Geoff Coupe's Blog

Reflections on life at “De Witte Wand”…

Year: 2005

  • Big Bad Wolf

    A running motif through the new Doctor Who series has been references to "Bad Wolf". The Beeb’s even set up a web site devoted to this great piece of viral marketing. It’s no use asking me – I haven’t a clue. All I can say is that Russell T. Davies had better reveal all this coming Saturday, or he’s going to be hunted down by angry fans…

    He and his team have done a great job at re-inventing a classic series. Kudos!

    And what’s that all about at the end of the disclaimer on the Bad Wolf site:

    If you’re concerned by the thought that the universe has been irrevocably altered by an enormous experiment in neuro-linguistic programming, then just tell yourself "The Bad Wolf is not real. The Bad Wolf is not real. The Bad Wolf is not real."

    Hmm, what’s the old spell – first revealed in the Hunting of the Snark by the Bellman: "What I tell you three times is true".  For the Snark was a Boojum, you see.

  • The Art of the Rant

    As you may have noticed, every now and then I have a little rant, to get something off my chest. I do enjoy having a rant, there can be something quite orgasmically satisfying about doing it well. However, it’s not often that I can reach the heights achieved by No More Mr. Nice Guy in this little gem.

  • How to Make a Million Dollars

    Marshall Brain has an entertaining and wise tutorial/presentation on how to do it. While I was reading it, I thought his name sounded familiar, and then I realised I had read his book on programming the Motif user interface.

    Hat tip to Pale Blue Dot for the pointer to the presentation.

  • The Company We Love To Hate…

    …Who else but Microsoft?

    Yet another of my "shooting fish in a barrel" posts, but this time I’m not taking aim at Microsoft, but at the lazy thinkers who have tut-tutted over the story that Microsoft is "Helping China to Censor Bloggers". At first blush, you might think that the protesters have a point. I mean, just look at the opening of the story in The Guardian, for heaven’s sake:

    Civil liberties groups have condemned an arrangement between Microsoft and Chinese authorities to censor the internet.

    The American company is helping censors remove "freedom" and "democracy" from the net in China with a software package that prevents bloggers from using these and other politically sensitive words on their websites.

    The restrictions, which also include an automated denial of "human rights", are built into MSN Spaces, a blog service launched in China last month by Shanghai MSN Network Communications Technology, a venture in which Microsoft holds a 50% stake.

    Gosh, open and shut case, right? Nasty Microsoft! Linux rocks!

    Well, let’s just read on shall we…

    Users who try to include such terms in subject lines are warned: "This topic contains forbidden words. Please delete them."

    Er, what was that? The "subject line"? What about the body text of the blog, then?

    Even the most basic political discussion is difficult because "communism", "socialism", and "capitalism" are blocked in this way, although these words can be used in the body of the main text.

    Ah, I see, so Chinese bloggers can actually use these words in the body text? So perhaps it’s not quite as simple a story as it might seem? As Dare Obasanjo points out on his blog, this "story" is not new – every localised version of MSN Spaces has its unique list of prohibited words for the subject line of blog entries. And while US bloggers are pointing the finger at the Chinese version of MSN Spaces, they could do well to ask themselves why the list of prohibited words for the US version of MSN Spaces includes such dangerous words as "Chicken" and "Thrush". Clearly there’s something about those words that Microsoft felt would, in the current US political and legal climate, be asking for trouble.

    To my mind, there’s a good case here of "let him who is without sin cast the first stone" – a point well made by Shelley over at Burningbird.

  • Respect and Offence

    And while I’m having a Victor Meldrew moment, Butterflies and Wheels comments on a recent Polly Toynbee article in the Guardian (Toynbee’s article is here). As Stephen Fry said at the Hay Festival, the words "Respect" and "Offence" are taking on creepy overtones. Respect should be earned, it ain’t automatic.

    I’m certainly not going to automatically respect someone who acts on beliefs that are clearly barking, and if they take offense at that, then really, in an adult world, that’s their problem.

  • Call in the Bomb Squad – It’s a Genealogist!

    I feel another Victor Meldrew moment coming on… Apparently, genealogists want psychotherapy to be made available for people who stumble across unpleasant discoveries while researching their family history, according to a story in the UK’s Daily Telegraph newspaper. 

    An example of this is provided by Diane Mattinson, 48, an office manager from Bicester, Oxfordshire, who discovered that her great-grandfather, James Phillips, had never married her great-grandmother, Elizabeth.

    "It was a bombshell," said Mrs Mattinson. 

    Er, excuse me, a bombshell is what happens practically every day in Iraq, and the result is blood and death. Discovering that your great-grandparents weren’t married doesn’t even register on the Richter scale of bombshells. It might cause an ant to stumble, but that’s about it, Diane.

    Physical and mental abuse may call for counselling, but genealogy? The world’s going mad, I tell you.

  • Geotagging Photos

    This is the next stage of taking photos – as well as EXIF data, having every photo tagged with GPS data. The end result might be something like this. It was produced by Kord Campbell, and he explains how it was done here.

    Today, you’ll need a separate GPS device, but in a few short years I’m sure that digital cameras will have GPS built in as well.

  • The Wonder Of Wikipedia

    Wikipedia, in case you didn’t know, is an on-line encylopedia. What makes it different from, say, the online version of Encyclopedia Britannica, is that anyone – anyone – can edit the entries. It does not have a closed community of paid experts who are responsible for the accuracy of the contents. Wikipedia itself makes no guarantee of the validity of its content. At the bottom of the disclaimer page it even points to alternative sources of online encyclopedias whose content is produced by professional, peer-reviewed authors. Now, this might seem like a pretty scary thing, and indeed some folks scoffed that Wikipedia should not be trusted. Famously, Robert McHenry (former Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia Britannica) published a snide article in 2004, in which he likened using Wikipedia to visiting a public toilet:

    The user who visits Wikipedia to learn about some subject, to confirm some matter of fact, is rather in the position of a visitor to a public restroom. It may be obviously dirty, so that he knows to exercise great care, or it may seem fairly clean, so that he may be lulled into a false sense of security. What he certainly does not know is who has used the facilities before him.

    There was a rather robust reaction to this pomposity, but clearly McHenry sailed on, full of the same pomp and circumstance, when he commented on the reaction in another article some months later. These references, together with references to other articles, both pro- and anti-, are collected on the Wikipedia page devoted to Wikipedia itself.

    I’m reminded about all this, because today I saw that Dave Winer is pissed-off because someone has removed his name from the Wikipedia entry on podcasting (Winer is generally reckoned to be one of the fathers of podcasting). But as Jon Udell points out, Wikipedia does have a framework in place to mediate in the social construction of its content knowledge. And despite Mr. McHenry claiming that a visitor "does not know who has used the facilities before him", Wikipedia does have a very clear audit trail that is visible to anyone. In fact, Jon Udell also provides a fascinating example of this in action here, where he shows how a page has evolved over time.

    As for me, I use Wikipedia extensively. Nothing is perfect, but Wikipedia often comes close, and certainly it is more responsive than the lumbering dinosaur that Britannica has become.

  • Parasite Rex

    I’m currently reading Carl Zimmer’s book: Parasite Rex. If, like me, you tend to think that parasites are not Nature’s noblest creations, you should read this book. You may not actually fall in love with parasites (one researcher wrote: "Trypanosoma bruceii has many enchanting features that make this parasite the darling of experimental biologists"), but I’ll wager that you’ll come away having a new-found respect for them.

    Zimmer puts a persuasive argument that parasites have been a dominant force, perhaps the dominant force in the evolution of life. He documents case-studies that demonstrate how parasites influence ecosystems, often by affecting the behaviour of the host organisms. He writes well, too.

  • A Means To An End?

    I was wondering today why I blog. I suppose partly it’s because I want to capture something in the stream of life. The modern day equivalent of keeping a diary. But there’s also a bit of vanity going on. I confess that I keep an eagle eye on the statistics of my blog – who’s been looking, or whether anyone has left a comment.

    Frankly, and in the long run, who gives a toss? It’s really not important.

    I got started on this thought by reading Tom Reynolds’ entry today, talking about his reaction to attending the recent Reboot conference. He writes:

    ‘A-Listers’ are A-listers for a reason.

    Determination, focus, and the ability to prioritise people into those of value, and those not of value.

    At first I thought people were being rude to me.  Nothing explicit, just that while I was talking to them they seemed to be ‘elsewhere’, always casting their eyes around looking for other people to talk to.

    But they aren’t being rude – they are being direct to the point of being abrupt.  While I might happily chat away about random subjects with someone I’ve just met, for however long the conversation lasts – ‘A-Listers’ seem to evaluate whether you have anything important to say, anything that they can use to advance their own career or if you are a potential ‘customer’. 

    If not, then they consider the conversation of little value, and look for something of more value.

    He points out that he is not being judgemental about this, merely acknowledging that some folks do this and he (and, I think, I) do not. It’s that "people who are of value and people who are not of value" thought that makes me feel hollow inside. It’s the "I was only following orders" thought – the cry of man’s inhumanity to man down the ages.

    But then I thought of what it is that Tom does for a living, and I thought that I would far rather listen to him than 99% of the A-listers prattling on about the latest gee-whizzery that appeals to their jaded senses. Tom, you make me think about life, and how people behave towards people.

  • Kansas Kangaroo Court Transcripts

    PZ Meyers over at the Pharyngula blog has a sample of the transcripts of the recent hearings at the Kansas State of Education. In case you’d forgotten, this is where a variety of "expert" witnesses attempted to make the case for Intelligent Design to be taught in the schools in Kansas.

    The transcripts make sad, sad reading. However, while Meyers feels that the transcripts amply illlustrate the depths of stupidity of IDiots, I feel that one should never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups (I even have a T-shirt bearing that very slogan). This skirmish in Kansas will not be the last. The Demon-Haunted World grows ever stronger, and the candle of Science may yet gutter before the forces of superstition and ignorance that seem to be growing in the US at the moment.

  • Doctor Who and The Big Bad Wolf

    Just caught up with last night’s Doctor Who. Simply stunning. A witty script riffing on today’s TV fashions (The Weakest Link, Big Brother, What Not To Wear) building into an enormous cliffhanger to set the scene for next week’s final episode in this series.

    I don’t mind admitting I found it scary stuff… Can’t wait for next Saturday night!

    Update: Russell T. Davies writes about the revival of Doctor Who in today’s Guardian. 

  • One Planet – Many People

    The United Nations has just published One Planet – Many People. It’s an atlas illustrating how human activities are affecting our world via the medium of satellite photos showing before and after images. While the publication is available as a book (at a cool $150), it’s also available to download in both print and screen versions.

    Some of the images are stunning. The subtext is that we are having an impact on the world, and we need to manage that impact.

  • Wedding Anniversary

    Today it’s our 7th wedding anniversary (although we’ve been together for 21 years). Time flies, I can’t believe that it was seven years ago that we were standing together in the Trouwzaal (Wedding Hall) of the Stadhuis (Townhall) in Gouda, saying "Yes!"

  • Brainwashing Lives

    Majikthise posts a disturbing entry on her blog about Zack. He is a 16 year old living in Tennessee who recently came out to his parents as gay. Their reaction has not been one of support, but to send him to a place called Refuge, a Christian programme centre that promises to turn gay children straight.

    Zack’s own blog entries are pretty heart-rending, the one lifeline that he has had is his blog and the messages of support that he has been getting via the blogsphere. But against that is the physical fact of his parents and his current incarceration (I can think of no other term for it) in a brainwashing centre. The rules of Refuge make sad, sick reading.

    I’ve said before that I feel fortunate to be living where and when I do. It is still disturbing to realise that the "where" is just as important as the "when". This may be the 21st Century, but some people in the USA are still living in the mindset of the 1690s – the days of the Salem witchtrials.

  • Wow!

    A combination of H. P. Lovecraft, Samuel Delany and David Bowie (Changes), this is amazing. Brings it all back to me, the nights on Hampstead Heath in the early 1970s…

  • The Pope – What Did You Expect?

    OK, I know I shouldn’t expect rational thinking. So when the Pope says that "The spread of AIDS in Africa ahould be tackled by abstinence rather than condoms", I suppose I should not be surprised.

    But then he goes on to say that "The traditional teaching of the church has proven to be the only failsafe way of preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS".

    Er, no it hasn’t, you stupid, stupid man.

    I’m reminded of the old joke:

    Q: What do you call people who practice the rhythm method of contraception?

    A: Parents.

    I did not expect anything other from this pope. He will continue to bask in the luxury of the Vatican while tens of thousands of his followers will go to their early deaths through ignorance and superstition. It’s at times like these when I almost wish there was a god to strike down meretricious buggers such as Benedict. 

  • Lemmings

    Via Dare Obasanjo’s blog, I discovered that someone had lovingly recreated the classic computer game: Lemmings. Now this is much more fun than trying to patch up some dysfunctional couple’s marriage…

  • RFID at TechEd 2005

    Following on from my last post about QR codes, here’s one about RFID.

    I was watching another of the video podcasts from Microsoft’s TechEd 2005. This one was an interview with Brian Keller (a Microsoftie). My ears perked up when he said that all the attendee badges had RFID tags, and that Microsoft were using them to track movements of attendees and staff around the conference. He was careful to stress that Microsoft were only collecting "anonymous data", however, the fact remains that each tag has a unique ID, and therefore it would be very easy to track individuals should an organisation desire to do so.

    Thin end of the wedge time. I also wonder if Microsoft will be able to repeat this exercise in Amsterdam for the European TechEd next month. The EU has much stricter regulations around data privacy. I wonder whether this will extend to attendees having to sign for their badges at registration to signify that they agree to Microsoft tracking their movements, even if it is in aggregate?

  • QR Codes

    You’re familiar with barcodes, right? Those ubiquitous stripes on practically everything today. But have you heard of QR codes? I hadn’t until quite recently. They are a similar idea (a way of putting machine-readable codes onto things), but QR codes can store much more information. In Japan, it’s a popular way to exchange URLs and other information. Mobile phones in Japan can read the codes using their built in cameras.

    I was reminded about this today while watching the video podcasts from Microsoft’s TechEd 2005 (put this feed into your Podcasting client to get them. If you haven’t got a Podcast client, you can see the URLs for the individual videos here).

    I happened to notice that the Microsoft attendee name badges had QR codes instead of barcodes. I couldn’t help wondering if QR codes were chosen because they can be read much more easily by cameras, and don’t require the specialised readers that barcodes do.