Saturday 20 November 2010

E-Mail D-Day?


Apparently, Facebook aim to kill off email as we know it in the very near future - see here.

Just a short post tonight, purely for me to remind myself what constructing proper sentences feels like, and partly because I had a funny conversation about this with someone the other day; here are some reasons why this doesn't appear like a great idea to me:

- Employment. I don't see a future where a potential employer will take you on if you give your contact details as "MrJones@facebook.com"

- Business. Your work email address is free advertising for whoever you work for, and no one in their right minds will give that up.

- Documents. I bet I'm one of many people who regularly email themselves (and other people) various documents - "CV to print", "CV to check", "Plz proofread essay", etc etc. Given how much personal data Facebook stores about its members, and how readily it may potentially make that data available to third parties, will there really come a day when we'd be happy uploading such info to the Facebook servers?

And, following on from that last point, the article suggests that the new Facebook email will integrate all aspects of messaging in one convenient place. Again, do I really want Facebook to have access to my texts? And other such data?

[I'm starting to sound like I have a lot to hide..!]

So, to summarise -
Pro: limited spam
Con: loss of privacy

Tough choice, that.


Friday 22 October 2010

HomeGroup and such


Today I set up a "HomeGroup" to share files and folders with other computers in my household. I have since realised that "HomeGroup" sharing is only available on Windows 7 systems - which automatically excludes at least one of my housemate's machines. The difference between "HomeGroup" and just the normal "network sharing" is that with HG one can actually copy over files from one user to another, whilst network sharing seems only to allow streaming from one user's media library to another.

(Well, that is my interpretation of it all anyway.)

The process did take a good three quarters of an hour or so, mainly because the way it's been designed to set up just doesn't seem very intuitive. We (myself and a pseudo-housemate) spent so much time trying to work out why our libraries weren't visible to one another, and the troubleshooting didn't really help much. Eventually, it appeared the problem was with his firewall, so once that was all sorted out (involving a fair bit of geekery on his part) he made himself right at home by copying over all 31GB of my brilliant (if I do say so myself) music library. The sad thing is, most of this wasn't actually my collection to begin with - that appears still to be on my old PC - and instead came from a friend of mine who's files were backed up on my machine prior to a system re-install... ANYWAY. There was a point to this, and it is the following -

I rarely download films or TV shows from the internet because 9 times out of 10 you can find and stream exactly what you want to watch. I find this to be much more practical as I don't have to worry about filling up my hard drive and I much prefer watching films in a group, with my friends, as opposed to under my duvet cover, alone, sobbing inconsolably [this does not happen], and unable to vent my frustrations about annoying characters or poor acting [e.g. Andie McDowell in Four Weddings - what the hell was wrong with her?!] . Anyway, I copied over a couple of films from my friend's videos, just for the hell of it really. And here is where the bafflement kicks in.

When you put a file on a USB stick and take it somewhere, or even (but perhaps to a lesser extent) when you send an email, there is, in the back of my mind at least, the interpretation that "something" is moving from one place to another. And although it is not a tangible "thing", my mind conceptualizes it by thinking of a tiny, tiny, little document travelling through my laptop circuits, onto the USB stick, being carried around, and transferring itself elsewhere. And same with an email attachment - the tiny, tiny, little document piggybacks a ride through the internet on my flying email and reaches its destination. Now, I know I only create these visualisations to use as an analogy because I don't really understand the inner workings of a computer, but I suspect most people use similar analogies to gain a certain level of comfort with many things they deem unfamiliar or have a limited understanding of. In fact, when you think about it, analogous understanding is very much a part of the human experience - thousands of years ago, the ancient Greeks and Romans explained worldly phenomena through their religions, with stories of gods riding blazing chariots through the sky, etc etc etc, ... so it's nothing new.

Back to this filesharing business. So, I was copying over these films and I thought - how is this tiny, tiny, little document travelling to me?! Are the packets of data just travelling through the ether?! And I know it's something to do with our wireless router and it all goes through that, bla bla bla, but it's just baffling! My brain just can't compute! Then, to top it all off, my friend showed me this article and this video relating to Wireless Electricity - - my mind has just been blown to smithereens. I think I need to go lie down.

Saturday 4 September 2010

Cups and Milestones

So, old habits die hard, apparently. It's been like a gazillion years since I last wrote a blog entry; what better time to compile some nonsense than the night before I officially "fly the nest"? As of Saturday 4th September (technically, today), I will be living in a house-share with some friends from uni in (what I hope to be) a quiet little street in Wood Green. Another milestone to add to my life list; it ranks up there amongst such highlights as "The Day I Broke My Leg" (20th Jan 2000), "The Day I Nearly Got Mauled To Death By A Dog In A Playpark In The Middle Of The Night" (20th Apirl 2003) and "The Day I (Accidentally) Smoked Some Unknown Substance(/Crack) And Lost Two Hours Of My Life" (27th Jun 2010).

I have recently realised that I have a genuine fear of committing to anything for much longer than a few months. I am suddenly very nervous about being tied down into this contract for a full year. I can't bring myself to think about 'the future', even if it is only (" ") 12 months down the line. If there's anything that the last twelve months (or so, since graduation,) have taught me, is that nothing is certain and nothing is ever set in stone and you really never know what sort of curveball life is about to throw at you. When I try and imagine my life in August 2011, I am plagued by questions like, "Will I still be in the same job?" and, perhaps worse, "What if I lose the job I have?" as well as about another hundred or so completely pointless and useless worries - and the reason it is pointless and useless worrying about such things is because, ultimately, whatever happens, happens - "que serra, serra", to put it more poetically. I think what this goes to show is that I'm now having to compromise my "live for the day, from one day to the next" philosophy to allow for a broader time frame.

Which brings me on to the following:

- the idea of "allowing for a broader time frame". How broad are we talking? Obviously I am in no fit position to get [or buy? Does one 'buy' a mortgage?!] a mortgage, or a car, or even to apply for some further academic qualification, due to my financial constraints. And I'm not here to complain about that, it's just a factual statement. But my point is that one day (with a bit of luck) I will be in that position, and when that day comes, I will be signing over 25-30 years of my life to pay off a mortgage on some or other property, or be indefinitely tied down with annual road tax and MOTs (or however often it is that they happen), or again be in the position where more student debt will get piled on my (currently tanned!) shoulders. It's not that there's anything wrong with that, I'm just trying to point out how easy it seems for one to fall into such a routine, where suddenly you work 9-5, 5 days a week, to make ends meet. And I know that that's the norm, that it is what most people do and it is how society is 'structured', but I've suddenly remembered that I used to think there must be another way, a better way, of spending one's time in this one life that we get to live. Where am I going with all this? I'm just trying to make the point that, in my opinion, "allowing for a broader time frame" (as opposed to living "from one day to the next") does not appear to be liberating. - - -

- - - I will always remember the day when I was penniless, back in August of last year, and going for a job interview at Brent Cross with nothing save £2.10 on my Oyster card - just enough to cover my journey there and back. I appreciated how, that day, I didn't have to worry what I would buy for lunch - I didn't have to stand there in the sandwich isle of Tesco's for a half hour [exaggeration] deciding what to eat - I just didn't have that choice. It was one less thing to worry about! And for someone who has on several occasions contemplated about why they chose the-pink-up-over-the-blue-cup-to-make-a-cup-of-tea-in-when-both-cups-are-relatively-the-same-size-and-shape-and-of-course-the-tea-would-taste-the-same-in-both, having less things to worry about is a godsend!

Note - I just want to point out that I'm not some loon who goes around worrying about cup-of-tea colours; the Cup-of-Tea Colour Dilemma was a way for me (as a philosophy student at the time) to think about the nature of choice, and why it is that one opts for a certain cup out of the cupboard as opposed to another cup - whether it is a choice at all - and if so, how the choice is made - or whether whatever cup it is that one takes out was always 'destined' to be the cup for that particular cup of tea. Make sense? Probably not.

In any case, I wouldn't suggest anyone reading this to take anything I say too seriously, I make the time now to be 02:39 (though the post timestamp is taken at whatever time I started writing this) - it has been a long day and I like to waffle. Mmmm... waffles...

(Image courtesy of these guys - thank you!)

On a side note, if anyone is actually reading this blog, it would be good to get some comments and start some dialogue. Just a suggestion, I don't really mind either way.

Monday 26 July 2010

The whirlybird gets the perm

It's been over six months since my last hair cut. It's something that I'm neither proud nor ashamed of - but if I had to choose, I suppose I'd say I was sticking-it-to-the-man by refusing to conform to this idea that we need to get our hair trimmed and sorted and treated every six weeks. Or whatever it is.

The truth is, I don't see a trip to the hairdresser as exciting - in any way, shape or form. In fact, I fail to understand this idea of pruning one's hair for pleasure as a concept in itself - I mean, who invented hairdressing as a profession?! Who was the first Egyptian [for some reason, in my head it's the Ancient Egyptians who landed us with this fate...perhaps it's something to do with the classic image of Egyptians with straight black hair and head pieces] that demanded their hair be cut? At which point in the course of civilization did some dude decide hair was that important? I just don't get it..! [BUT I have a healthy respect for hairdresses and beauticians alike, let's not get into some crazy argument over their worth to society.]

I am only writing about this because it's getting to that stage where I'm getting split ends, and everyone tells me all the time that split ends are bad. So I have to go against all my principles and get rid of these sodding split ends.

[Obviously my life right now is so interesting, that I am broadcasting to the world such sincere trollop about absolutely nothing. My sincere apologies. But expect more to come.]


Mmmm...gimmie some of these dreadlocks any day...

Sunday 11 July 2010

A Very Glastonbury Experience

I have been reluctant to blog about my Glastonbury 2010 weekend because it was not at all the sort of experience that I expected to have and I'm sure whatever words I use to try and describe it now will not serve it justice.

I caught a couple of minutes of Michael Eavis' speech at the Acoustic Tent on the Saturday and he called Glastonbury Festival a "life-changing experience" for some. At the time it seemed rather poignant; I suppose it still does.

In terms of performances, surprisingly (and disturbingly!?) one of the highlights of my weekend was Snoop Dogg. Though closely followed by Muse and Stevie Wonder, Snoop's performance was the only one during which I felt carefree and fully able to enjoy myself - most of the rest of the weekend, though pleasant, is a complete blur in my mind and it is difficult placing events in order of their occurrence. (With the exception of Ray Davies' set, who I absolutely adore anyway, and who blew me away as expected.) And that is perhaps another reason why it has taken me two weeks to form some sort of coherent rambling; I can't "critically evaluate or assess" any of the acts that I watched because, for the most part, time just elongated itself into one long, hot, messy day and I struggle to pick out the finer details.

Some of you (who haven't yet been bored enough to close this window) might well think my disjointed description of Glastonbury is due to some drug-fuelled binge on my part which has eradicated my memory and fried my brain - and though it is true to say I did indeed lose two hours of my life in circumstances not too dissimilar from that (more on that later) - I am sorry to disappoint, for that would've made for a much more light-hearted story.

In actual fact, on Friday evening one of the twelve volunteers that I had come with (courtesy of the musicians' charity I used to work for) passed away outside his tent. He was a remarkable man of 70-something, a first-time Glastonbury attendee, who was continually expressing his amazement at being in such an incredible environment with so much astounding "stuff" around, and may he rest in peace. Without wanting to dwell on it for too long, suffice it to say that I was genuinely moved by the team's support of one another...we did good. And so did he.

* * *

Moving on to the anecdote promised earlier - I may (or may not) have inadvertently smoked some crack at Glastonbury. (And if it wasn't crack, it was definitely something!)

On the Sunday afternoon I was so excited about seeing Ray Davies. I remember listening to him play last year in the Acoustic Tent and not being able to see a bloody thing 'cos it was so packed and I am not so tall at all! And so this year he came out onto the Pyramid Stage and sang his beautiful songs - Waterloo Sunset being my favourite - and I sipped away at my G&T. At one point, a Random Stranger wandered over and asked, "Could I please have some tobacco for my joint?", and I replied, "Yep, no worries!", and handed him a mess of 'baccy.

Ten minutes later, Ray was nearing the end of his set and I had reached the bottom of my bottle. And so I thought to myself, 'I'll go find Random Stranger and ask for a toke of his joint. One toke won't hurt, what's the worst that could happen?!' And so I did just that, found Random Stranger and asked, "Please could I have a toke of your joint?", and his very kind response was "Yeah of course, it's not got much weed in it though." And I thought, 'Great! Even better! I'll just get a slight woozy, cosy feeling to end my afternoon and Ray's set with!'

So, I took a long drag of his joint, walked back to Zoe, the girl I was stood with - and promptly lost two hours of my life! Ray played three more songs - 'Lola', to which I suitably changed the lyrics to 'Zoe' - and 'Waterloo Sunset' and Days' - during which I continuously kept falling into the people behind us, and apologising profusely and in what I imagine must have been a pretty incoherent manner.

I have no recollection of walking from one place to another, but after Ray's set we randomly bumped into one of the guys on our team - and I refused to talk to him unless he had his sunglasses off. I lolled back on forth on his England flag for a bit, before throwing up - rather conscientiously I thought, into the black 'general waste' bins - about four times, until a lady took pity on me and asked if I wanted a wet wipe. I lost my chain of blue flowers, as well as all memory of walking over to the Other Stage, where we found our Team Leader. At some point during the proceedings I'd left my bag God-knows-where-and-how - but it got returned to me so it can't have got too far...and then I remember being plonked on the floor next to our Team Leader, crying "I've no idea what the hell I'm on - literally! What is this?! I only took one toke...what the hell is this?!"

And then next thing I know it's 8pm and I'm back at the Pyramid Stage watching Faithless and everything's fine!

So, I have learnt the hard way not to take drugs from strangers.

I am hoping my video embedding has worked below. Ray's set, despite what I earlier said about Snoop Dogg, was actually the best hour and half I had that weekend. I hope you enjoy the taster.


Saturday 19 June 2010

Superfans

Much to the nation's dismay, England desperately need a win in their next (and final) group match against Slovenia on Wednesday, if they are to progress through to the knock-out stages of the World Cup finals.

The most remarkable news story I have come across today is this particular article - apparently:

"No England fans were arrested after Friday's match with Algeria, despite the 25,000-strong following being left furious at their team's showing."

Well. Done.

The nation is so very proud that the very angry fans didn't stoop to acts of barbarism, and actually behaved in a civilized manner. Not that, you know, this isn't what should just generally be expected....!!!

Thursday 10 June 2010

[No Title]

Is it me or does it not quite feel like summer is really here? Perhaps this is due to it being the first summer of my life which hasn't come at the end of an academic year. I don't have that expansive six-to-twelve weeks of "freedom" awaiting me - in fact, the more I think about it, the more there seem to be constant constraints coming up in the next few weeks to ensure that my feet are firmly planted on the ground - both literally and metaphorically speaking.

I am not sure the grown-up way of life is really all it is cracked up to be. Perhaps if I was a braver soul, I would just pack up my stuff and hop on the first plane out of here.

Well. I suppose everything is temporary.

Thursday 15 April 2010

The First Election Debate

Against my original inclination, I feel compelled to give my (worthless) opinion on tonight's debate between UK's three main party leaders.

* * *

Right. Scrap all I was going to say. I just gauged some reactions from various people's statuses on Facebook, and here is my two cents on the First Election Debate; history has been made...

Firstly, the comment that most provoked this unforeseen reaction in me was "politics turned theatre is a joke" - erm...excuse me, but all politics is theatre, played out on the world stage with people who try every day to convince us that their point of view and their policies deserve our backing. And there is no doubt that a huge amount of acting (and manipulation) goes into this - just take a look at the Lib Dems for the past, say, two general elections. They talk about winning and about what they would do, but they knew deep down, as we did, that they never really had a shot at power.

What we saw in tonight's debate is something quite extraordinary - the third main party in our electoral system got a fair platform from which to challenge the others and to push forward their own agenda - and, most importantly, in a way that was accessible to the whole electorate. All too often the Lib Dems get shooed into the corner because no one really believes their policies are worth serious airtime. And I think it worked very much in their favour. Early polls suggest Nick Clegg was seen as the 'winner' of tonight's debate, and I really hope that this (and the other two debates left), firstly, helps encourage more people to register to vote and, secondly, ensures people seriously consider the political choices they have before them - it doesn't have to be just 'red or blue'.

Just two more quick points -

Considering how the debates might fit overall into the bigger picture, there is a danger that those who have made up their voting minds won't now be swayed one way or the other by a few television performances. I don't know what the viewing figures for tonight are, but I genuinely hope enough of the 'floating voters' watched it to get some sense of political perspective.

However, my biggest fear is that, actually, not enough people really give a shit. The apathy of the general public frustrates me beyond belief. A lot of my friends tend to be quite blasé about elections and the like, and what frustrates me most is not the blatant disregard for the future of this country, but the fact that so many people don't bother to exercise one of the most fundamental human rights that this country's citizens are entitled, and almost privileged, to have. (I say 'almost' because a 'right', by its very nature, is not a 'privilege' as such.)

* * *

Lamest quote of the night came from Cameron: "Choose hope over fear."

Friday 2 April 2010

Quarter-end Review

Easter is 8 days earlier this year than it was last year.

Unlike Christmas, which always falls on 25 December, Easter has a tendency to jump around different Sundays in March and April. This used to be a great source of confusion for me. Surely if Christians celebrate the 'birth of Jesus' on one particular day of the year, they should also celebrate the 'death and resurrection of Jesus' on one specific day of the year too? I have since found out that Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon after 21st March.

(...which still doesn't quite seem to explain why the jumping around is necessary. One's Anniversary of Death is, just like one's Anniversary of Birth, always going to fall on one day of the year! Anyway, I think I am past the caring stage now, I just appreciate the fact that we have a Bank Holiday and I can laze about for four days.)

So, a quick review of the success (or otherwise) of my year-to-date:

- No matter how good my intentions are, I am perpetually in the 'quitting' stage of smoking. At first when I quit, I would go five days without one, and then 'reward' myself for good behaviour by smoking a cigarette on the sixth day. (I should start my own brand of Warped Logic.) And due to large numbers of smoker friends, I tend to smoke a couple casually over a drink (or three). However, I am not viewing this as a failure, more as a need to readjust my attitude.

- My other resolutions have worked out alright, I suppose. Not really biting my fingers any more; (very important that I differentiate between the nails - which I don't bite - and the skin around them - which is the real problem. I sound like a cannibal!) Am possibly biting/chewing on my lips more, must investigate.

- Have started some workouts: 10mins stretches/warmups, 20mins abs, 10mins 'buns', 5mins press-ups. Am trying to work up the courage to go for a run. (Yes, courage is necessary. As I fear I won't be able to get past the end of my road.)

I am also now officially a full-time worker bee. And I don't hate my job(s)!

Happy Easter!

Wednesday 24 March 2010

Ideal Time

Timekeeping is something that I sporadically have issues with. Indeed, it's something that has haunted most of my life. Most people never forget their first day of (secondary) school, but mine was memorable for all the wrong reasons - the fear that I wouldn't be able to find anything, given the knowledge that I'd managed to turn up about 15 minutes late. I remember running into some sixth formers and asking 'where is P7?!' only to be told that the room 'P7 didn't exist', and was I looking for J7 or S7, or did I not mean to be looking for a room at all and, in fact, was just trying to find the class that was 7P? So I settled for the latter, and found myself in an empty classroom - bar the form tutor - who was inevitably waiting for 'the late girl'.

In fairness, during those early days I did live a small heart attack - two tube lines and 22 stops - away from school. And I was lucky enough to befriend the other six or so unfortunate souls who also lived well outside the London Borough of Barnet to warrant tube travel, a couple of which were in my year group, and consequently, upon becoming friends, we understood and accepted our individual tardy ways, and it became acceptable to be 15 minutes late for anything we were going to do, because we knew that we would collectively be at least 15 minutes late - and therefore, by some perverted logic, all turn up punctually tardy.

Anyway, after years of struggling with this condition - and I do believe it is a condition, mind - I have concluded the following:

My mind, and therefore my body, run on what I call 'ideal time'. So, in an ideal world, it would take me only 15 minutes to get ready. In an ideal world, tube journeys anywhere would take no more than half an hour. And walking distance, in an ideal world, would be no longer than 10 minutes.

Sadly, I do not live in an ideal world.

'Real time', in fact, runs on an " 'ideal time' + 30 minutes " formula - give or take; (I have yet to refine this into an exact science.)

Armed with this fact, and three forms of alarms in the early morning, I am slowly becoming a punctual, reliable and tardy-free person.

Thursday 18 March 2010

Just a ramble...

I did not blog at all in the month of February - so here is a short ramble before I completely forget the art of stringing sentences together in an (arguably) amusing fashion:

I did start a post about a fortnight ago, but have so far failed to make any headway with it as, these days, if I'm not working on my laptop then I'm taking (what I perceive to be) a well-earned break to catch up on some Gilmore Girls or laugh at South Park. Although, having said that, last week I stumbled upon an article on psychopathy (see here) which took the best part of a day to read through. At first it was all very intriguing, until I started to think it didn't really have much of a basis in science. Anyway, various playings-around from one link to the next took me to this interview with the founder of (amongst others) the site upon which said article is hosted. Now, all of that made for some very hefty reading. But it was worth it, I think, for two of the funniest things I have read in the last three months:

- hyperdimensional beings are perpetrating an experiment on us, manipulating us, with evidence to strongly suggest we are food for them

and

- scientists in one field don't talk so much to scientists in other fields - like the Egyptologists

Much LOLing ensued on my part.

I swear Egyptology isn't an actual science?! Egyptoligists must be historians, surely! Historians interpret various sources from the past. Ergo, history is not science. Anyway! A discussion for another time, perhaps!

I don't know if this makes any sense to people reading it out of context, but if you go through the aforementioned interview, you'll come across what I mean (...eventually. I did wonder why I spent so much time reading so much nonsense. It must've been a slow news day.)

Oh, I also watched 'In The Loop' this weekend. It kind of likened itself to me as a heavily satirical, political version of Napoleon Dynamite. But I have only seen ND once, and that was over three years ago, so the comparison is probably not valid. But I don't think either film has explicit humour, it's all more about the delivery.

And finally - I thought I found two googlewhacks today. However, I don't think they fell within the guidelines - shame!

Tuesday 26 January 2010

Fearmongering

I will keep this short and sour.

Three days ago, Home Secretary Alan Johnson warned a terrorist attack was 'highly likely' in the UK, and raised the UK terrorist threat level from 'substantial' to 'severe'. Apparently, we're meant to 'remain vigilant' and 'report suspicious events to the proper authorities'. And if I could just quote a slightly larger passage:
Lord Carlile, the government's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said the change was designed to make the public more aware, not to scare people. He said: "The government has quite rightly decided that if you don't tell the public to be vigilant, they're not going to be vigilant."

So, my question is, what exactly is it that we're meant to be on the lookout for? What examples of terrorist activity have we been subject to, that could help us (the general public) in identifying 'suspicious events'?

And, in truth, the only examples that we have to hand - the only examples the media has presented us with - is of men in turbans carrying big rucksacks. And I'll be damned if I look at every man in a turban with a big rucksack as a potential threat.

Furthermore, Lord Carlile's argument is practically worthless. If Mr Smith is, unfortunately, going to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and be victim to some terror attack, there is nothing he can do about it. Telling us that the threat is 'severe' does nothing but make us more paranoid.

So, if I could please translate: if you don't tell the public to be suspicious, they're not going to be suspicious. And again, I, for one, do not want to walk the streets of London being suspicious of my fellow Londoners.

Perhaps this post isn't as short (but it's definitely as sour) as I first intended it to be...

Finally, just watch this Newswipe edition to see what I mean. Long live Charlie Brooker.

Monday 4 January 2010

The Big Three

Right-o. So, according to what I have gleamed from Nick Robinson's Newsblog, the general election is on the cards for May. All fine and well, I'm sure we all saw that coming. But did anyone watch the Andrew Marr Show (aired Sun 3rd Jan, 9am)? No, probably not - neither did I, until I streamed it on iPlayer; [oh how I love technology, and especially my new laptop - get used to this, it will be a while before I am over the amazingness of this wonderful, wonderful machine, my apologies in advance.] So, if you're at all interested in British politics, I would recommend even a quick peek at the interview, it starts at 27mins and sees the 'underdog' talking about allsorts from terrorism, immigration, and the upcoming election.

Now. To the heart of it. I'd just like to draw your attention to the three main parties' websites in the run up to this crucial election period. Five months indeed does seem like a long time, but considering the current political climate, there's no time like the present to pick up those floating (mostly Labour?) voters.

Bless the Lib Dems, such is the combined weight of their self-esteem that there's a 'who are we' box on the home page. Come on guys, you're meant to be a mainstream political party! We're meant to know who you are, you want to run our country - put something more forceful on your home page!

The Conservatives, on the other hand, have no less than five various forms of publicising David Cameron to the masses - videos, speeches, photos. They must really want this win.

And finally, the Labour party. The most prominent feature on their page is a ridiculous quiz that forces you (because there is no 'close' button) to sit through ten questions aimed at naming-and-shaming ten Tories who have come out with some funny comments over the year. This Q&A suggests only that Labour have no real fight left in them, and have been reduced to playground-style battles.

Gordon Brown, I really want to like you. But you don't make it easy for me - or yourself for that matter.

Friday 1 January 2010

New Year!

So, here we are in yet another decade - the fourth that my life so far has spanned. The crucial question is obviously what will this decade be named - the tens? the teens? the twenteens? Only time will tell!

My new year's resolutions -
1. Quit smoking. I am doing this rather begrudgingly, which leads me to think it will be harder this time than last year - in 2009 I didn't smoke from Jan-April. I need to convince myself that I want to quit smoking in order to succeed. Will keep you posted.

2. Quit biting the skin around my nails. I don't actually bite my nails, but the skin around them is getting to look like it needs some TLC. I've already caught myself absent-mindedly eating away at my fingers today, so this resolution will be more about recognising when and why I do it, and reprogramming this behaviour.

3. Generally - do more/learn more/play more/work more. Basically, stop wasting so much time on 'nothing'. Write more.

There are a few other things I aim to achieve this year, but this lot should keep me occupied 'til at least March.