Owner: paulcanning URL:http://paulcanning.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Fri, 09 Mar 2007 19:24:41 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: web stuff and other ramblings Site statistics:Click here
C4's legacy news website 2008-03-12 02:54:00 To read the transcript you need Microsoft Word. Do they have a deal or is it just ..... oh geez, don't get me started ... Read more:website
Urgent appeal; Mehdi Kazemi; please help 2008-03-11 14:02:00 As you may be aware from the BBC, the 19 year old gay Iranian refugee Mehdi
Kazemi has lost his case in the Netherlands and the Dutch are refusing to reconsider.Mehdi is under real threat of deportation by the Home Office (this was why he fled to Holland) as his legal avenues are near-exhausted. If returned to Tehran it is extremely likely that he will be executed, as his young boyfriend already has been.The United Kingdom had sent a formal request to Holland asking for Mehdi's return to Britain, in order to proceed with his deportation to Iran.I understand that he will be returned to the UK within three days and there are no guarantees that he will not then be immediately deported. An appeal to the European Court is being drawn up.Please help by doing any of the following today:PLEASE con Read more:Urgent
More online women entrepreneurs would boost our economy 2008-03-11 12:14:00 "Women need to know that even if they have never programmed a line of code in their lives, there is a great variety of user-friendly tech solutions to explore and implement, allowing people from all walks of life to reinvent themselves as entrepreneurs."Amy Tiemann~~~~I was struck by a line in a Mail On Sunday article about Julia Reynolds, the women responsible for transforming Tesco's clothes operation — she's moving to a dotcom.The article is about how she couldn't stand the macho dickheads running Tesco any longer and was packing her trunk and leaving."I'd just had my fill of chest-beating alpha males. I had some of the most horrendous things said to me and it is only now that I can laugh about them."She remembers comments such as, 'Who the f*** are you to be driving a [nice] car like Read more:online
, economy
Google Reader clips catch up 2008-03-11 09:48:00 Helping funders find you onlineDave Wilcox interview with US-based consultant John Kenyon on nonprofit fundraising.The power of informationV. interesting speech by egov Minister Tom Watson.Attacking the great digital divideSydney Morning Herald explains the difficulties and opportunities in providing IT for remote communities: bugs and floods.Oops! 'Ferry crash' unstitches Google
mapsThe perils of 'stitching' in GMaps.To Aim Ads, Web Is Keeping Closer Eye on YouNew York Times front-page on the developments in ad targeting.Can you blog away the blues?Psychological benefits of blogging.Rainbow over PalestinePalestinians now have an LGBT organisation.Off the Record? Not Unless You Agree Ahead of TimeJohn Battelle's take on the Scotsman/Obama campaign episode.How Are Candidates Spending Their Read more:Reader
, Google Reader
Donate rice + improve your English! 2008-03-11 06:52:00 Give free rice to hungry people by playing a fun, simple word game!It has two goals: Provide English
vocabulary to everyone for free.Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free. This is made possible by the sponsors who advertise on this site. FreeRice is a sister site of the world poverty site, Poverty.com. Read more:Donate
Turning web buzz into votes: how Obama does it 2008-03-11 03:30:00 Techpresident ran a good summary of how the Obama
campaign in California used various web-based tools to connect offline with online — and get out the vote.This is crucial stuff for those seeking to convince UK and other parties and politicians to invest more in online but we don't yet have real studies or much data on offline effects, i.e. how many extra votes, new voters, convinced late deciders or new organisers the online campaigns have generated over previous tools, such as direct-mail, or traditional shoe-leather methods. This will undoubtedly happen in the post mortems but the evidence already points to a real effect, particularly in generating momentum.As I noted earlier, Obama's online edge obviously hasn't pushed him over the top but traditional negative campaigning has been se
Civil Serf was a mistake and a priviliged moan, that's all 2008-03-10 13:49:00 It starts with the name. Here's what a 'serf' actually is:Serfdom is the socio-economic status of peasants under feudalism, and specifically relates to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery seen primarily during the Middle Ages in Europe. Serfdom was the enforced labour of serfs on the fields of landowners, in return for protection and the right to work on their leased fields.She wasn't a serf but a highly privileged Westerner who has numerous protections. To call yourself a 'serf' in that way to me says it all about the lack of self-awareness at the heart of it. It may have been fun to read but so is a good column. Hardly earth-shattering or ground-breaking or world-changing, just 'fun'. Yes Minister said the same thirty years ago.She also wasn't a 'whistleblower' Read more:Civil
State violence in the Kenyan crisis 2008-03-10 11:21:00 A photograph flashed around the world showing a screaming child left terrorised by the murder of his young mother in the outbreak of tribal violence in Kenya. Tracy McVeigh found the boy after travelling to a village near Nairobi and, in this compelling dispatch, pieces together the tragic story behind the callous killing that ripped his family apart.Newsnight also carried a report on state violence in the Kenyan
crisis this week, which covers the state's introduction of the feared Mungiki gang into the crisis - VIDEO.The government's spokesperson — the appalling Alfred Mutua — responds: 'it is preposterous' - VIDEO.Much of the violence and deaths in the recent crisis were not 'tribal' but carried out by the state, at last some proof is emerging.Joseph Karoki has been amongst those try Read more:State
BNP vs Obama: stats lesson 2008-03-10 02:48:00 I posted about how Hitwise blogger Robin Gould was noting the large number of searches for Obama
information (I actually said Heather Hopkins, sorry Robin) from the UK.This clanged for me because a think tank, the Centre for Policy Studies, publicised numbers last month, sourced from Hitwise, that the BNP had the most popular UK political party website.So I asked them wassup? and they responded:Last year we did issue a statement about BNP and CPS are quoting correct information that BNP were the most visited party website at the time of the release. Please do bear in mind our data is referring to percentage of site visits and not unique visitor numbers.Here's the difference:Unique Visitors: Represents the number of unduplicated (counted only once) visitors to your website over the course o Read more:lesson
Banksy on the Essex Road 2008-03-10 01:24:00 Time lapse film of people coming to see his latest for one hour on March 6. It's now covered up to protect it from vandals - I think it's actually opposite a Tesco Local. NB: you may want to turn the volume down due to hideous music choice.Banksy on Flickr
Labour's ongoing gay refugee shame 2008-03-09 14:24:00 In September 2003, Israfil Shiri, a gay Iranian asylum seeker, died after pouring petrol over himself and setting himself on fire in the offices of Refugee Action in Manchester, after his asylum claim was refused (in the lower and appeal court) and his deportation to Iran, where he would have been hanged, had been arranged. Iranian authorities had obtained documented evidence of his sexuality.In April 2005 Hussein Nasseri shot himself two weeks after his asylum claim was turned down by the Home Office, refusing in this way to let himself be killed by Iranian executioners.In 2005 then Home Secretary Charles Clarke was asked by Stonewall to intervene when an Appeal court judge used the following language in turning down a refugee's claim:'He [the asylum seeker] says he fled when he realised Read more:Labour
, shame
Rewriting history over Rwanda 2008-03-09 12:02:00 Asked in Iowa what decisions his wife had disagreed with Bill Clinton said that:She had wanted the United States to intervene in Rwanda in 1994 ... Had he listened to his wife, Clinton said, things might have been different."I believe if I had moved we might have saved at least a third of those lives," he said. "I think she clearly would have done that."He went on to explain how America, which did intervene in the former Yugoslavia, could only take on so much at once. But not acting in Rwanda, he suggested, was a mistake his wife wouldn't make.Asked about that claim Hillary said:It is. It is true. And, you know, I believe that our government failed. We obviously didn't have a lot of good options. It moved very quickly. It was a difficult, terrible genocide to try to get our arms around and
OnePolitics: concept proved 2008-03-09 09:53:00 OnePolitics is a self-described 'proof of concept' site which pulls together all the the web 2.0 offerings like blogs from the MSM's political coverage.It was made by Simon Dickson and he calls it 'an RSS aggregator for people who don’t get RSS' (which would be most people).Lots of political journalists now blog and onepolitics really helps anyone who wants to keep up with what's on the mind of that group. I'm one of them and the concept has been proved for me by my actually using it.So instead of clicking through various bookmarks I get a quick 'top-down shot' of what's going on as well as an easy way to see what's being said about 'hot topics'. I should say I do use RSS but it sits neatly with clicking through the MSM front pages, which you can't do in Google Reader, you have to open t
America's pompous journalists 2008-03-09 09:04:00 One of the big stories in the US election campaign this week was the resignation of Obama aide Samantha Power after she called Hillary Clinton a "monster" in an interview with The Scotsman. She was expressing what's been reported in the US as 'background', that this sort of frustration in the Obama camp exists, only here it was being named in print.What's interesting is the near-universal reaction in America
that, somehow, The Scotsman's inclusion of that quote was a typical example of British journalism's 'low ethical standards'. This was exemplified in an interview which MSNBC's Tucker Carlson did with the Scotsman journalist, Gerri Peev.But what the episode actually highlights is American journalisms willingness to cow-tow to politicians. MSNBC's reporter seems to think it's 'low' to re Read more:journalists
Video: Inside Iran's Secret Gay World 2008-03-07 21:35:00 Excellent Canadian Broadcasting Company documentary about gay life in Iran: "We have to sacrifice everything to move forward"Part One:Part two:Part Three: Read more:World
Amazing predictions - from 1900 2008-03-07 12:32:00 1900, Ladies Home Journal: 'These prophesies may seem strange, almost impossible ... 'Telephones Around The World. Wireless telephone and telegraph circuits will span the world. A husband in the middle of the Atlantic will be able to converse with his wife sitting in her boudoir in Chicago. We will be able to telephone to China quite as readily as we now talk from New York to Brooklyn . By an automatic signal they will connect with any circuit in their locality without the intervention of a 'Hello Girl'.Strawberries As Large As Apples. Coal Will Not Ne Used For Heating Or Cooking. Man Will See Around The World. Store Purchases By Tube. The American Will Be Taller. Trains One Hundred And Fifty Miles An Hour.Click image to read Amazing
! Predictions!
Mehdi Kazemi in his own words 2008-03-07 03:56:00 Last September President Ahmadinejad of Iran told an audience in New York that 'we have no homosexuals in Iran'. This story was republished around the world and there's video below. In the comments section of the New York Sun I found a response by Mehdi
himself:I do exist as an Iranian homosexual I have got very surprised, very angry of this article and I do not understand really what is point of President of Iran. If Iran do not have any homosexual then I do not understand who I am then because I am an Iranian Gay and I have so many problem back my country where is Iran because of my sexual orientationmy life is in danger in Iran then what is that?What is the piont of seeking asylum for Iranian Homosexual? They do not want to leave their country, family, friends,...... . Why is that? They
The shame of gay asylum in the UK 2008-03-06 10:33:00 Peter Tatchell wrote the following in 1996 in CIF about the UK's attitude to gay asylum seekers.He has long experience of personally helping many, so he knows of what he speaks:The failure to give refuge to the victims of genuine homophobic persecution is the single greatest blot on the gay rights record of Tony Blair's administration.Too right. Jacqui Smith is complicit, as were her predecessors and let's not forget the gay and lesbian people in power who've stood by.From my day-to-day work with asylum seekers, I hear first hand shocking stories about homophobic abuse and inhumane conditions inside the UK's asylum detention centres, including allegations of homophobic insults, beatings and sexual assaults. Frightened refugees, who have narrowly escaped death and seen their partners murder Read more:shame
BBC finally embedding video 2008-03-14 12:08:00 As I noted a while back the BBC had started embedding video
- on the occasional tech page/blog - and has now decided to use Flash Video embedding everywhere around the news site. The details are announced today on their Internet blog.Which is all good but the blog post doesn't explain why they aren't providing the embed code for others which other big media players are starting to allow. See clip reuse en masse in the US Primaries.This is also obvious to me in the Madhi Kazemi campaign, I end up with Sky clips but not CNN when the latter has done a much better job, and seeing that would undoubtedly help their credibility/viewership. Just linking doesn't cut it any more when someone else's clip is right there.This all seems a bit daft when they evidentially aren't policing the reuse of thei
'I could not make my peace with the power imbalance' 2008-03-13 18:21:00 “Ruth Henderson,” a former booking agent for incredibly high-priced Manhattan 'call girls' explains how it all works for Pajamas Media.Show me a rich and power
ful man between the ages of 35 and 60 who has never paid an escort for sex, and I will show you a man who is a very rare exception.Why would a rich, powerful and handsome man pay for extra-marital sex? Aren’t there tons of women waiting to throw themselves at him for free? Yes, there are. But those women always want something: they want attention, intimacy and romance. They want to enjoy the high of sleeping with a powerful man. Escorts don’t want or care about any of those things.The simple act of ordering up an anonymously pretty 22 year-old girl to do your bidding in the salubrious confines of a luxury hotel suite is an ac
Wow, just ... Wow 2008-03-13 16:59:00 This is a '360-degree interactive spherical video' or immersive video— just click on it and you can move around as it plays.More about who made this.Here's another one. Try pointing at the sky and imagine you're lying on the back of a truck (I did this once through Sydney, was fun).An immersive video is basically a video recording of a real world scene, where the view in every direction is recorded at the same time. During playback the viewer has control of the viewing direction, up down & sideways. Generally the only area that can't be viewed is the view toward the camera support. The material is recorded as data which when played back through a software player allows the user control of the viewing direction and playback speed. The player control is typically via a mouse or other sensi
Blind New Yorker making history 2008-03-13 04:59:00 Worth recording that with the demise of Elliot Spitzer, 'client #9' of a rich man's brothel, New York State now has the first blind Govenor in the US.David Paterson is also the first black Governor of New York.He is the most senior blind politician in the world, after the demise of David Blunkett (Gordon Brown is blind in one eye).An infection during infancy left him with no sight in his left eye and severely limited vision in his right. He has optic atrophy.He is the son of Basil Paterson, who was the first African American Deputy Mayor of New York City. Read more:Blind
, Yorker
, making
John Oliver on the Primaries 2008-03-19 07:57:00 Still on Daily Show spin-offs, UK comedian John Oliver
- late of the News Quiz - has been a huge hit with his reports to Jon Stewart. They cheer him like Oprah disciples.Channel Four News decided to interview him in a little cross promotion (the Daily Show's on More4) and you can see the unedited version on their crappy website (the one with MS Word downloads), which you have to go to to view - no embedding, of course, not even a 'share by email' link on the video, just 'send this article to a friend' at the bottom of the page where no-one will look. I'm watching! Not reading the intro blurb! FCS! How many adviews do they lose by not enabling Daily Show fanatics to share even this (they would)!The humourless journalist tries to compare US vs. UK and assumes we're plain boring. Oliver: "Do
Oprah - Root of All Evil? 2008-03-19 07:13:00 Lewis Black is a comedian and 'leftie' New Yorker with a regular slot on the Daily Show: one which brings new meaning to 'vituperative'.Finally he's got his own show, with him as the judge in a format described by the New York Times as a cross between “The People’s Court,” “Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher” and Drew Carey’s improvisational “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” (only funnier)The premiere had “Oprah
v. the Catholic Church.”Here's part of the argument that Oprah is 'the root of all evil'.Other episodes pit “Donald Trump v. Viagra.”, Vice President Dick Cheney against Paris Hilton; “American Idol” against high school; and Kim Jong-il against Tila Tequila, the amorous reality star on MTV.More video here.Here's an anti-Google rant from the Daily Show.And a
Another wow: mobile calls without voice - seriously 2008-03-20 21:57:00 Via New Scientist comes this staggering demo of a new voiceless communication technology.One application: shuts up loud people talking to themselves on trains.All about it.The demo.And here uses for people who have lost or degraded speech: Read more:calls
Cameroons: Listen up - 'Getting Bloggers To Write About You ' 2008-03-20 21:39:00 Here's '17 Tips For Getting Bloggers To Write
About You' by Boing Boing's Cory Doctorow.Have a linkHave a permanent linkHave a link for everythingUse real linksUse links that go to pagesFlash sites stinkPDFs stinkStreams stinkPut your URL on your imagesLinking policies are ridiculousDon't worry about "bandwidth stealing"Offer high-res imagesForget the "copyright protection" JavascriptEnough with the legal boilerplateLet bloggers know how you'd like to be attributedCreative Commons licensing takes the guesswork out of bloggingFinally: Send suggestions by the preferred meansHere be the nuggets (#9 is particular genius). Read more:Listen
Home Office aligns with George Galloway 2008-03-20 12:28:00 Some absolutely shameless statements by a Home Office
Minister in the Lords yesterday.Lord Spit, sorry, Lord West of Spithead (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Security and Counter-terrorism), Home Office), made the claim that in the one case they'd investigated it wasn't homosexuality which the execution was for but for rape.This echoes George
Galloway's repetition of the Iranian regime's lies.For the Home Office to:admit they have investigated only one caseuse the Iranian regime's lies against gay asylum seekersis almost hard to take in. The complicity is just astonishing. Shameless.Spithead said:We are not aware of any individual having been executed solely on the grounds of homosexuality in IranWe have no evidence of anyone we have sent back being executed[Ugandans sent back (including
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