Andy Cunningham

Reports that the EU are to cap roaming charges prove the EU is still on the side of big business.

The internet is a global place.   It doesn’t cost any more for me to download my email from Google when I’m in France, or Germany, or for that matter Mongolia or Argentina. And the calls costing more is an outdated concept as well.

I expect my free minutes and free data to be valid wherever I am in the world.  It might take a while, but it will have to happen eventually.

Some people get upset when royalty die.  Some people get upset when soap stars die.  But when I think it’s sad when someone I’ve never met dies, it’s often someone who has changed the world in ways most people don’t notice.

And the latest person in that category is Charles Spencer (“Spen”) King.

Who?  I hear you ask.

Spen King lead the design teams for the Rover 2000 and SD1, Triumph Stag, TR6 and TR7, and most notably the original Range Rover.  Arguably the TD7 wasn’t his best work, but it’s still an fantastic CV.

The world has lost one of the finest car designers ever.  The man who arguably created an entire new segment of the car market – the luxury SUV – is no longer with us.

That’s worth raising a glass in his memory.

Western companies would do well to follow the example of RedBus, an Indian startup company selling bus tickets.

As reported by TechCrunch they  invested “in seven different call centers throughout India, not one central call center. Says Sama, if you don’t localize a call center to local slang, languages, and customs the customer service won’t work.

Seriously? An Indian in Bangalore arguing a centralized, remote call center can’t give good customer service? That has about as much globalization-irony as China’s BYD refusing to outsource any of its manufacturing.”

I was searching around the Internet and stumbled over this video.  ”Duw, it’s hard” is a song about the demise of the Welsh mining history and the mixed effect on the community.  For those who don’t know “duw” is the Welsh word for “god.”

This video sets the music to photos of the area where I grew up in South Wales, and it brings home both the economic demise of the area, and how much easier my working life is than that of the Welsh miners.



For anyone else like me struggling to decide which thief to entrust with representing their views for the next year,  I’ve decided to summarise the situation as I see it.  It won’t necessarily shed any light on the subject, but will, at least, make you realise why people get apathetic about politics.

Labour will take all your money and give it to the poor.  Conservative will take all your money and waste it.  And I still haven’t forgiven the LibDems for Charles Kennedy saying ““My priority is to get people out of cars and on to public transport”.

So we’re down to the minor parties.    You can’t vote BNP if you actually have a functioning conscience. And you can’t vote for the Green party if you think our lives are better now than they were in 1543 — which is about the technology level they’d have us return to.  And you have to ask whether the UKIP have the credibility to even be considered a half-way sensible protest vote.

The worst thing is the apathy from the parties.  I’ve had exactly ONE canvasser knock on my door in the run up to the current election – and at least he had the honesty to admit that canvassing for the Conservatives in the seat formerly held by the man who put the “con” in “Conservative” was proving a thankless task.  ”Do you really expect me to vote for you when your last candidate claimed the expenses of running a second home twice over, especially when half the population of the constituency commutes into London on a daily basis at their own expense?”

I’m with the Monster Raving Loony Party on that one.  Line up some caravans on the lawns at Westminster for theose who aren’t prepared to commute at their own expense.  I actually wish we had an MRLP candidate just so I could say I was voting for him/her because they make more sense than the serious parties!

Perhaps I should have stood for the “Sack The Lot” party.  On a platform of donating the salary above the national wage to charity and not claiming expenses other than a season ticket into London, I think I’d at least keep my deposit.

So, given that none of the parties are actually credible, but that I believe you should vote, I’m left with choosing the candidate least likely to be elected with policies that aren’t actually vile and detestable.  Oh wait, that’d be the Labour party.  I think I’ll just stay in bed until it’s all over.

Teaching the intangible – from “But she’s a girl”.

“I think that many traditional crafts require these kinds of skills that are difficult to teach quickly, which is probably why apprenticeships were traditionally so long. However, as someone who also teaches as part of my living, I can recognise similarities with some of the skills required to be a good scientist. For example, grammatical rules are fairly straightforward to teach, but trying to guide students in how to properly structure their writing, write clear, logical, flowing sentences and so forth is quite difficult to do. You can give tips, point out good and bad examples, and suggest ways in which they can improve, but in the end, they need to develop their own ‘feel’ for what makes a good piece of scientific writing.”

Version 1:

Dear Jon,
I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we’re apart. I can be forever happy – will you let me be yours?
Gloria
Version 2:
Dear Jon,
I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we’re apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?
Yours,
Gloria

I’m with Nigella Lawson on this one. Vegetarianism is like exercise. It’s very good if someone else is doing it.

After Wired.com‘s 100 essential skills for geeks, I think I need to make a list of the ones I’ve got to learn.

31. Know at least 10 software easter eggs off the top of your head.

I can think of about five, but this is the first one in the list that I didn’t know.

45. Build amazing structures with LEGO and invent a compelling back story for the creation.

1. Be able to pick a lock.

I’m just not very good.

63. Whistle, hum, or play on an iPhone, the Cantina song.

64. Learning to play the theme songs to the kids favorite TV shows.

I claim a pass on these because I’m tone deaf.

69. Recite pi to 10 places or more.

3.141592654 (what we all remembered from our calaculators) is only 9 decimal places.

Or, from google for future reference, 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510

75. Solder a circuit while bottle feeding an infant. (lead free solder please).

I can do the soldering.  Which end does the bottle go?

82. Know all the names of the Dwarves in The Hobbit.
88. Be able to recite at least one Geek Movie word for word.
89. Know what the 8th Chevron does on a Stargate and how much power is required to get a lock.
93. The ability to name actors, characters and plotlines from the majority of sci-fi movies produced since 1968.

Oh come on, this isn’t geekdom, this is literature.

96. Have a documented plan on what to do during a zombie or robot uprising.

We don’t need no stinkin’ documentation.