Been busy. Decorating. Setting up the BigPC in the spare room (or office, as it pretty much is). Had to re-route an ethernet cable from the router to the XBOX downstairs (via exterior of house). Can someone tell me why the XBOX doesn’t have built-in Wi-Fi? FFS it’s £70 for the Wi-Fi adapter. Rip-off bastards. Teach me to buy anything Microsoft, eh?
Sphere: Related ContentGeeks everywhere rejoice. The genius that is Jonathan Coulton.
Sphere: Related ContentCatch my daily web review at Liberal Conspiracy.
If you’re waiting for my first foray into Podcasting, well that’s still a work in progress. This week has been chaotic as we have visitors arriving from Estonia tomorrow, so Mrs. tyger has been busy preparing and I’ve been looking after the kids. It’s a piss-week excuse I know, but none of the recordings I have done have been good enough. This has of course meant much teasing from a certain net-based cretin (he knows who he is), but I will get it finished - hopefully before the end of the week.
Oh, and yes, we felt the “earthquake” this morning. We live on the Notts/Lincs border, so the house shook etc. Mrs. tyger is listening to Jeremy Vine on BBC Radio 2, cue the usual hysterical nonsense from people who should really get a life. When earthquakes happen in the rest of the world, cities are toppled and thousands die. We get a quake in Blighty, a few windows rattle and some kid breaks his hip.
Seriously, get some perspective.
Sphere: Related ContentPolitalks
The latest video (NSFW) from Lee Griffin and Gavin Whenman: -
Script here.
Redemption Blues has the latest Britblog review.
Sphere: Related ContentBTW. the movie is Alexander Payne’s brilliant Election. Definitely worth picking up (along with Payne’s other greats: Sideways and About Schmidt).
Sphere: Related ContentThe Guardian - Filesharing law ‘unworkable’: -
The industry’s trade body, the ISPA, has spent months in discussions with music and movie companies about ways of preventing illegal filesharing, but buoyed by recent success in France, the major record labels and Hollywood studios have lobbied the government hard for faster action.
One senior internet industry executive, who did not wish to be named, said this intensive political lobbying has “given the government a completely false idea of what is possible with current technology”.
Legal experts, meanwhile, pointed out that if the government does opt for new legislation it will need not only to rip up parts of the current legislation and amend data protection laws, but its plans could fall foul of wider human rights laws that entitle people to a degree of privacy in their communications.
[...]
“Technically speaking, it’s near impossible to do. The sheer volume of traffic means it just cannot be done fast enough. And this is a technical problem, not a legal problem. What is going to stop people stealing content is not the law — these people already know it is illegal; what will stop people is a technical solution that adequately protects both people’s rights and copyrighted material. But we do not have one.” [cut]
The fact that something will probably not work, is hardly likely to prevent this government from pursuing it. Labour is dazzled and easily seduced by technology, despite knowing nothing about it.
Sphere: Related ContentUnity, over at LC has kicked over a hornet’s nest with a piece - inspired by a Donal Blarney (hiss, spit) post, addressing intolerance towards the BBC’s various ethnic-targeted content.
Google Alerts must have gone crazy, as by 6am the usual trolls had surfaced.
Now, as long-time readers will be aware, I curry no favour for “political multiculturalism” - it’s a busted flush, as I have outlined in some depth. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t think a multi-ethnic/cultural society can’t work.
Also, I get very annoyed when whites claim that they’re being victimised and prejudiced against when an organisation seeks to redress its own bias towards the dominant ethnic populous. The argument against multiculturalism is not helped by such precious insecurities.
My response to two early comments is below: -
You will not get “White News†- content doesn’t need a silly prefix to be overwhelmingly white and usually male. A vast majority of content appeals to the majority population: who are white. Radio Two/Three/Four and a majority of the output on the BBC television service appeals to a White audience - otherwise they wouldn’t watch!
The BBC also appeals directly to local communities through local television, radio, and internet coverage. This again, is colour blind - yet the audience profile is, again, overwhelmingly white and the presenters/content reflect this.
And so, to involve a community with its own unique music and culture - who let’s not forget pay taxes, the BBC has some Asian and Black output, which seeks to address the institutionalised bias that leans - somewhat naturally - towards the native creed.
Now, I don’t actually agree with content aimed at a specific ethnic community. I think the BBC is already far too big, and much of its content would be happily produced by private enterprises - there is no shortage of entrepreneurial spirit in the Asian community!
I don’t see a role for the government (and by extension the BBC) in seeking to address a perceived/real bias. I don’t think *political* multiculturalism works - although I see no-reason why a multi-cultural society can’t work.
Back to the comments above. They convey the usual precious sensibilities. Let’s get one-thing straight, the dominant white population are not under siege. They’re dominant. There doesn’t need to be a “white†TV channel. White culture is already massively over-represented.
And by the way, there is no ethnic test before you can tune into Asian networks, so Lee’s membership-based point is redundant.
Christian conservatives. Gotta love’em.
(p.s. this video accompanies my *first* podcast… to go live sometime over the weekend, once I get everything sorted. Worked very hard today getting the first one ready. Am good. Deserve a present. 
)
UPDATE: Actually it may be Monday before the podcast goes live. It’s my first attempt and I’m not quite sure how it’ll all come together. I have recorded the first “draft”, but I want to do a few and get comfortable. Thanks.
Sphere: Related ContentStarting a Podcast.
I have been mulling over the idea of producing a podcast for a while. I’m a huge fan of the format, but I’m also aware of the demands such a project would make - especially if I do it daily/weekly.
I certainly don’t want to do it half-arsed.
I am also unsure as to how to approach the content. Should I go with politics, tech, or whatever? I like the idea of general rants, talking directly to the readership. And I think I’d also like to do it daily - maybe 25mins or so. Maybe 3xweek. It’s all up in the air at the moment. However initial technical tests have been fine. The internal mic on my Mac is crystal clear, even if I’d need a pro mic pretty quick if I get serious (and a mixer).
I have sorted the MP3 encoding for Audacity - using the LAME Library (I’d like to keep the whole project OpenSource, but you just need MP3 for cross-platform compatibility). So everything is cool. I suppose I should remember the mantra that content is king. Oh, and that just because you can do something, doesn’t mean that you should…
Nothing concrete yet.
Sphere: Related ContentTaken with the sexy new Nikon D3.
Eat that Canon.
Sphere: Related Contentvia. Guido
Sphere: Related ContentCastro, 81, said in a statement to the country that he would not seek a new presidential term when the National Assembly meets on Feb. 24.
“To my dear compatriots, who gave me the immense honor in recent days of electing me a member of parliament … I communicate to you that I will not aspire to or accept — I repeat not aspire to or accept — the positions of President of Council of State and Commander in Chief,” Castro said in the statement published on the Web site of the Communist Party’s Granma newspaper.
Will he get a retirement clock?
And will there be redundancies at Langley?
Sphere: Related ContentAs HD-DVD kicks the bucket, rumours are aplenty that Microsoft are planning a Blu-Ray add-on drive. On RatGeek I explain why this is pointless.
Sphere: Related ContentSo the Lib Dem recommendation - once mocked by the government - is now going to be policy. Northern Rock is to be “nationalised”.
This sets a pretty shitty precedent, but if you understand the financial world - and the interconnected mesh of daily borrowings that underpins our system - you’d realise why the government had little choice but to step in and secure NR. Once one of the banks defaults, it all gets a bit screwy and the banking system goes into flux, and with the economy the way it is…
I’m just glad none of the piss-taking offers were accepted.
Anyhoo, like I said, what if more of the smaller banks get into trouble? Will the public purse become the safety net? I certainly hope not, and I certainly hope that shareholders are not rewarded for the company’s collapse (it doesn’t look like they will be). Buying shares is a risk, and shareholders know this. I don’t want my taxes used to mitigate someone else’s bad risk.
*I resisted half-a-dozen rock-based clichés and chose that
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Related bloggage: Freud, Modernity, and the Fight Club
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