Following on from yesterday’s post, I thought I would test this little site of mine -Â Reported as accessible in China. So, it appears I am not subversive enough to be banned in China. Well, there’s a surprise.
Yesterday on BBC News:
China appears to have blocked access to the popular search engine, Google.
The site was repeatedly inaccessible when tested by BBC News Online using a system developed by researchers at the Harvard Law School.
[story]
2004: No Steroids Near Me
I went to a small thames-side seafood festival on Saturday. I had no other reason to go except that I adore seafood in all forms. I could happily give up many other foods but not seafood (and probably no bacon, but I know I am not alone in that). That, however, is not the point. There was a bookshop and I bought a book. I carried the book home and added it to the pile of books. I now have a large stack of unread books that are “to be read”. When am I going to find the time? The thing is, why do I do it? Why can’t I simply add them to my Amazon wish list and stop buying? It’s turning into an addiction!!
2004: Digital No 1
Without stating the obvious, and as a direct follow on to yesterday’s insightful comment, today is September. September is great because it signals Autumn and that’s my favourite season. I am not good in heat and sun and tend to dislike the dampness of winter. Autumn is cool and crisp without being damp and soggy. Autumn has the wonderful rustic, golden colours that work so well with a cloudless blue sky. The light will be perfect for the next two months. September, however, was always the month back to school after the long summer holiday. September is also my birthday which makes me the centre of attention for at least one day – and I hate that. I liked my birthday being in September when I was a child because it got overlooked at the start of a new term. If your birthday was in May, people started planning for it. In September, people conveniently missed it because they were talking about their holidays in the sunshine. So, I guess, September must be my favourite month – which means I was born in the right month. Twisted logic but, somehow, just right.
2006: Technology Overkill?
2004: Long Wave Is The Home Of Hit Music
2003: Listen to Musak in August
2003: Now Reading
This is the last day of August. Why is it that time seems to go by much more quickly as you get older? Is this just an age thing? Clearly, time passes at the same rate – although I probably spend more time asleep at this point in my life (and, to the best of my knowledge, I haven’t slept for six months).
2006: Windows Information Organiser
2004: Data Data Everywhere
2004: All The News You Need
So DoubleClick are going to be more open about cookies and all that they are tracking. According to DoubleClick’s press release:
DoubleClick is to be commended for its cooperation in setting an industry standard for promoting consumer privacy in the data collection and tracking taking place across networked websites,” said New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
[release]
The issue of cookies – especially in relation to online advertising – is something that seems to get some people all worried that they are being spied on (like those big satellites can’t see what you’re doing anyway). It seems in the US, people go to court over them. Given that I’ve been working in the online advertising business for nearly seven years (has there been an online ad business that long?), I think I am supposed to have an opinion on this hot potato. Except, I don’t think I do (at least as long as we can use cookies, I don’t have an opinion, which I guess means I do have an opinion). Cookies are not evil, and as companies like DoubleClick must have millions of cookies in their databases, I am sure my online activity is not of sufficient interest for anybody to try to find out where I have been. Most people are pretty good and don’t store personally identifiable information and, even if they do, I could just wipe my cookie files and start again and stop being tracked. So, all I really want to say is there is nothing wrong with cookies. Cookies are useful. People who hold data on me should abide by the Data Protection Act, which seems sufficient for every other piece of information that is being held about me, so why is everybody so worked up about these little bits of data? Agghh!!
<This unstructured, meaningless rant is now over>
I am a PC kinda-guy. Well, I was a Unix admin at one point (very briefly) but after spending a whole night loading Linux from 80 discs at work I opted for the relative ease of an out-of-the-box PC at home. But I am tempted by an Apple. Mybe it’s the underlying Unix-ness of it all that is appealing. Maybe it’s that my Windows XP box doesn’t really live up to my expectations. A friend of mine says, “I believe the tide of reason is finally beginning to lather the unwashed masses” – can you tell he’s a Mac guy? But it’s true. I’ve heard of several people who have gone Mac.
So, I came across a link to Ken. Now Ken is is an Apple product manager and he has a weblog which is worth the read. Even for PC-heads like me. [link thanks]
I had to comment on the supermarket plastic bag phenomena that is striking at the heart of the nation’s bag savers.
2002: Blast Into Orbit
I have been fascinated by the weather since childhood. This is not your typical British interest in the weather – which is a necessity if you live in England’s green and pleasant lands. No, I really want to understand forecasting, cloud patterns and the like. The basics can’t be that hard. Yet, I have never, ever done anything about this.
There are other things I would like to do, too. Photography, a course in British History or a wine appreciation course. Yet I never do any of them. So, first thing tomorrow I am off to buy one of those books that list evening courses and do something!
What started me off on this analysis of the things I should do? Well, news that a new weather satellite is to be launched. Meteorologists say the new technology will lead to better forecasts, especially for severe weather such as storms and fog. [BBC]
2002: Seventeen Plastic Bags
I haven’t spoken of London’s traffic problems for a while now. This is because it’s a bad story and I am trying to be positive. I have not be overly delayed for sometime (although every taxi I take tries to navigate Trafalgar Square which is an automobile no-go zone at the moment). I also realise that London is a big city which is home to many millions of people who all travel. It stands to reason then that, if the system should fail one day, movement will be difficult. I know that an integrated public transport system run (efficiently, effectively) for the people is a (very) long way off. Still, it did amuse me to read that, “London’s road traffic is travelling at its slowest ever pace, averaging less than walking pace, according to a new report”. [Yahoo]
2004: Comment Template Problem