You know I might not agree with The Sun on many things but I really do agree with their campaign to try and save Christmas. Christmas is a fun celebration and should be kept that way. What sort of residents complain about charity Christmas lights?. According to this story it’s the grumpy residents in Rayleigh, who demanded the local council scrap a popular charity light display.

So, questions answered in The Sun: Christmas is good. Questions unanswered from work: why do some Americans have a problem with Santa Claus? Question answered today: Thanksgiving is a religious festival in origin. Questions answered from this year’s BBC Children In Need: Daniel Powter wears a hat all the time.

On this day…

No other posts on this day.

Tea for two at the Ritz is fun and Regent Street lights are better than last year. If you’re following Listen To Musak you’d be wise to check out the Flickr stream occasionally as pictures can say a thousand words and, right now, I don’t have time for a thousand words.

On this day…

2004: Great London Food Market Revisited
2003: Heavenly?
2003: Do I Hear Fi?
2003: Another Month Another Man
2003: Bring A Smile
2002: Fly Accipiter, Fly

Thanks to Sky One’s The Match 2, Philip Olivier’s Man of the Moment entry has been getting more and more comments this week. Feel free to have your say …

On this day…

2004: Big Match Update
2002: Mussels

Well, it’s here and I bought a copy this morning. I’ve mentioned the new look Guardian newspaper a couple of times. It’s covered well in other places too. Visually, it’s impressive. It seems contemporary yet authoritative which – I imagine – is what they wanted. The use of colour throughout a newspaper is great and the double page centre-spread picture (of the Northern Ireland riots) is a stunning use of those pages. I like the smaller G2 and was surprised to find Media Guardian is full size and not the smaller one. I also think the feel is important. It’s weighty yet managable.

I don’t buy a daily paper. If I did, The Guardian would be my paper of choice. I may even buy it more often with this format as I can read it on a train or plane without smashing my fist into the face of the person sitting next to me. For a daily commute, however, there’s just too much. On my train this morning I managed to read the front page and the first couple of G2 and then I had to get off and walk to the office. When will I read the rest?

It might not be The Guardian’s market but there must be space for something bigger than Metro but with fewer column inches than The Guardian or Independent at a reduced price.

On this day…

2004: Happy Birthday To Me
2002: Matt Damon is Jason Bourne

The new-look Guardian will have colour on every page of every section but one thing will remain the same – our reputation for supplying first class news, features and comment [Alan Rusbridger, The Guardian]

My favourite newspaper is changing. No, I don’t know what Berliner means either but that’s not a problem. No longer will I be hitting old ladies with a newspaper, or getting tangled in a iPod hub’s cable or stopping a City gent scrolling his Blackberry. Smaller, neater, lovely. Damn, it looks hot and it’s only a newspaper!

The Guardian: Berliner preview edition

On this day…

2004: Cuties At Lunch
2003: Gem
2002: Weather, Weather

Well, they’ve finally done it, and Google Talk is a nice, clean interface. I downloaded it this morning and was impressed by the file size, speed of installation and general Google-cleanness of the interface. This is what we have come to expect. However, apart from a couple of people I know will try this, who am I going to talk to? I have a sinking feeling that they are too late to this party, which is not a great thing to think about Google at all.

The world was waiting for a Google IM client, but the world hoped it would speak to other clients and not just be a nice standards-compliant tool. I already have friends on all of the major IM clients, and I simply don’t talk to them all because I don’t install all the right clients. I do, occasionally, use Trillian to speak to everybody, but that’s not very often. I sit with my Yahoo Messenger because that’s the client most of my colleagues are on, and they are the people I need to talk to most. I’d love to migrate them to this nice Google interface, but I don’t think they will.

So, come on, Yahoo, support the standards that Google is running with, and then we can all choose the client we prefer, not limit who we talk to. I wonder how long it will be before that happens?

UPDATE 28 Aug: I should turn comments on for this one, shouldn’t I?

UPDATE 30 Aug: Still only three people I know are on Google Talk. C’mon guys – it’s a lovely clean interface and a breeze to download.

On this day…

2004: The Hottest State
2004: Get Yer Kit Off …
2003: Summer Music
2002: Around The World

On Monday I missed Ben Affleck’s birthday (as I have done before). It’s shocking really. I should buy a diary! Anyway, why don’t you pop over to the Ben Affleck Man Of The Moment page and leave him a birthday wish? 

On this day…

2003: Monday Is Back To Work
2002: BBQ Frenzy

Can you say ‘by ek’ on a website like this? I am not sure that it comes across very well, really, and, to be honest, I’ve already forgotten why I wanted to say it in a northern-like accent. I am not sure if it is the previously undiscovered Google news feeds that took my breath away. Still, the fact that Google do RSS news feeds shouldn’t make me gasp, should they? Perhaps it was the irony of Sky advertising on the ITV at 50 site (they won’t be when you get back there, but never mind), but I don’t think that could be it either. Maybe it was the US-centric Top 10 Dot Com Flops site, which is mildly amusing, but I’m certain it isn’t that either. Still, I’ll get back to you when (and if) I remember.

On this day…

2007: Better In Just 14 Days
2004: Save A Pop Idol
2004: Open House 2004
2004: Back Ache Update
2003: Oh Canada II
2002: Don’t Call Me Stupid