Live to Work

Police Accountability through Social Media

Nathan J Pledger — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 19:12:00 GMT

I was reminded by @sherrilynne of my interest in how the practices of the Police have come to interest as a result of recent protests and legislation and the role Social Media can play in maintaining a sense of accountability.

My interest follows a recent seminar held by Sherrilynne and PDMS about the West Midlands' Police use of Social Media to engage with the public. The West Midlands' Police force efforts to create this engagement is commendable, as the speaker, CI Mark Payne said, communicating with the public had previously been through posters in public places and maybe a caution or arrest. With an increasing sense of resentment rising towards the Police in their interpretation and implementation of thousands of new laws, such engagement is essential as it shows at least an intent to create a bi-directional channel of communication for the public and their Police force.

The Labour Government has introduced over 3,000 new laws since they took office in 1997. This is law making on a massive scale, not helped by significant events such as increasing terrorism. The Government has brought in at least 9 acts of Parliament that actively increases the powers of the state to intrude into or restrict our civil liberties, most of which are in the name of terrorism and our common safety. The threat of terrorism is largely the result of the US and UK's foreign policy towards other nations such as Afghanistan and Iraq, which itself has caused protests that have been curtailed still further by legislation. This is a Government that does not advocate democratic rights such as protest, free speech or meetings to discuss matters of public policy by groups such as Greenpeace, etc. The United Kingdom is suffering due to its lack of a Constitution, such as that of the United States which protects rights such as free speech (although this is often muddied by religious interpretation).

The Police thus find themselves in a difficult position. Policing in this country has been implemented by the permission of the people, indeed, a thin blue line between consensual and compliant policing (and policed) society and a Police state. But how do the Police interpret and implement these new laws? There are many examples of the Police coming over heavy-handed either as a result of misunderstanding the legislation or becoming over zealous in their implementation. While countering the Terrorist threat caused by the UK and US foreign policy is a worthy cause, if it undermines our own liberties as British people, it risks the loss of public confidence. Aberrations in the implementation of photography laws have been known for a while. Another example that came to my attention recently is of the Transport Journalist Christian Wolmar being told to walk on the pavement to "defeat terrorism". This is clearly insane, but I feel it is down to lack of training, rather than the malice of the police ("special" or otherwise). The Police's increased use of force against protests (legal and otherwise) has also resulted in a difficult relationship with the Police. The G20 protests, particularly, have caused key questions to be raised over basic Police brutality which resulted in the death of an innocent bystander and the use of techniques such as "Kettling". Having been "kettled" myself, it is of no wonder why protestors are wound up, even egged on by the Police to create a tense situation where law breaking and abuse is even more likely.

So how can the Police work against this negative reaction to laws that they have been charged with implementing, from politics they can't control? Social Media has been an exciting conduit for businesses for marketing purposes and engagement with consumers, so the Police can - and should - use this new media to make the communication two-way. As the Government imposes limitations on democracy, so democratic society will push-back the boundaries and start to ask questions. It is for the Police to understand this movement for what it is and to engage with it professionally and appropriately.

As CI Mark Payne said, social media presents opportunities and challenges. Firstly, it can form a conversation between the Police and members of the public. Current promotions, campaigns and concerns can be published by the Police, with comments and discussion by the active "followers" of the various media feeds. West Midlands' Police force has got their own Facebook page, but so has the Northern Neighbourhood Policing Team on the Isle of Man. As a follower of this team, and with Ramsay connections, I find that this is a fantastic way to engage with the community. Maybe the Isle of Man is an easy place to build a strong relationship between Police and public, based on an already strong community, but that takes nothing away from the effort itself. The sergeants (and higher positions, along with other agencies dealing with community cohesion) behind the Facebook page are enthusiastic about this medium and it shows in their output. Real communication is occurring, but remaining within a controlled and sensible manner that is not impinging on individuals' privacy, identity or views in the community. They have even linked up with that master criminal, Baddy Guy.

Social Media can also present a threat, however. Bullying has moved from the playground to the internet via cyber stalking, cyber bullying and other sinister practices employed by paedophiles, scammers and subversive groups advocating racism, fascism, etc. People's identities have become a commodity that is tradeable and accessible by anyone with a modicum of knowledge. While use of computers requires some awareness of these important issues, it is understandable that not everyone is aware of the risks of posting personal information on the internet and opening up their profile for interaction with people who may wish to cause harm to them as an individual. It is a new requirement that the Police and related agencies need to monitor internet sites such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. to help educate users to protect themselves and employ modern Information Systems to secure convictions against malicious users. As CI Mark Payne said, the Police will always be playing catch-up in this game. Technology has become increasingly important in preserving our ability to use our civil liberties by the momentum of its progress, but the police must overcome the inevitable sense of inertia that this will create and fill the vacuum by using educated teams, rather than relying on restrictive and ill-understood legislation by Government (which the Government itself does not fully understand).

Finally, and for an aspect of interaction that was not discussed in CI Mark Payne's talk, is that of using new media to expand policing into the community using user generated content. As news agencies now find themselves using Twitter-sourced content to cover unfolding news stories, so the Police could open up channels to enable the public to submit issues which they find concerning. The CrimeStoppers scheme has long been a success and offers a way for members of the public to anonymously contact a team devoted to following up leads in order to secure a conviction. Couldn't this be extended, to include new media channels such as allowing emailing in to a similar team of your concerns? I recently blogged about the standards of driving on The Isle of Man, which continues to get me frustrated that the Police seem to only be able to do anything when they themselves have witnessed it or corroborating evidence is available to secure a conviction. (Interestingly, other regular road users such as Driving Schools are not able to report drivers because they don't hold the same standing as a Policeman, although they probably have a better understanding of road law) The fact is, drivers drive badly and risk injury, dog owners allow their dogs to foul the pavement and don't clean up after them and people are made to feel vulnerable by anti-social behaviour, every day. Setting up a channel to allow this to be videoed, photographed or reported simply in an email would be a good way to build up intelligence. Bad drivers don't necessarily need to be dragged through court, they just need to be made aware of their behaviour. Likewise, dog owners that they live in a community which is all the more pleasurable without dog *** everywhere. How the Police use this information is up to them, but opening up such channels will help community members feel empowered. Special interest groups are active in the community, but these are often time consuming and slow to act for the average person to become involved with, social media can speed these groups up by inviting individuals to participate.

Social Media is exciting in the way it is breaking down boundaries. From the college-goers of the US that started Facebook, this has spread through Facebook use by professionals, "silver surfers", companies wishing to market and engage with their consumers and now, maybe the final boundary has been broken, that of engagement by the authorities with the public. As news agencies have had to change their game plan to embrace social media, so public bodies must also overcome the inertia of public policy and be innovative. From a personal point of view, while I resent the powers being given to the Police and their implementation of these powers, I find it a pleasing to know that channels are opening up to allow democracy to "push back" and hold the authorities to public accountability, as Parliament has had to in the Iraq War Inquiry and the Trafigura injunction.

Full Moon and a Friday Evening, so the imbecile drivers are out

Nathan J Pledger — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:00:00 GMT

We've just arrived home from a 3 mile drive from Douglas Centre. We're lucky we're in one piece. I'm a stickler for the rules while driving at the best of times, but tonight was something else. It clarifies what I have been saying; that driving standards are poor. The attitude that seems to be pervasive across all drivers is "I've passed my test, I can drive how I like".

Consider these events this evening:

5 people failed to indicate
1 person (large van driver) indicated to pull out of the side of the road, but the following cars proceeded to overtake him anyway. This, despite the inevitable blind spot vans have.
1 person fails to appreciate how roundabouts work
1 person stopped his car in the middle of Bray Hill, straddling a carriage way while pulling out
1 driver launched himself out of the St. Ninian's garage (a blackspot indeed) without looking causing us to apply an emergency stop
2 drivers jumping out into slow moving traffic because we were leaving junctions clear, only to block those junctions with their huge four wheel drives

This is testament to the appalling standards of driving. Not only that, it shows how selfish drivers can be. It is Friday evening and they want to get home. Sod you, sod everyone else. This is not just a driving failure, it is a humanity failure. I detest driving due to this abhorrent attitude to others. While driving is a necessary evil, it strikes me that the application of the rules of the road is lax and maintenance of one's own driving ability non-existent.

This is what I propose.

A periodic review of driving standards for all drivers, more regular for the over 60's. This should take the form of either a booked lesson or two with an approved driving instructor to help iron out bad habits that will inevitably have been accumulated over the years. This would be an ideal opportunity to update the driver with the latest changes in road traffic law, best practice and provide the opportunity for introspection. If the driving instructor feels that the driver is not taking these lessons on board or is a danger to himself or others, then they should be able to recommend to the authorities that a test be re-taken. I would propose every 7 years for this. If you don't conduct this "refresher", you get disqualified and have to take your test again.

More traffic police need to be employed to actively pursue bad driving. Even driving round in a marked car will have the effect of improving standards. In addition, the reporting of bad driving needs to be made easier. For example, in a recent incident, I reported a driver who was on the mobile phone while driving. It took days for the Police to arrive (though it was during the recent snow, so can understand why) only to be told, "It's your word against hers". What about phone records? "She could say it was someone else using the phone". Fair enough, this wouldn't necessarily secure a conviction, but it must be enough to generate a warning, which I was assured would happen. Bad drivers aren't likely to go out to be bad drivers, they need reminding of their behaviour. A periodic warning should keep it in mind that their driving affects others.

While I do not like the idea of "big brother" monitoring our every move, I do think that black boxes in cars would be an excellent idea. This would allow quantatitive data to be collected from a vehicle after an accident or reported incident. This would track brake application, acceleration, speed, wheel spin, location of the car, even detection of mobile phone use. This would help secure convictions but would surely drive down the cost of insuring drivers. If the data could be downloaded from the device by the authorities and added to your insurance record, then drivers would be less willing to take risks. As trains and aeroplanes have black boxes to record why incidents occur to contribute to injuries and deaths, so should cars.

Speed limiting cars is also an idea I would consider. The speed limit on British Roads varies from 20mph to 70 mph on motorways. There is no reason why a road car needs to go above 80mph, so a limit should be applied to prevent such driving. This gives the car the ability to drive at 70mph and be able to speed up to take avoiding action if required. If the car needs to be able to drive faster than the speed limit of the country, such as where speed limits are not applicable on certain roads (for example, the Isle of Man), the driver should be required to take an advanced driving course.

One aspect of driving on the Isle of Man that can cause problems is the lack of an MOT. In the UK, an MOT assures the driver and the authorities that their car is road worthy. This is not required on the island, which means cars regularly drive around with faulty lights, noxious exhaust fumes and dents of varying seriousness. While drivers seem to be unable to use their indicators at the best of times, having a working indicator in the first place is a start.

Maybe now is the time to post all the pictures I have of drivers illegally parking, using hazard lights to park while getting chips, crashes as a result of jumping red lights, etc. I am seriously considering getting some sort of camera gear such as that used by the owner of the Fight Bad Driving site, to record evidence and report it. It seems no-one else is interested in adequate driving standards, after all. It's interesting to read about the abuse and death threats that site owner has received from people who have no business people allowed near humanity, let alone a vehicle.

Gadget churn

Nathan J Pledger — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:46:00 GMT

I've just spent 2 days spending all my free time researching speakers to replace my current 5.1 set-up. Unfortunately, due to the damp problems of the poor quality houses built by Dandara, my speakers have suffered damage to the grills and warping of the wood. What was a significant expenditure was made all the more urgent while I was listening to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey at the weekend, and in particular, the awful crackling sound from the left rear surround speaker. Oh well, bite the bullet. The speakers are Kenwood and have been taken from a Kenwood separates system which I had already sold. The speakers have been excellent quality and very reliable and it struck me that I have had these speakers for 10 years now. For their expense, I wouldn't expect anything less!

Nowadays, it seems to surprise me if purchases last more than a couple of years. Even though I was reminded that my HP laptop is over 2 years old and still going strong. The amplifier driving my speakers is 8 years old. However, if I get 12 or 24 months of use out of a gadget I a remain genuinely pleased - even surprised. Is it because technology moves so fast that gadgets are rendered obsolete within a few months of their production? Mobile phones have become almost disposable, with people renewing their contracts every 12 months in order to get the latest model. It's almost a modern ritual of the connected consumer. Phones with even shorter life cycles only contribute to this trend, the Apple iPhone having a particularly aggressive disposable trend thanks to "new" features being announced on the next model. (Even though such features are hardly ground breaking on existing models by other manufacturers.)

Component failure is also an aspect that may contribute to my surprise of products that outlast my notion of their expected lifetime. Electronics get smaller and more disposable, so companies continue to drive component costs down. This has to have an effect on the quality of the components that come together to build a complex device. We have a standing joke that disposable hi-fis may be bought from Argos that last for 12 months and 1 day, because that is what is required to avoid a return under the manufacturer's warranty. Alba and Bush are both culprits. Manufacturers want to build them cheap, fast and easily disposable so the next model can be used as an upgrade.

For a while now, I have had a policy of keeping to quality names in my purchases. In my Audio/Visual gear, I try to keep to Panasonic. It's probably a high mid-range set of products that have proved to be pretty reliable. For laptops and servers, I recommend HP, otherwise I build them myself. I am a firm believer in "you get what you pay for". You buy low, your product lifetime is likely to be short and your user experience poor. The disadvantage of this approach comes when you buy expensive items and they just go out of fashion or become obsolete due only to the churn of the technology. This disposable society and constant updating of gadgets contributes to a lot of unrecyclable, poisonous contaminants in landfill. Gone are the days when you can perform your own repairs, upgrades or reverse engineering. Now is the day of the black box that you throw away soon, so you can get the next model.

Bendy Bus: a [low] step in the right direction

Nathan J Pledger — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:56:00 GMT

The Isle of Man saw its first bendy-bus arrive on the island yesterday, as part of trials by the Department of Transport to assess the suitability of the vehicles to the island.

Bendy-buses try to be the best of high-density (but route restricted) double decker buses and smaller single-deck vehicles by placing the passenger cabin area across two vehicles, and articulated in the middle. Due to their larger size, they often have two sets of doors which helps in getting passengers on and off the bus quickly, which makes them particularly suitable to high-frequency services. Their lower-floor also provides a more comfortable safer centre of gravity and accessibility as per the Disability Discrimination Act for disabled users.

They have, however, experienced a lot of negative press of late. While these buses have been in use in mainland Europe for decades, England (and London in particular) have had a large number of complaints regarding their use resulting in building up a negative reputation. This, I feel, is unfair. These buses provide a very good solution to high-density, high-frequency services, such as those surrounding city centres. My service of choice while in Manchester was the 135, which arrived every 6-7 minutes and was invariably very well occupied (and also ran deep into the night providing a safe means of getting home). Unfortunately, their use has been misapplied previously, particularly in London which has had a disproportionate number of injuries and incidents related to he buses largely as a result of the extremely busy routes and tight road layouts the buses were employed on.

But what about the Isle of Man? With its windy country roads, comparatively shorter distances and housing estates, is the bendy bus a "good fit"? I would say that it would be, if in conjunction with reducing the number of double decker buses. The initial trials are intended to run from Douglas to the south of the island, particularly Ronaldsway Airport. This route is relatively straight forward, mainly 50mph and which is subject to users accessing the airport, with their associated baggage. A bendy bus with the standard wider aisles and larger luggage space would be well suited to this route. I'm not so sure about other "longer distance" routes, though. The Douglas to Ramsey route, particularly, requires traversing some narrow roads not helped by parked cars and the traditional Manx driving style of "me first" when the full width of the road isn't available.

But the bendy bus does not answer my prime concern; that of the need for regular services at an increased frequency using more agile buses. I've blogged previously about the use of double deckers (and the bizarre decision to buy more) around small roads and traffic calming measures on estates, along with their unreliable and unpredictable timetables. If the bendy buses came along with shuttle buses, which ran every 30 minutes or so to help people zip around the various town estates, it would be ideal and would hopefully go some way in encouraging people to stop using their cars to drive 3 miles into town. Such buses work extremely well on the UK mainland, offer ample space for baggage, disabled accessibility and often free services. The 1,2,3 and 4 services in Manchester City Centre are excellent examples of such buses, which would be equally well employed on local town services where agility and frequency are important.

I for one would be more than happy to receive Boris' bendy-buses, as long as he has some of our double deckers and we get some more suitable shuttle buses.

The picture was kindly provided by local photographer Amadeus (@Amadeus_IOM), more of his pictures of the bus available at: http://www.manxforums.com/forums/index.php?s=b015349035088d7a37e2a7ff12f9b98d&showtopic=37118&st=30&p=494911&#entry494911

Steal My WiFi, will you?

Nathan J Pledger — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:56:00 GMT

This weekend I noticed something odd with my Windows network. A new machine had appeared on my Network Neighbourhood/Workgroup, called "FREYA-PC". A lot of computers go through my network, largely due to my occupation and therefore the inevitable queries for help and advice on people's computers. I have never dealt with any computer known as "FREYA-PC", however. So, I had to put my detective hat on.

I have a fairly complex network (for a home user), due to the large number of networkable devices I use (currently counting 13) and I am unable to install structured cabling so I have to rely on 3 switches, plug-tops (to link upstairs with downstairs) and WiFi to connect it all together. This computer was getting on the network at one of these points. I am a big fan of physical cables, they are inherently as secure as you're likely to get. You can vouch for the cable termination and more or less the route of the cable, so you know there won't be any "wire listeners" attached to the cable. So unless someone sneaked into my house, the physical network was not a weak point.

My Plug-Tops allow my network connection to pass over the mains wiring inside the house. This is ideal to avoid running cables between floors and doors. Bandwidth is suggested to be about 54Mbps, but I tend to average 10Mbps, which is okay for me as it will carry video more or less okay. Obviously, all cables are connected and it would be easy to follow the mains cable outside the house and see it connect to next door's feed, so these Plug-Tops also have encryption, which is applied. So a close neighbour could have gained access to my network by guessing or cracking my encryption keys. They would need to know that I had the plug-tops and what model they were before even starting attempting to crack my keys. It could be fairly easily ruled out, more easily rules out by turning them off. "FREYA-PC" continued to appear.

This would lead me to the assumption that my leaking WiFi signal was being used to get onto my network for the purpose of stealing my broadband. I have 3 switches, all of which have wireless capabilities. My primary router/switch is a DrayTek 2800VG, which has been fantastic. It offers excellent Wireless Security and configuration support, along with VoIP, VLANs, Firewall, NAT configuration and more. This is my primary connection to the Internet and Wireless access point. The other two are Netgear switches, which are okay for home use, but are of varying years in the development of WiFi and WiFi security. This means one of these only supports 128-bit WEP encryption, for example. Maybe they were getting on here? I had isolated the WiFi from the LAN, and applied a key, so even if they had got on the WiFi, they wouldn't be routed anywhere (assuming the Netgear router worked as it should). Turning the switch off didn't get rid of FREYA-PC. The next Netgear router provided WPA-PSK encryption, which is of more acceptable quality. This wireless was turned on, only because I forgot to turn it off after having done some testing months earlier. Turning this router off, DID get rid of FREYA-PC.

I have my suspicions on who it was that was stealing my bandwidth. Looking up the meaning of "Freya" identifies it as a Norse God. Therefore, it is not improbable that the culprit was foreign. On turning off the switch, there was distinct movement from a house in the local vicinity. What the culprits didn't count on were the excellent monitoring tools available on the DrayTek 2800VG which allowed me to see who was on my network and what they were looking at (FaceParty, MSN Hotmail). Add to that basic WireShark competence and basic networking knowledge. What I didn't count on was that using tools which I won't link to here, it is indeed possible to not only crack WEP encryption, but also WPA-PSK. The tool listens to a heavily used WiFi connection for repeated patterns to determine the encryption keys. So no matter how secure my keys, I was a sitting target. Luckily, everything on my network is secured, so no data loss would have occurred. They were only on my network for a few days, anyway, as I use my network regularly and would have spotted it.

I have reset the switch, turned off the Wireless and reset all my WPA-PSK keys and confirmed with my wife that she was never to use any of the laptops to purchase anything. This is a rule I follow myself. I would prefer to turn off WiFi completely, or upgrade to WPA-PSK2, I have an inherent distrust of Wireless. However, I have devices that only work on WiFi and don't support the higher level of encryption such as my mobile phone and my Sony Walkman.

If I can confirm who "Freya" is, I will push for prosecution and that goes for anyone else I find on my network. It is extremely dangerous for owners of Wireless networks to have their connection stolen by other users. If your external-facing IP Address implicates you in downloading illegal content or conducting illegal activity, you are liable unless you can prove otherwise, and it is very difficult to do so. Therefore, always encrypt your network and prevent users from gaining access to it and if possible, use wired networking. I am going to create a bit.ly URL and use this as my SSID so future thieves may view my policy on this.

Thanks Windows Messenger, nice ad ... NOT

Nathan J Pledger — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:02:00 GMT

This advert popped up on my Windows Messenger today.

Three things strike me:

Urgh and Yuk! I don't want to see this. Is there no vetting for these ads?
What the hell has being a single mum got anything to do with not having white teeth? Is there a statistic that exists that shows most single mums chain-smoke and fail to keep their teeth clean? I doubt it.
And by the way, I have a simple trick. You clean your teeth. Or see your dentist.

How to crush Royal Mail ... if they don't manage it themselves

Nathan J Pledger — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:43:00 GMT

I dislike militant workers with a passion. Fair enough, employee rights are important but there is a much wider issue here. Paralysing a country by calling on strikes to pull your staff out of sorting offices, railway infrastructure, fuel depots, etc. is unnacceptable and shows the ugly face of Socialism. Many of these strikes are due to pensions and "modern working practices". By "modern working practices", read "essential changes to remain competitive in a challenging marketplace and maybe doing a little more work or at a different time". As far as I am concerned, if you are employed, you do what your manager says. If you don't like it, you know where the door is ... in this recession there are millions that would love to be able to pass you on the way out.

Royal Mail are currently being held to ransom by the CWU, who cite modern working prcatices and concerns with the pension fund as being reasons for the strike. Maybe if you read this slowly you might understand what they cannot, I assume because it is quite a complex proposition. The Royal Mail is in a highly competitive marketplace, is extremely expensive to operate and must find efficiencies to fund the pension fund. By walking out at a particularly difficult time of year, the CWU are actually making the lot of Royal Mail and its employees worse. So if they don't manage to crush Royal Mail, here are some ideas you should try yourself in this modern technology-driven world that the CWU haven't quite grasped

Favour Internet shopping sites that use couriers to deliver your order. John Lewis is one example. If they don't email their support desk to ask why they don't provide the option.
LoveFilm is an excellent way to access thousands of rented movies, but it requires the postal system to work. Until the UK catches up to the US and more providers get on board with internet-distributed movies, LoveFilm currently have a beta Watch-on-line service which allows you to watch films as part of your subscription, and for free for high-end subscriptions. Or, use XBox Video Marketplace (or your preferred console, if available) to download and watch films.
Don't send letters, postcards or cards. Use Facebook and Email.
Don't invoice your customers using paper, send invoices by email or by fax.
Needless to say, don't use Venda/shopiom.com to purchase products from the Isle of Man. If you're a resident, go down to Strand Street. If not, go support a real shop and tell them you're shopping "in the physical" because of Royal Mail's strike.
Many companies now offer electronic billing. Turn on e-billing and log into their web-site to check your account and make your payments.
If you have bulk mailing to do, send it using a competitor, such as UKMail. They still need the Royal Mail to get to the door, but a message will be sent that strike action is incompatible with current market and economic forces.

The frustrating thing about this action is that this will not just work to crush Royal Mail, it will create serious issues for the smaller online retailers that operate small web sites or services under the eBay or Amazon marketplace schemes. What is a great way for people at home to make good use of their time and work from home and contribute to the economy will be extinguished if this action continues.

Boris Johnson's Facebook Foppishness

Nathan J Pledger — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:21:00 GMT

Boris Johnson's feed popped up on my Facebook today.

You got to hand it to him, it looks and reads cool, reading just as he speaks. "Let's be clear about this" and "Amen". Whether it is him or a "social media" PR agency, it's very engaging.

As it happens, I don't agree with him on this point, much like his disliking of bendy-buses. More buses, more congestion charging!

Rediscovering Robert Newman

Nathan J Pledger — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 16:48:00 GMT

I've been reminiscing lately about the comedy talents of The Mary Whitehouse Experience. The Mary Whitehouse Experience was a radio show, then a TV show which featured David Baddiel, Robert Newman, Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis. This was in the late 80s/early 90s and played a key role in my development of my tastes in comedy, satire, irony and sarcasm (thanks Ray). You won't be able to get anything of the show other than on You Tube, as the four guys fell out - big-time. I began to wonder what they're doing now. David Baddiel became an even more smug git, briefly joining with Robert Newman for a sell out tour then jumping in with Frank Skinner - an altogether unfunny man next to whom David looks funny again. Hugh Dennis and Steve Punt had a brief patch working with Jaspar Carrott on his sketch show and they currently work on the satirical Now Show on Radio 4 (check out the podcast). Hugh Dennis, also appears on Mock The Week and hundreds of adverts in a voice-over capacity.

That just leaves Rob Newman. Of the four, he is definitely (for me) the funniest. But he did sort of go underground. I've been looking around and I've realised he's taken his satire onto the next step by producing political videos regarding relevant issues such as climate change and war.

Take his History of Oil.

Part 1: Rob talks of the naivety of the US imposing democracy in the middle east.

Part 2: How the UK and US combined to install the Shah in the previously secular democracy of Iran in order to gain access to oil.

Part 3: The real reason of the First World War, that of the Berlin to Baghdad railway even to the extent that Basra saw the first deployment of British troops for the war.

Part 4: How did Tony Blair escape trial for war crimes?

Part 5: Since 1971, the US has been the world's biggest debtor because all oil transactions have to be conducted in US Dollars.

Part 6: How the unexpected success of the Euro put fear of major economic adjustment into the US Federal Reserve when the world (through OPEC) threaten to switch oil transactions to Euros.

Part 7:

Part 8: How after 2010 the world will have run out of net energy which will cause economic failure and how the Nuclear cycle creates 75% of the carbon emissions as coal-fired power stations.

Part 9: Transport is not the only consumer of oil. Food is more responsible for oil consumption and is arguably more important than getting from A to B. Also, how the House Sub-committee for Foreign Policy report titled "Oil Fields for Military Objectives" became "An American plan for Democracy".

This may or may not be based on fact, satire or just comedy. You may not agree with Rob's (or my) assertions. That is immaterial, but what Rob and comics like him do is essential. They take the time to look into the established stories of world events and help people identify for themselves the real reasons behind events. This is democracy, and it's also democracy that we need to keep hold of despite attempts to clamp down on it through legislation.

I feel I have betrayed the very essence of my soul

Nathan J Pledger — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:11:00 GMT

For 15 years I have managed to get along in life without joining the masses. The masses that are annoying, rude and downright incompetent. People think that I am either disabled or at the very least slightly strange because I didn't want to join the masses. Who are the masses? Drivers.

So I passed my driving test last week after being "co-erced" into joining the masses by two friends who bought me vouchers - with expiry dates on. So I had to submit my soul and become a slave to the asphalt, as opposed to the paving stone running alongside. Sure, it gives me flexibility, but that's about it. I'm not lazy so I see no need for it.

I learnt with MSM, and must say the experience was excellent. Even though I entered the car with a distinct resentment of driving, my instructor was helpful, gave good feedback and made the experience quite enjoyable. From the call to the office to set up the appointments to the test, the experience with this company was A-1. A rare thing for The Isle of Man. Previous instructors (in the UK) have had me picking up their laundry, telling me I was rubbish and being altogether unhelpful.

I'll admit to passing on my second attempt, even though I made more mistakes on this second attempt. I'm not entirely convinced in the testing process, and I am definitely not pleased with the maintenance of driving standards for existing drivers. My view on drivers won't change. Maybe in 12-months I'll have truly become "one of them" and be violating basic road law from poor parking to outright dangerous driving. If so, please tell me and I'll cut my license up.

Windows 7 Eunuch edition is out for pre-order!

Nathan J Pledger — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:46:00 GMT

So Windows 7 has just appeared in online stores for pre-ordering. The pre-order deal is also very competitive. Except, it was. The news was announced yesterday and I jumped on to Amazon to get some prices and they were about £80 for the Home Professional version. Amazon have since mailshotted customers announcing the news, headling a price of £44.97, which I suspect is for the Home Premium version.

However, clicking through or searching for Windows 7 in Amazon now displays nothing more than a "Be notified when this product becomes available" message, alongside a reminder about the limited time period.

European users should look closely at the box, though. We're special, because we get a special version, "Windows 7 Home Professional E", "Ultimate E", etc. The "E", I guess, stands for "Europe". In the top left hand corner of the box is the message "Windows 7 Home Premium E: Requires a web browser to access the Internet. Internet Explorer not included*".

This is doubtlessly down to the European Union's aggression towards Microsoft. Rightly or wrongly, Europe has an axe to grind where Microsoft are concerned. Citing anti-competitive practices, they have caused the creation of special SKUs particular to the European market with no Media Player before now, but now with no web browser.

Several questions jump out at me.

In the age of the connected operating system, what use is there in an OS with no web browser? The first thing a user typically does when they install a new OS is to jump on the Internet to download updates, install the latest drivers for hardware or just browse around while the OS completes its installation work. Doesn't look like this will be possible for us.

If there is no browser in the box, how do you download a browser, without a browser? Maybe there is a splash screen that allows you to download a browser from a finite list of "approved" browsers such as Internet Explorer or Firefox. Isn't this "approved list" just as anti-competitive? Amazon do give us a bit of help on this aspect of our purchase:

Local, off-line content may need a web browser just as much as an Internet connected machine. Many software applications use the IE component in particular to display help information, or enhanced splash screens/dashboards. How will these programs work, if at all? Just because you may not be on the Internet, doesn't mean you don't need a web browser. How can a user install a web browser to facilitate this function with no Internet connection?

This really winds me up. This will only cause slower browsers like Firefox to become more popular and increase the variety of browser standards which will mean compatibility with systems and web sites can only get worse, which is annoying after Microsoft have done so much to improve issues with IE 8. An end user is not going to know the value of IE over Firefox, Chrome over IE or some open source browser some geek has coded in his bedroom over a reputable, supported browser. They want to use their computer to get on the internet, fast.

This is typical European legislation getting in the way of common sense. It makes me want to vote for the BNP and reduce their effects, though common sense and basic intelligence means I won't do this. What is their next step? After removing Media Player, and now Internet Explorer, will they remove Windows Explorer - after all if it is the default GUI/shell then isn't that anti-competitive?

As an aside, I noticed yesterday Ultimate edition was down as a "notify when becomes available" whereas the lower-end SKUs were available for pre-order. I do hope Ultimate will have a price before the reduced prices expire, otherwise they may raise the prices, then release Ultimate for purchase meaning those who want Ultimate have to pay full price, or twice for Professional version then use the AnyTime upgrade path to get to Ultimate.

Moving from Windows Media Centre to Humax FreeSat+ (FoxSat-HDR)

Nathan J Pledger — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:37:00 GMT

I'm a big fan of taking control of your life by not living your life around TV schedules. I have been committed to the use of Personal Video Recorders (PVRs) for many years, starting with the ultimate nirvana of PVRs, TiVo. TiVo was a product before its time, when I explained the benefits, people just didn't "get it". Now, with Sky+ (an inferior product in many ways) with its more useful marketing campaign, many people now understand the benefits of leaving your TV viewing to an intelligent device that records your TV and allows you to watch it when you're ready.

TiVo was the best product, but its lack of development and commitment to the UK market (it's a big story in the US) led to me being forced to alternatives. Sky+ was never an option, as it is an inferior product with numerous usability issues. I also resent paying an additional fee for a service I receive with a basic subscription anyway (the required guide data). This left me to the adoption of Windows Media Centre 2005. This required the building and careful preparation of a Home Theatre Personal Computer (HTPC) to be able to process incoming video data, storage and simultaneous playback. Windows Media Centre has proved the hub of our media needs for the last 5 years and has been ideal. We've moved from Windows Media Centre 2005 through Vista and now Windows 7. The XBox extender system also allows us to relay content around the house very easily.

Using Windows 7 Media Centre has not been as pleasurable as Vista Media Centre. It's much slower to use and even on a 100Mbps network video frequently breaks up. The music catalogue also requires rebuilding whenever you view the music library. I don't know whether these issues are related to Windows 7 being in beta (I'm using the Release Candidate) but the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) is low. I'd be happy to put up with it but for some reason BBC2 isn't switched using the infra-red sender so we have to be on constant watch for BBC2 recording. Obviously, this is against the point of a PVR.

Windows Vista supports HD content, but not in the UK. Apparently, Windows 7 does support UK HD which is great because HD content from BBC HD is awesome and is a key reason why I have adopted the Freesat from the BBC option. So we decided to give the Humax Foxsat HDR FreeSat+ PVR a try. This will allow us to record HD content (previously we would have had to watch it live) along with SD content.

I'll leave other people to review it as a product, I'm just going to give my feedback. Overall, I'm not that impressed. There is no Component Video sockets, which is a real shame as I have limited HDMI sockets and I would have preferred not to use an HDMI socket for content that is less than 1080p, which DVB-S HD cannot achieve (not in the UK anyway). The guide itself is a little sluggish and there is only 8 days of guide data. A screensaver appears whenever the screen becomes static which is frustrating as I happen to like frozen screens and LCDs are much less prone to screenburn than conventional CRT displays. Either way, I would like the option to turn this screensaver off. I'm not using a second LNB feed so conflicts will be a problem for me. One such conflict has just occured, with the device trying to turn the channel over at Championship Point in the 2009 Wimbledon Men's Final. Whether or not I pressed a button or the device switched over I cannot be sure, but it did switch and then I could not switch it back. Typing "108" to revert to BBC HD would not work. Consequently, I missed about 2 minutes of the climax of the final, ruining two weeks of tennis for me.

The device is pretty good, but I don't think it is going to work for us in the longer term. Maybe we have been spoilt by the high quality of Windows Media Centre. In the shorter term, I'm keen on reducing my electricity usage, which is why I bought this device. (It uses just 1W on standby.) For "newbies" to DVRs or certainly users of the appalling Sky+ implementation, it's well worth it, particularly for HD recording. But for me, I think I'm going to upgrade my Windows Media Centre PC for Windows 7 when it comes out and have another go. It still offers the best and most flexible solution.

Update:

After a few days of using it, I've found more poor design decisions:

For some reason, while the device is recording, you cannot delete *other* programmes.
When the device is recording, it is possible to turn over the channel. It is not clear whether the recording completes or not.
When time slipping, it is not possible to use the Red-button. Fair enough, but moving to Live TV by pressing Stop also does not permit Red-button services.

A few more weeks/months later ...

When watching a recording programme and timeslipping, once the recorded programme ends, "live" viewing is resumed so you have to rewind back to the position you had time slipped to.

I'm counting the days till I get a Haupaugge DVB-S card for Windows 7 Media Centre.

Discovering BlackBerry

Nathan J Pledger — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 04:04:00 GMT

It's that time of year again, when my phone feels a little long in the tooth and I start having primal urges to refresh my tech. Actually, my old phone (Nokia N95-8Gb) is perfectly useful and ideal for continued use. I have a problem and I shall submit myself to my addiction. Do you have a problem with that? ;)

I've been researching what to replace my phone with for a few months, now. I want strong integration with my various email accounts, social networking and good web access. I also require a good music player with podcasting capabilities. The phone must also connect to Wi-Fi networks seamlessly, using Wi-Fi over my Mobile Network if possible. The Nokia N95-8Gb does all this. It really is a very good phone, even if it is 2-3 years old.

My original intention was to get a Nokia N97, the natural upgrade path for the N-series. This is being pushed as being Social Media aware and has a touch screen. It runs on Symbian so will be rock solid and I know I can rely on the strengh of the N-series platform. But it was on the dear side at around £500. I'm also not a big fan of touch-screens for typing numbers/messages - tactile feedback is essential and no haptic/pseudo tactile feedback is going to replace that. I also looked at the HTC Touch series of phones, which look very smart, but are handicapped by their adoption of Windows Mobile which Microsoft desperately needs to rewrite, preferably using the core of the Zune/XBox 360 with a number of business applications on top. I even looked at the Apple iPhone, an over-priced, under-specified device which has the fanboys excited every year when Apple does a minor refresh. While a very usable phone, its value serves more as a superficial and egotistical add-on to a personality than a phone that can actually be used.

I eventually decided on the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220. It's not that pretty, it's a bit plasticy, it has no widgets, gizmos or slidey, touchy, happy screens. It's a no-frills, no-BS business phone. And I really like it. While the learning curve is pretty steep both in terms of typing on the SureType keypad and figuring out how to configure it, I'm immediately seeing value in it. The only reason why I held off for so long is that it doesn't have any podcasting or decent music player support which was a killer feature for me.

I might be a little late on this boat, but I'm not one to follow fads. Better to let other users adopt a new paradigm, get all excited, work out the kinks, then for me to buy into it.

Things I love:

The API allows applications to have deep access into the phone. No "sandboxing" means applications like UberTwitter and Facebook can integrate into other applications, appearing in the Contacts and Messaging menus. While sandboxing your applications improves reliability and safety of your phone, it does create a disconnected user experience.
It's highly configurable. So configurable I have no idea what many of the settings even do or why they are even there. It took my a couple of days to figure out how to change my message tone, but once I found it, the flexibility offered is perfect.
Obviously the BlackBerry value-added service of email account integration and "push email". Being able to off-load the collection of emails is very useful.
Integrated messaging between email and Facebook.

Not so hot:

The default web browser is pants. A shame for an "always on" Internet device. It's slow and poorly rendered. Luckily, Opera can be installed on it, though it is not used by default so clicking on links in the BlackBerry will still open the original browser.
There's no GPS, which is a shame. A mapping application is provided, though.
The processor is on the under-powered side, particularly when browsing the web using the default web browser or using the Maps application.

There is also a vibrant BlackBerry community and application ecosystem out there which I am dipping into. For Twitter users, I'd highly recommend UberTwitter, which ticks all my boxes and more. I'd buy a BlackBerry just for this application, to be honest.

This does leave my requirement for a music player/podcast downloader to be met, though. Not to worry, the BlackBerry was just £50 from Sure Cable and Wireless which means I can still afford a dedicated unit for playing music/listening to podcasts. I'm going for a Sony Walkman device, now they have finally dumped ATRAC. All in all, from a budgetted new phone of £500, I'm going to save at about £250.

Image credit: BlackBerry.com

UK: Have Microsoft fallen out with us?

Nathan J Pledger — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:22:00 GMT

The UK is widely regarded as being one of the key countries the drive innovation in technology. Indeed, the computer was invented in the UK, in Manchester. Obviously, much of the innovation now occurs in America. With the signifcantly larger population and economy it provides natural wealth of resources for development of products and the eventual testing and purchase of products. Companies like Microsoft often launch primarily in the US and then "roll out" across the world. The UK doesn't tend to fall too far behind in this pattern.

Recently, however, we appear to have been given a distinct cold shoulder by Microsoft.

The XBox Dashboard was recently significantly improved, using a CoverFlow-style interface with a customisable avatar. It looks and works like a dream. The US also got the benefit of integration of the Netflix service onto the XBox dashboard. Now, not only does the XBox Video Marketplace allow downloading of HD-quality films for watching at leisure, using the Netflix service users can stream HD-movies at any time - no need to wait for the download to occur. Netflix do not operate in the UK, so we don't get this. Why don't they arrange something with LoveFilm.co.uk, who offer a similar service?

The rival MP3 player from Microsoft, Zune, has never been available in the UK officially. The Zune is intended to compete with the Apple iPod. The iPod is unfortunately becoming synonymous for this particular technical gadget but there is so much more to this market than just iPods. Creative and many other vendors create MP3 players with a wide variety of features. Microsoft were keen not to get too far behind on this so launched Zune as a means of listening to music, but the "USP" was the ability to share music with your friends and buy music wirelessly using the Zune Marketplace. Your Zune ID was the same as your Windows Live ID which is the same as your XBox Live ID, creating a real ecosystem of identity and technologies. Obviously, for Marketplace to exist in the UK, deals would have to be done in the UK which Microsoft don't seem to be too bothered about. Maybe it is because the market is too small. As the Zune product is developed, we see the Zune HD now has HD Radio, a technology the UK foolishly did not adopt, instead we adopted DAB which is poorer quality than FM (in practice). So they are pushing us further out of the door, reducing the glimmer of hope that they may just change their minds in the future. The UK is left in the clutches of Apple.

At the recent E3 Gamers conference, Microsoft announced a number of exciting new features for the XBox. One of which was the rebranding of the Video Marketplace which allows the downloading of videos form the XBox servers at a small fee. This will be rebranded as "Zune Marketplace". Indeed, the XBox itself already provides some degree of integration with Zune devices. Where does this leave the UK? Will we receive this branding and how will it afect us other than a few colour changes on the XBox dashboard? Again we don't know where the UK will stand.

Microsoft Money is being abandoned (Guardian article), due largely to the success of the Quicken product by Intuit. Microsoft have committed to help users migrate to Quicken as part of a programme of future versions. Unfortunately, Intuit abandoned the UK years ago, so where does this leave UK Money users in need of budget accountancy software?

Hulu has been added to the Windows Media Centre, allowing access to their wide variety of video content direct from your PC or Media Centre environment. Hulu is not available anywhere other than the US. Media Centre content such as Extras which can include content direct from channels is also excluded from UK use. We used to have BBC content, but they pulled it when they reviewed their digital content output. Obviously this is not Microsoft's fault but I think there needs to be some effort made in replacing and securing new content for UK users.

Isle of Man TT: Rumour control

Nathan J Pledger — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:02:00 GMT

This year's TT has been particularly enjoyable, mostly because I have been able to take some time off and watch the racing. Until changing my employment, I would have been involved in the publishing of the live timings over the internet on the iomtt.com site. I would be in the middle of it all (physically and metaphorically) and see very little of it.

Last night's unfortunate incident involving Nick Crowe and Dan Cox reminded me of the problems involved with managing rumour control, particularly when potential injuries (or worse) may have been sustained. The racing and practice sessions were subject to delay due to typically bizarre Manx weather which included the sun "cracking the flags" in Douglas but the West of the island awash with severe rain, which included hailstones at one point. This resulted in quickly rescheduled sessions, the Sure Sidecar 2 race being moved to 18:15.

During the session, in the continuing and exciting competition between Dave Molyneux and Dan Sayle's outfit and Nick Crowe/Mark Cox' outfit, Crowe fell victim to more bad luck when first he appeared to disappear off the live timings and then news came through that his outfit had caught fire. The exact details of how this occurred are as yet unknown but may be linked to the poor reliability of the outfit during the TT fortnight (and previous). Clearly, a fire on the course is a serious issue and the Marshals were quick to red flag the race, that segment of the track was sealed off and outfits sent back to the Granstand in both directions (an interesting site for sure). No word came until later about the condition of the two men, so rumour grew based on the actions of the Clerk of the Course, helicopter dispatch and the ensuing "radio silence".

Consider the timeline of events:

18:15: Race starts. Crowe and Cox are first off in #1, followed 10 seconds later by Molyneux and Sayle in #2.

18:28 (approx): Molyneux and Sayle appear at Ballaugh Bridge timings, ahead of Crowe and Cox. Crowe and Cox do not pass through Ballaugh Bridge. Clearly, something is wrong at this point. Live timings show a "disappeared" outfit which leads one to suspect further reliability problems (though this is not highlighted, you need to keep an eye out).

18:30: Red Flag is shown, terminating the race. So something serious has occured which may have caused or may cause harm to riders.

18:33: The cause of the red flag is confirmed to be a machine on fire at Ballacob (shortly before Ballaugh). Although no confirmation of which machine, it would be clear which one it would be most likely to be, that of Crowe and Cox in #1.

19:24: Helicopter carries riders to Nobles Hospital.

19:37: Sure Sidecar 2 race is confirmed to have been abandoned and will not re-run this year.

Rumour then started to get out of control, with speculation on the cause and injuries sustained by the riders becoming uncontrollable. Traditionally, this had started on the iomtt.com forums. Severe results were claimed, death/injuries, all of which were unsubstantiated. This post has now been removed, by a (ex)colleague who knows more on this than me and is very good at dealing with these issues. In previous years, particularly during the aftermath of the fatal incident on the final lap of the Senior race of 2007, this resulted in whoever was covering the race and the administration team for the forums to clamp down on the forums and attempt to control rumour.

The controlling of rumour tended to be clarification of actions and deletion of posts which speculated or claimed to be aware of the aftermath of an incident, which would include relatives or friends of the victims, even if they were aware of the details. This would understandably create resentment that we were "preventing discussion" and "being difficult" in wishing the affected individuals well. What we were actually doing was working to prevent rumour affecting the affected parties, those close to the affected parties and the event and organisations attached to the event. I do remember in 2007 that posts were posted that frequently claimed knowledge of the effects of the incident which I had to delete using my mobile phone while inbetween internet connections.

The interesting difference this year, however, was the Twitter effect. Whereas a forum can be controlled by a moderation team, which may provide an opportunity to provide some information to the users based on established fact, Twitter is impossible to moderate, let alone control. At about 9pm, Twitter was already carrying rumours from the iomtt.com site, which then started to create another wave of unsubstantiated gossip. I then started to receive text messages on my mobile from people telling me the riders were in a Liverpool Hospital (this morning, news came that they were actually in Nobles).

Whereas previously, press agencies and "rumour control" could control the channels of communication, publishing news only when they were confident affected parties would not be offended or unnecassarily upset, the modern web has moved away from this. From forums to Twitter to Live Timings, information is being published and understood faster than ever before. The Live Timings service is controlled, but the lack of times for Ballaugh and no news on the condition of the riders only contributes to rumour. (That said, the person who updates the news is very qualified and able - but it is a difficult job)

The iomtt.com site currently has this update.

By embracing new media such as web sites and live timing services, the authorities need to consider that news travels much faster than ever before and rumour can grow beyond established fact. This rumour needs to be controlled and the only way to control rumour is to be up front and honest on the facts as soon as possible. This puts the PR people in the driving seat by focussing attention on an official source of information, which itself discredits claims of fact from other sources. Maintaining a professional radio silence is not the answer. Fans of motorsport follow their favoured riders religiously, particularly at the TT where many fans know riders directly. Feeding correct information in a timely fashion, even if in a drip-drip fashion, is essential to reducing the opportunity for rumour to get beyond realty.