Just a quick post to note that I won’t be able to blog over the next few weeks. I’m just back from a business trip to Weybridge, then I’m off to Kiev on business all next week, then a week in Mallorca for my first proper holiday of year, then a few days in Ibiza [...]

While I stand by yesterday’s post that initial media reporting on the Russia/Georgia fighting was rather one-sided, it seems that Russia has now gone beyond simply “protecting the South Ossetians”. As BBC News reports, Western leaders are increasingly worried that Russia is now outright invading Georgia - and it seems they aren’t quite sure what [...]

Reuters reports that Russia is complaining of Western media bias in reports on the South Ossetian conflict. While I’d normally greet complaints of bias from the Kremlin with a hearty laugh and a cry of “hypocrites”, in this case they may actually have a point. All coverage of the violence seems to be centring on [...]

Jude Umeh outlines an interesting idea on his BCS blog on DRM. He notes the recent Memorandum of Understanding between the UK recording industry and six major ISPs, which essentially means that ISPs will monitor their networks for illegal filesharing in return for the music industry relaxing its previously zero-tolerance, anti-consumer position. Umeh notes that, [...]

From the excellent xkcd

In a recent article on the BBC website, Bill Thompson rails against Apple’s closed approach to security. He notes, quite rightly, that Microsoft has in recent years made great strides in their approach to security, including open discussion about the purpose of updates and fixes, allowing administrators to choose what to install. Apple, on the [...]

Laura Barton takes an in-depth look at the importance of understanding the lyrics to songs. Bemoaning the decline of printed lyric booklets in CD cases and the rise of standalone MP3 downloads, she argues that whether or not we get the words wrong, and whether or not we like the music, the intended meaning behind [...]

“Krause postulates that the animal kingdom divides the acoustic spectrum so it’s inhabitants do not interfere with each other. However, human-made noise is increasingly disrupting this harmony and intrudes on a piece of the spectrum already in use - drowning out natures voice … Something similar is happening with the explosive adoption of social media [...]

Don Reisinger quite rightly asks why Apple is allowing developers to sell useless iPhone applications on the App Store for ridiculous prices, citing one priced at almost $1000. As he says, allowing developers the independence to set prices without interference is, in general, a very good thing. However, when it stops being simple commercial ambition [...]

While I’m not at all a fan of the article’s tone or his sweeping and unfair generalisations, Mark Valladares makes a good point in his recent post about a Guardian article. In it, the newspaper claimed that one in five paternity claims made to the Child Support Agency were incorrect. However, this is a gross [...]

“As I’ve argued in the past, Yahoo needs to out-open Google if it is going to have any chance at competing in search. Even if it’s too late to catch up to Google in core search, an open approach could help Yahoo differentiate its product, win over developers, and open up new avenues of search [...]

Reproduced by kind permission of Mark of Rubenstein Photography.

The idea of using a combination of P2P technology and idle processing power is nothing new when it comes to networks of PCs. However, European and Australian researchers have come up with the innovative idea of using television set-top boxes as nodes instead. More numerous in many homes than computers and always-on, the concept which [...]

“There is a terrible irony unfolding in Bosnia. Radovan Karadzic is at last on his way to the Hague. But the division of Bosnia that was his dream is now more likely than at any time since he became a fugitive … But now this is happening not because of aggression from outside, but because [...]

“Israel’s secret police are pressuring Palestinians in Gaza to spy on their community in exchange for urgent medical treatment, according to a report released today by an Israeli human rights organisation … International law forbids the use of civilians in conflict to damage an enemy state and collaboration in the Palestinian community is a crime [...]

“On 24 December 1968, the crew of the Apollo 8 mission took a photo now known as Earthrise. To many, this beautiful blue sphere viewed from the moon’s orbit is a perfect visual summary of why it is right to strive to go into space … Not to everybody though. There are people who say [...]

The Washington Post recently reported on the shocking prevalence of HIV amongst black people in the US, with two percent of African-Americans infected. This percentage, worse than many developing nations, yet again demonstrates the terrible divide between different racial and socioeconomic groups in the US. Even worse is that this study came out a couple [...]

LOL! Not that I have experience but this is class. From xkcd, here.

The BBC reports on the Environmental Audit Committee’s scepticism over plans to increase road tax for more polluting vehicles bought since 2001. However, the government report doesn’t go far enough in condemning the plan. Despite their conclusions, it’s a retrospective tax which penalises drivers who have previously bought more polluting cars, rather than aiming to [...]

“Microsoft researchers studied the addresses of 30bn instant messages sent during a single month in 2006 … Examining the minimum chain lengths it would take to connect all the users in the database, they found the average length was 6.6 steps and that 78% of the pairs could be connected in seven links or fewer.”
The [...]