me meta NaBloPoMo shakespeare · 1,100 words
This is a very hard post for me to write. I've recently finished reading two autobiographies. Both cover the same story. A boy - a nerd - has success in the fickle world of acting. Both stories tell of series of choices made. In one, the boy soars to great heights. In the other, the boy is bought back to Earth with a thump - seemingly never to succeed again. The first is by Simon Pegg, the…
Continue reading →internet NaBloPoMo · 550 words
I recently took a survey which asked how many hours per week I spent "online". It struck me as a bizarre question. I am always online. Even when I am asleep, my phone is downloading email, my laptops are updating themselves, and my cameras are scanning for intruders. I realise that I am probably a statistical outlier - but I thought it would be interesting to see how many Internet connected…
Continue reading →censorship internet NaBloPoMo Open Rights Group openrightsgroup org parliament · 32 comments · 700 words · Viewed ~13,364 times
I remarked earlier about Helen Goodman MP and her total lack of technical knowledge. An MP being a bit behind the times isn't the greatest shock - but she's Labour's Shadow Minister for Culture, Media, and Sport - that's a big deal! This year, Claire Perry MP produced an "independent" report into online child protection. By "independent" I mean "produced by vested interests including religious …
Continue reading →.mobi Amazon drm ebook epub kindle NaBloPoMo · 5 comments · 500 words · Viewed ~349 times
Amazon claims that it makes no money from the sale of Kindle eReader hardware. Looking at the prices of eink devices at wholesalers, this looks broadly accurate. They do seem to be selling at around wholesale cost - customers also get Amazon's fabulous support, free software updates, and high quality manufacturing. Yet there is a curious anomaly. Why aren't Amazon selling ePub books? …
Continue reading →android NaBloPoMo security · 1 comment · 450 words
We all know that if you ask people to choose incredibly complex passwords which frequently change, they will write them down on a Post-It note. I've recently discovered another way in which increasing perceived security reduces actual security. On one of my Android phones, I use pattern unlock. If I want access to my phone, I have to draw a squiggly gesture in order to get in. It's like a…
Continue reading →android Apple doom mongering ios iphone NaBloPoMo · 2 comments · 550 words
I like predicting the death of the iPhone. I've been doing it since the device was first released - and I'm sure, one day, my doom-mongering will be proved correct! Apple is at an interesting nexus with its iPhone. It's hugely popular, vastly profitable, beloved by millions, and plagiarised by its competitors. The only fly in the ointment? It's just a little bit dull! Dull is, of course,…
Continue reading →ipc meta NaBloPoMo Social Media twitter · 1 comment · 900 words
(I wrote this blog post in 2010. Given that I presented about this idea earlier this year, I thought it was time to publish it.) So, here's a good story. Having just finished my contract with Touchnote, I was looking for work. A friend of mine tweeted... Cathy Ma@cathymaknow any good mobile product manager? We're looking for a contractor role :) let me know and pls rt ;)❤️ 1💬 0🔁 011:55 - Tue…
Continue reading →censorship NaBloPoMo smuggling USB · 23 comments · 550 words · Viewed ~31,813 times
"This Is Not A Film" by Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who is under house arrest in his country for alleged “propaganda against the regime,” will be screened under the Free Jafar Panahi Program of the 13th Cinemanila. The film was smuggled from Iran in a Flash-Drive hidden inside a cake to Cannes for screening a few months back. Manila Bulletin This is a microSD card. Currently on sale in the …
Continue reading →android internet NaBloPoMo Raspberry Pi · 350 words
There's a cyclic nature to technology development. What starts small and personal, becomes big until - inevitably - it becomes small again. Then the cycle repeats. All this has happened before... We started with mainframes on which we had to time-slice. Then we got powerful personal computers. Now we're back to spooling up instances of cloud computers. ...and all this will happen again We…
Continue reading →NaBloPoMo python Python Pals · 3 comments · 1,200 words · Viewed ~226 times
The Python Pals Divine A Date Penny was in a right grouch. Her voice wobbled as she unloaded her woes on to her best friend, Poppy. "It's all so unfair!" She started to sob. "Oh sweetie," said Poppy, "I hate to say this, but you're sounding like a right stereotypical teenager!" Penny cracked half a smile and blew her nose. "I know," she said "But it's true. What can't I date him?" Poppy…
Continue reading →android google mobile NaBloPoMo phones · 3 comments · 450 words · Viewed ~688 times
One of Android's great strengths is its openness. The source code is (mostly) there for anyone to see. If you're a hardware manufacturer, you can use Android on your devices with just a few mouse clicks. But there's a problem in Android-land, one which has been growing for several years. Open Software has many advantages - one is the maxim "Many eyes make all bugs shallow". If you have…
Continue reading →capitalism competition NaBloPoMo politics · 5 comments · 550 words
What if they gave a war and nobody came? Why, then, the war would come to you! -- Bertolt Brecht The current Conservative Government (and their Labour predecessors) are obsessed with the idea of competition. Their theory is that competition lowers prices, improves services, and makes the world more efficient. The free market will arrive at an optimal solution for everything. In some cases,…
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