People are a Strange Country

Google +

2011-07-09T16:40:00.001+01:00

I've just joined Google + and though I haven't done much with it yet, I don't know what value it will bring yet. I suspect it might have greater value for me over and above Facebook, partially in doing more, but also because I have a Droid mobile and fb is terrible on that. However, all this does depend whether my family, friends etc start using it. So we'll see!

Ada Lovelace Day

2010-03-24T08:12:00.001Z

I've posted on my other blog today - somehow seemed appropriate:
Wordpress blog

Ada Lovelace Day 2010 - pledge

2010-03-07T15:27:00.003Z

I have pledged to write a post about a woman in technology I admire. This is the second year I've pledged this and I will be publishing a post on 24 March 2010. If you're interested in this, please check out the Finding Ada website for much more information.

Good Times

2009-12-20T01:08:00.001Z

There is a spot in my heart
Which stores places left behind as if they were a favourite jumper
That has been pushed to the back of the wardrobe.

Returning to the place feels like drawing that old sweater
Over my head.
Warm, welcoming, comforting,
So many good memories weaved into its threads.

And though I may have a new jumper,
With many fine qualities,
For now, it is not the same.

The new jumper needs time
To make new memories.

Waking

2009-10-09T20:43:00.002+01:00

A poem has been percolating in my head, so I've decided to be brave and publish it here on my blog. Here goes (girding my loins) -

There is a solemnity in waking.
Before dream sloughs itself,
In the waking sleep,
A tempestuous peace refracts the early morning.

And then
A consciousness
Facing a dark day blank
Shivering with knowledge unknown
Who will I be today?

Equality yet

2009-08-23T17:57:00.013+01:00

Recently, I've been studying some of the women involved in what has come to be known as the first wave of feminism, which occurred during the 19th and early 20th century. The rights they fought for on behalf of women have given me the opportunities I have today. They have been directly responsible for my personal freedoms as a woman; amongst other things, the right to own property, the right to have a profession and earn and retain my own wages, the right to an education equal to that of men, the right to vote. I could go on.

These things have enriched my life and I am in the enviable position of being able to take these things for granted. Yet, even in this era of enhanced rights, women are still objectified. I've blogged around a similar topic before, but the recent events with Caster Semenya have shown another side to this.

Those first wave feminists set out to prove that femininity is no barrier to what women can achieve. But, the recent Semenya story seems to show that we feel it's fine to condemn women for not being feminine enough. How long will it take us to understand that these preconceived notions of how feminine a woman should be simply hold us back? There should be no benchmark on womanliness, we must embrace our individuality. I firmly believe, we are human first and women second.

Those notions of femininity are a learned behaviour, socially constructed and anachronistic. Until we see this, I fear we can never completely gain the equality we deserve.

Split Personality - time for a completely new blog

2009-08-05T12:57:00.002+01:00

It seems to me I have a propensity towards a split personality when it comes to my online world. I have places I go where I do work-related stuff and places I go to do personal stuff - and those two very rarely meet. For example, I use Facebook to hook up with my family and friends - these are people I know 'in reality', friends I actually know in person - and then I use Twitter for conversations based around my work, and those are people I may or may not have actually met.

When I first realised I was doing this, I thought it probably meant I was old-fashioned and outmoded. It's taken me some time, and numerous informal conversations with other people, to decide that I'm not outmoded and, in fact, many of us do exactly the same thing - we keep different parts of our lives separate, and not just online either. I was involved in an interesting conversation at a conference a few weeks ago with a fellow from another university who said he'd spent time observing his teenage son's online activity. His son, at any one time, might have three or four methods of communication open - he'd be using a gaming console and chatting with his online opponents, he'd have his mobile phone for texting close friends, he'd have email and chat windows open on his computer for other friends. And, all of these things, he would simply switch between depending on who he was speaking to and the task he wanted to achieve.

That definitely made me feel a lot better, I can't be outmoded if I use different tools because, if that teenager is anything to go by, younger people than me do it as well.

All this is apropos to the fact that I've decided to have more than one blog - one for personal stuff, where I can blog about all sorts of different things, and one for stuff that's somehow related to the work I do. Plus, having two also means I get to try out more than one blog platform.

This blog is my personal one. So, if you're reading this and wondering why it's all poncy/unstructured/touchy-feely somethings and nothings, then have a look at my work-related blog instead.

Why I love the Hay Festival

2009-05-31T19:44:00.021+01:00

I've just come back from a weekend at the Hay Festival. I first went when I was in my teens and I've loved it ever since. Sometimes, when my husband and I tell people we're going, we see a familiar glazed look come into their eyes (actually, this year, my husband told a colleague of his who looked positively lit up with excitement - until he realised it was a literary festival not a music event!) and then we have to struggle to explain to them what we see in it. So, what exactly do I love about it?

I love the crowd and the ambience of the place. It feels as though I can soak up literature as I soak up the sun. On a hot and sunny weekend, like this one has been, it's great to sit on the Hay garden and people-watch.

Over there, a group of 20-something lads laughing and chugging beer out of plastic glasses, just as they would at a music event. You get closer and hear them discussing Simon Schama's lecture on the way Americans are growing up in terms of how they are learning to understand their political history and their current place in it.

A little further over, a man in his 40s is stretched full length on the grass taking a nap under his fedora hat. When you check out the open programme on his lap, you realise he's waiting to see Sarah Waters talk about her latest novel, which this time round is a "haunted house story" with not even a "token lesbian" in it.

Around the other side, there's a couple of women in their 30s, designer shades on, sipping Pimms and champagne. Sidle nearer to them and you'll hear them discussing the AC Grayling lecture and the importance of freedom and civil liberties, over and above everything, including the security of the nation.

What an interesting crowd Hay attracts; a multicoloured mix, not defined by age, gender, race, religion, or sexuality, and united by a love of all kinds of literature. Hay is a contemplative place, it offers culture in a relaxed fashion. It's a place I have gone to be inspired by a lecture or just to lie and read on the garden. Or, to put it in the words of a fellow festival-goer I overhead today, "I have gone there and thought thoughts".

Lovers of literature - these are my people and I love them!

h1n1

2009-05-06T20:40:00.002+01:00

All this news recently about Swine Flu, I'm still waiting for someone to explain to me exactly what the Mexicans have done to deserve this particular punishment by God. I don't think I'll have to wait too long, someone is bound to be pissed off at Mexico for something. I'm sure the religious community will be happy to wax lyrical on the reasons for why Mexico merit this particular form of holy discipline.

Of course, it could just be that the patently obvious scientific logic behind the way viruses evolve to survive has simply stumped the creationist community. One never knows...

BBC to Consult Humanists on Religion

2009-04-20T20:52:00.007+01:00

The BBC has announced that humanists will be consulted on religious broadcasting. This follows on from similar positive actions, such as the addition of Humanism to the GCSE Religious Studies syllabus.

These are important statements about the country as it is today. We are finally seeing recognition of the fact that there are many humanists, atheists and agnostics in modern Britain,
"Surveys indicate that at least a third of the population of Britain are agnostic or atheist, and about 36% of the population also share the positive moral values of humanism and the British Humanist Association. "
Clearly, we are not a minority!

We have the right for our voices to be heard, just as much as any religious group does. So, thanks to the BBC for another step in the right direction towards giving us all the freedom to talk about, debate and discuss religious differences. And it's also fantastic that our kids will be able to do so in an informed way!

Ada Lovelace Day

2009-03-24T10:10:00.000Z

A few weeks ago I signed a pledge to publish a blog post today about a woman in technology who I admire. I’ve never signed a pledge before, but I felt this one was important because I believe women need to hear about good female role models. I’ve had a great deal of difficulty with this, only because it was so difficult picking just one. After considerable deliberation, I opted for a very contemporary figure who has accomplished some remarkable things in her career.

My blog post is about one of the most influential women in television. Until recently, she was the BBC Controller of Fiction, responsible for all drama across the four BBC channels. In that role, she had an annual budget worth half a billion. In 2008, MediaGuardian listed her at number 10 of the 100 most powerful people in UK media. Her name is Jane Tranter. As of January this year, she became executive vice-president of programming and production for BBC Worldwide. And she only just turned 46!

Jane Tranter started her TV career in 1985, she soon started working as an assistant floor manager on Eastenders and as a script writer for a series of Casualty. She did a spell working for Carlton, but rejoined the BBC in 1997, first as executive producer in films and single dramas, then soon after, Head of Drama Serials.

In 2000, after only 15 years in television, she became BBC Controller of Fiction. Her talent and vision saw her bringing back drama that excelled to the BBC. She is the woman who commissioned the rebirth of Dr Who, and she did this despite market research which said people didn’t want Dr Who back on their screens. That sort of conviction takes real courage. And it wasn’t just Dr Who she commissioned; other enormously successful dramas include Spooks, Bleak House, Life on Mars and Cranford (all of which I loved), amongst many others.

At the beginning of this year, she moved to BBC Worldwide. She has definitely not lost any of her ambition in doing so. She has already put forward an idea for a programme, involving at least 12 countries, which will launch simultaneously in all those countries and be both global and national. Wow!

What impresses me almost more than anything else is that, whilst she is a woman who has had immense success in her career, she hasn’t let it turn her head. In fact, if you listen to her talk, she is a very personable, humorous, animated person. She is also happy to make her views plain on the perceptions of women in high profile positions. In an interview with Sophie Balhetchet, she said,

“There is something still, somewhere within our culture, if a woman is in a position of any significance at all, instead of becoming powerful or successful, she becomes a power-crazed bitch. Instead of having a good work ethic, she becomes relentlessly, vaultingly ambitious. Instead of it being about diversity, it’s about a takeover of women and I do think it’s odd, I have to say”.

Well done, Jane Tranter, you’re a role model us women can be really proud of!

A Poem

2009-03-15T19:53:00.003Z

I've been trying to remember to write a blog post every week, just about things that have occurred to me in the past 7 days. It's not always obvious to me what's the best thing to write about, what would be interesting or thought-provoking or original. So, this week I thought I would post up a poem I wrote, just because...

There is no going back
Less and less I am what I was
Everything is the same, but not
And I have grown, up, out, beyond

I am a puzzle piece
With edges slightly altered
I no longer fit the original structure
There is no going back

I am free to be whoever I want to be
This is good and this is right
And this is the value
Of no going back

Richard Dawkins Responds to Todd Thomsen

2009-03-08T16:05:00.004Z

Today, I watched the introduction video of Richard Dawkins' speech at the University of Oklahoma. It's been in the news this week because of a certain Todd Thomsen who tried to stop Dawkins being allowed to speak. Dawkins, of course, used the event as a forum to respond to Thomsen, by adding a special introduction to the speech.

One of the points Dawkins made particularly resonated with me, probably because I work for a university myself,

"What on earth is a university for if it only reinforces opinions that students already hold?"

He's right, of course. What's the point of a university if it doesn't strive to hold dear the tenets upon which every university should be based? Tenets such as (to quote one of the key principles and values of the stategic plan at my university), "freedom of thought, innovation and intellectual curiosity".

Well done Oklahoma, you deserve recognition for not bowing down to the increasingly outrageous demands of the US Christian right-wing.

Encouraging Self-Esteem

2009-03-01T12:09:00.003Z

My mother recently joined a self-esteem raising group. As far as I can tell, she's struggled with this for a long time. I always thought she had humility, which is fine because I have never had much respect for arrogance and conceit. Still, there is a point at which humility becomes an extreme lack of self confidence and this is actually psychological self-harm. So, I applaud her for having the courage to face the issue and do something about it.

She has been given a task by the group, to ask someone she trusts to write five positive things about her. She decided to ask me, so I want to publicise the things I have written. There's a reason for this; I know some of my relatives have read my blog in the past and I am hoping they will leave some comments on this blog to encourage her along. So, here are my comments:

She has an excellent sense of fun, she's not afraid of being silly and enjoying life. I have a particular memory that sums this up nicely; when we were children, if my brother and sister and I were arguing, she would sing (loudly and deliberately off-key) a few lines of 'Home on the Range'. It always got our attention
She is extremely creative. If I ever want to come up with ideas about something, whether it's a fancy dress costume or how to tile my bathroom, she's the one I go to for advice because I know she will come up with the perfect solution. Ask her grandkids, she's always making them outfits for school plays and concerts.
She will help anyone in need. She hates to see someone who's lonely or emotional or just needs assistance with something. She will always offer to help, with no expectation of receiving anything in return.
She is an incredibly loyal person, fiercely protective of her family and friends. Even if you do something to upset her (and, believe me, I have!), that sense of loyalty means she will always forgive you.
She is not afraid to try new things. This is tough for a lot of people, since many of us don't like change, but she will give it a chance. For example, though she's now in her sixties, she has had no problem embracing technology; just the other day she was telling me how she'd found out how to use chat on Facebook, so she could connect with my brother. For her, it's a great way to keep in touch and, as I'm sure everyone who knows her will agree, she is very much a people person - friendly, open and warm-hearted.

She only asked for five positive things, but I could have written more. If you're reading this post and you know her too, can I urge you to leave a positive comment too? You can do it here or on Facebook, but if you have the time, please do it. Thank you.

Ada Lovelace pledge

2009-02-28T09:50:00.001Z

Atheist Slogans

2009-02-22T09:55:00.003Z

There's been a lot of press about atheist ad campaigns on buses, like the British slogan:
"There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

A number of countries have followed on with their own ad slogans, one of my personal favourites being the Italian one:
"The bad news is God doesn't exist. The good news is we don't need him"

Fairly controversial for a country that surrounds Vatican City and certainly spicier than the British one!

Australia decided they wanted their own slogan, too. But, Australian advertising company, APN, have stopped Australian atheists short in their campaign. They've refused to advertise their slogan. I guess it must be pretty strong then, right? Here's what they wanted to say:
"Atheism — Celebrate Reason"

Wow, that would have the religious communities running scared!

Women and Science

2009-01-26T20:13:00.004Z

I've been reading a blog post about the difficulties of attracting women to the field of science. There's some vaguely interesting comments about women not being able to have a marriage and kids if they want to reach the upper echelons of the scientific community, and what's being done to counteract this. Well, here's the thing, it doesn't matter how many policies you put in place, they won't work if attitudes don't change.

This whole thing got me thinking about professional women in the IT field (mainly because I belong in this group myself). Personally, I think the reason women aren't attracted to science is because they suffer the same sort of outdated, chauvinistic attitudes that exist towards women in IT. (Yes, they do still exist - check this out if you don't believe me!)

But the point that really annoys me is this unfathomable idea that the woman should be the primary caregiver in her family. The author of the piece asks why women should sacrifice reproductive fitness for the sake of career advancement. Whilst she's clearly making a philosophical point in the article, still we know attitudes of this sort do exist. What I say is, why would a woman have to sacrifice having a child? A baby takes 9 months to be born, for most of that time a woman can continue to work. After the birth, she can return to work as quickly as she wants and then, here's a novel idea, why not leave her partner to be the primary caregiver, taking on that role which has traditionally been called the 'mothering' role?

Just because I'm a woman, does that mean I have a natural 'mothering' instinct? Anyone who knows me will tell you, that really doesn't apply to me! I just don't believe in the innate sanctity of 'motherhood'. I think stories such as that of Baby P tell us something about that.

New Year, New Me, New Job

2009-01-11T17:20:00.002Z

I have decided that this year I will write blogs about significant things happening in my life. A new idea for a new year. So, to begin with, I write about the most important thing going on for me in 2009...

On Friday, I completed my first week in a new job. I was sad to leave my old place, I'd got used to it and the people were really very nice. I knew them all well and it was safe. But, I have never felt that we should go through life being always safe, taking the easy route. Sometimes, we need to do something 'risky'.

So, although I knew I would miss everyone in my old job, at the same time, I was excited to be beginning a new phase in my life. I was more nervous than I expected to be on the first day. Before starting a new job, I think a small part of everyone will wonder if they've done the right thing. I spent the first week feeling my way around and trying to get a better idea of what the heart of the job is about. It was a little scary, I was nervous about giving my opinion and worried about saying anything that would annoy/bother/offend people. What I found was encouraging; the project I'm working on is fascinating. It seems to be a tremendous opportunity to use my technical and creative skills, the latter of which I was sometimes missing before.

I feel this is going to be a positive experience in my life. It will be interesting to see if my future blog posts bear that out.

Techno World

2009-01-03T21:55:00.003Z

I have an interesting relationship with technology. Mostly, I just want to use the devices I like and am used to - notebooks, mobiles, PDAs - this applies to hardware really. I don't really go for new stuff that often, for example, I had my last pc for about 5 years, until I decided to build myself a new one. However, once I've decided to try something new and got used to it, then I wonder how I managed without it.

This Christmas I got a new mobile phone. I've been thinking about getting one for months and finally decided on the one I want. It took me a good while to decide on the Sony Ericsson W595, but now I have it, I love it. Can't get enough of using it. I've been texting people left, right and centre (it's got pretty decent predictive texting for a mobile, though I know most people hate it), I've bluetoothed with all my friends already to share photos, I've set up bluetooth with my notebook, so I can put my Amazon mp3 files on it, I've bought a speaker and new headphones to go with it and I'm currently looking at using Facebook on it. I've set up new shortcut keys, customised my profile, ringtones and screensaver and have already had to put more credit on it. And I've only had it 3 days! I never did any of this sort of stuff with my old phone; it was really just a phone.

I guess there's really a lesson to learn in this. As long as you do your research well, there's no reason not to try new technology, instead of just using the same old kit you're used to. Technology moves on all the time, I'm going to move with it!

Chess Widows

2008-10-07T20:50:00.002+01:00

There's an interesting term occasionally used amongst married male chess players; that of the 'chess widow'. When you marry a real chess fan, you have to be prepared to spend a certain amount of time doing your own thing while he spends time with his mistress. There are certain dates in the chess calendar when you might as well don those black gloves as he disappears into that proverbial black (and white) hole. There happens to be one such date coming up very soon. The World Chess Championship starts in a week's time in Germany.

For the past few weeks I've been entertained (and I do mean entertained) by a 36-year old man behaving very much like a 6-year old does in the weeks leading up to Christmas. I've discovered one of the best ways to get him to do anything I want is to threaten to cut off our Internet connection before next week (and I know how to do it so he couldn't fix it, too). I suppose it's something along the lines of 'if you're not good, Santa won't bring you presents'.

His latest brainwave is to take leave from work every afternoon that a championship match is being played; that's about 9 afternoons altogether! He will leave work at 1pm and rush home, all the while praying (even though he doesn't actually believe in a god) that public transport goes his way, so he's able to catch the start of the match at 2pm. He will then spend the next several hours following the match and blogging about it in real time for other chess fans to follow. During the course of these matches, he will expect his poor, suffering wife to stay out of his way completely until he needs her to prepare or cook the regular supply of meals and/or drinks which he will need to keep his strength up.

If I may say so myself, he doesn't deserve me!

By the way, honey, if you're reading this - you're going to owe me BIG.

Speling and Gramar

2008-09-30T21:15:00.003+01:00

I cannot bare bad speling or gramar. When people right badly, I loose all respect for them. It really isnt difficult to make sure you use punctuation in the right way? It pains me when I see apostrophe’s used incorrectly. I find it very difficult to follow someones argument if they’re sentence’s are peppered with bad speling. I just want to say to them, “your work makes no sense”. I have often felt that I could of wept for them. I frequently feel that I don’t want to speak to nobody when I hear these mistakes, irregardless of weather the person is friend or foe. I literally die when I here people exaggerating things incorrectly when they right. I just dont think its a big ask for people to learn better language skills.

The Brights Agenda

2008-08-19T13:29:00.008+01:00

There are numerous Christian fundamentalist groups who try to alter the nature of what science is to prove their points about the argument on Creativism. In the interests of doing so, they clearly need to attack the enemy - Atheism. They have done so well in their aim, in certain countries, that atheists have become seriously demonised as morally corrupt, unsympathetic, uncharitable people. Anyone who saw the recent TV series presented by Richard Dawkins on Darwin would have heard him read some of the downright nasty statements made about him by Christians.

This has led the atheist community to produce their own counter-check move, calculated to try to change that perception and throw a more positive light on who atheists are as people. Thus, the term 'Brights' has been coined. The theory behind it is much the same as that of the gay community, who several decades ago, started to use their own positive word to change perceptions.

I applaud this attempt to show the world that atheists are not the negative people they are assumed to be. However, I am not yet entirely convinced about using the word 'Bright'. I fear people will perceive an air of pretentiousness behind the word - as if to say, if I am a Bright, I am more intelligent than any person in the general population. There is a real worry that people may begin to see it as 'A Brights Agenda'. I just don't know yet - the verdict isn't in.

Suffice it so say, I'll be keeping a very close eye on this argument for a while yet!

Child -less

2008-08-18T13:21:00.009+01:00

When people refer to couples who don't have children, they often use the word 'childless'. Now, quite apart from the fact this word implies some kind of 'loss', I also looked up the term in the online Roget II Thesaurus which gives the meanings as:
"Unable to produce offspring: barren, impotent, infertile, sterile, unfruitful"

I think it's fair to say, these meanings have distinctly negative connotations. In fact, as a childless person myself, the thought that people might be using such terms about me does somewhat annoy me. As far as I'm aware, I am not 'unable to produce offspring' nor 'barren', 'sterile' or any others of those words. In fact, my husband and I deliberately chose not to have children. Because, contrary to popular belief, it is actually possible to make an informed, intelligent, sensible decision about whether or not you should have children.

I like my life, I am free to go where I want whenever I want. I am free to go on holidays whenever I want, rather than in the school holidays and I can go places I want to go to, rather than where there's good facilities for children. I am free to buy myself things, instead of worrying about how I'm going to have money for a new school uniform, new shoes, new clothes, new everything... for somebody else.

I am free to enjoy the company of other adults and have a calm, sane conversation with them without someone repeating 'Mum, mum' at me ad nauseum until I pay attention to them. I am free to have nights out with my friends whenever I like, rather than on the rare occasions when my husband or someone else kindly offers to look after my brats for a few precious hours. I am free to have sex whenever I want to! I am free to spend quality time with my husband and we are free to do things we both really enjoy.

So, I just want to say something to everyone out there who pities 'childless' couples:

I am not child -less, I am child -free!

I don't like Sundays

2008-08-17T14:47:00.008+01:00

I'm really not a fan of Sundays, they always seem like such nothing days to me. It was always the same, even when I was a child. There was particularly something about the early evening which meant I couldn't enjoy myself properly because I knew I had school tomorrow. That's not to say I didn't like school, I enjoyed learning and I always have. I think it's more that sense of freedom you get on a Friday which just starts to dissipate around 5 o'clock on a Sunday. You pretty much know the weekend is coming to an end.

And it's definitely no coincidence that, around the same time, Songs of Praises starts on BBC1. Now I believe in live and let live, so I don't wish to get into one of those anti-religious polemics explaining that you might just as well believe in the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, but I do find that traditional organ church hymn music so depressing. There isn't anything calculated so well to make me switch off the TV than a crowd of people singing All things Bright and Beautiful as though they will shortly be on their way to a smear test (for men, read 'prostate test'). Where's the passion, the joy?

Oh well, I guess I can always do something more useful than watch TV anyway... now, where's that Richard Dawkins book I was reading?

Are A-levels losing meaning?

2008-08-15T13:09:00.006+01:00

The A-level results for UK students came out yesterday and, for yet another year, the results have improved. The number of A grades this year stood at almost 26%. This has prompted the same old arguments about whether A levels are getting easier, to the point where they may lose meaning for Universities offering undergraduate degree places.

But, I think we're missing the point here. Surely, it's not about whether A-levels are easier, but whether they really prepare students going on to those undergraduate degrees. It isn't just a step up to degree level anymore, now it's a whole new ball game. In school, for the most part, students are still taught in the traditional sense, with teachers imparting their knowledge to them. In the modern university system, that paradigm has shifted. The responsibility is now much more on the student to learn and they are expected to take responsibility for their own development. This is good; it's a clear preparation for the world of work, but for some undergraduate students, it can come as a nasty shock. Students are often expected to find, research and reference material themselves and this is one arena where Wikipedia just isn't going to cut it.

We need to head towards a school system that is prepared to give students a bigger taste of what that level of academic life is like. We need to start to show our 16-18 year olds how to research, how to analyse information, and how to improve and understand their own learning.

Let's allow our teachers to spread their wings and really show what they can do.

5 Ways to Use your Indicator

2008-08-14T13:46:00.007+01:00

There are many interesting ways to use your indicator.
You can drive your car to a four-way junction
And indicate completely the wrong way.
To do this properly
You require a traffic jam of vehicles,
Several pedestrians, some school children,
A crossing guard, a lot of other drivers beeping their horn
And one idiot behind the wheel.

Or you can take a blue-collar worker,
Wearing torn clothes in the traditional way
And refuse to bother indicating at all.
But for this you need a white van,
Lots of tools in the back,
At least two men in the front making rude gestures
And the ability to annoy every other driver on the road.

Dispensing with white van men, you may, if you can
Find a Rover and elect to indicate only when there is no turn-off at all.
But then you need
Miles of countryside sliced through with a single road,
No passing places, a picnic basket,
Preferably a caravan, a mass of grey heads, a dozen suitcases on top
And some flat caps made of cloth.

In an age of motorways, you may fly
Miles along the fast lane, keeping
Your right indicator on all the time. All you then
Require is some other nervous drivers,
Several inexperienced drivers, a policeman and
A driving license you won't need for several months.

As I said, these are many interesting ways
To use your indicator. Simpler, direct and much more neat
Is to see that you will shortly need to make a turn, put your
inidicator on and leave it on (until you've turned).

Acknowledgements to Edwin Brock's "5 Ways to Kill a Man"

Somtimes, there's more to life than Facebook

2008-08-11T13:33:00.007+01:00

I've had a Facebook account for ages. I first got it because I wanted to see what the fuss was all about. I admit I haven't used that much of its many features, probably because I haven't had much time to really delve into it. I can see how interesting it can be, how involved you can get in it and even where it can be exploited to help people work. I know a bunch of students who use it to post paraphrases of lectures, in more easy-to-understand language. And that kind of thing is great - they're helping each other out. ('Course they do tend to invite just the people they like to view it and that can make people feel left out - but that's another story).

But...I do baulk at those who tell people they're nobody if they don't get really involved in these social networking sites. The thing is, some people are just not interested in all those 'extra' features, they have better things to do, they already have more mates than they can handle keeping in touch with and they don't want some spotty geezer they last saw 20 years ago 'poking' them every other second. (I'm sure most people would really rather not have a cyber-stalker). Yes, they'd like to utilise it for important, interesting, valuable things, but they're not going to have a hissy-fit because Facebook had the temerity to allow Scrabble to make them pull the Scrabulous game.

So, let's all be a bit more understanding and not sneer at people if they feel that way. You know the saying, 'get a life' - well, maybe they're already got one and they don't want yours!

Olympic Global Domination

2008-08-10T20:52:00.005+01:00

Today I watched my first Olympic event - one of many over the next couple of weeks, I'm sure. This was the women's road race, which I'd heard about from the BBC coverage yesterday. They made some lame pun about whether the race would be 'cooking' (why won't sports people stick to their day jobs?) because Nicole Cooke was racing. She won Gold, of course, probably because she's a genius on a bike. And you can tell she just loves competing in her sport.

But this brings me to my point... why do some countries get so invested in sport? Sport is great to keep you fit if you're doing it yourself - agreed. It can also be pretty spectacular to watch the best athletes competing in an arena like the Olympics - again, agreed. Watching the end of a race like Cooke's today (awesome finish, Nicole!), the tension can be thrilling. But, when sport starts getting political, what's the point? Aren't we just losing the whole spirit of sport?

Eight years ago, China launched Project 119, in a bid for sporting global domination. They've spent the last 7 years running intensive training schemes in the areas of sport they deem to have been weak thus far. (Can we see any parallels with other nations in the past?) And here's my problem - can the Chinese athletes really be enjoying their sport with that amount of pressure on them?

The Olympic motto says "faster, higher, stronger", it's a perfect comment on what sport should be. Let's forget all this 'we just have to be the best' crap and enjoy sport for what it is, a true reflection of the human need to continue to evolve and improve.

Hello Strangers!

2008-08-10T20:43:00.002+01:00

Without wanting to really break from tradition, still I didn't want to start my newest blog with the now rather cliched 'Hello World'. I may very well be tweaking the nose of every 'puter programmer on the planet, but hey, we can't please everybody.

This new blog is going to be mostly my opinions on what I think of the World. How far have we evolved in the past 100, 50, 10 years? What matters, what doesn't, what matters to some people, but doesn't to others...