Poor schooling, poor educational attainment, poverty, poor housing - it was voters from these backgrounds that had the greatest trouble understanding the badly designed voting system. And that's leaving aside the many more constituents who didn't bother to vote at all. Once the decision had been made to hold the local and assembly elections on the same day and using a single-paged ballot it was inevitable that complexity alone would lead to spoiled papers and that the disadvantaged members of society would be disproportionally affected.



Spooky but moving

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Age Progression, Age Regression, Composite Sketching, Forensic Art, Forensic Facial Imaging Compositing, Age Progressing Photos...
Through Forensic Compositing we can do Age Progression/Regression to help investigators solve crimes and find missing people. This service is also available for the general public. Ever wonder what your child will look like in 10 years? Have you lost a loved one and are wondering what they would look like now...
"I'm 78 and would like to see what my son would have looked like before I die. He was 2 when he was killed and would now be in his 30's...



...Wow, When I first saw the photo you did, I was floored, it was just shocking as if I was looking at the real thing. A tingle went through my spine. You really captured my son."
 
Harry G - Lacey, WA

Via J-Walk


Fun with images

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plasq.com - Skitch - Snap, Draw, Share



I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone. Plasq, the makers of Comic Life for Mac finally released the invite-only Beta of Skitch, its new fun screen-capture and graphics application. As soon as I get  some more invites I'll post them here. It's been over a year since I registered for the trial but it looks like they spent the time well. As with Comic Life this is a really cool looking app and utterly Mac. You also get your own webspace (My Skitch) and url for storing and sharing your images.

It's also given me a chance to make an easy comment on those stupid cunts above. Salman Rushdie may be a prick but if you think he's the 'biggest evil of the world' you really need to get out more.


US Talk Radio imbalance

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Think Progress REPORT: The Right Wing Domination Of Talk Radio And How To End It
– In the spring of 2007, of the 257 news/talk stations owned by the top five commercial station owners, 91 percent of the total weekday talk radio programming was conservative, and only 9 percent was progressive.

– Each weekday, 2,570 hours and 15 minutes of conservative talk are broadcast on these stations compared to 254 hours of progressive talk — 10 times as much conservative talk as progressive talk.

– 76 percent of the news/talk programming in the top 10 radio markets is conservative, while 24 percent is progressive.





Only one kind of dope at Glastonbury

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Sp!ked -  Rave with mother
In 2007, grass is out at Glastonbury. This year, one report says, ‘potsmokers will not be able to lounge under trees with their customary mellow insouciance, casually blowing fragrant smoke towards uninterested police officers. For the police are coming equipped with shoulder-mounted cameras that will transmit live footage back to a surveillance unit, forcing officers to take action or risk the wrath of their superiors’...

You can't even take your own loo paper. It has to be 'official' recycled stuff from Nouvelle



According to Superintendent Adrian Coombs, any cannabis users will be given a ‘street warning’, which apparently is not a criminal record ‘but it is noted as an offence against the person’s name’. If, however, you are caught smoking pot twice - two joints at a three-day festival? Never! - then the matter will be treated as a ‘more serious offence’...

According to a report in the Guardian, the police have stationed sniffer dogs at the gates of trains heading towards Glastonbury in order to catch any of these ‘foolish’ revellers who foolishly thought that Glastonbury was a haven of freedom. Think of it as pre-emptive policing to create a peaceful environment so that only nice people can headbang to Bassey.