Highlights
Count Binface and electoral theatre
Don’t be a costumed loon — It’s trivially easy to stand for Parliament in the UK. Any loon can do so. You need ten electors to nominate you and £500 for a deposit – and it’s actually been getting easier. The deposit was introduced in 1918 (£150 – quite a lot of money then). Before […]
I hate this
But does it matter? — I don’t usually say that sort of thing here. I try to be more measured, less personal. I’m talking about the police face recognition vans obviously. This might not surprise you: I mean that I don’t like them. I’m an old git after all, a man who’s written here before […]
Where is my patriotism?
Come, love of country, fill my heart… — I do love Britain. I guess I love England more. London most of all. I hope that in my life I’ve honoured the place I live and not disgraced it or undermined it (I support England and GB in sporting events – I fly a little flag […]
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Weblogs go mainstream. Some bloggers don’t like it
I’m busy judging entries to The Guardian’s Best British Blog competition. It’s not easy, not least (of course) because these things are weblogs so they’re full of interesting links. As…
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I’m and you’re
I’m Still In Love With You, Al GreenI’m the One (live), Average White BandI’m Waiting For The Day, Beach BoysI’m Only Sleeping, The BeatlesI’m Serious, Beenie ManYou’re Gonna Make Me…
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Down by the River
Fall in a River, Badly Drawn BoyRiver Theme, Bob DylanThe River Hymn, The BandAfrican River, Abdullah IbrahimDam That River, Alice In ChainsDown By The River, Neil YoungFind The River, REMHarlem…
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You want me to provide my own firewall?
I guess my main problem with Danny O’Brien’s thinking about running web-based services from home is a kind of category uneasiness. The kind of services Danny wants us to run…
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Running web-based services from home
Danny O’Brien’s been talking about making good use of an always-on home connection to replace all those web-based services we’ve become dependent on and that are about to start charging.…
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Introducing the Groucho-gram
I’m not sure that I can make a meaningful connection between Groucho and Elvis (apart from the fact that they both died 25 years ago this year) but if there…
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A shrinking Europe?
The Economist’s cover story this week is a blockbuster (you may need to subscribe to see the story). The message is simple: the population of Europe is – almost everywhere…
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Hilary’s thirteen years war
I tried to date Hilary Rosen’s battle with the demons of high-tech. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised to find this Usenet reference to her 1989 opposition to Digital Audio…
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Is this what they call creative destruction?
(This is a longer version of an article written for The Guardian) The music and tech industries have been locked in mortal conflict for decades with no resolution in sight.…
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sufficiently advanced technology…
ShazamSo it’s here. Possibly the most hyped consumer tech product in recent history (apart from Ginger) has finally arrived and it is mindblowing. Shazam has morphed from not-here-yet near myth…