29 January 2012
by Mark
3 Comments
A minor ripple of news yesterday concerned the fact that Curebit, a “social referral platform”, had been caught ripping off the design and layout of Highrise, a 37 Signals product. 37 Signals, of course, are probably more famous for their … Continue reading
24 January 2012
by Mark
6 Comments
Several bishops voted in the Lords last night to oppose the government’s welfare reform proposals. Here’s a story Jesus might have told, if he were sitting on the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral this morning. A man was walking through … Continue reading
19 January 2012
by Mark
2 Comments
Journalist David Aaronovitch has a full page opinion article in The Times today, which I can’t link to as it isn’t openly available online, in which he complains that “There’s nothing noble in this Wiki blackout”. Although the article is … Continue reading
11 January 2012
by Mark
0 comments
Simon Jenkins, writing in the Guardian, isn’t in favour of HS2. Before getting into the detail of why not, he starts with this comment: HS2 will cost taxpayers £1bn a year in interest alone, all so a few rich business … Continue reading
7 January 2012
by Mark
0 comments
Courtesy of an article in El Reg, I discovered an interesting report prepared by US think-tank American Assembly and Columbia University. Rather drily titled “Copyright Infringement and Enforcement in the US“, it’s a summarised set of results from an extensive … Continue reading
2 January 2012
by Mark
1 Comment
According to a press release from the BPI, sales of digital music rocketed in 2011: Adele’s 21 reaches 3.8m sales – the biggest-ever selling album in a single year. Fourth successive year of record singles sales, up 10.0% to 177.9m … Continue reading
1 January 2012
by Mark
0 comments
An article in today’s Sunday Times (sorry, no link due to the Murdoch anti-journalism paywall) is headlined “Pirates plunder ebooks trade”. As you might expect from the title, it’s all about how publishers are suffering from unauthorised downloads. This was … Continue reading
31 December 2011
by Mark
0 comments
I went shopping today. Decided to hit the sales, and came back with a new suit and a deep fat fryer. Exciting, eh? No? Oh well. I’d taken Ellie with me, mainly because I’d promised her a day out and … Continue reading
29 December 2011
by Mark
1 Comment
I’m assuming, of course, that no-one will do anything particularly heroic or villainous over the next couple of days. But here, in no particular order, are my nominations for ten heroes and ten villains of 2011. Heroes George Monbiot. When … Continue reading
24 December 2011
by Mark
1 Comment
This is, quite simply, the best Christmas song ever recorded. I’ll explain why further down, but for now, just enjoy it. So, what’s so good about this song? It stands some deconstruction, so let’s pull it apart a bit. Unusually … Continue reading