My word of the week is 'vomitous' (an Adjective which I appear to have made-up).
No advert that I have seen in the past week is more vomitous than that depicting a LandRover Discovery 3 driving across the plains of the Arctic, smugly showing the simple natives how to cross the ice in comfort (see here for examples). Now, I have not yet found emissions statistics for the Disco 3, but I'll gladly bet it's output is more environmentally damaging than a dog-sled (especially with the heating on). The most offensive aspect of the advert is its purported location - the very place that's going to disappear thanks to such "Sports Utility Vehicles".
The fact that Landrover is owned by Ford Motor Company, good friends of Hitler, is unsurprising. I want to know when the Green Parties of the world are going to see you can't change things through government when the multinationals are funding the major parties everywhere. Apparently it's too fucking late anyway. Be it on the head of every corporate exec, every American driver, every parent driving their children to school in a supertanker.
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Tuesday 31 January 2006
Post-Exodus
In my last post about Cyber Nations, I briefly mentioned an envisioned "NS Exodus".
The PRP seems to have enthusiastically embraced CN, after their criticisms of NS game-mechanics and utter lack of development in 3 years, to the point the new organisation on the block for NSers is named NPO and no-one is condemning it. I haven't logged into NS daily since Summer 2004, though every day for the past week, I've been on CN every few hours.
It can only be a matter of time until I completely give up on my nations in NS. But let's assume the same happens to prominent members of the Pacific. Eventually the core of the PRP would disappear by the end of 2006, leading to a power vacuum. A new government would rise in the PRP's place, other regions would experience similar changes, and the entire landscape of NS could alter drastically.
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The PRP seems to have enthusiastically embraced CN, after their criticisms of NS game-mechanics and utter lack of development in 3 years, to the point the new organisation on the block for NSers is named NPO and no-one is condemning it. I haven't logged into NS daily since Summer 2004, though every day for the past week, I've been on CN every few hours.
It can only be a matter of time until I completely give up on my nations in NS. But let's assume the same happens to prominent members of the Pacific. Eventually the core of the PRP would disappear by the end of 2006, leading to a power vacuum. A new government would rise in the PRP's place, other regions would experience similar changes, and the entire landscape of NS could alter drastically.
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Sunday 29 January 2006
Fake Celebrity Binaries
Once again, the BBC News website informs me of the trivial shit of Big Brother (oh, how the masses love their Orwellian future™).
I try hard not to read the summary, but "'Fake' celebrity Chantelle Houghton wins Big Brother" rammed its way through my optical nerve. Exactly what is Celebrity Big Brother when the winner is a non-Celebrity (ie, the sort of people who don't have pools for people to die in)? But then, having won the reality (sic) TV show that person is now a celebrity - or at least will until everyone forgets when the next rendition of the show is rolled out again.
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I try hard not to read the summary, but "'Fake' celebrity Chantelle Houghton wins Big Brother" rammed its way through my optical nerve. Exactly what is Celebrity Big Brother when the winner is a non-Celebrity (ie, the sort of people who don't have pools for people to die in)? But then, having won the reality (sic) TV show that person is now a celebrity - or at least will until everyone forgets when the next rendition of the show is rolled out again.
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Saturday 28 January 2006
Returning to Analogue
It might look like a hellish puke-yellow disc, but abandon all plans to buy a BR-DVD (Blu-Ray) or HD-DVD (High Definition) player (and certainly don't expect a dual player). Those formats aren't even intermediary in the jump from DVD to the Holographic Versatile Disc.
If technology has taught us anything before (*cough* MiniDisc), it's that BR/HD-DVD will be superseded within the next 10 years by HVD. Meanwhile, the true idiots out there (who don't know a format war when they see it) will end up buying the same titles again (and will no doubt buy them again when they're released on HVD).
I'm also hoping there will be HVD-Audio. DVD-Audio doesn't compare to the sound vinyl puts out if you listen attentively. I just burnt a CD of late 70s/early 80s synth tracks (Berlin-era Bowie, OMD, Japan) and the first track was recorded from the original single, so it's strange to hear the crackle of vinyl on a CD player.
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If technology has taught us anything before (*cough* MiniDisc), it's that BR/HD-DVD will be superseded within the next 10 years by HVD. Meanwhile, the true idiots out there (who don't know a format war when they see it) will end up buying the same titles again (and will no doubt buy them again when they're released on HVD).
I'm also hoping there will be HVD-Audio. DVD-Audio doesn't compare to the sound vinyl puts out if you listen attentively. I just burnt a CD of late 70s/early 80s synth tracks (Berlin-era Bowie, OMD, Japan) and the first track was recorded from the original single, so it's strange to hear the crackle of vinyl on a CD player.
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Friday 27 January 2006
Loose Ends [December/January]
Salute the Handkerchief, Flying So Proudly in the Air!, 21/01
Tell that to the booming industry of sticking a flag on everything (oh, but it's a 'symbol of a nation standing against terror' (sic)), particularly the political parties. I've been looking for the relevant legislation on Colombian political parties being banned from using the national colours, but it remains elusive.
Simpsons Treehouse of Horror VIII:
Anyway, here's a gallery of abuses, both commerical and private.
---------------------
Somewhere South of Making Sense, 14/01
Brown's all-of-a-sudden bursting into song of Rule Britannia is the most stupid thing I've ever witnessed in politics since (fist in mouth just thinking about it) John Prescott's dancing in May 1997. There won't be any flying of Union Jacks up here, but I'm only to happy to tell Brown where he can stick it instead.
---------------------
Wikify This, 21/12
Why didn't Nature correct the errors and highlight the problem, rather than just saying there are errors without revealing exactly what was wrong? Is it the same reason the scientists and philosophers opposed Deep Thought?
---------------------
Untitled, 18/12
This country seems to have sort connection with Poland that I can't quite identify, so it ends up here.
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The flag should never be used for any advertising purpose. It should not be embroidered, printed, or otherwise impressed on such articles as cushions, handkerchiefs, napkins, boxes, or anything intended to be discarded after temporary use. Advertising signs should not be attached to the staff or halyard.
Tell that to the booming industry of sticking a flag on everything (oh, but it's a 'symbol of a nation standing against terror' (sic)), particularly the political parties. I've been looking for the relevant legislation on Colombian political parties being banned from using the national colours, but it remains elusive.
Simpsons Treehouse of Horror VIII:
Kang: Abortions for all.
[crowd boos]
Very well, no abortions for anyone.
[crowd boos]
Hmm... Abortions for some, miniature American flags for others.
[crowd cheers and waves miniature flags]
Anyway, here's a gallery of abuses, both commerical and private.
---------------------
Somewhere South of Making Sense, 14/01
Brown's all-of-a-sudden bursting into song of Rule Britannia is the most stupid thing I've ever witnessed in politics since (fist in mouth just thinking about it) John Prescott's dancing in May 1997. There won't be any flying of Union Jacks up here, but I'm only to happy to tell Brown where he can stick it instead.
---------------------
Wikify This, 21/12
Why didn't Nature correct the errors and highlight the problem, rather than just saying there are errors without revealing exactly what was wrong? Is it the same reason the scientists and philosophers opposed Deep Thought?
---------------------
Untitled, 18/12
This country seems to have sort connection with Poland that I can't quite identify, so it ends up here.
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Descent into Bickering
Everybody's other favourite political game (after Particracy) is Cyber Nations. As is traditional for a new political game, a massive influx of NS players will soon bring down their server, though not as bad as the NS server was way back in December/January 2003 because all the short-time players will not be there.
Will a critical mass of long-time NSers bring problems? I don't think so, the issues between personalities on NS should not arise because, unlike NS, CN provides a game-mechanics way to interact. NS gave us the regional message board and essentially halted - the regions then went away and created off-site forums and regional governments (interlinked). That's why personality conflicts and factionalism are abound.
There already appears to be a pan-NS alliance forming on CN. I think this could be the beginning of the NationStates Exodus.
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Will a critical mass of long-time NSers bring problems? I don't think so, the issues between personalities on NS should not arise because, unlike NS, CN provides a game-mechanics way to interact. NS gave us the regional message board and essentially halted - the regions then went away and created off-site forums and regional governments (interlinked). That's why personality conflicts and factionalism are abound.
There already appears to be a pan-NS alliance forming on CN. I think this could be the beginning of the NationStates Exodus.
[147]
Thursday 26 January 2006
Backpacking Across the Great Firewall
Everyone's heard about it, but what are people doing about it?
Wiki vandalism at 20:05 Jan 26th:
I, meanwhile, have taken to performing a daily censored-word search at google.cn. I got lucky today with a search for "June 4th" (6月4日) and Tiananmen (六四天安门事件) - at the bottom of the page the following appears:
Poorly translated via Babelfish gives:
Yes, it truly is the Asian Century: Chaos in Iraq, Thailand is considering censoring the internet, Religious wackos in the hills of Afghanistan, regional-power wannabes in Iran, the odd earthquake or tsunami, North Korea still exists, and school children are forced to kill each other in a bloody 3 day contest on a remote island.
Wiki vandalism at 20:05 Jan 26th:
Google is trading off freedom of information for market share
On the 25th January, 2006, Google has announced that it will censor itself in order to please the Chinese government. This means that thousands of search terms cannot be accessed by ordinary Chinese via google.cn. Taking into consideration Google's own mission statement, taking into consideration Art. 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, taking into consideration chapter 40 of Agenda 21 this is unacceptable. Goolge slaughters the promise of free information – a promise shared by the wiki community! – for the simple and crude reason of money. Thus, the world as a whole is left with two choices: 1.Google returns to its ethics and does not allow the Chines government to dictate its content. 2.Google does trade ethics for money and as a consequence the community still upholding the values of open source, open access, open information creates its own search engine and boycotts Google. Inaction on behalf of us, who have gathered here in order to give the world the greatest gift of them all – access to knowledge – , is not an option, not without selling our own open spirit. We cannot stand aside and tolerate and accept that the Google enterprise is turning into a corrupt, money-minded empire, which gives a damn where this world is going to end up. You may delete this appeal from this page, but you can never delete it from your conscious. Whether you hit “trash” or “copy” makes only a small difference to your keyboard, but it makes a huge to the rest of the world. If this world wants to be one nation of free and shared information we have to act now.
I, meanwhile, have taken to performing a daily censored-word search at google.cn. I got lucky today with a search for "June 4th" (6月4日) and Tiananmen (六四天安门事件) - at the bottom of the page the following appears:
据当地法律法规和政策，部分搜索结果未予显示。
Poorly translated via Babelfish gives:
According to the local law laws and regulations and the policy, the part searches the result not to demonstrate.
Yes, it truly is the Asian Century: Chaos in Iraq, Thailand is considering censoring the internet, Religious wackos in the hills of Afghanistan, regional-power wannabes in Iran, the odd earthquake or tsunami, North Korea still exists, and school children are forced to kill each other in a bloody 3 day contest on a remote island.
Tuesday 24 January 2006
Back At The Wheel
As there's nought to worry about on the Tuition Fees front, I thought I might get back to writing something here.
I know at least a few people have dropped by this blog and at least one has differing opinions on some of the socio-political-economic posts. If you have an opinion on a post or an argument against some of my controversial ideas (eg, killing most people over 30), please comment on it using the Comment feature. There has to be a least one bullet-ridden wall when the revolution comes :P
For those concerned with my Battle Royale obsession, I haven't watched it since last Friday. The Donnie Darko comparison is apt as I only watched that once after my 5 viewings (the following month) and it appears I won't be watching it again for a while (I know it so well, I was actually replaying BR in my
mind last night whilst trying to sleep). Indeed, "the only one worth dying with would be you"
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I know at least a few people have dropped by this blog and at least one has differing opinions on some of the socio-political-economic posts. If you have an opinion on a post or an argument against some of my controversial ideas (eg, killing most people over 30), please comment on it using the Comment feature. There has to be a least one bullet-ridden wall when the revolution comes :P
For those concerned with my Battle Royale obsession, I haven't watched it since last Friday. The Donnie Darko comparison is apt as I only watched that once after my 5 viewings (the following month) and it appears I won't be watching it again for a while (I know it so well, I was actually replaying BR in my
mind last night whilst trying to sleep). Indeed, "the only one worth dying with would be you"
[172]
Saturday 21 January 2006
Game Over... For Real!
Not since Donnie Darko in June 2003 have I watched a film three times in three consecutive nights. Japanese cinema gave me Battle Royale, and as with independent films in the West, I am grateful to be spared the simpleton tripe of mainstream Hollywood.
In fact, not since Donnie Darko have I been so obsessed about a film. I first saw Battle Royale in May 2004 on Channel 4, the night before my last day of school (see Nanahara's narration during the bus scene). Unfortunately, I missed the first 30 minutes and only saw the whole thing when the download finished last Wednesday after 5 days.
In fact, not since Donnie Darko have I been so obsessed about a film. I first saw Battle Royale in May 2004 on Channel 4, the night before my last day of school (see Nanahara's narration during the bus scene). Unfortunately, I missed the first 30 minutes and only saw the whole thing when the download finished last Wednesday after 5 days.
Wednesday 18 January 2006
Twenty Twenty-Four
Perhaps for the first time ever, I didn't feel secure yesterday. I'm not scared of terrorists, muggers or that Christian deity. My fear concerned privacy.
I was thinking about the large number of Poles who work here since Poland joined the EU, and what sort of memories those old-enough have of being under constant supervision. Look at places like Iran and China - both booming economies with rising living standards (though, for how long until it dents profits?) yet strict social control. How many times have Trotskyists, been told to go live in China if they didn't like things here? It's a sure bet I'd be living in a prison in China for publishing what I write here, and equally that there's a Chinese blogger just like me out there. Yet where I can publish freely, at least for now until Project New Labour Century rams its legislation through, the Chinese blogger has to censor himself - much worse that having your work censured later by some distant network admins.
Such freedoms that I have when writing cannot last long in the current climate of war after war... It increasingly looks like Iran is next - if they really did have Nuclear weapons (or where anywhere close to having them) like North Korea, we surely would not be acting in this fashion toward Iran. It's only a matter of gradual acceptance before the West turns into Central Asia. What difference then will there be between Oceania and Eastasia?
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I was thinking about the large number of Poles who work here since Poland joined the EU, and what sort of memories those old-enough have of being under constant supervision. Look at places like Iran and China - both booming economies with rising living standards (though, for how long until it dents profits?) yet strict social control. How many times have Trotskyists, been told to go live in China if they didn't like things here? It's a sure bet I'd be living in a prison in China for publishing what I write here, and equally that there's a Chinese blogger just like me out there. Yet where I can publish freely, at least for now until Project New Labour Century rams its legislation through, the Chinese blogger has to censor himself - much worse that having your work censured later by some distant network admins.
Such freedoms that I have when writing cannot last long in the current climate of war after war... It increasingly looks like Iran is next - if they really did have Nuclear weapons (or where anywhere close to having them) like North Korea, we surely would not be acting in this fashion toward Iran. It's only a matter of gradual acceptance before the West turns into Central Asia. What difference then will there be between Oceania and Eastasia?
[253]
Hilarity Ensues
What sort of crazy Home Alone antics could have ensued?
Then again, the story appeared in that magazine The Sun.
Then again, the story appeared in that magazine The Sun.
Friday 13 January 2006
(Stares Blankley)
Marge: (after Lisa laughs at a cartoon disowning the Bill of Rights) Lisa, that's not funny! You believe in the Bill of Rights.Having had exactly 3 hours of sleep since Noon on Wednesday, I had to think fast and pretend my disk failed and therefore couldn't hand in the report today. However, having experienced that for real before, my acting got a little too real... I was ranting to the people sitting beside me about the fucking gale force winds and how whenever the weather is less that sunny, my disks seem to fail.
Lisa: (giggles) I don't know whether it's the lack of sleep, the sodium pentothal, or that it's the only cartoon I've seen in two months. (giggles) (seriously) But this is what I believe now.
And then I realised tonight that I believed my disk really had failed. I completely forgot I was making it up. Now all I need to do is deprive my lecturers of sleep and convince them I handed all my work in.
NB: The quality of this and all pieces I have written today are reflective of the shattered, expressionless, non-blinking state of mind I'm currently in. Starts acting out the final scene of Taxi Driver... o_o
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Wednesday 11 January 2006
La Tristessa Durera (Scream to a Sigh)
Listen, you fuckers, you screwheads. Here is a man who would not take it anymore. A man who stood up against the scum, the cunts, the dogs, the filth, the shit. Here is a man who stood up.Never a moment allowed to be admired. Never a pause to think without being pushed along. Never a moment to recover from the event. Never to see the present again. Washed downstream by a relentless wave, a relentless wave, marching all over everything at a steady 1s/s. Everything must be done now. Every piece of work is ascribed a deadline. Every deferral to a later date counts. Every allocated time runs out. Every time it's zero hour. And right now, I'm tired.
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Monday 9 January 2006
Somewhere in the Wilderness of 3AM
Written at the start of 4 hours of insomnia - 05/01/06
I was just thinking about deceased radio personalities: namely, John Peel and Tommy Vance - both people I thought interesting and likeable for being so unlike the average over 60s, yet I only ever heard Peel's show a handful of times due to its time-slot (and the fact that I abandoned Radio 1 when I was old enough to be up at that time). In Vance's case, I only ever saw him on two appearances on Never Mind the Buzzcocks.
Both have made me fear for the life of Terry Wogan - Master of Radio 2. His infinitely-running breakfast show is on too early (ie, it's on in the morning) for me to ever be a regular listener, but the times I have heard it were post-modern genius*. I watch the Eurovision Song Contest just to hear Wogan, like most people (certainly not for the music). This once a year chance to hear Wogan (except for 1998 when he was hosting it and we could see him) makes me feel the clock's ticking for him - I need more Wogan whilst he's still alive! IIRC, he's retiring from radio in 2007 - so I make my (only ever) New Year's resolution to listen to his show through the BBC's Listen Again feature when I'm not listening to anything.
*I don't know why it's post-modern, perhaps it's the lack of sleep...
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I was just thinking about deceased radio personalities: namely, John Peel and Tommy Vance - both people I thought interesting and likeable for being so unlike the average over 60s, yet I only ever heard Peel's show a handful of times due to its time-slot (and the fact that I abandoned Radio 1 when I was old enough to be up at that time). In Vance's case, I only ever saw him on two appearances on Never Mind the Buzzcocks.
Both have made me fear for the life of Terry Wogan - Master of Radio 2. His infinitely-running breakfast show is on too early (ie, it's on in the morning) for me to ever be a regular listener, but the times I have heard it were post-modern genius*. I watch the Eurovision Song Contest just to hear Wogan, like most people (certainly not for the music). This once a year chance to hear Wogan (except for 1998 when he was hosting it and we could see him) makes me feel the clock's ticking for him - I need more Wogan whilst he's still alive! IIRC, he's retiring from radio in 2007 - so I make my (only ever) New Year's resolution to listen to his show through the BBC's Listen Again feature when I'm not listening to anything.
*I don't know why it's post-modern, perhaps it's the lack of sleep...
[254]
Thursday 5 January 2006
Remember the dead; don't forget the living?
Will this become this in another few decades?
I've already written about the total irrelevance of WWI in terms of sheer time and relevance to modern warfare. By the 2020s, all WWI veterans will be dead and very few (more likely none) of their children will be alive - so with all direct links to that war decayed (and those of WWII fraying), will Remembrance Day change?
For the 18-30s, war is nowhere near as close to home as it was during WWII (in terms of actual bombardment), so you can't possibly expect us to have the same understanding of what it means to be killed in war. For those old enough, the Falkland War was the last remote war, and the Gulf War passed me by (I've only ever see it on UK History). I've only ever been consciously aware of the Iraq War, and that hasn't killed anyone I know or meant I had to ration food.
Within 50 years, Remembrance Day will resemble Trafalgar 250 as time physically removes us from the past - teaching History cannot stop that. It won't be personal after 150 years... If only Red team hadn't invaded Blue team.
[203]
I've already written about the total irrelevance of WWI in terms of sheer time and relevance to modern warfare. By the 2020s, all WWI veterans will be dead and very few (more likely none) of their children will be alive - so with all direct links to that war decayed (and those of WWII fraying), will Remembrance Day change?
For the 18-30s, war is nowhere near as close to home as it was during WWII (in terms of actual bombardment), so you can't possibly expect us to have the same understanding of what it means to be killed in war. For those old enough, the Falkland War was the last remote war, and the Gulf War passed me by (I've only ever see it on UK History). I've only ever been consciously aware of the Iraq War, and that hasn't killed anyone I know or meant I had to ration food.
Within 50 years, Remembrance Day will resemble Trafalgar 250 as time physically removes us from the past - teaching History cannot stop that. It won't be personal after 150 years... If only Red team hadn't invaded Blue team.
[203]
Sunday 1 January 2006
New Year: Same Decade
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4573052.stm
This just adds to the anti-semitic problem. A few years ago a Romanian newspaper, in an article on the anniversary of the end of WWII, brought up the fact that it wasn't just the Jews who were persecuted. Israel threw a fit and demanded an immediate apology for suggesting the holocaust didn't happen.
If ever a problem was not solved, if ever it just kept growing, welcome to 2006.
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Islamic militants have used Israel's treatment of Palestinians to rally support for their violent campaigns.He talks about an "anti-semitic tsunami" (which is plainly an attention grabbing phrase a year on from the Boxing Day Tsunami) and then denounces anyone who criticises Israel's internal and foreign policy as an "islamic militant". I've never called for the end of the Israeli state, but I have called for the end of establishmentarianism in Israeli - where being a Jew, being Jewish, or being an Israeli all seem to be the same thing and all make you anti-semitic if you have nothing but blind praise to give.
The chief rabbi however, pointed out that wars in Chechnya, the Philippines and Indonesia would be happening even if Israel did not exist.
This just adds to the anti-semitic problem. A few years ago a Romanian newspaper, in an article on the anniversary of the end of WWII, brought up the fact that it wasn't just the Jews who were persecuted. Israel threw a fit and demanded an immediate apology for suggesting the holocaust didn't happen.
If ever a problem was not solved, if ever it just kept growing, welcome to 2006.
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