:: 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] ::
...

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] ::
...

E&T visits three Toronto men who have created a functioning camera eye – an invention with far-reaching applications.



"In an unremarkable townhouse in suburban Toronto, Canada, one-eyed film maker Rob Spence questioned why, if something as compact as a mobile phone could encase a digital camera, his eye socket couldn’t do the same. His answer was to replace his optical prosthesis for one with a video camera; the result could form the background of a revolution in optical technology.

"“My face is the medium, the message, the problem and the solution,” says Spence. “For a documentary film maker, a camera eye opens up a whole new point of view that is closer to the human experience.” Intimate conversations that rely on body language, eye contact and the assumption of privacy may never be the same again.

"Feeling uncomfortable? That is Spence’s original objective. By turning himself into a Little Brother, he wanted to highlight people’s concern (or lack of it) for issues of privacy and surveillance. The City of Toronto is planning to install 12,000 surveillance cameras without much fanfare, public discussion or debate. However, those who have heard about the Eyeborg on television, radio and in dozens of newspaper articles do voice an opinion on Spence’s ethics and the legality of recording video without due permission from its subjects."

The EyeBorg Project website

Labels: CCTV, Photography, Privacy, Video

:: Dan 11.5.09 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
...

Quoting The Register:
"Late yesterday, Google launched novelty snoop service Street View in the UK, offering views of, er, streets. At launch, 17 English cities, four Scottish cities, two Welsh cities, and one in Northern Ireland are available for exploration. Up to a point anyway; only major thoroughfares in city centres are covered, except in London.
Cities covered, according to Google Blogoscoped are: Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Coventry, Derby, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford, Scunthorpe, Sheffield, Southampton, York, Belfast, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cardiff and Swansea. The images (360° horizontal, 290° vertical) were captures by Google's fleet of Orwellian spycars, whose adventures across Europe we tracked last year.
Google's promise to blur out people's faces in response to privacy concerns has been kept up to a point. The automatic system for detecting faces could use some work, as many remain identifiable." Channel 4 News found a nice un-obscured shot of someone walking out of a sex shop. Oooh! Controversial.

Glad it didn't catch me sat outside the pub. And amzingly there's no one smoking outside the office.

From the Bristolian's who have been scowering it. A bike accident in progress, probably because they were watching the weird spy-car, and a bird in flight.

Labels: Google, Maps, Photography, Privacy

:: Dan 19.3.09 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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Church, genealogist in tussle

"Among the hundreds of graves in the Old Union Christian Church Cemetery on Russell Cave Road, genealogist David Shannon found those of several relatives, including his great-grandparents Julia and Lloyd Harp.

"With beginner's zeal, Shannon began to compile the names, birth and death dates on the tombstones, which date back to the early 1800s. "Once I got into it, I figured other people trying to find ancestors would find information in the cemetery helpful," he said.

"So he created an independent research Web site, www.oldunioncemetery.com, where he's posted the information on the 475 documented burials collected and a photograph of each visible stone.

"But the church board at Old Union took offense.

"In February, the church's governing board sent Shannon a letter telling him "to cease publishing pictures of stones ... not part of your family because it is sharing family information without their consent."

Labels: Law, Privacy

:: Dan 18.3.09 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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Photographers fear they are target of new terror law

Section 76 ignites new debate

A lawyer's point of view on Section 44

Photographers to converge on Scotland Yard

Pictures: Hundreds attend photographers' rights protest (update)

Labels: Law, Photography, Privacy, Terrorism

:: Dan 16.2.09 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
...

I'm undecided about the DNA database. Some human rights groups (and EU law) say it an erosion of civil liberties, that your DNA is private. Is it? I'm struggling to think of ways that could be abused.

Anyway, Channel 4 News have created a map showing how many samples are held by each police force in the UK. (Some are estimates.)

What Strasbourg ruling means for UK
More from The Guardian.

Labels: ID, Liberty, Maps, Privacy

:: Dan 5.12.08 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
...

Interesting responses from the papers to the Max Mosley vs the News of the World case. For those who don't know, the News of the World [NotW], a UK gutter-press tabloid fond of kiss and tell stories, secretly filmed and published stories about F1 boss Mosley, accusing him of partaking in an orgy with six prostitutes that had Nazi overtones.

Mosley claimed for libel, on the grounds there weren't any Nazi overtones. He didn't deny any of the rest of it, that was his own private business. He won a record £60k damages.

The Guardian editorial this morning sums up the case:

Judges and journalists might disapprove of all sorts of unconventional sexual behaviour but - so long as it was between consenting adults in private - it is not the business of the state, the courts or the media to intrude. "It is not," said Eady, "for journalists to undermine human rights, or for judges to refuse to enforce them, merely on grounds of taste or moral disapproval."

In a great piece on Channel 4 news [skip 14min into this video] last night the NotW's legal expert was interviewed about how the paper felt the case had gone. They felt that the ruling had severe implications for freedom of speech and maintained that knowing what sexual acts a person in power gets up to in their own time, between consenting adults, is in the public interest, whilst glossing over the fact that they embellished the story to make it sell better. At the end of the interview John Snow challenges him to name a previous story that may no-longer be publishable because of this ruling, although he dodged the question it is a very good one.

Most of the press are quick to the defensive, The Telegraph reporting Judge has hampered freedom of expression, for example. Then, in classic right wing press tradition, they go on to blame the Human Rights Act in just the same was the NotW blamed Europe (see video).

Why has Human Rights become a dirty word? The press hate it. This irritates me every time I see an example of it, which is almost daily. They are convinced it has done nothing but harm to their right to print whatever they like and acting as self-appointed judge and jury themselves. Even the Guardian editorial, above, spins the case for using the Press Complaints Commission rather than the courts. True, this may be easier in many cases, but I can't see the PCC handing out landmark rulings and record compensation.

The Times, on the other hand, spins a conspiracy theory about missing evidence: Max Mosley orgies and missing emails.

The New York Times, bless them, completely misses the point by putting the wrong word in inverted commas in their headline: British Tabloid Loses Suit Over Nazi ‘Orgy’ Article.

The Irish Times has the sense to point out Mosley ruling does not appear to threaten public interest defence.

"The implication of yesterday's judgment by Mr Justice Eady," The Independent reminds us, "is that people who have sexual habits others might find bizarre or unpalatable have the same right to privacy as anyone else." And that's a very good thing.

Labels: Fetish, News, Politics, Privacy

:: Dan 25.7.08 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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Busted
Originally uploaded by dspain.

Interestingly Google Street Map cars have been spotted snapping around Bristol and Birmingham. Despite the legal case against it is Europe and the referral, in the UK, to the Information Commissioner. They must be quietly confident.

France has already had the whole Tour de France route covered.

Labels: Google, Maps, Privacy

:: Dan 24.7.08 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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poster
Originally uploaded by nalsa.

[via natali]

Labels: CCTV, Privacy

:: Dan 12.3.08 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
...

Situation normal. Previous post updated.

Labels: Humour, Privacy

:: Dan 29.11.07 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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Names changed to protect the people who will be leaving the company in a week so really don't give a shit anymore.

From: Dan
Sent: 10 October 2007 10:15
To: Admin1

Hi Admin1,
Thanks to be handed a previous member of staff’s mobile phone I receive a lot of unwanted text messages that were intended for him. Whilst an inappropriate message from his girlfriend was amusing (she never made that mistake again), and bbq invites from his friends always welcome, I’ve recently started receiving messages that are not appropriate for work! I’ve tried replying asking for them to stop, but they are coming from a premium rate number so the request is blocked from going out. Is there anyway I can block messages coming in from particular numbers?
Cheers,
Dan

________________________________________
From: Admin1
Sent: 10 October 2007 10:19
To: Admin2
Subject: FW: Information Required - Company Mobile Phones

Admin2,

Is there anything we can do about this?

________________________________________

From: Admin2
Sent: 11 October 2007 10:33
To: Admin1
Subject: RE: Information Required - Company Mobile Phones

There is nothing we can do I’m afraid

________________________________________
From: Admin1
Sent: 15 October 2007 09:22
To: Dan

Hi Dan,

I’m afraid that there is nothing that can be done with regards to this matter.

Sorry I couldn’t be of more help.

Regards

Admin1

________________________________________
From: Dan
Sent: 15 October 2007 10:37
To: Admin1; Admin2

That’s a pathetic cop out of a response.

I’ve just registered with the Vodafone online account control and found that “18 Rated Content” is already blocked. Not blocked enough for my liking. They claim that this service makes the phone safe for use by children, but would you call the following text messages child safe? (all received in the last two weeks):

• Told my st8 mate to pretend I was his bird while I sucked his fat hard cock! Call 09097908669
  
• Our gay chat service has just got busier with even more guys online & still at a fantastic low price! Call 08712303030…
  
• If you like hot horny men, sexy phone wanks or seedy filthy meets then give us a call on 08712303030 and chat NOW. …
  
• Wanna get your face fucked by a real man & take my fat 9” cock up your arse? Call 08712303030 if you can handle it. …
  
• Wanna share you filty fantasies with fit fuckable fellas? Call 08712303030 & get chatting with horny guys now …

The Vodafone website tells me to reply with the word “STOP”, but the message is blocked from going out. On other providers websites I’ve found numbers for forwarding text messages to for reporting spam, but I can’t find such a number for Vodafone. There must be one?

I don’t want messages like this popping up when I’m in a meeting with a client, in a car with a colleague, in the office, or anywhere else for that matter. And I’m sure you don’t want your staff getting messages like this either.

I don’t appreciate being told that there is nothing you can do about it. Surely you have some contact at Vodafone who can advise? There must be a method of reporting spam? Surely there is a way to block certain numbers? (You can see that they come predominately from one number)

Please do something about this.

Regards,
Dan

________________________________________
From: Dan
Sent: 15 October 2007 15:20
To:Admin1; Admin2

Thanks for your telephone response, Admin2.
You may not consider that a cop out response in light that there is a Vodafone corporate customer services team available, but that information would have been helpful up-front in place of “There is nothing we can do I’m afraid“.
I have now spoken to Vodafone. It would appear that that is a general corporate customer services number rather than a support team specifically for us as suggested.
The not very helpful “Tim” says that the two numbers those messages came from are not listed on whatever is the official list is of who sends out junk messages. He therefore suggested that I should call the numbers directly and ask them to stop contacting me (£1.50 and 10p per minute respectively.)
I said that I wasn’t prepared to do this.*
He said there’s noting he can do about it (and then somehow made the sound of shrugging).
I pointed out that, theoretically, this phone could be owned by a child and their website claimed they were capable of blocking adult content.
On the defensive, he said that that didn’t apply as I had signed a waver to lift the ban.
I pointed out that (a) I’ve never signed anything of the sort and (b) the Vodafone website claims the ban is still in place on this handset. (He was also surprised to lean that I was a corporate rather than I private customer, further denting my confidence in their customer support service.)
He then insisted that my number must have been given away to somebody at some time in the past and therefore the ban didn’t apply, had I ever done that?
I could only respond that the number did not always belong to me so I have no idea what happened to it before hand.
He said, “Well there you go then,” (and made the ‘like I give a shit’ shrugging noise again.)
I asked if there was any other way of blocking such messages, and he told me that the Telephone Preference Service also covers mobile numbers. Again, information that would have been useful up-front, but I guess that is information that reduces revenue and so it not advertised. I also doubt how much good it would do as the messages are originating from a source outside of the official spammer database.
Having looked at the TPS registration form I’m unsure about how to enter a corporate mobile number on it. The Terms and Conditions imply it is a sign up for the business as a whole. Any advice here would be appreciated.
And I further suggest that you take the matter up with Vodafone. Their customer service is poor and I refuse to believe there is any technical barrier to blocking incoming messages from particular numbers, the only real problem as I see it is their own apathetic attitude.
Regards,
Dan

* In retrospect in may come to that!


________________________________________

Further to the above email chain I've been thinking. To my knowledge my number has never been given away except on my business card, which obviously I don't leave around willy-nilly. Maybe my number is just very close to someone else's and I'm now getting these messages as a result of a typo somewhere along the line. There is a market for these sorts of text message, for the sort of people who want to receive them, but you aren't going to find those people by testing numbers randomly. So how would you go about building a database? If I were in that business I'd send out scouts to cottaging hot-spots to collect numbers from public toilet walls etc. There's a pretty good chance the people that happily leave numbers there would respond to these sorts of messages. That would make an interesting job too. Maybe in areas where the police were trying to prevent such activity they could to do the same thing then start sending warning messages, "we know what you've been doing," or reminders about the law or the dangers involved. Maybe they do that already?

I hope some dyslexic pink-oboe player hasn't inadvertently scribbled my number anywhere. Not my work number at least.
________________________________________

Update

From: Dan
Sent: 25 October 2007 09:31
To: Admin2

Hi Admin2,

Any progress with Vodafone?

I won't repeat them again but I've received another three of these messages since the last email. Two repeats of previous ones and a third, more worrying, "system message" prompting a data download, which I declined obviously.

Dan
________________________________________

From: Admin2
Sent: 25 October 2007 09:37
To: Dan

Dan

Funny enough I chased Vodafone on this yesterday and a lady called Jo will be contacting you direct today to discuss this (see attached#).

It appears because of the content it we straight to Vodafones Spam inbox but Jo was retrieving it yesterday so will call you today.

Thanks

# attached:

From: Vodafone
Sent: Wed 24/10/2007 15:32
To: Admin2

Just thought I'd let you know that the system filtered this message and deemed it as spam, but I am currently in the process of trying to retrieve it so there may be a little delay in my response. ...
________________________________________

Following this Jo from Vodafone did call me, and told me they could change my number for 25 quid, of if I reported it to the police three times would do it for free. She then took some more details about the messages, and called up the sender to see if she could get it stopped. Fortunatly this worked. I was also told that "Tim's" responce was not aceptable and it would be taken up with his line manager. Thankyou, Jo.

________________________________________

Sometime later...

From; Dan
Sent: Tue 13/11/2007 14:24
To: Vodafone
Cc: Admin2

Hi Joanne,

Thanks for your help with stopping the previous spam text invasion. You said you would send an email to Admin2 to confirm that this had been dealt with and that you would copy me in. Although I never saw this I didn't worry as at least the messages did stop after that... until last night.

Yesterday evening I received three "service messages" (see [below], only two had arrived at that point). Not that I would want to anyway but these cannot be opened due to data packet transfer being disabled. However, that also means I have no way of seeing where they are coming from or knowing how to stop them.



Could you please advise on what a "service message" actually is, as I get the impression this is not intended as a mechanism for communication of this sort? And once again, is there anything that can be done to stop this.

Thanks,
Dan
________________________________________

From: Vodafone
Sent: Tue 13/11/2007 14:55
To: Dan

Hi Daniel,

I'm so sorry to here that you have received these SPAM messages, these are rather difficult to stop as they are sent though as site links as appose to a text message. Are you able to access the message to see if any contact numbers are on them for a customer services team to see if they can offer any help?

I'm sorry to say that due to a temporary job move I will be unable to call any customer care contact line on your behalf, but if after looking at the message you find there are no contact numbers, please let me know and I can then see if anyone can assist you with this matter further.

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

If you have any further questions or queries then please feel free to contact me.

Kind Regards
Jo
________________________________________

From: Dan
Sent: Mon 19/11/2007 10:08
To: Vodafone

Hi Jo,

Hope you had a good weekend. I've learnt some new words!

I've worked out how to view the message without opening the website. There are no customer service numbers attached but I have found out what website they are coming from. Messages read:

Bent XXX: Free P()rn – 24 hour offer! Address: http://fruitmag.net/promo?n=[mobilenumber]
Cum see fckable lads ramming fat throbbing c()cks into tight v!rg!n holes… FREE PIC WEEKEND Address: http://fruitmag.net/basement?n=[mobilenumber]
Want more filth? Tight twinks, dirty daddies, sexy shemales, hot hunks we've got it all! Free PICS! Address: http://fruitmag.net/basement?n=[mobilenumber]
It's cold outside, so why don't you stay in and warn yourself up by enjoying our hot XXX videos Address: http://fruitmag.net/basement?n=[mobilenumber]
[Messages edited in the hope they'll get through your own spam filter.]

You'll notice the mobile number on the end of each url is mine, so they will be tracking whether they ever get visited, therefore please do not visit them! The main fruitmag.net site is a holding page displaying an imaging saying "TEXT JOIN TO 89975 TO VISIT BENTHARD.COM"

I've tried texting "STOP" to this number but get an error message:

"Access to this service is denied. Content Control bar is in place. You can request the removal of this bar by calling Customer Services"

Again, any advice or suggestions on how to proceed would be appreciated.

Regards,
Dan

Received a couple of fail messages - address obviously went to a mailing list.
________________________________________

From: Vodafone
Sent: Tue 20/11/2007 12:00
To: Dan

Hello Daniel,

Please try e-mailing, customercare[at]hybyte[dot]com with your number and request that they take you off their list.

Warm Regards

How did they know this?
________________________________________

From: Dan
Sent: Tue 20/11/2007 12:07
To: Hybyte

Hi there,

I have a company mobile phone that previously belonged to someone else and I have been receiving unwanted spam service messages from http://fruitmag.net

Could you please remove me from this list and from any other lists you hold. The mobile number in question is 07713 XXX XXX

I have tried texting STOP to the number listed on the website but Vodafone are clever enough to stop the message from going out but not clever enough to stop them from coming in!

If you could confirm that this has been actioned that would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Dan
________________________________________

From: Hybyte
Sent: 20 November 2007 15:59
To: Dan

Dear Mr P,

I have blacklisted the mobile number provided on our system. this will prevent any further text messages (that are sent via our system) from reaching the handset.

I have also contacted the client responsible for the traffic of which you complain, and requested that they remove [the number] from their database.

Kind regards
________________________________________

Hooray!!

Labels: Humour, Privacy

:: Dan 17.10.07 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
...