Go-ahead for new Heathrow runway

"BBC NEWS | Politics | Go-ahead for new Heathrow runway
The government has given the go-ahead for a third runway at Heathrow, saying it is the 'right' move for the country."

Sod the environment, eh? I'm absolutely disgusted by the Government's decision to build this runway. It shows complete contempt for the environment and destroys any remaining credibility they may have had when it comes to green issues. What hope do we now have in persuading other countries to kerb their greenhouse gas emissions having made this decision? We should be cutting flights, not allowing more - regardless of how "green" the aircraft may purport to be.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Go-ahead for new Heathrow runway

Non-DRM iTunes contain your email address

"iTunes Plus: Be warned: your account information is stored in every file
Although iTunes Plus files feature no copy protection, files downloaded still contain the email address you have registered with iTunes. So although files can physically be shared with, and played by, friends and family, any of your purchases that end up on file-sharing networks, for example, can be traced back to you."

Personally, I'm happy to continue to purchase DRM-protected files - in the unlikely event I want an MP3 version, I just burn a music CD from iTunes, then rip the tracks back in again. But the above is just damn sneaky - I certainly hope they've put that in the small print somewhere.

iTunes Plus: Everything you need to know - Crave at CNET UK

No.10 on Photography in Public Places

"Number10.gov.uk | Photographylaw - epetition response
There are no legal restrictions on photography in public places."

Well, that's a good start. However, it goes on to say that in each situation "it would be an operational matter for the police officer concerned". So I don't think this has really addressed the issue at all. They can quote pretty much any law they like and tell you to clear off - or worse - should they fee like it.

Number10.gov.uk | Photographylaw - epetition response

'Carbon cost' of Google revealed

"BBC NEWS | Technology | 'Carbon cost' of Google revealed
Two search requests on the internet website Google produce 'as much carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle', according to a Harvard University academic. US physicist Alex Wissner-Gross claims that a typical Google search on a desktop computer produces about 7g CO2. However, these figures were disputed by Google, who say a typical search produced only 0.2g of carbon dioxide."

That's staggering. It really is about time that a serious effort was made to make computers considerably more efficient.

BBC NEWS | Technology | 'Carbon cost' of Google revealed

Bush warns Obama of terror threat

"BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Bush warns Obama of terror threat
Outgoing US President George W Bush has warned his successor that a terrorist attack is still the "most urgent threat" to the US."

Bush has been using scare tactics on his public for the last 8 years, so he's applying it to the new President now. I think you'll find, George, that drugs and global warming are already killing a lot more of your citizens.

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Bush warns Obama of terror threat

Blogging direct from iPod

Thought I'd try an application that would allow me to post direct from my iPod to my Blogger blog. Works too!

Home Office denies remote snooping plan

"Home Office denies remote snooping plan • The Register
The Home Office has denied it has made any change to rules governing how police can remotely snoop on people's computers. Any such remote hack is governed by Ripa - and the rules have not changed. But European discussions on giving police more access are underway..."

Surely no one can deny now that we - and that now seems to include the rest of Europe - are becoming a Police State?

Home Office denies remote snooping plan • The Register

UNIX_TIMESTAMP 'bug'

Not really a bug as such - its just an issue you have to consider and work around - in the UNIX_TIMESTAMP function in mySQL and is related to the twice-annual 'summer time'/'daylight savings time' clock change. My code was saving the right date into the database - it was just fetching it back again that introduced an error. I tried to store the date 31st March 2009 but when I recalled the data, it was displayed as 30th March. So I added some comments to my HTML to see what was happening:

<!-- my_date_field = 2009-03-31 -->
<!-- UNIX_TIMESTAMP(my_date_field) is 1238454000 = 30-03-2009 -->

If you use a 'date' field, the date ends up a day out, if you use a 'datetime' field, it ends up an hour out.

Fortunately there is a workaround:

UNIX_TIMESTAMP(your_date_field)

...has to be replaced with:

UNIX_TIMESTAMP(CONVERT_TZ(your_date_field, '+0:00', 'SYSTEM'))

Nanotech could mean sharper snaps

"BBC NEWS | Technology | Nanotech could mean sharper snaps
Researchers in Scotland have been given nearly half a million pounds to try to improve digital camera images."

So, its not the photographer at fault after all...?

BBC NEWS | Technology | Nanotech could mean sharper snaps

Retailer Morgan in administration

"BBC NEWS | Business | Retailer Morgan in administration
French women's clothing store chain Morgan has gone into administration, the latest retailer to be hit by the sharp fall in consumer spending.The company, which expects to report a 9% decline in 2008 sales, said it still hoped to be able to sell the business."

These companies must have been running really close to the edge if a mere 9% fall in sales is enough for them to collapse.

BBC NEWS | Business | Retailer Morgan in administration

Calls for 'speed-limiting' cars

"BBC NEWS | UK | Calls for 'speed-limiting' cars
Speed-limiting devices should be fitted to cars on a voluntary basis to help save lives and cut carbon emissions, according to a new report. The government's transport advisers claim the technology would cut road accidents with injuries by 29%. The device automatically slows a car down to within the limit for the road on which it is being driven."

More demonisation of drivers from the New Labour Nanny State. If they brought these in, surely you'd never ever see a police patrol car again? Meaning that everyone could use their phone, drink, tailgate, etc. to their heart's content?

BBC NEWS | UK | Calls for 'speed-limiting' cars

Windows 'My Network Places' slow?

If you find that your 'My Network Places' window under Windows XP (and possibly other versions too) takes ages to load, its because every time you mount a network share, Explorer adds a shortcut to this window. If they are shares that aren't normally mounted (such as servers only accessible over VPN after login) this can drastically slow the construction of this window. According to the following MS Help page, you can add a new registry entry that prevents this:

The Explorer.exe process stops responding when you use network shortcuts in Windows XP

Technorati tags: Windows network shares shortcuts registry

Dynamic HTML select objects

Want to use JavaScript to remove all elements of a select object? Don't do this:

for (i=0; i < form.yourSelector.length; i++) {
  form.yourSelector.remove(i);
}

...and don't do this either:

l = form.yourSelector.length;
for (i=0; i < l; i++) {
  form.yourSelector.remove(i);
}

Instead, do this:

l = form.yourSelector.length;
for (i=0; i < l; i++) {
  form.yourSelector.remove(form.yourSelector.length - 1);
}

Menezes verdict choice restricted

"BBC NEWS | UK | Menezes verdict choice restricted
The jury at the inquest into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes will not be able to consider a verdict of unlawful killing, the coroner has said. Sir Michael Wright said that having heard all the evidence, a verdict of unlawful killing was 'not justified'."

The whole exercise was a waste of time, then, was it not? All the actions that led to the guy's death were the fault of the police. So if the inquest cannot blame the police, what's the point?

BBC NEWS | UK | Menezes verdict choice restricted

Iraq advice 'should stay secret'

"BBC NEWS | Politics | Iraq advice 'should stay secret'
Releasing records of the cabinet's Iraq war meetings would do 'serious harm' to war planning, says a government lawyer."

You mean, it might make government ministers feel responsible for their actions? Well, we can't have that, can we?

"Addressing the final day of a three-day Information Tribunal hearing in south London, the Cabinet Office's counsel Jonathan Swift appealed for minutes from cabinet meetings on 13 March and 17 March 2003 not to be disclosed to the public. He said 'a general risk of disclosure would do serious harm' to the decision-making process. He argued that if the minutes were published 'cabinets are likely to be more cautious how they approach the matter in the cabinet setting' when it came to 'war and peace decisions'."

Well, all previous enquiries have ended in a whitewash - might as well have another one do the very same. Perhaps cabinets should be more cautious when it comes to sending our soldiers to fight politically-motivated, illegal wars?

BBC NEWS | Politics | Iraq advice 'should stay secret'

My iPod continued

Just remembered that another thing I use the iPod for is keeping a mobile copy of my work calendar - via iTunes it sychronises with iCal - excellent integration and far better than anything Outlook and my Windows Mobile PDA can manage. I also use BusySync to publish free/busy data to Google Calendar, so anyone, anywhere can see something of where I am and what I'm doing.

My iPod Touch

Never thought I'd own an iPod. The few times I'd tried them, I could never get on with that wheel-like interface. But as I'm part of the OU's iTunes U/Podcasting project (I am currently building the website, backend database and XML creation system) I've now become the posessor of an iPod Touch.

"Designed by Apple in California" they proudly state on the iPod's box - but where are they made? And why don't they say?

Apple's iPod now takes about 40% of the world's solid-state music player market and it is by far their biggest money spinner. To cut manufacturing costs, they are of course made in China in factories owned and operated by Foxconn. A bit old now, but here's some links to articles on "iPod City":

Inside Apple's iPod factories - Mac - Macworld UK
Apple responds to iPod factory claims - Mac - Macworld UK
BBC NEWS | Business | iPod 'slave' claims investigated

What of the iPod itself? We'll, its a very impressive bit of kit. The wireless functionality means that its much more than just a music player - I have a Sudoku game on it, plus I use it to read web forums, to keep up with Facebook (although its only partically functional) and to post messages to Twitter. The touch screen is easy to use and the predictive text typing works very well. I'm subscribed to the SkyNext podcast, plus I can play movies on it. Battery life is good and even the standard earpiece headphones do a reasonable job.

But then for £210 (16Gb model) it should be impressive - you can get a fully-functional Windows laptop for that money.

Lexar Launch SD WiFi card

Lexar have now launched an SD card with built-in 802.11 wireless so you can send images directly from any SD-equipped digital camera via a wireless network. How do they get it all in such a tiny package - when it was introduced for Compact Flash, it was surprising enough!

Whether they just took over the company that developed this approach or have simply licensed the technology from them, I don't know. Unfortunately its only available in the USA at the moment, but I'm sure it will be here soon.

Lexar – Shoot-n-Sync Wi-Fi Memory Card

Obama wins historic US election

"BBC NEWS | World | Americas | US Elections 2008 | Obama wins historic US election
Democratic Senator Barack Obama has been elected the first black president of the United States. 'It's been a long time coming, but tonight... change has come to America,' the president-elect told a jubilant crowd at a victory rally in Chicago."

Very surprised that Obama managed to win in Florida - I thought the voting machine there wouldn't allow you to select Democrat...

"But he added: 'Even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime - two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.'"

Glad to see mention of planetary issues so soon, but please don't let his concerns end here - this is just the start. I'm sure that over the next few years, we'll hear more about how the Bush administration suppressed evidence on climate change.

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | US Elections 2008 | Obama wins historic US election

UK energy bill rises 'double' EU

"BBC NEWS | UK | UK energy bill rises 'double' EU
Energy prices in the UK have increased twice as fast as the European Union average, according to latest figures. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development statistics showed gas and electricity bills rose 29.7% in the past year compared with 15% in the EU."

More evidence of "rip-off Britain".

BBC NEWS | UK | UK energy bill rises 'double' EU