“Can I be facebookfriends with my parents? Should I add someone I don’t really know? Will other people think my status update’s funny?”
Joep van Osch
youtube.com
Category Archives: blog
It may not be racist, but it’s a question I’m tired of hearing
“Last weekend, I had The Conversation for the 3,897th time—and this time, it took place in central London just two roads away from the hospital where I was born.” Where is Ariane Sherine really from? I think we should be told…
www.guardian.co.uk
Is aviation security mostly for show?
“Despite fearful rhetoric to the contrary, terrorism is not a transcendent threat. A terrorist attack cannot possibly destroy a country’s way of life; it’s only our reaction to that attack that can do that kind of damage.” In the wake of last week’s failed bombing of an airplane over Detroit, Bruce Schneier asks us to leverage the inherent strengths of our democracies.
edition.cnn.com
1.3 million reasons to re-invent the syringe
“25 years ago I read a newspaper article which said that one day syringes would be one of the major causes for the transmission of AIDS. I thought this was unacceptable so I decided to do something about it.” Marc Koska’s K1 syringe improves on an old design.
www.ted.com
Hans Rosling on HIV: New facts and stunning data visuals
“When we look at the pattern, one thing comes out very clearly. People say HIV is very high in Africa. I would say, HIV is very different in Africa.” Using Gapminder World, Hans Rosling empowers you to think more clearly about the the ways in which HIV impacts on Africa and the wider world.
www.ted.com
The Beach of Death
“She’d been treading water for seven hours, before local fishermen found her in the water.”
current.com
The 44th President
I was just following the swearing-in of Barack Obama as the 44th President and listening to his Inaugural Address. It appears to me that, at long last, the United States of America have got a class act to lead them.
Race report
Image of Norbert Meyer, who came a close second in today’s mountain bike race at Ferry Reach. For the first time ever, I was regretting the fact that my bike is set up for the road. Because watching these guys, I was really tempted to give it a go.
Remember the difference
“When you say ‘I think he’s a racist’, that’s not a bad move because you might be wrong. That’s a bad move because you might be right.”
Jay Smooth
illdoctrine.com
There’s probably no god.
Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.
“The Atheist Bus Campaign began when Ariane Sherine wrote an article in June 2008 about Christian adverts running on London buses. These ads featured the URL of a website which said non–Christians would burn in hell for all eternity. Ariane suggested that atheists reading her article could each donate £5 to fund a reassuring counter–advert.”
www.atheistbus.org.uk
Update: Christian religious groups are about to respond with ads stating that “there definitely is a god”.
A new dawn for us all?
“To all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world—our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.”
President-Elect Barack Obama
Play with spider
I am not a great fan of spiders, but would really like you to have a look at this fascinating animation by Tomas Eriksson.
Leaving London
After almost 14 years of living in the UK, I have now moved to Germany.
All packed up and ready to go early in the morning before my 20 hour drive from London to Kiel.
This morning, I am still missing my grandma
Hug your grandma today
I wish I would have had another chance to. Unfortunately, for me and my grandma, things didn’t quite work out.
The plane I’m on won’t get me there in time. My grandmother, Edith Knabe, died earlier this afternoon in Hamburg, Germany. She was 82.
I am going to miss her every day, for the rest of my life.
A minute of silence
Last week I got caught up in the traffic jam that followed the killing of an innocent man at Stockwell tube station. Today, I passed the same spot again. This time I stopped.
Remembering Jean Charles de Menezes one week after he was shot and killed by police at Stockwell tube station in London. What did the ubiquitous CCTV cameras record that morning?
Update: Reports are now emerging that Jean Charles de Menezes had already been restrained by an officer when he was shot in the head seven times.
Food for London
You are in London. You are hungry. Here’s what to do: Find Dominique at his stand and ask him for galette. You like fresh spinach? Good. Ask him to prepare something with spinach. Alternatively, try his crêpe with Grand Marinier and banana. Anything. If you’re not satisfied, come back and hack this site…
Dominique Ait-El-Manceur serves arguably the best galettes and crêpe in the whole of London. You can find him weekdays at Exmouth Market from 12:30–18:00 and Saturdays at Broadway Market from 10:00–16:00.
Echoes of war
World Press Photo is the largest and most prestigious press photography contest in the world. Every year, the exhibition is visited by more than a million people in over 40 countries. Today I got a chance to see the Winners Gallery 2005 in Hamburg. Of all the images on display, that of Private Eric Ayon had the biggest impact on me.
“Private Eric Ayon of Echo Company of the Second Battalion, Fourth Regiment of the US Marines stares through the windshield of a Humvee ambushed at Ar Ramadi in Iraq on April 6, 2004. Eight out of the nine marines on board were killed. Ayon himself died in an ambush at the same intersection only three days later. During its tour of Iraq, Echo Company suffered the worst casualties of any US company since Vietnam.”
2nd Prize in the category General News Singles, World Press Photo 2005.
© David Robert Swanson, USA, The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Reproduced with kind permission.
Essential skills
My friend Franc sent this by email. It took me a few attempts to finally get my head round it. But this is revolutionary stuff and it works.
Jason on Open Source
Not long ago I saw Jason Bradbury on television. At the time, he was busy comparing Macs and PCs by throwing them from a great height and surveying the damage. Jason recently made a programme about Open Source software and has now published a piece about OpenOffice.org, in which edafe.org gets a favourable mention. Thanks Jason!