Vista

This post was written on my (new) G1 using a handy app called wpToGo. Admittedly I could have written it just as easily using the laptop currently resting on, you guessed it, my lap but I wanted to test how well the app works. I’ve already tried PostBot but didn’t even manage to get it setup properly. I don’t anticipate posting from my phone very often but – you never know…

Last Thursday was not a slow news day.   Far from it, the Media were swamped with juicy stories: The War on Gaza; Heathrow’s Third Runway; whispers about Britain joining the Euro; long overdue compensation for Equitable Life pension holders; and a double BAFTA nomination for Kate Winslet only days after all those Golden Globes.

And while all this battled for the top slot, the House of Commons plodded slowly on, like the inhabitants of the Hundred Acre Wood, out for a pre-elevenses stroll.  At 11:35am, post-indulgence and while pondering how best to clean up, Harriet Harman announced that the Government had a plan to make it easier and that they should talk it through next week.

Given the sheer amount of news happening that day, you could (almost) forgive the Media for passing on this one – I mean, how exciting does it sound to you:

The business for next week is as follows: [yada, yada, yada] … Thursday 22 January—Proceedings on a business of the House motion, followed by a debate on motions relating to freedom of information, followed by motions relating to Members’ allowances. [1]

But some people have noticed that it’s on days like these that stories like these, the one’s that look like tiddlers but turn out to be whoppers, often get announced.  And, sure enough, it is.  This change to the law, if passed, will exempt Members of Parliament from having to answer Freedom of Information requests about their expenses.  And it’s retrospective too.  Which is very handy, as it’ll mean they’ll no longer have to comply with a High Court ruling forcing them to disclose exactly how much of taxpayer funds they’ve spent on second homes -  a move that they’ve allegedly spent a further £100,000 of public money trying to block.

Thanks to our wise owls sounding the alarm, the media are now giving the matter some attention.  But they only way we can ensure that this amendment gets properly bounced is by getting our own MPs to vote against it.  And, absurd as this may seem, it’s not safe to assume that your MP is fully aware of this issue, let alone that they’re going to vote against it so if you want to improve the odds:

1. Write to your MP and tell them that you would like them to vote against this change to the law.   If you’re not sure who your MP is, WriteToThem.com can tell you – and send your message, free of charge.
2. Join this Facebook group
3. Blog about it, call a local newspaper (find one), text, email, and instant message your friends to let them know that about this campaign.

The vote is due to take place on Thursday 22nd January 2009.  The debate and result will be published on http://www.theyworkforyou.com – a site worth watching, especially on big news days.

I’m loving the content that’s being created as a result of Lawrence Lessig’s recent interview on The Colbert Report:

During the interview, Stephen Colbert issues a challenge:

never ever take anything of mine and remix it.  For instance, I will be very angry and possibly litigious, if anyone out there takes this interview, right here, and remix it with some great dance beat and it starts showing up in clubs across America.

To which Lawrence Lessig responds:

Well, actually, we’re joint copyright owners.  I’m OK with that.  You can total remix it, I’m fine with it.

And so, naturally, we are now the blessed beneficiaries of umpteen Copyright Remixes.  My favourite so far is an MP3 by Sam King.  Many more are posted in the comments of this blog post by Lessig.

For me, one of the highlights of WordCamp San Francisco 2008 was a sneak preview of the new Admin Interface along with the rationale behind the changes. Fascinating stuff (see below).  And now, with the release of 2.7, I get to try it out for myself :)

Wow.  I finally did it.  Now, the question is, what do I write about..?  The general idea is that instead of writing a retrospective account of my fascinating and wildly exciting life, later, when I’ve forgotten all the good stuff, this blog will serve as a living record for all the family to enjoy/inflict on others.  This is wholly in keeping with the spirit in which this website was first created – as a means of passing on the family history using the power of hypertext and other modern magicks.

And, as everyone else seems to be deserting the field just now, I thought it was about time.

Ps. Merry Christmas! :)