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Public-spirited graffiti artist cleans up

Will this act of unwarranted street cleaning spawn copycats.

The Yorkshire graffiti artist known universally as Moose has what he believes is a cast-iron defence against accusations of urban vandalism.

He has devised a brand of street art which not only livens up city streets, but removes grime in the process. His method is to take any dirty inner-city wall or pavement, place a template over it and scrub the concrete clean, revealing an image as sharp as any spray paint which fades with time.

This is ingenious and I cannot believe that this will not start off a wave of ‘graffiti cleaners’ creating their art in our urbanscape. I look forward to the results.

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Pac-Man’s the old new kid on the block

It’s not just me and the other twentysomethings that love the retro games such as Pac-Man and Space Invaders, these games are becoming increasingly popular amongst the kids too young to remember them the first time around.

Back in play: Retro’s the name of the game for a new generation of videophiles

Today’s hottest games don’t feature violence or mayhem. They’re not photo-realistic and they don’t even really have a plot.

Instead, they’ve got blocky graphics, tinny sound and bizarre objectives. And despite their rudimentary look, these games have inspired an almost manic need to play them.

A sudden spike in the popularity of retro gaming is bringing such low-frill hits as Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Pong to a new generation of gamers looking for something a bit simpler to enjoy.

I’ve written before about retro-gaming and how I believe that though modern games may be graphically superior they don’t necessarily offer a better gaming experience.
Make It a Wario Party

I’ve also reminisced about the Speccy 48K and the games good and bad. Chuckie Egg excellent but Manic Miner was infuriating and in retrospect not much fun.
Clive Sinclair has no hair…

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Liberty

“They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety”
Benjamin Franklin in 1784

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Euro 2004: Penalty nightmare

England lose to Portugal on penalties in the quarter-finals of Euro 2004.

Where did it all go wrong?

Primarily the referee’s decision to disallow Sol Campbell’s goal when everyone else in the stadium believed it was a valid goal. With so many decisions going the way of the Portuguese it did seem that the supposedly neutral Swiss referee was biased.

Secondly with the loss of Rooney the team just sat back and defended their one goal lead and allowed Portugal too many chances, they were bound to equalise eventually.

Thirdly the dire state of the penalty spot may have hampered the efforts of the penalty takers although this was equally hard for both teams. In this same vein why can Beckham not score penalties anymore?

Anyway I am depressed and angry and vow never to watch another football match again, although I shall probably break that vow and watch the final in just over a week.

Roll on the World Cup in a couple of years and watch us crash out of that one as well and continue our role as chronic underachievers who are robbed of their rightful place in the final.

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Identify yourself or else.

From WIRED News – Court: Names Must Be Revealed

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that people do not have a constitutional right to refuse to tell police their names.

The 5-4 decision frees the government to arrest and punish people who won’t cooperate by revealing their identity.

The decision was a defeat for privacy rights advocates who argued that the government could use this power to force people who have done nothing wrong, other than catch the attention of police, to divulge information that may be used for broad database searches.

Although this applies to the US I had assumed that the UK situation is pretty similar, I’ve been stopped by the police a couple of times recently in my car and been asked for my name and I’ve given it without question. Anyway it’s just occured to me how this relates to the UK Identity Card Draft Bill in which it is stated that the Police will not have the power to make an on-the-spot request to see an individual’s ID card. So I don’t actually know what the situation in this regard is at present in the UK. Given that the police will not have the power to ask for your ID card will they have the power to demand your name, which would actually amount to the same thing.

I have written a thesis on the proposed UK Identity Card Scheme. Read it and then make up your own mind.

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Affleck’s Jiggery Pokery

Ben Affleck, yes that Ben Affleck wins the California State Poker Championship.

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England 4-2 Croatia

With a prolific spate of goal-scoring ability the Englishmen are into the Quarter-Final stage.

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This is an insane match. Croatia looked dead and buried but they claw one back. Then Lampard scores again for England and it’s England 4-2 Croatia.

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Rooney scores again. England 3-1 Croatia.

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YEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The little thug scores and it’s 2-1 to England.