http://www.manonabus.com politics, london & stuff Wed, 30 Dec 2009 06:08:45 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I've just realised that I put the date in the title of our podcast over at Big Ideas. Actually I don't think that was a good idea - the material isn't time dependent, and there's a date tag in the rss. I suppose putting the date in the title can ... http://www.manonabus.com/?p=10 Actually I've been quite busy with Rich Cochrane, setting up Big Ideas. We've just launched our first podcast - given Rich and I have both been doing stuff on the net for 15 years we are surprisingly lax in getting into new forms - which I spent the weekend editing. ... http://www.manonabus.com/?p=9 After I blogged ID cards below, I noticed an ad in the Google ads on the right of this page from MI5, advertising MI5 careers. Now what keywords triggered that? http://www.manonabus.com/?p=8 Oyster cards (http://www.tfl.gov.uk/oyster) are really quite popular amongst people I know. People really like how convenient they are. Yet they have to be one of the most intrusive tracking systems ever effectively imposed on a large population in modern times. They are actively used by the authorities for reasons other ... http://www.manonabus.com/?p=7 Last week's local council elections in our borough in London kicked the Labour Party out of power and brought in the Conservatives. It was quite a shock to me as Hammersmith & Fulham has been fairly solidly Labour for years. Looking at the election map of H&F shows that the ... http://www.manonabus.com/?p=6 Since I last posted I have: met one new grandparent lost two other grandparents changed jobs ...so the blog hasn't been the highest priority. But since then all this 2.0 stuff really has leapt forward. There's also been a lot of "2.0 is so much hype" (for example, see http://www.schillmania.com/content/opinion/2005/10/dont-believe-the-web-20-hype/), but it occurs to ... http://www.manonabus.com/?p=5 Actually, having thought about it more, what irks me about the cartoon thing is the way in which both sides seem to be playing roles in their clash of civilisations fantasy. Having knocked out Christianity, the Enlightenment warriers are now looking to take out Islam. Likewise, the extreme response suggests ... http://www.manonabus.com/?p=4 Is it hypocritical to defend free speech and to wish that cartoons of Muhammad had never been published? Without too much reflection, this seems to be my natural position. I have little empathy with those who are offended by the cartoons. At the same time, I have no idea why ... http://www.manonabus.com/?p=3