Easter soon...
Yes its that time of year and I've compiled some media items I've found interesting from the past few weeks.
There was an interesting program on David Cameron on channel four called "Dispatches: Toff at the top". The basic argument was that contrary to Cameron's public image, he is in fact a Conservative and that he only changed once he became leader. However the term "Conservative" is wide open to different interpretations because whilst Conservatives are often perceived as resistant to change they traditionally reform themselves enough to be re-elected. This therefore suggests that David Cameron is ahead of the party. However there is a problem. If the party is not in tune with the leader at this stage, then will we be able to trust the Conservative manifesto? Is Cameron going to win an election based on liberal ideals and then return to traditional Conservatism?
Either way until Cameron British political parties were consistently moving right. He has shifted the debate back towards the centre ground, something the Labour party should respond to quickly if they want a hope of winning.
In regard to the budget it seemed to me to be fairly standard (taxing individuals more and forcing increased dependence on the welfare state for the poor) although it received lots media attention in the hope that analysts could make a further inference about Gordon Brown.
Iran is starting to try and display its might by capturing the British sailors, but I think it is going to be challenged for the spotlight as Russia, China, India, North Korea and several other emerging nations are also trying to be taken seriously by the west as potential allies or enemies.
Google got support for announcing it will delete elements of its log files after two years. Perhaps someone at Google read my previous post "
The search engine I've switched to"? It is certainly a very positive step forwards.
About now the UK Passport and
Identity Service is commencing its interviewing of all first time adult passport applicants. That is as long as they aren't
on strike. While we are on the subject of Big Brother, the Labour party is now trying to
identify and remove any civil servants who disagree with its policies. Another example of the Labour party tyranny of the majority or perhaps this is the tyranny of the minority?
To close a Norwegian has become famous on the internet for
skiing down Europe's longest escalator.
Labels: Politics
2007 Predictions review 1
Back in December last year I made some
predictions about 2007.
I thought it would be interesting to see how many have come true thus far:
In technology:
1) Several bugs and vulnerabilities will emerge in Windows Vista - Yes - take a look at this article
Windows Vista Activation System Cracked Open, however Microsoft's decision to release several beta versions definitely helped keep the system safe.
2) Firefox and Linux market share will still rise, but by far less this year - Yes - take a look at these articles. The first talks about the
browser market share and the second talks about how Dell is considering to
offer systems preloaded with linux.
3) Apple will release yet another Ipod variant - Sort of -
Iphone 4) There will be new "unexpected" problems with the Identity Card scheme/database - not yet - although its been revealed
you won't be allowed to travel without oneIn business:
5) Oil prices will rise - unclear at the moment
6) The house market bubble will continue to grow - yes -
article7) More businesses will declare themselves eco-friendly and ethical in 2007 - yes
articleIn politics:
8) The Olympics will run over budget - yes -
article9) "Global warming" will get worse - Yes (of course), but the media view is changing:
article. Good thing I put Global Warming in speech marks ;)
10) The Labour party will learn a valuable lesson about integrity - Not yet...but there's still plenty of time...
So in summary five of my predictions have come true outright and the other five are moving in the right direction. I imagine if all the predictions were to come true that would make me some kind of divine figure? hmmm?
Labels: My philosophy
The BBC on You Tube.
The BBC's recent announcement that they are going to have some videos on
You Tube sounds to me a rather poor idea. Firstly the videos on You Tube are capped at 10 minutes so it will never be more than short clips which could just as easily be watched/hosted on the BBC website. Secondly You Tube is funded by advertising and controlled by Google when the British public pay for the BBC which makes it accountable to us. Third what happened to their plans to use a file-sharing style program to enable the British public to download and watch entire shows. That surely would be far more useful?
However I'm not going to be too critical because the BBC is a great innovative force on the internet and the world overall. Its yet another way the BBC is trying to make itself accessible to more people.
Labels: Miscellaneous
