:: GussetBLOG ::

:: Sunday, February 14, 2010 ::

Link Dump

Witches and Jedis put hex on UK census

"The 2011 census is likely to be Britain’s last following concerns that the 209-year-old survey is unable to cope with the nation’s rapidly changing population — and respondents’ lies.

"When a voluntary question on faith was asked for the first time at the 2001 census, 390,127 respondents drew inspiration from Star Wars and stated their religion as “Jedi” or “Jedi Knight” — more than the number of people who said they were Jewish or Buddhist. Some 7,227 people declared themselves as witches, adherents of the pagan religion of Wicca"

I gave my religion as Jedi last time round in the hope of preventing them from asking such a stupid question again. Looks like it was more successful than I imagined. Although the transient population is a larger factor in the flaws with the current survey.

The conscience stifled by Amnesty

When Gita Sahgal questioned the human rights group’s links to Islamic radicals, it suspended her. Now she fears for her safety.

"Last week Gita Sahgal, a highly respected lifelong human rights activist and head of Amnesty’s gender unit, told The Sunday Times of her concerns about Amnesty’s relationship with Cageprisoners, an organisation headed by Moazzam Begg, a former Guantanamo internee.

"Since his release in 2005, Begg has spoken alongside Amnesty at a number of events and accompanied the organisation to a meeting at Downing Street last month. Sahgal felt the closeness of the relationship between Amnesty and Cageprisoners — which appears to give succour to those who believe in global jihad — was a threat to Amnesty’s integrity. “To be appearing on platforms with Britain’s most famous supporter of the Taliban, whom we treat as a human rights defender, is a gross error of judgment,” she wrote to Amnesty’s leaders following the Downing Street visit."

Interesting. It's getting into the same murky water that free speech campaigners got into when they started delivering the BNP leaflets that the posties refused to. It's also worth noting that the Times seem to have an axe to grind on this issue. I searched their website for articles about Amnesty and the first five hits were attacks on it. (Thats a live search link and will change over time.)

Labels: Amnesty, News, Politics, Privacy

:: Dan 14.2.10 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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The Times today reported on how, "A former Timelord has revealed how he and left-wing scriptwriters used the series to attack Thatcher"

"Sylvester McCoy, the actor who played Doctor Who for two years in the 1980s, has revealed that left-wing scriptwriters hired by the BBC wrote propaganda into the plots in an attempt to undermine Margaret Thatcher’s premiership.

"His revelation will reinforce suspicions about antipathy within the corporation to Thatcher’s government. Norman Tebbit, then the Tory party chairman, claimed at the time that the BBC was in the hands of a “Marxist mafia”."

Hardly a surprise. It's more amazing that the Times seems so scandalised by it. In another 20 years they might suddenly notice the Gay Rights angle Russell T Davies spent his time at the helm shoe-horning into every episode.

Labels: Dr Who, News, Politics

:: Dan 14.2.10 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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Forgot to pass this on a couple of days ago...

I guess its good news for those concerned about Google's presence in China. Seems things are getting worse rather than better (the official line was the hoped to improve the situation over time) so they are as good as giving up. Shame the goal of bringing information to the people wasn't reached and sad to see the extent the government (presumably) will go to to infringe human rights and prevent activism.

"Like many other well-known organizations, we face cyber attacks of varying degrees on a regular basis. In mid-December, we detected a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google. However, it soon became clear that what at first appeared to be solely a security incident--albeit a significant one--was something quite different.

"First, this attack was not just on Google. As part of our investigation we have discovered that at least twenty other large companies from a wide range of businesses--including the Internet, finance, technology, media and chemical sectors--have been similarly targeted. ...

"Second, we have evidence to suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Based on our investigation to date we believe their attack did not achieve that objective. ...

"Third, as part of this investigation but independent of the attack on Google, we have discovered that the accounts of dozens of U.S.-, China- and Europe-based Gmail users who are advocates of human rights in China appear to have been routinely accessed by third parties. These accounts have not been accessed through any security breach at Google, but most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on the users' computers."

Click through to read on.

Labels: Censorship, IT, Liberty, News, Politics

:: Dan 14.1.10 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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Mr Free As In Freedom and all round, umm, interesting guy Richard Stallman doesn’t like bull shit. If you ever need something to be angry about you can find a useful summary in his notes archives. To quote some recent examples that caught my attention:

8 December 2009 (Abuse of anti-terrorist laws acknowledged by UK cops)
UK police officials told police to stop threatening photographers using "anti-terror" laws. Ending this one abuse of these unjust laws does not make them acceptable. Some of these laws make it a crime to be suspected, and others are handy for sabotaging protests of any kind. It is not enough for the authorities to be refrain from trampling the rights of people in one activity. The UK must explicitly restore human rights.

The UK police must also pass an "attitude" of their own: to respect people's rights instead of trying to intimidate people out of them. Do they still pressure pubs to set up cameras and let the police view the footage whenever they wish? It should be illegal for anyone to show security camera footage to the police without a court order.

8 December 2009 (Recording industry masters creative accounting)
A musician tells how his record company habitually lies to him about income even though it would not have to pay the band any money for many years.
http://www.toomuchjoy.com/?p=1397

6 December 2009 (Some very creepy politics)
Rom Houben, who has been in a coma for 23 years, is said to be conscious and able to communicate. But is it really he who is communicating?

6 December 2009 (Terrorists kill dozens in Russia)
Why it's a pointless annoyance to check train passengers' luggage for bombs.

4 December 2009 (Poster boy for torturers)
After the Bush regime's monsters tortured Abu Zubaydah, and took photos of his injuries, they showed the photos to other prisoners threatening to torture them the same way.

2 December 2009 (Paranoia reigns amongst London cops)
A BBC photographer was stopped by police from taking a photo of a cathedral in London.

Labels: Amnesty, News, Photography, Politics

:: Dan 8.12.09 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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THE IMPACT OF ENGLISH LIBEL LAW ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
A REPORT BY INDEX ON CENSORSHIP & ENGLISH PEN
9 OCTOBER 2009

BHA on BBC Consultation
"We want an end to the privileged status and position of religions and religious broadcasting by the BBC, and for some programmes about humanism or from a humanist perspective to be broadcast. In spite of legislation making clear that religions and beliefs, including non-religious beliefs such as Humanism, should be treated equally in terms of broadcasting, the BBC continues to resist doing so.
We want the BBC to fulfil its obligations and include Humanist programmes in its broadcasting!"

Radio 4 Front Row from Tues, available to stream for a week
"Lord Mandelson recently announced the government's plans for tackling illegal file sharing online. Under new measures, repeat offenders who ignore warning letters could have their internet connection removed. High-profile figures including Lily Allen and Radiohead's Ed O'Brien have been weighing into the debate over what approach the government and music industry should take to tackle the problem. Minister for Digital Britain Stephen Timms, CEO of UK Music Feargal Sharkey and Cory Doctorow, the journalist and supporter of copyright liberalisation, discuss the issues surrounding the file sharing debate."
Plus a report on Health & Safety vs cartoon violence.

Labels: Animation, Humanism, News, P2P, Politics, Religion, science

:: Dan 11.11.09 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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"Anakissed, 606 & Parasite host this month’s Goatlab Radio show from the streets of Bristol, with chat and music from across the spectrum. The winner of last month’s competiton will be announced, as well as dropping some exclusive breakcore from Maladriot off of his album “Best Breakcore Album Ever” on Hard-2B-Core Records."
Download the show here: Goatlab Radio October 2009 [59MB MP3]

Carl Brown - The Carl Brown Album out now on the centrifuge [118MB zip]



Saw Therapy? last week for the first time since '93. Still rocking. Check out the new tour and this new single:

Therapy?—Crooked Timber from Therapy? on Vimeo.

Labels: MP3, Politics

:: Dan 23.10.09 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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French MPs want health warnings on airbrushed photographs
"Airbrushed photographs could be given government health warnings in France to protect women from 'false' images of female beauty."
[via constant siege]



There's an offensive joke in there about one country/area banning imagines of beautiful women from another country/area to to protect women from 'false' images of female beauty. Substitute place names at your discretion.

Labels: Art, News, Photography, Politics

:: Dan 25.9.09 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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Síle Lane on keeping libel laws out of science
Following Simon Singh's "Beware the Spinal Trap"
"We must ask why the cost of defending a libel case in England is 140 times the European average and why 90% of cases are won by the claimant."

It's heartening to know that at the Liberal Democrat party conference yesterday there was a fringe event on Defending Free Speech: Keep libel laws out of science.

Labels: Copyright, Freedom, Law, News, Politics, science

:: Dan 21.9.09 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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Click for full size
[thanks Natali]

Labels: Amnesty, Maps, Politics, War

:: Dan 13.9.09 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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In the latest in our occasional series on unusually specialist magazines found laying around in the office kitchen, we now present Building Sustainable Design.

Which this month includes a though provoking article on the current assumption that buildings can be built for a 25 year life span and how this can no longer stack up financially or environmentally, an interview with Lucy Pedler of Bristol based sustainable architecture practice Achipeleco on why she “had hoped that the recession would be more catastrophic,” and a brilliant article on “What termites can teach us about natural ventilation in small buildings.”



Following from this there is of course next weeks Pestival, which Stewart Lee fans will probably already be aware of from his 41st Greatest Stand-up routine. Comedy at the insect themed festival is provided by Robin Ince along with many other fasinating insect based art projects from the Termite Pavilion to broadcasts from Resonance FM and workshops from The Art of Being a Maggot to Praying Mantis Kung Fu. Sadly I can't make any of this, but I'm most upset missing out on Cross Pollination, where “Internationally acclaimed sound recordist for BBC’s Life in the Undergrowth and original member of Cabaret Voltaire, Chris Watson, curates an evening of experimental insect music.”

Due to a family wedding I was also unable to attend Chris Watson's workshop at UWE last weekend, and I forgot to blog about it in advance, but there are still some events to go on the STAGING SOUND 2.0 programme, including the Dorkbot Bristol Sound Hack followed by Guerilla Busking in Bath this Saturday.

Back on an environmental footing, various national media have picked up on the “living wall that died” in Islington. Most of the press have hung the story off of the waste-of-public-money angle rather than the technical issues with the failed watering system / learning experience / maybe the odd weather we've had? There most be an engineer somewhere mopping a sweaty brow as that one passes over. Either that or (s)he will be saying “I told you so.” A year or so ago I'd've worried that this would lead to a cut in spending on environmental projects but in the current financial and political climate I know it's going to get cut anyway regardless of previous successes or failures. Not good times.

Labels: architecture, Bending, Economy, Electronic Music, Environment, Insects, News, Politics, Sustainability

:: Dan 26.8.09 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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Heya! It's been some time. I know I may have thrown you the odd scrap of music now and again but that old spark, it just hasn't been there lately has it. I know you have other places to hang out. I hope you understand what a death in the family has done here. But it's great to meet up again, have a drink, chew that fat, catch up on what we would have been chatting shit about if other events hadn't conspired against us.

Did I tell you I attended the BLDGBLOG book launch last week?

[v.o.g.: You mentioned you were going]

Ah, well, I did. And not only did I get a great book out of it, not only did I meet with and chat with Geoff Manaugh, whose a really inspiring guy, not only is there a photo floating around flickr of me sat at the same table as Warren Ellis (I didn't realise that at the time, I was distracted by the woman with him), but I've also come away with some blog based inspiration.

In the introduction to the book Geoff explains that when he started BLDGBLOG he decided that he wasn't going to pour concerns and negativity into it, it would just be for stuff that interested him. Things that made him think, gave him ideas, starting points for flights of fancy. I like that philosophy. I may try to take it on to some degree.


[source here via here]

So what else has caught my fancy?


Shots taken on Czechoslovakia - East border of the eastern German state security (Stasi)
[via www.ustrcr.cz]
Found in the Vice Magazine photography special, which is out now.

Its good to know that The American President is an Ass Man, Apparently

"But seriously, is this not one of the best presidential photographs of all-time? Even Sarkozy looks like he's sneaking a peek, though he's French, so we expect him to do it. However, in Obama's defense, that is a great ass!"

"Solicitors for the National Portrait Gallery are apparently threatening legal action against a US Wikipedia user for downloading 3,300 digital photographs of paintings in the UK museum's collection, and then uploading them to Wikipedia."
[via clayton cubitt]

Cauty - Julie Andrews tip in the Nude magazine sale


Codex Sinaiticus - Home The ‘Draft for Comment’ version of the Bible

Rumours of a Dr Who film

There, I Fixed It

6 Intriguingly Shaped Communities As Seen On Google Maps

My Pinhole camera experiments


"Patti Smith is one of the most anticipated gigs of the week, and the audience the most vocal. … joined by SMZ leader Efrim Menuck on drums and Portishead’s Adrian Utley, who attacks a guitar with a paintbrush to spooky effect."
Festival review: Ornette Coleman’s Meltdown, Southbank Centre, London SE1 | Music | The Observer
I mentioned this to Leafcutter John, wondering if he was aware Ade was at the Polar Bear gig where John had used the same paintbrush trick a few months back. His response was a spirited "Ah, but did he do it better?"

Stylophone Beatbox

Pre-order here

Open Source TIC - ePetition response | Number10.gov.uk
"The Government supports the principle that, where new software is being developed by the Timely Information to Citizens pilots, this should wherever possible be released under open source licence and available for use by other local authorities. ... Where the pilots will result in new software tools, ownership and intellectual property rights will usually remain with the individual local authorities"
Is this not a contradiction?

‘Ghost village’ to be demolished

"A village built in Argyll to meet the demands of the UK oil boom of the 1970s but abandoned without ever being occupied is set for a new role." [video link]

Stuff you've missed on the tumblr
* a whole bunch of new photographers discoveries
* shoes by architects
* a bunch of LEGO stuff inc jewellery, USB sticks and giant Star Wars models
* London Underground Map print dress
* Geek guide to shoe lacing
* The Battleships drinking game

I've also just discovered that Blogger is limited to 20 tags per post.

So what have you been up to? How are things?

Labels: Art, blogs, Copyright, Electronic Music, Flickr, FOSS, History, Instruments, IP, Law, Literature, Maps, Music, Petitions, Photography, Politics, Privacy, Religion, Sci-Fi, Wiki

:: Dan 14.7.09 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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A national network of cameras and computers automatically logging car number plates will be in place within months, the BBC has learned.

Thousands of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras are already operating on Britain's roads. Police forces across England, Wales and Scotland will soon be able to share the information on one central computer.

John Catt found himself on the wrong side of the ANPR system. He regularly attends anti-war demonstrations outside a factory in Brighton, his home town.

It was at one of these protests that Sussex police put a "marker" on his car. That meant he was added to a "hotlist".

This is a system meant for criminals but John Catt has not been convicted of anything and on a trip to London, the pensioner found himself pulled over by an anti-terror unit.

"I was threatened under the Terrorist Act. I had to answer every question they put to me, and if there were any questions I would refuse to answer, I would be arrested. I thought to myself, what kind of world are we living in?"

Sussex police would not talk about the case.

The police say they do not know how many cameras there are in total, and they say that for operational reasons they will not say where the fixed cameras are positioned.

The police themselves say they have nothing to hide and would welcome the introduction of a regulatory code. But that seems some way off - and for now this secretive system continues to watch us and continues to grow.

It's nice that the Police acknowledge the need for regulation but shouldn't that be in place BEFORE the system goes live, not after it goes wrong?

Labels: CCTV, ID, Politics, Secuirty

:: Dan 26.5.09 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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"This is a message from Mark Thomas who is playing at the Tobacco Factory Theatre tonight in Bristol. He is organising a demonstration today (Friday) at 4.30pm outside Norfolk House, the local tax office in Temple Street: Message from Mark Thomas: While I am down in Bristol performing I thought it might be fun to do a little demo. So if you fancy coming along the demo is for the shutting down of tax havens and forcing corporations to pay their tax onshore. Where better to start campaigning than HMRC , the tax office in Bristol at Norfolk House. The government obsession with the free market means that buildings that were public are now private, so the tax office is owned by Sigma 2004 Ltd and the tax office in Bristol pay rent for their building. BUT Sigma 2004 Ltd were incorporated in the British Virgin Islands and Jersey - tax havens... so the tax office pay rent for a building we should own to tax dodgers. There is only one answer to this absurdity and that is to invade Jersey! No more multi lateral agreements at the G20, no more polite resolutions! Send in the troops, it's the only language these bankers and landlords understand! DEMO FRIDAY outside Norfolk House - Temple St Bristol BS1 6HS at 4.30pm bring banners and fun. INVADE JERSEY! We call on the HMRC to go on rent strike and move to a squat! Mark Thomas"

Labels: Humour, Law, Politics, protest, Tax

:: Dan 22.5.09 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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Secularists claim chaplains are a waste of taxpayers' money

"Chaplaincy services are costing the NHS more than £32 million every year, according to figures obtained from hospital trusts.This money could instead be used to pay for another 1,300 nurses or 2,500 cleaning staff."

That's my money! (As a tax payer. Admittedly I'd have a greater claim if I smoked too.) Seeing it pissed up the wall by zealots leaching on to the most vulnerable is a fucking outrage.

Yes, you can have Chaplins if people want them. No, I am not prepared to pay towards them. Keep them away from me, keep them away from people not old enough to have made up their own minds, and if you have to pay these fuckwits for their "services" you can pay them through donations from other fuckwits.

Are my feelings clear enough on this?

Labels: Atheism, health, News, Politics, secular

:: Dan 8.4.09 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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There is a pattern to my blogging here that shows that every time I buy an actual hard copy of a newspaper I blog about half a dozen stories out of it I may otherwise never have stumbled upon. This is no exception, here are my picks from Thursday's Guardian:

British therapists still offer treatments to 'cure' homosexuality
"Survey suggests a significant minority of mental health professionals continue to provide treatments to gay men and lesbians despite no evidence they can change orientation and concerns they are harmful...One counsellor who is a member of the British Psychological Society said: "Although homosexual feelings are usual in people, their physical expression, and being a person's only way of having sexual relations is problematic. The physical act for male homosexuals is physically damaging and is the main reason in this country for Aids/HIV. It is also perverse.""
This is outrageous. It can be criticised, if not demolished, from so many different angles I don't think I need to point that out. It's like a throw back to the 50s, when our society lost great minds like Turing because of it's backwards treatment of sexuality. From some of the quotes in the article there are, to me, some scary signs of counsellors forcing their personal (probably 2000 year old religious based beliefs) on people. These practitioners should not be allowed to "help" people again.

Are women doing better or worse in IT since Ada Lovelace?

Why not let the security services spy on Twitter? It's not like they'll learn anything from it

Getty Images now licensing hand-picked Flickr photos

Google's would be watchdogs are distracted by its chew toys

Vintage sound chips? They are music to my ears
Chip tunes goes mainstream?

E-government survey urges councils to free data

"Never mind the recession - Lego is now so popular that there are 62 little coloured blocks for every person on the planet. Yet only five years ago this family business was on the brink of ruin. Jon Henley reports from the Danish town where it all began"

Labels: Electronic Music, Feminism, Flickr, gay, Google, IT, Lego, News, Photography, Politics, Retro, Secuirty, web 2.0

:: Dan 28.3.09 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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Israeli Arms Dealer’s Bollywood Foray

[via smashing telly]

"Weapons dealers’ marketing materials are often a great source of unintentional black comedy, however, there are no words to adequately describe this gem found by the excellent 3 Quarks daily.

"Israeli arms company, Rafael, decided to create a Bollywood style promotional video for the Aero India 2009 show in Bangalore. The truly weird result is a lot of singing and dancing around missiles."

Labels: Bollywood, Humour, Politics, Video, War

:: Dan 15.3.09 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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12 Days 2008 - Turkey Sacrifice
Originally uploaded by gusset.

Click through and read the comments.

Labels: Flickr, Food, Photography, Politics, Religion

:: Dan 25.12.08 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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"Ben Westwood's campaign against the forthcoming Government bill to ban "extreme pornography" is stepping up a gear.

The photographer, son of fashion doyenne Dame Vivienne, has designed a series of collectable lunchboxes bearing the sort of pornographic images which will in effect become illegal when the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 becomes law in January 2009.

Delightfully, he's planning to release one such box depicting the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, bound and gagged. Westwood had hoped to project the image on to the Houses of Parliament, but has been advised by the Palace of Westminster Police that he must seek prior consent from the crimson-coiffed Serjeant-at-Arms, Jill Pay.

He reckons Pay is likely to decline his request, but after her recent decision to let the Metropolitan Police rootle around the Commons at will, I say it's worth asking."



What would his mother say?
"Brought up by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren, he spent his teenage years at the epicentre of the punk-rock explosion. After that, there were only two ways Ben Westwood could rebel: become a chartered accountant, or do something really shocking. Stuart Husband discusses fetishes, fantasy and family ties with a crusading pornographer"

Labels: Art, Fetish, Politics

:: Dan 18.12.08 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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An update on the Live Music Treat.
There is a petition against it here.
Signed.

Labels: Music, Politics

:: Dan 8.12.08 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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"A RANGE of Lego-style fighting figures — including an al-Qaeda terrorist — has been slammed by religious leaders."



Added to my Christmas list!

Labels: Lego, News, Politics, Religion

:: Dan 4.12.08 [Arc] [1 comments] ::
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