Drivel

It's begining to typhoon quite violently and I'm writing this at the office. We had to come to work today. The dragon just called and she's already been sent home. She actually said that Taipei City has all been officially sent home, but we haven't yet, so we could be the only office stil working in t he whole city. Actually it's also been said that we can go home at 4. different stories depending on who you listen to.

I just had a Framemaker crash and lost hours of work. It's not been a good day so far. It would really make it perfect if I couldn't get home.

The above written at work, this writtten at home. We got sent home at 4pm, but no-one wanted to be first to get up and go. Wind and rain was begining to look nasty by then however and Sumedha led the exodus. Many, including myself followed. I was out of the office before 5pm and got home to eat dinner with the family for a change. I was worried that getting home wold be difficult, but actually it wasn't. They often stop the subway when typhoons come because they get flooded or the elevated sections get buffeted by gigantic winds. But everything was still running. It's been confirmed that we don't have to work tomorrow. I've actually brought some work home with me, but I don't think I'll do it unless I get really bored.

I'm going to give eDonkey a try I think. I get a bit frustrated with Bearshare after a while. I'll keep you posted on that. It swears there's no spyware, which is more than we can say for some other file sharing apps.

There is a move afoot in Britain to reform the sex offenders register. Deputy Chief Constable Robert Ovens of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland is suggesting that anyone charged with sex offences, even if they have not been to court, should be registered. I find that worrying beyond belief. I don't have a problem with convicted offenders being made to register, though I can't see that it really does any good, but the idea of someone simply suspected of comitting a sex offence being treated like that is outrageous.

This suggestion has been made after a child in Scotland was found, apparently murdered by a man awaiting trial for sex offences. The man is now dead. I'm not suggesting that the man was innocent, he probably wasn't. But the fault here lies with the authorities who realeased this man on bail. And now they are trying to suggest that it wouldn't have been a problem if he'd been made to sign the sex offenders reister! Click.

Yes, another one!

We have 2 more typhoons heading our way. I think the first one will hit us tomorrow sometime. They say that winds are gusting up to 63 m/sec. That sounds prety rapid to me. It's probably not as forceful as Katrina, currently lashing the southern coastal states of US. Why is it that storms always "lash" places? Why can't they sometimes "ravage" a town, or "maul" or "devastate" a city? It's another news reporter cliche like "war torn" and "famine striken" I suppose. If I was a reporter I'd make an effort to bring a few new phrases into common use.

I just saw some footage of Marilyn Manson picking up a Kerrang award. I know nothing about the guy other than the fact that he annoys the self-appoint moral guardians of our society. That gets him a vote from me anyway. He was really quite eloquent I thought. Looks like a weirdo, but I guess that's OK with me too. I remember reading something that Alice Cooper said about Manson a while back that made me laugh. It was along the lines of, "Gives himself a girl's name, puts on makeup and sings heavy rock, that's original". Alice Cooper is more my era.

What is the attraction of rebellion? There must be some genetic/evolutionary reason why some poeple rebel. I think I'll work on that.

There is a new British Bog Snorkelling champion today I notice. It's a strange event that has come to represent the eccentricity of the British people I think. Competitors are required to swim two lengths of a peat bog, 60 yards long, using unconventional swimming strokes. I have no idea what "unconventioanl swimming strokes" means. Sounds like a rather vague description to me. Read about it here.

And the thought for the day is this: 50 years before Harry Potter started at Hogwarts, Tom Riddle was Head Boy and Professor Albus Dumbledore was the transfiguration teacher. Does that mean all is not what it seems?

Placebo

First a little note about homeopathy. Mimum says that she remembers me ranting about homeopaths before. She is right when she says that homeopathy works for those people that believe in it. It is, as she quite rightly states, a positive thought thing. The placebo effect has been shown in a number of tests. That effect however doesn't work when homeopathy is used on people who don't know whether they are getting a real remedy or a dummy. It also doesn't work on animals. It could be argued that the placebo effect is a good thing and that homeopathy does more good than harm, even if it doesn't work as described. The worry is that people will abandon real medicine in favour of plain water, which is not a good thing. So I say we should all turn our back on it, despite what Prince Charles says.

Why does Svan Goran Eriksson have so much trouble keeping it in his trousers? It's not like he's a young blonde Adonis exactly is it? Well, he was blonde before it went grey and fell out I guess. Hardly a week goes by however without some new allegation about him and some curvey female half his age. I'm half in awe at his swordsmanship and half amazed that he has the energy. I nearly met him once. I walked into him when he visted my office. Couldn't see where I was going behind whatever I was carrying. Didn't recognise him anyway.

An Australian politician has found himself in very hot water and had to resign after calling the Asian born wife of a colleague a "mail order bride". I found this quite unsettling to read. I've always been aware that a white man married to an oriental woman does lend itself to the mail order bride cliche. As someone who actually married an Asian woman, it bothers me. Ironically I don't think the dragon ever gives it a second thought. The scum sucking bottom feeder politician in question, John Brogden was leader of the Australian Liberal party and made the remarks at an event in which he also groped a young woman an propositioned another. He's married, 37, and should know better. I'd say the average 12-year-old should know better come to think of it.

I think schools are going mad in UK. I just read that one school in Northants, I lived there for a while, is allowing children to swear during class up to five times. I'm not sure whether that is five times each, or five times altogether. Either way I can't see the logic. What are they trying to say here? Swearing a little bit is OK? Apparently children that don't swear are to be sent home with a letter of praise for their parents, unbelievable, I mean you can't write that kind of comedy. Click.

Homeopathy officially bunk

In answer to Dickie's question, there is no great significance in the different coloured chopsticks seen for lunch and dinner in yesterday's entry. The orange chopsticks I keep in my drawer, but lunch arrived with disposable wooden chopsticks and I used those rather than make my orange pair dirty. Dinner arrived with no such convientient utensils, so there you have it.

I was reading a few comments from readers of the BBC website yesterday on the subject of obesity in America. One American wrote with a comment that suggested the government had no business trying to force people to lose weight. This got me thinking. In principle I agree with that sentiment. I hold the view that people should be permitted to destroy their own lives in any way that makes them happy, as long as they don't cause a problem for anyone else. Obesity is however such a widespread problem now that it has gone rather beyond the issue of individuals simply being overweight. It's become a social problem because it is a drain on health service resources and it costs money.

It's like the smoking argument. I used to stand up for smokers rights. I always felt they had a right to smoke if they want. But you could just as easily say that everyone else has the right to live without smoke. The argument is just as strong. Now I'm leaning more on the side of banning smoking in public. From my point of view, it would make the world a nicer place. The real isssue with the fat argument however is politics. Governments want votes, and they want to spend as little as possible. They've done the maths and they're begining to think that making the population thinner might be in their interest now.

It's good to see homeopathy getting a mauling in The Lancet this week. Homeopathy is one of those things that has been proven so many times to be utterly useless, but just refuses to go away. The Lancet is however just about the most respected medical journal in the world and has this week finally denounced homeopathy as garbage after a big Swedish trial. About time too. The Lancet even goes as far as critising the World Health Organisation which still supports, or at least won't be neagtive about, homeopathy. The phrase "overtly biased" was used, which I thought rather agressive actually. Click for the BBC report.

I'm interested in the comments I got from Abby and Andy Cat6 about climate change being affected by all the overweight people being on one side of the world. I think Andy has a point, use the CO2 to make ice-cream and the problem is solved. I'll get on to the president about this right away. I'll keep you posted.

Burp!

I just ate grilled eel for lunch. I suppose it was extravagant, but I thought it was nice, and it's Thursady which means I will probably eat at the office tonight and it will be junk food, so I feel it's excusable. There was a lot and I had to work hard to finish it however.



There seems to be a lot in the media currently about longer opening hours for pubs. The police are moaning because they say that it will increase alcohol related time. I can't see this myself. Currently all the pubs shut at 11 and all the drunks spill onto the street at that time. Will there be more drunks because the pubs stay open longer? One school of thought suggests that much of the alcohol crime problem is actually caused when all the drunks hit the street together. This idea has some merit in my mind. I would also point at all the other countries inthe world that have less restricted opening hours and less alcohol related crime. The problem is obviously more complex than I have made it, but I really can't see any strong evidence to suggest that crime will increase as a result.

I just read that now 65% of Americans are officially overweight. That ladies and gentlemen is outrageous. I think this could be affecting the environment you know. All that weight concentrated on one side of the planet could knock us out of orbit and cause untold damage to the climate. Click.

I've spent all afternoon writing these last two paragraphs. And in case you don't believe me, I just ate spicy chicken for dinner. Here it is...

Which end is the head?

There was no update yesterday as we spent much of the morning at the baby hospital. And they even gave us a picture of the baby goblin:



I realise that not everyone is likely to be as excited about this as I am. I am however officially excited. After seeing the little thing in the right place and hearing his/her heartbeat, a small weight lifted from my mind. I was worried that something could be wrong, but I feel better now. Of course there is still a long way to go and we are officially still in the risky period, but I want to spread my good news around anyway. I don't think they usually do scans this early in UK. I think they should. It was an experience. I'm probably going to be a bore about this for some time.

The Jean Charles de Menezes case continues to grab headlines today and the current question is, what happened to the CCTV footage. Today's papers are suggesting that staff at the station insist that the cameras were working, but it seems as though police may have told investigators that footage as not available. This is looking more and more like a cover up every minute.

I think I could forgive the police for shooting de Menezes, given the circumstances. I'm finding it very difficult however to justify the actions of the police after the incident. I cannot see any reason why the police didn't correct the orignal version of events after they were shown to be worng, unless they were attempting to cover something up. I'm also finding it very difficult to believe that no CCTV footage exists.

Nothig else to report today.

Bewitched is garbage

We didn't make it to the Brown Sugar Jazz Club this weekend because it was fully booked. We changed our plans and went to a Japanese place instead and it was good. You pay one price and eat as much as you can, drinks included. We stuffed ourselves with sushi, baked fish, shrimp, teppenyaki chicken, fruit, ice-cream, coffee, and generally much more than is good for a person. It poured with rain outside, but it didn't matter. It was a great way to celebrate our first wedding anniversary.

We also went to see Bewitched. It wasn't good. The plot was all over the place. I wouldn't say it was awful, but I wouldn't recommend anyone forking out the ticket price for it. Even Nicole Kidman didn't really rescue it. Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine were quite fun, but they had very light roles. I really didn't understand where Uncle Arthur came from. I don't understand why Nicole took the role, surely she could do just about anything she wanted now. Anyway, I give it a 5/10. Save your money and watch something else.

We made a lot of pork dumplings yesterday. Actually, no point in lying about this, I didn't make the pork inside bit and we bought the outside bit. I just put them together. We made lots...


The porky inside bit...


The wrapped-up (by me) article...


We ate more than we could eat.

Met Chief of Police, Sir Ian Blair is in a tricky position and there have been calls for his resignation. He's in this position because it has emerged that the facts surrounding the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes by police offices, seem to differ hugely from the version of events Blair himself released. I can't see how this happened. I can see that the initial statement may have been inaccurate through no fault of his own, so why doesn't he just say, "sorry I wasn't in posession of all the facts", and make amends? Instead he's claiming he didn't lie, which is true. He did however apparently allow the perpetuation of a version of events which he must have known to be false.

Tomorrow I have taken the morning off and we are to visit the hospital. I am not entirely sure what is to happen but I think we will have a scan. I don't think there is much to see at 8 weeks, but I still hope that we have a picture to show everyone.

Paper

The phone rang this morning at 4.20. This is not normally a good omen. People who's name begins with A are cursed by the modern fascination with cell phones. This is becuause our names appear at the top of everyone's phonebook list and, although people further down the average phonebook list don't realise this, we get called regularly by people sitting on their phone, dropping their phone, putting their phone in their pocket or bag etc. My immediate thought when I heard the phone this morning was that someone was sitting on their cellphone.

I am something of an insomniac and I wasn't asleep. I did have some trouble locating the phone in the dark however, and when I eventually put my hand upon it, the caller had of course given up. Checking the call log I ascertained that the mystery caller was James and went back to bed. This morning at 7.00 I awoke wracked with guilt. Was he locked out, dying somewhere in the gutter, in desperate need of my help? So I called him. He was asleep. Didn't even know he'd called me. Well, at least I woke him up.

Tomorrow is our first wedding anniversary. I think we will go to the Brown Sugar place I mentioned in the last post. I put it to her and she seems keen. She also wants to see Bewitched. Sadly I am actually old enough to remember the original TV show. I have no great expectations of the movie, but we shall see. Didn't the original have Larry Hagman in it?

I have wasted huge amounts of today try to create a pdf from a pagemaker publication. It's not friendly. I wouldn't mind so much if it was consistantly falling over in the same place, but it likes to surprise you and collapse somewhere different each time you try. I also wasted a smalelr amount of time making origami animals for my paper wedding anniversary. Paper - origami, appropirate you see.

Late, very late

I've been playing with Microsoft Text to speech. It's actually better than I thought it would be. I got really irritated by Sam, the default voice, and I have found a few others to play with since then. I've been listening to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone as I work this morning. It has problems with names like Snape, Dumbledore, and Quidditch, but it is understandable.

It's my wedding anniversary on Saturday. I want to go to the Brown Sugar Jazz Club. They have a hot web site apart from anything else. I'll keep you informed about that.

I mentioned yesterday that A level results are due out today and that there is likely to be the usual argument about whether the ever increasing pass rate represents higher standards or easier exams. This year they are releasing results to students before the statistics are released to the media. This is in an effort to avoid the annual argument which may detract frm students success apparently. I'm wondering what the hell will happen when the exam pass rate hits 100% and it can't go higher the next year. It's up around 96% now.

Why is it that images of Christ and the Virgin are appearing everywhere at the moment? Apparently the face of Christ has now appeared on a tree in Sussex. It's been described as a miracle. It's not a miracle you knobs, it's something that looks vaguely like a face if you squint and tilt your head to one side. It looks more like Christ after you've had a couple of beers I think. Astounding that these images all show a bearded caucasian man as depicted in traditional images of Christ when in fact a man from the Middle East at the time of Christ would have looked nothing like that. This one was found by a lapsed Hindu strangely. Click.

Michael Jackson is in trouble with the law yet again. I can't believe I didn't know this, but Jackson was supposed to appear in court on July 21st to answer yet more sex abuse charges. He failed to turn up however and has been fined. This time a man is claiming that he was assaulted by Jackson in his car in 1984. The man, who was 18 at the time, claims he repressed these memories for 21 years and he only remembered them again when he saw the coverage of the previous trial. I actually feel sorry for Jackson this time who will be defending himself against charges over 20 years ago. Isn't there a statute of limitations or something? How can anyone expect to defend themself against that sort of allegation? Clcik.

The above was written at lunchtime at my desk. this is being written at home at my desk. It's 11 o'clock. Since lunchtime A-level results have been released and there was a rise to a 96.2% pass rate. The arguments will begin tomorrow no doubt. The row about the man shot on the London subway has intensified. It seems that the man's family are getting rowdy about it now. So would I.

Anyway, it's bed time. G'night.

Lady of the manor

There is a most worrying story in the news today concerning the death of Jean Charles de Menezes who was shot by police on the London underground a few weeks ago. Apparently leaked documents show a huge difference in statements made by witnesse and the police version of events. The police have always maintained that de Menezes acted suspiciously, was wearing a padded winter coat, vaulted over the ticket barrier without paying, and ran from police. Witnesses seem to suggest that he was infact weearing a light denim jacket, didn't vault the barirer, and only began running when he saw the train arriving. The most worrying thing is that there is a claim that no CCTV footage exists. I find that impossible to believe. The Home Secretary was very evasive about the matter on the radio yesterday. Police shooting - the dicrepancies, and Questioning 'shoot-to-kill'.

Madonna has fallen off her horse while playing lady of the manor in Wiltshire. She really does fancy herself as British aristocracy doesn't she! You can't fake it though Maddonna. The fact that you don't even realise that is telling. I can't understand what Guy Richie is doing with that vile woman. Anyway, she's brokena few bones and screwed up her 47th birthday it seems. Click.

We have a new employee in the office. I I like him, but I don't know what they were thinking when they hired him. He has no experience, dodesn't speak English as a first language, can't proofread, can't do a transcript, ad doesn't know any of the tools.

Late night entry

No time to write a proper entry today. Good points from Jim about the sexy car drivers. Why are they paying people for this kind of drivel? Must be a slow news day.

There has been a big earthquake in Japan but thankfully casualties appear to be few and not serious. The Japanese are probably more prepared for earthquakes than anyone in the world.

The Da Vinci Code is currently being filmed in Paris and around Britain. In case you missed it in the news, Westminster Abbey wouldn't let them film there which was a bit of a bugger for the film crew. However, they bunged Lincoln Cathedral a large doantion and they were allowed to film there instead. The funny thing is, they have dressed up Lincoln Cathedral like Westminster Abbey. I'd have thought it would be cheaper to build the whole set. Anyway, not everyone is happy about the choice of Lincoln Cathedral for the filming. A 61 year old nun has been praying for 12 straight hours on the steps of the building in protest.

This story is made all the more interesting by the fact that it is written so badly by a nameless BBC reporter who clearly hasn't read the book. He/she found it necessary to inform his readership that the nun was catholic. He also claimed that the Da Vinci code "portrays Jesus marrying Mary Magdalene and fathering a child". No it doesn't, it portrays some academics who put forward the theory that Christ may have married Mary Magdelane. Click.

I'm actually quite looking forward to seeing this film. I though the book was so bad that the film can't possibly be a dissapointment. I still say Brown should have been imprisoned for that bloody awful ending.

Anyway, it's bed time. More tomorrow.

BMW!?

Amnesty International; I don't know a lot about the organisation, but I think I'm with Abby on this one. The sentiment is great, but there is no room for political correctness in a human rights organisation. You have to be, by definition, pretty libertarian, to truly campaign for human rights. You can't stand up more for those rights that have been traditionally trampled over, or ignore those that would rock the political boat too much.

For myself, I'd have to say that everyone entering Britain claiming asylum should get a fair hearing. But perple with terrorist pasts, people that would be in prison in Britain if they had committed those crimes on British soil, should be refused asylum. If there is doubt as to whether they will receive a fair trial for their crimes if they return from whence they came, then a fair trial should be organised elsewhere. Letting known terroists gather and form organisations in London throughout the 80s and 90s was a huge error.

I've just read that BMW Z4 drivers are considered the third sexist drivers on earth. First place went to Aston Martin (British, naturally), second place went to Ferrari. But BMW? Wht are they thinking? It's a hairdressers' car! Honestly, a less imaginative choice of sexy automobile I cannot believe exists. There's not even any comedy value. Click.

The British government is under pressure to make A levels more difficult as the pass rate is expected to reach around 97% this year. That's right ladies and gentlemen, 97% of students who take A levels get a pass. And in 1982, the year I went to college, that figure was 68%. Currently nearly 1 in 4 A level passes is a top grade. A spokesman for the department of eduction said that the figures show that, "standards are being maintained". So there you have it. Students today are 30% smarter than 23 years ago.

It strikes me that simply making the A levels more difficult is not going to solve this problem. That will just mean that the kids that were lucky enough to make the cut the year before the changes have a huge advantage, I say we have to rebadge the whole system, or at least make it progressively more difficult over 10 years or something. Of course, the government doesn't want to make any changes because kids getting lower marks looks bad. That's why this has happened. What really needs to happen is to take away control of the exams from the government and place it in the hands of a body that cannot benefit from any particular trend. Click.

I just want to make a quick mention about the Daily Confession website. I like this site and I read it most days. I occasionally play devil's advocate when I see a confession so stupid that the confessor needs a slap. Recently I saw someone basically confessing infidelity and blaming it upon "sex addition". The confessor was clearly looking for sympathy. I have no time for these people and I commented that Sex Addiction was a peculiarly American condition and that Anericans amuse me when they put so much time and effort into inventing conditions to excuse their behaviour. I wasn't surprised when many people, including the webmaster, jumped on me for the comment and pointed out that Sex Addicts Anonymous is represented all over the world as can be confirmed from their website.

Well I can't very well defend myself on the Daily Confession website, so I'll do it here. I had a look at the SAA website and the webmaster is quite right, they are represented in about 10 countries other than the US. That's hardly world-wide coverage, but I concede, my remark was not quite accurate. It's worth noting however that while there are I think 6 SAA meetings listed in England, there appear to be about 10 listed for each state in the US and I think I'm right in saying there are more SAA meetings listed in California than the entire non American world. I stand by the original sentiment of my remark. It's an American thing. It's not a medical condition, you're just not willing to take responsibility for your actions. This isn't an anti American message, it's an anti "people who won't take responsibility" message. Just in case you were wondering.

More about terrorists

I cannot believe the fuss that is being made about deporting known terorists from the UK. For those who don't know, 10 people have been detained pending deportation from around the UK. These ten people are all radical muslim clerics that have been endorsing terrorist activity. One of those arrested is Abu Qatada, who has known links to bin Laden. It's not known who the others are. In addition to the ten arrested, Abu Hamza is currently on trial for terrorist activity and fighting extradition to US where he is wanted. Omar Bakri Mohammed fled the coutry earlier this week to Beiruit where he was almost immediately arrested, but would no-doubt have been among the ten arrested in London had he remained.

These 12 people are known terrorists, Qatada, Bakri Mohammed, and Hamza were all granted asylum despite being wanted for terrorist activity in various countries. Qatada arrived in Britain on a forged passport and has since been sentenced to life imprisonment in Jordan for terrorist activity. Bakri Mohammed and Qatada each receive unemployment benefit. All are linked in some way to 9-11 though they all deny it. Bakri Mohammed this week claimed that he would not inform the authorities of future terrorism in London if he knew of it and is famed for praising the 9-11 bombers, caling them "the magnificent 19". Qatada

I'm not saying these people don't deserve a fair trial, of course they do. I'm not saying they don't have a right to their views, I often preach here the virtues of a society which encourages free speech. However, there is little doubt that these people are murdering bastards and I cannot understand why people like Amnesty are complaining about freedom. These people are in Britain as guests and they have abused British hospitality. If after a fair trial it is confirmed that they have been involved in terrorism they deserve everything they get and I don't much care what happens to them.

Arguments for not deporting these people get more ridiulous as each day goes by. I read this morning that they cannot be guaranteed humane treatment if deported. Well I think the humane treatment of people living in London is more important frankly. I've heard that they have a right to free speech and should not be deported for a view that does not correspond to the traditional British view. If it was just speech I think I'd be happy for them to stay, but blowing people apart on trains is hardly exercising free speech is it? I've heard that deporting these people only moves the problem. No it doesn't, it aslo sends a clear message to other would be terrorists that London is not a safe haven for them. It will also divide these people up which can be no bad thing.

I have also heard that they were granted asylum in UK on the understanding that they didn't practice terrorist activities there and so that MI5 could keep an eye on them. Well that worked out well didn't it!

Apparently it could take weeks to deport these people and even then they can appeal.

I've just heard that Bakri Mohammed has been excluded from the UK and his benefits are to be stopped. His family may remain here and contnue to claim their benefits. Qatada is to be deported next week back to Jordan where he will presumably have to begin his sentence. I do hope so.

It's fun to stay at the...

YMCA

I was listening to YMCA on my MP3 player as I came to work. I don't remember putting it on there, but it is, and I was listening to it. And it made me think, there was a construction worker, a leather clad biker, a native American, and ...that was all I could remember. I had to Google the answer when I got to work. What a sad life I lead. Think about it, who were the others? Answers at the bottom.

A new bikini alarm has been developed to stop people from falling asleep and burning themselves in the sun. That's a bit sexist isn't it. What if I fall asleep in my Speedos? Apparently the new alarm sounds every 15 minutes to make sure you're awake. The device will be modeled for the first time today on Brighton beach. Two things strike me here, first I'm not sure Brighton is ever sunny enough to get burnt, and second, isn't it a nudist beach? Click.

According to a new study as many as 1 in 25 fathers are not really the father at all. It's not really clear from the report however whther this just means British Fathers or Fathers generally. It also seems that the conclusion has been reached after examining research over a 50 year period. I can't help thinking that they are talking about paternity tests which would normally only be taken if there was some doubt about parentage to begin with. Sounds like a huge percentage anyway. I'm expecting my child to be mixed race, if it isn't then there will be some questions to answer. Click.

Which brings me to another point. The Dragon has recently suggested that hospitals in Taiwan are very good at mixing up children at birth and, if we are still in Taiwan when it happens, we should be very careful. I remarked that it would likely be he only mixed race child in the whole building, but that didn't seem to make any difference. I will be charged with making sure that no baby shuffling occurs.

OK, theVillage Peopel thing. If you go to the Village People website, you will find that in addition to the construction worker, leather clad biker, and native American, there was also a motorbike cop, a cowboy, and a soldier. The line-up appears to have changed however.

Goblin's Blog

British politicians are still bleating about treason. One of the mad muslin clerics from Britain has already left the country in fear. Actually, the cleric in question, Omar Bakri Mohammed, claims it's merely a holiday and he will be back. It stikes me as odd that he can leave for Beruit for a holiday so easily since he is actually claiming political asylum in Britain. He did add that he wouldn't be back if the British government claimed he was not welcome.

Omar Bakri Mohammed is in fact not British, he was born in Syria and therefore can't possibly be charged under treason law, despite what Labour MP Andrew Dismore says. Why are they so obsessed with treason charges? Reading up on the guy, he does appear to be a most unpleasant character. He gained permananet residence in Britain in 1996 after essentially being thrown out of Syria for an involvenment in a political coup. He then went to Saudi Arabia where he was also forced to leave for other political reasons.

In London he lives on state benefit, paid for with my taxes, and claims to be the spokesman for bin Laden's International Front for Jihad against Jews and Crusaders. He had links to some of the 9-11 bombers, and to bin Laden himself. He's been investigated by MI5 as far back as 1991. The question is, why is he still a free man? And come to think of it, why did we grant asylum to a man who had been deported twice for violence and acts of religious extremism?

And that's all there is time for today.

Why do we do it?

I came to work on the subway as usual yesterday and it was crowded. It is always crowded at that time of the day. Especially the blue line. I was waiting at on the paltform at Taipei Main Station. When the train arrived everyone tried to jam themselves into the carriages but about half the people waiting simply couldn't fit and were left on the platform. The train was completely full. People were standing right against the doors. And then some guy came up and started forcing himself into the carriage. He braced himself against the door frame and just pushed all the people really hard to make a space for himself. I thought he was a subway employee at first, trying to move people out of the way of the sliding doors, but then I realised he was actually just another passenger that couldn't wait three minutes for the next train.

I hate being pushed. I'm not above turning round and shouting at people who try and push me onto the trains in whatever language that comes to hand, usually English since my Chinese is appalling. This happens fairly often though thankfully the white man seems to be treated with rather more caution than the locals. Perhaps we all react badly to being pushed.

To get back to the thug on the train, I'd have punched him if he'd pushed me, really I would. It makes me think, why do we do this? Why do we cram ourselves into trains against people we don't know, to go and sit at a desk and do a job we don't like every day? What is the human obsession with organising ourselves like this? The best answer I can supply is simply that no-one can think of anything better.

There seems to big a huge row going on at the moment about whether we should invoke treason legislation to bring those responsible for terrorist in London activity to justice. I can't see what all the fuss is about. There are already laws in place to deal with murder, terrorism, incitement to murder, why do we need to start trying to make treason legislation fit? I also have to say, I don't give a toss what these bastards are charged with as long as they receive the appropriate sentence. No-one has been charge with treason since Lord Haw Haw just after the last war apparently. He was the guy that used to come on the radio and spout German propaganda, presumably in an attempt to dampen British spirit.

Work has started on a new building Dubai that will become the tallest in the world. The actual height of the building is being kept a secret, but it's going to be substantially more than 600m. That's more than 90m taller than the current record holder right here in Taipei. It's also 50m taller than the CN Tower, not generally considered a building, in Toronto. Are they just going to keep building taller and taller structures until one of them falls down? Click.

There was a cockroach incident in the bathroom last night at 4 am. After disposing of the body I was too awake to sleep again. Now I'm too asleep to work.

Dropped the ball

I've been thinking about the entertainment industry this weekend, and I've come to the conclusion that the industry in general has so completely lost sight of it customer base, that it has nowhere to go but down.

Those of us that were 80s children can remember when walkmans first appeared. Pioneered by Sony, they changed the way people listend to music and caught the imagination of an entire generation. Sony had its finger on the customer pulse and acted accordingly. Sony became the industry standard almost overnight and they cleaned up. So what happened? Sony doesn't really feature in that market anymore. They gave it to Apple, BENQ, iRiver. Were they asleep? Are they still asleep?

Interesting fact I read today; even in Japan, the design Mecca of consumer electronics, Apple iPods account for more than 1 in 3 MP3 players sold.

In the mid 80s tapes and vinyl made way for CD's. This was another revolution. We all sarted buying CDs because the quality was better and they were more durable. We did bitch a bit about the price being higher than vinyl records, but we accepted it because the quality was better. The industry realised that the customer wanted CDs so they agreed a standard and they gave them to us. So why didn't they realise that customers wanted downloadable files? Were they really surprised when the customers found their own means of creating downloadable music?

In the 80s and even earlier, the entertainment industry controlled the retail outlets completely. The most convenient way to shop for music at that time was to visit the store, pick something off the shelf, and pay for it. But that's not the most convenient way now. Apple realised there was a hole in the market and they're making a mint out of iTunes. Why isn't the entertainment industry jumping on board?

It seems to me that, in just twenty years, the entertainment industry has thrown away dominance of the hardware market, control of music formats, and half the retail element of their operation. They still control upcoming new talent because they are the only people that can offer recording contracts. But think about it, 12 months ago the only way for unknown talent to get exposure was to go to the entertainment industry with a demo tape and beg. That doesn't need to happen any more. You can just podcast your work to the entire world free of charge. You can even get yourself listed on iTunes. How long do you think it will be before Apple starts offering recording contracts?

In other news; we went to see Charlie and the chocolate Factory yesterday. I thought it was pretty good. They did take a few liberties with the story, but they added rather than took things away. I don't think they actually changed anything. They missed out the part where Charlie and Grandpa Joe steal lemonade that makes them float. I think it was silly to miss that out. It was an important part of the plot.

I know that Johnny Depp is on record as saying that he had not based the character on Michael Jackson, but he's lying. It goes far deeper than the weird hair and voice. The whole thing about missing his childhood is brought in. It's quite uncomfortable here and there. Christopher Lee gets a cameo which I didn't know about. The dragon liked it and, having grown up in Taiwan, didn't know the story at all. I give it 8 out of 10 I think. It's not fantastic, but I liked it. It's one to take kids too.

I have a new noter on the DongXi version of this dairy. Welcome "Dave" whoever you are. I think your perception of podcasting is flawed however. I agree, and have mentioned before, that there is much garbage out there in blog land, there are also some little gems. I recommend a visit to skepticality to download their cast. Made deep within the den of truth, somewhere in Batpig studios.

No work for me!

It's typhooning and we get the day off work today - woot! Actually I have to confess, I am bored. It's not a great idea to leave the safety of one's dwelling with 140 kmh winds and horizontal rain outside. I did just venture up to the roof of our building to see if I could take any pictures, but it just wasn't happening. I returned wet and demoralised. So here we are, playing games and watching DVDs. I feel 18 again.

We were thinking we might go and see Charlie and hte Chocolate Factory but the subway is running a very reduced service and actually getting to the station might be an event in itself. Never mind, we have the weekend to play.

Al Qaeda has released a new video. Ayman al-Zawahri appears to be taking full advantage of the current political climate and is promising more terrorism in London. Where is bin-Laden? Despite the constant bleating from Bush and his boyfriends I'm quite convinced the guy is dead.

And here's something interesting; Blair is on record as denying that his policies had any influence on the terrorisnm in London last month. Al-Zawhri, spokesman for the oragnisation behnd those attacks claims publicly and unambiguously that the terrorism was a direct result of Blair's foreign policy. Bush's response to the new video was embarrassing and said almost nothing. Click.

I'll actually write a proper entry next week.

11 holes in one

I think I mentioned once before here about the Post Secret website. It's really worth a look if you have a spare 15 minutes and I noticed today that they've posted a video. It's 24MB but I think it's worth the wait. If you like the postcards, you may not like the video so much, though I did. This my firends is what art should be like; personal and imaginative.

The UK government has suddenly started back-peddling furiously over id cards. This rather surprised me. After their original hard-sell, they are now admitting that id cards will be no use for tackling fraud, illegal immigration, or terrorism. They are now pushing id cards as a means of identification. They do claim to be 100% in favour of id cards still, and they are persisting with all aspects including biometric data.

I have to ask the question, why is biometric data necessary when I can identify myself quite adequately and far more cheaply with a photo? I would also like to see how they are going to justify the cost of the most expensive library card the world has ever seen. The Home Office has said that it is going to announce a ceiling on the cost of the cards. That's interesting isn't it. Is that an admission that theie figure is likely to change? What happens if the ceiling is reached before the project is complete? I wonder what figure they will put on it. We will know in October it seems. Click.

Apparently the shuttle has been repaired but thet have found some other problems now. I just watched the video of one of the astronauts removing the "gap filler" protruding from between heat shield tiles. Is it just me or is anyone else concerned that there is now a gap there?

I keep seeing a headline about 11 holes-in-one in a single round. I've been avoiding actually reading the story because I just knew it was going to be rubbish. But I finally gave in today and read it. It seems that North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il claims to have shot 11 holes-in-one in a single round of golf. Not only that, it seems it was the first time he played. So Iwas right, the story was garbage, and Kim is a lying tosser. The question is, why did he make the ridiculous claim? Will his opressed citizens love him for it? Will they even believe it? Does he care? Apparently the opressed citizen are banned from saying anything nasty anyway. I am not bound by such laws however. Kim, if you read this, I challenge you to a round of golf. If I win, I'll take over North Korea, deal? Click.

Techno Hassle

I'm having intense techno hassle today. This first manifested itself at the subway station when I attempted to add some money to my "Easy Card" (travel pass). It's normally a good system. One simply stuffs one's Easy Card in one slot, and bank card in another. One then tels the machine how much money to transfer from bank to Easy Card and it does it. Today however, as I went through this familar routine, I experienced one of those agonising delays that signals a problem. I hate that, late for work and at the mercy of a machine that may have digested either my Easy Card or my bank card. A friendly message popped up on the screen telling me to inform my bank if my card wasn't returned in two minutes. This worried me because it made me think that the machine had become sentient and not in fact made it's mind up whether or not to return my card. As luck would have it, I did get both cards back and it did appear to have completed the transaction as expected. But I don't need this kind of stress, I'm an expectant father for God's sake.

Then, upon arriving at work I discovered that a document I know I updated yesterday had reverted mysteriously back to a previous state. I'm trying to recreate the problem now, but as I type this, I am waiting for Visual Source Safe to check files in. It appears to have hung. This does not bode well for the rest of the day.

Why is it that technology programs on TV and radio are so crap? I was listening to "Go Digital" from BBC Radio 4 today and it suddenly occured to me that the presenters were clowns with absolutely no feel for the subject of technology at all. They're just advanced users who liek to play. They throw around buzzwords like "digital" and "bandwidth" with no real understanding of what they mean. Why can't real engineers present these programs? Pick up a copy of New Scientist and you'll find intelligent, witty articles written by people who really know wha they're talking about. And it's entertaining and accessible. It's begining to piss me off to tel you the truth. Bill Thompson at the BBC is a prime example of a technology "analyst" with no real feel for the subject. It tok me a while to work out why I don't like him, but it's just because he's a geeky journalist pretending to be an engineer.

I just read that someone in Britain is studying for a PhD in "Air Guitar". How the hell will she actually write an entire paper on something so shallow? I think I am going to see if I can do a PhD in sleeping, or going to the pub every once in a while. Maybe I could do a PhD in watching films, or surfing porn sites on the internet. What's the point of giving out qualifications like this? If it's that easy, what's the point in working for a worthwhile qualification? Click.

Dead fish

Well they're going to have a walk round the shuttle and mend the heat shield stuff sticking out. It seems that they are going to simply cut off the material that has come adrift from between the tiles. That would seem to me to expose the craft to more risk than just leaving it. Glad I'm not up there on it.

Apparently a new planet has been discovered. I say planet, in fact I think they're still trying to decide whether it is in fact a planet or not. It looks to be bigger than Pluto but much further away. I think that's a planet. I heard that they want to call it Xena, after the warrior princess on TV. I imagine that the discovery of this new planet will improve horoscope forecasts. I thought all the astrologers were scam artists and dough heads, but maybe they just need the extra planet to make predictions that actually come true. That was sarcasm in case you were wondering. Funny how astrology couldn't predict that the planet was already there come to think of it.

Two fish died last night and we found them floating on top of the tank. More mysterious is the fact that the smalest fish has gone missing. I can only assume he was eaten. This can't be a good sign.

There really is nothing else of any interest to talk about today, so I'll wind it up here.

And so begins August

I tried to write an entry on Friday but failed because we went out at lunctime to celebrate Don's final day, and then broke the news to the in-laws that they were going to be grandparents in the evening. I managed to capure that moment on camera.



I tried all weekend to complete the entry that never even got started on Friday, but failed miserably. On Saturdy morning the Dragon was tutoring one of her students at home and I had no access to the internet. Saturday afternoon we were going to travel to Elan and visit a tea farm. But rain stopped play and we ended up completely wasting the afternoon in a tea shop after abandoning the attempt half way.

Sunday looked more hopeful as a day to get things done, but although I woke early with the idea that I could get some computer time before the Dragon surfaced, a noisy and still unexplained exchange occured in the living room of our apartment which woke the sleeping Dragon. We did go out and do some shopping. We even made it to the Page One Bookstore in Taipei 101 and picked up about 200 books on parenthood.

Sunday evening turned out quite well. We went to a reunion of the Dragon's Junior High School class. It was odd, as an outsider, to see everyone meet after about 15 years and not really recognise each other, but they all worked things out very quickly and it turned into a fun evening. I even understood a joke in Chinese about a Bhudist God which, come to think ot it, must have been in very poor taste.

In the news...

I think it's time the space shuttle was mothballed. I read an article somewhere this weekend, and it suggeted that the shuttle is now actually holding things up. It was designed to be a cheap way to put things into orbit, but it was certainly never cheap, and now it's not even putting things into orbit, it's just a hyper expensive way of restocking the space station. I see in today's news that there is some concern over whether the shuttle suffered damage to heat tiles as it launched. There are muliple opinions as to how to handle the situation.

I've never really liked Terry Pratchett very much. I always thought his stupid floppy hat was a rather unimaginative "look at me" tactic, and I would expect better from someone who writes books that are supposed to be, by definition, imaginative. I did start to read a Discworld book once, but I never finished it and the little I did read left me rather deflated. That said, at one time about 20% (that figure is from memory, but I think it's right) of all non-fiction books sold in W H Smith in UK were by Pratchett, and you can't knock that kind of popularity.

This week I am reading that Pratchett has been mouthing off about J K Rowling. He has attacked the media over their coverage of her work and taken a very cheap swipe at Rowling herself because he claims she didn't realise that she was writing fantasy until it was published. This all appears to be in response to an interview Rowling gave Time magazine in which she claimed that she wasn't a huge fan of fantasy and that she was attempting to subvert the genre.

I think I want to deal with this one point at a time. First, the problem of the media coverage of Harry Potter. Given the enormous popularity of Harry Potter, I think the media had a duty to cover it in a broadly favourable light. I know some people aren't fans, but I haven't seen any reviews that I consider to be really awful. I've seen some mediocre reviews as well as good ones. I would suggest that the media circus is probably half driven by popularity and half driven by Rowling who is an excellent self publicist. It seems a strange thing to say given the favourable media coverage Pratchett himself enjoyed when at the height of his popularity in the 80s.

And what about this issue of not realising she was writing fantasy until it was published? What a strange thing to say. I think it's fair to say that Rowling's work steps back a little from what has become the traditional fantasy setting that we all envision when we think of Tolkein, and that's maybe why she didn't consider it traditional "fantasy", but that's a good thing isn't it. It's stretching and exercising a genre that has, in my view anyway, become very stale. And come to think of it, what exactly is the problem with not realising into which pigeon hole your work fits until it's finished anyway?

It seems to me that Pratchett is suffering from a huge case of envy. He has apparently sold 40 million books worldwide over 34 years, which I would suggest is something to be pleased about. Rowling on the other hand sold 9 million copies of her last book in the first 24 hours in UK alone. He's not doing himself any favours with clumsy insults which appear essentially baseless. And surely he must realise that he's just taken on a fan base bigger than anything in living memory. I'd say it wasn't a wise move.