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Home Secretary David Blunkett has resigned, and there was rejoicing throughout the kingdom.

Unfortunately I don’t think the National Identity Card Scheme will go the same way.

BBC News link.

David Blunkett has quit as home secretary following a string of newspaper claims that he fast-tracked a visa for his ex-lover’s nanny.

Mr Blunkett denies the claims but has faced increasing pressure in recent days from members of his own party.

Downing Street has stood by Mr Blunkett as an inquiry was launched into the allegations.

But his position became more uncertain after he criticised a string of Cabinet colleagues in a new biography.

Tags: politics, ID cards

Topping the list of The 10 most accurately rated artists in Rock history is…

1. Van Halen: This band should have been the biggest arena act of the early 1980s, and they were. They had the greatest guitar player of the 1980s, and everyone (except possibly Yngwie Malmsteen) seems to agree. They switched singers and became semi-crappy, and nobody aggressively disputes that fact. They also recorded the most average song in rock history: “And the Cradle Will Rock.” What this means is that any song better than “And the Cradle Will Rock” is good, and any song worse than “And the Cradle Will Rock” is bad. If we were to rank every rock song (in sequential order) from best to worst, “And the Cradle Will Rock” would be right in the fucking middle.

I wonder where “Do They Know It’s Christmas” comes, probably well below “And the Cradle Will Rock”.

Tags: music

Security expert Bruce Schneier has published Safe Personal Computing, a guide for the average user to improve their computer security.

I am regularly asked what average Internet users can do to ensure their security. My first answer is usually, “Nothing–you’re screwed.”

But that’s not true, and the reality is more complicated. You’re screwed if you do nothing to protect yourself, but there are many things you can do to increase your security on the Internet.

However not everyone agrees with Schneier’s advice.

Disagreements with Bruce’s Home PC Advice

I think I’m pretty much in Schneier’s camp on this and I have plans to write a book along similar lines in order to help intelligent but not particularly tech savvy people like my mum to be secure online and in general.

Tags: computer security, security

http://michaelpaulus.com/gallery/character-Skeletons

Weird and intriguing.

I decided to take a select few of these popular characters and render their skeletal systems as I imagine they might resemble if one truly had eye sockets half the size of its head, or fingerless-hands, or feet comprising 60% of its body mass.

Tags: art

In honour of my dog who’s poorly at the moment, I present here the theme tune to The Littlest Hobo.

There’s a voice that keeps on calling me
Down the road is where I’ll always be

Every stop I make, I’ll make a new friend
Can’t stay for long, just turn around and I’m gone again.

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll want settle down,
Until tomorrow, I’ll just keep moving on.

Down this road, that never seems to end,
Where new adventure, lies just around the bend.

So if you want to join me for a while
Just grab your hat, come travel light – that’s hobo style.

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll want settle down,
Until tomorrow, the whole world is my home.

So if you want to join me for a while
Just grab your hat, come travel light
That’s hobo style.

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll want settle down,
Until tomorrow, I’ll just keep moving on.

There’s a world, that’s waiting to unfold,
A brand new tale, no one has ever told,

We’ve journey’d far but, you know it won’t be long,
We’re almost there and we’ve paid our fare, with the hobo song.

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll want settle down,
Until tomorrow, I’ll just keep moving on.

So if you want to join me for a while
Just grab your hat, come travel light – that’s hobo style.

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll find what I call home
Until tomorrow, you know I’m free to roam.

Tags: me

Bird flu ‘far deadlier than SARS’

The bird flu virus is far more lethal than the SARS virus that struck Asia last year and might unleash a pandemic that could kill many millions of people, a World Health Organization official says.

You are all going to catch bird flu and die BWA-HA-HAHA said Shigeru Omi, regional director of WHO’s Western Pacific Regional Office.

Tags: science

If you are like me you may be facing what the experts are calling the Band Aid Dilemma, the record is dismal but it is for a good cause so what should you do?

There is however a solution on hand.

The Band Aid Dilemma….
You want this record to succeed, because you feel for the plight of the refugees in the Dharfur region of Sudan and this project is funding aid projects on their behalf. However, you hate this recording and feel your musical ego looming and refusing to be bruised.

The answer?

• Buy as many copies of Do They Know It’s Christmas by Band Aid 20 as you can afford.
• Destroy them in amusing ways, on camera.
• Send us the pictures.

Charity. Violence. You know it makes sense.

Tags: music

The following was a comment made on my blog a few days ago…

The home office to issue Santa identity cards

To combat F4J Santa’s and at the same time minimise the risk of upsetting “real” Santa’s, the home office has decided to introduce official Santa Identity Cards. The cards must be worn at all times and must be clearly visible. They should be placed on the right lapel or slightly lower if beard length is a problem.

This sounds quite plausible especially given Home Secretary David Blunkett’s zeal for a National Identity Card scheme, but I’m not convinced this is true.

Tags: politics, ID cards, Christmas

I heard this on my car radio yesterday but as I wasn’t really listening I wasn’t entirely sure if I’d heard it correctly.

THE Apple iTunes music store has refused to sell the charity Band Aid song Do They Know It’s Christmas? because of a dispute over the proposed price of £1.49.

The Apple iTunes store usually sells tracks for 79p and has refused to raise the price in this instance for the charity record and the Band Aid organisers have refused to allow the price to be dropped to 79p as this will mean less money from each sale going to charity.

This seems to be a bit of a public relations disaster for Apple. I cannot see how this utter lack of charity is not going to damage Apple’s carefully crafted image.

The Band Aid single is of course available at numerous other stockists.

BBC News: Stores to stock 1m Band Aid CDs
Times Online: Apple iTunes don’t know it’s Christmas-time at all

Apologies for the awful pun in the title.

Tags: music

I’m a Secret Santa, are you? If not why not think about becoming one.

The idea of Secret Santa is very simple – you pull a name out of a hat and buy that person a present. Your name is in the hat as well, so someone buys you a present too! Everyone gets a present! Everyone’s happy!

To use Secret Santa, all you need is a wishlist* at Amazon. First you tell Santa about yourself. Then on December 10th you will be told who you’re buying a gift for. And by Christmas Day, everyone has a sparkly present to open!

Santa is a member of the “Holy Sprocket Church of the Sprained Clutch” – but don’t worry, you don’t have to convert. You can give and receive presents to celebrate Hannukah, Kwanza, Christmas or “secret holiday gift-giving robot day”…

Tags: Christmas