Tory Stereotypes

19 Jun
Tory Utopia

There is something soulless about this view of the world

Prepare to be amazed and thrilled by the following level of insight, I have spotted a basic flaw in the Tory view of the world.

Tory policy may appear all very complex, tied up in ideology and specific views on the economy and social values, but what it all boils down to is this prefix to an opinion:

‘Why should I pay……..’

To be fair to the average Tory, it is more nuanced than that. ‘Why should I pay…’ can be followed by a wide range of comments.

‘Why should I pay for gays to get married’
‘Why should I pay for the benefits for someone born miles away’
‘Why should I pay money to India when they have a space programme.’

I’m not saying these comments are always wrong (they are  bound to strike gold one day) but it is the default Tory position.

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Political fan boys and Twitter: Take 2

18 Jun

image

The other day I was writing about a couple of things that Twitter reminds me of. To sumarise: I’m not as clever as I wish I was, and political fan boys are a bit annoying, and can be fairly boring.

Last night a few politico types (who are usually entertaining and interesting) became a bit annoying.

Question time is filmed in different places around the country, last night they had the gall to go all the way up to Aberdeen. A few people spent the whole time complaining that they were talking about Scottish issues. In Scotland, with the scotch First Minister. Suprise. Lots of comments about ‘they do know they show this to the rest if the country?’

I can’t say I’m glued to Scottish politics on a daily basis, but if you are scotch I’m sure its interesting. It’s the little Westminster politico bubble that most find uninteresting. Then the majority are saying ‘they do know they show this to the rest of the country?’

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Dishonest Football

16 Jun
Marlon King - Scumbag

Dishonest Football

This isn’t going to be a rant about football being over paid, so ill get it out of the way:

Football earn too much money.

Market forces blah blah, but that’s not the point.

Football are just blokes who are talented enough and lucky enough to have made it. This is why I don’t care when they do stupid stuff. Rodney shagging a prostitute? Stupid and sad but I don’t care. Giggs cheating on his wife? Fuck all to do with me.

However, as a football fan I object to dishonesty and a lack of morals within football. That I feel has something to do with me. And recently I have seen a couple of examples that wound me up.

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Twitter

15 Jun
Twitter

The Following Has Very Little To Do With Twitter

My last few posts have been about alternatives to Google, I’ve a few more to do, but I got a bit bored. With my short attention span the new shiny thing to catch my attention is Twitter.

I’ve been using it for about a year, but as a ‘lurker.’ I follow funny people and the news. I’m tempted to start using it properly, but I can’t shake the thought ‘what for, who cares?’ Odd for a bloke with a blog I know, but I like writing and this way I get to play with tech geek stuff. I’m not convinced anybody cares overly much, but its fun to do.

From lurking on Twitter for a while I have had a couple of long held opinions proved.

1. The comedians I enjoy listing to are very clever

It’s obvious that they are funny and must have something about them to be as funny as they are. But comedians like Chris Addison and Rufus Hound are clearly clever, sadly much cleverer than me. It’s always nice to cling to the belief that the people you see doing well are lucky or benefit from working with other people. This is rarely the case. Except for those tossers on reality TV. Although this would be stretching the definition of ‘doing well’. Twitter has helped ruin this whole illusion, and that makes me sad.

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Alternative Search – Part 2 – Blackle

14 Jun

Blackle

Having had a look at how evil Google is – a bit perhaps – I am looking at possible alternatives such as Ecosia. Now I’m looking at the oddly named Blackle.

Blackle

Compared to Ecosia, Blackle is taking a more direct approach to reducing the environmental impact of search engines. The theory is that displaying a white (light) screen takes more energy than a black (dark) screen.

The approach taken by Blackle is to have customized the normal Google interface. As the name suggests the background is black. This means less power is used in displaying the actual result page The energy used from the data centres remains the same, it just reduces the impact created by your computer screen. Still, a nice simple improvement to any everyday event could make a massive difference in the long run. I will admit it is a bit striking when you see a black Google look-a-like, but once you get used to it it looks fine. Aesthetics isn’t exactly the point anyway.

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Alternative Search – Part 1 – Ecosia

13 Jun
Ecosia - Ethical Search

Ecosia - Search doesn't have to be Evil

Last week I was talking about whether Google was evil or not. I reckon we can call it slightly evil, and if you are concerned about this there are a couple of alternatives.

Ecosia

Ecosia was set up by Christian Kroll, obviously off the back of concerns by the environmental damage being caused by search engines. The amount of power being generated by the crazy amount of searches is crazy.

Ecosia have moved to reduce this impact. They use Bing/Yahoo to power their engine, and it does look similar. (side note – a previous incarnation of Krolls search engines used Google, but the pulled out – Evil?) As with the other search engines Ecosia make money when someone clicks on an advert (I imagine Bing gets a bit too) From this Ecosia give a significant percentage charities - WWF & Pure

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Is Google evil?

8 Jun

Google - Don't Be Evil?

Everyone uses Google; they have become one of the biggest companies in the world. They are the main search engine in a lot of countries, particularly in North America and Europe. Their slightly twaty unofficial motto is ‘Don’t Be Evil,’ but can a company that big honestly say they have done no evil?

Evil Google

Competitors

The original Google was more than a touch innovative; you have to give them that. Since then they seem to focus mainly on buying innovation rather than driving it. According to Wikipedia (I know, but it was the easiest quick list) Google have bought 97 companies since 2001. This is possibly evil in two ways. Firstly, without much effort they can rebrand emerging technologies as part of a Google product, using financial muscle rather than technological brains – not really evil, but a bit lazy. Secondly, these companies were often potential competitors – not anymore. It is surprising the amount of these companies that you don’t really hear of again. I’ve talked to a couple of people who worked at companies bought by Google, and they were not pleased about how they were later discarded. I can’t tell if this is mainly a Google evil genius plan to stay ahead of the little companies, or if it’s just them having so much money they don’t really care what they do with it. Either way from the point of view of people, who find themselves employees of Google in this way, it’s a little evil. On the other hand, to the blokes walking away with sacks full of money having sold their company it’s a touch more angelic.

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KIVA

2 Jun
Micro Investment - Kiva

Kiva - An Alternative To Traditional Charity

In the past I have posted on why I give to charity and the charities I choose to give to. Over the past week I have been looking at something new – Kiva. For those who haven’t heard of it, it is a micro investment site. You donate $25 (about £15) or more, and it goes towards a loan for someone in a poorer nation. Then a bank local to the loanee organises the loan.

It’s all very proper, you even get the money repaid, with the option to re-loan it. Kiva is perfect for people who dont want to give to charity as they think its the elites in poorer nations who benefit, not the poor. It is also a good way of telling apart those who believe this, and those who just don’t want to donate. I doubt the whole Kiva project is perfect, there seems to be some question about the interest charged by the local banks. But there is always such negative views bandied about. I imagine the areas where people are worried about interest rates are the very same places where its impossible to get a loan.

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FIFA Corruption

1 Jun

Corrupt Sepp Blatter

Nothing Fairer Than An Uncontested Election For A Man No one Likes.

The recent FIFA stuff is massively depressing for any football fan. The Guardian in particular has had issues with Sepp Blatter and Jack Warner, and has spent a lot of time chronicling their dishonest and stupid goings on. Blatter is the Berlusconi of the football world: Corrupt and apparently unshiftable.

The bribery is clearly rampant with reports of requests and offers between FIFA officials and the English FA and the Caribbean Football Union, as well as ‘gifts’ from candidates to members of FAs, as well as a whole $1M Blatter gave to Concacaf. You can’t tell me that’s right. Money has become rampant in football, with the amount of debt being racked up by the big teams (as well as some of the smaller ones). The parallels between states and FIFA are startling, money they can’t afford being thrown around in slightly dodgy dealings, affecting the lives of others across the world as if it didn’t matter.

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Right vs. Left

30 May
American Politics

Left and Right Will Just Never Understand Each Other

 

I don’t really have a full topic to post about, but I found this picture while mooching about on Stumble Upon. One of the downsides of that site is that it’s all American, but this made me laugh. It’s a good way of displaying why the left can’t understand where the right is coming from.

I suppose a British version would be Caroline Lucas behind a Wheelchair (Incapacity Benefits) having ‘Outrageous’ shouted at her by Cameron riding a Nuclear Bomb.

Cameron Rides A Nuclear Bomb

I didn’t fancy butting a Miliband on there (or Clegg for that matter), Lucas seemed the best bet. Either way I won’t be giving up the day job to take up graphic design.

 

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