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What has you tube ever done for us?

By Dave F in Reader

Posted in In the news, media, the web, music, e-commerce on November 21, 2008 at 9:58 am

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I was going to say what is the point of a tech journal like IT Pro when MSN has it’s own Tech news. My tongue was going to be firmly in my cheek as MSN’s idea of News usually involves Paris Hilton so I assumed the tech stuff would be the same. However, I did actually find an interesting story 

http://tech.uk.msn.com/news/article.aspx?cp-documentid=11130442

 and I agree with the comment. This is the way to use the net to sell stuff not just get it ripped off. The point the record company people have missed since the days of cassettes is that 5,000 personally made illegal copies  is NOT 5,000 lost sales. 4,000+ of those people would just do with out and of those 5,000 some at least will be new fans who will go on and buy a genuine copy at some point.

Of course if we are talking about Hear Say X’s latest single then it will be totally forgotten in a couple of weeks so no one will buy it. But what kind of loss is that?

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Sold Short

By Dave F in Reader

Posted in In the news, faith, Northern Rock, e-commerce on September 18, 2008 at 9:01 am

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How can it be right for a bunch of rich guys to make money out of MAKING misery for the rest of us?
By selling short (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_selling) you can gamble on a share price falling. The problem is if you are big enough you can influence the price down just by selling, so by selling short you push the price down and increase your odds (guarantee would be pushing it) of making a profit. Even worse if the target is a bank (like Halifax / HBOS) as you push the share price down little people (in financial terms) panic and remove cash and so the circle is made more vicious. The price falls more and some people make lots while the rest of us run the risk of our  bank crashing and see millions wiped off our pension funds.
Fortunately HBOS now looks safe - I say fortunately as that is where my savings(*) are but not so fortunate for the thousands that will be looking for work once the merger has maximised its efficiency savings… 
Short selling seems to be a way for the rich to gamble and the richer you are the better the odds which doesn’t seem fair but what seems criminal is that the rest of us suffer as a consequence. Isn’t there a way to stop it?

(*Savings - don’t worry I don’t really have savings they are just offsetting my mortgage!)

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X factor Rant!

By Dave F in Reader

Posted in In the news, faith, media on September 4, 2008 at 12:50 pm

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The X factor is back. That people watch it I can believe, that intelligent caring people watch it I believe but only because I have witnessed them doing it. The humiliation of obviously incapable people for the purpose of entertainment is obscene.
We used to open our mental hospitals for the public to go and laugh at the deranged but society has thankfully moved on. Or not, it seems to have moved back as now we televise them and get Simon Cowell et al get to poke them with sharp stick to make them cavort some more. It may just be an emotional stick but I don’t think even the Victorians allowed that sort of thing.
I expect it is quite funny, Mr Cowell can probably be quite witty and the contestants deserve it - no they don’t. Laughing at someone who thinks they are going to be great entertainer when they patently lack basic social skills has no more merit than laughing at someone who thinks they are Napoleon. I appreciate not all the contestants are mad but some obviously are.
I personally would rather watch a public execution - at least the victims have been convicted of something.

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Signs and Wonders

By Dave F in Reader

Posted in In the news, Funny, faith, media, Men and Women on August 20, 2008 at 3:51 pm

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I’m off on yet more holidays - this time to
A Christian arts festival - but there is plenty of IT about. I may even be down for the stop frame animation workshops - I’ll let you know when I get back!
Here’s a thought before I go
The Mail, how distasteful, but I heard about it on R4 so that’s better. Some 65 year olds object to be seen as old and infirm BUT they still want signs up telling drivers to be considerate to them. Some people just want their cake as well as eating it!
Maybe I should object to the “men” symbol, after all it doesn’t look much like me - I’m not black, seldom spread out like that and I don’t have a completely round head. Still it’s better than the “women” symbol - apparently all women wear skirts and only have one leg.
What would a symbol for programmers look like? Well, many of them do have completely round heads…

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Dumbing down A levels?

By Dave F in Reader

Posted in In the news, education, Home, Wikipedia, Google on August 14, 2008 at 5:25 pm

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It’s that time of year when people start muttering about A levels.  Do better results mean cleverer kids or easier exams? I can just about remember my A levels (nearly 30 years ago) and I did a fair amount of looking at the work my daughter had to do for hers so I’m not in a bad place to comment.
As far as I can see the answer is yes and no.  No the questions aren’t any easier but yes the way you can sit them is.
Course work means you don’t have to rely on a good day to produce good work. It also means you can get some sneaky help but most of all it can be re-done. If you hand it in and get a B (or and E or an F) they hand it back and say do it better (with suggestions of how to).
The fact that teachers teach to the exam (in my day teachers occasionally “wasted” time telling you useful stuff that wasn’t on the syllabus) and both teachers an kids put a lot of effort into getting the grades has got to help too.
Plus there is all the help available outside of school. When I couldn’t do my calculus it was wait and see the teacher or walk to the library and see if they had some books. My daughter not only had homework clubs, revision books galore she also had Google and even me (my dad helped me but he hadn’t done A level maths). I have to say of all of those the one that was most help was probably google (most often linking to wikipedia)!
So exams don’t have easier questions and kids aren’t vastly cleverer but they are better informed (and certainly in this family) they work harder so improved results are no great mystery.

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Alcohol ‘irrelevant’ in rape

By Dave F in Reader

Posted in In the news, Men and Women on August 12, 2008 at 8:59 am

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7555000/7555600.stm

We need to ask what is the ethos of the criminal injuries compensation fund. If it is akin to a insurance scheme that pays out to when we have been injured then there is every case for reduced payments to those who have placed themselves at greater risk. I fully agree that to be considered to be “to blame” for being raped (or mugged) is offensive and plain wrong however in terms of compensation some allowance for risks taken may be appropriate. My insurance will not pay out if I leave my car unlocked although the crime is still not justified. In fact I have to pay a higher premium because I am guilty of not owning a garage!

There is also the issue of psychological consequences. Many victims suffer because they no longer feel safe in the situation they were in. If the consequence is the victim no longer leave the house even in daylight this is a more severe situation than if the victim can no longer walk down dark alleys drunk.

These are general points and are not directed to the woman in the case referred to especially as she claims not to have been drinking to excess!

I also have to question the use of sex discrimination law. As this policy applies to all forms of attacks how is sex discrimination used when young men are by far the highest target of violence?

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