The Num Num

2001

2008-11-14T19:44:00.001Z

India plants flag on Moon

"Impact probe" crashlands to glory

India has become the fourth nation to join the stuff-on-the-Moon club,
after the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft in lunar orbit successfully launched
an impact probe at the lunar surface this afternoon. The 35-kg impactor
was blazoned with the Indian flag.

"It will signify the entry of India on Moon," an Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) official said, quoted by the Times of India. The
probe drop was described as a "perfect operation".

The Moon Impact Probe (MIP) module was primarily intended "to
demonstrate the technologies required for landing the probe at a desired
location on the Moon", according to ISRO. It consisted of a "honeycomb
structure" and carried a video camera and a mass spectrometer for
examination of the tenuous lunar atmosphere during descent.

Indian TV reported the story under the headers "Indian flag lands on
lunar surface" and "Tricolour on Moon".

Chandrayaan-1 will remain in orbit above the Moon for two years,
carrying out scientific research. Apart from the MIP it carries a
further ten experiments and instruments.

--
tnn

Am I going to change?

2008-11-13T20:03:00.001Z

Met some friends from work last night. A company I worked at in 2000.
We all remarked how we remain as we were, just older wiser and slower.

I am continually told at work that I must change to advance in roles.
Yet I get pushed forward anyway.

Last night confirmed for me that being me is best. I harm very few,
care fir many, help as many as possible and still have integrity
through it all.

That's me. Frivolous, mad and yet reliable.

Will I change? Maybe but not on purpose.

--
Tnn
[mobile]

How the mighty fallen...

2008-11-10T09:22:00.001Z

India beat Australia by 172 runs in the final Test in Nagpur to seal a
2-0 series victory and win back the much-coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Harbhajan Singh (4-64) and Amit Mishra (3-27) wreaked havoc on the final
afternoon as the Aussies collapsed from 111-2 at lunch to 209 all out.

Test Match Series: India v Australia
06-11-2008 at Nagpur , Day 5 of 5
India beat Australia by 172 runs
India won the toss and decided to bat

India 1st Innings
441 all out (124.5 overs)

India 2nd Innings
295 all out (82.4 overs)

Australia 1st Innings
355 all out (134.4 overs)

Australia 2nd Innings
209 all out (50.2 overs)

Pretty decent result - wonder who the Aussies are lined up to take
revenge on?!?

--
tnn

What is an authoritarian government really like?

2008-11-07T09:11:00.001Z

Is it like Saddam? Is it like a mad dictator that does things regardless
of popular opinion?

I tell you, this is the dumbest thing that Labour have decided to do -
frankly I'm not looking at them as viable leaders until they reverse this:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/06/smith_dabs_grab/

Perhaps we should introduce some of them to prisioners who had their IDs
stamped on them by the Nazis. Perhaps that might change their opinion -
or judging the current flurry of IQ-challenged persons in the cabinet,
maybe not.

--
tnn

From Scientific American - Destruction...

2008-11-03T06:37:00.001Z

World without Frogs: Combined Threats May Croak Amphibians

From climate change to herbicide pollution, it's not easy being an amphibian

The northern leopard frogs that inhabit the boreal U.S. have never recovered from some catastrophic population declines in the 1970s. Some blame it on the acidifying lakes and streams caused by coal-burning, others point to the ongoing loss of wetlands to development, and now new evidence shows that the herbicide atrazine—widely sprayed on crop fields throughout the region—is killing the frogs by helping parasitic worms that feast on them.

"Atrazine provides a double whammy to frogs: It increases both amphibian exposure and susceptibility," says biologist Jason Rohr of the University of South Florida in Tampa, who tested the impact by re-creating field conditions in 300-gallon (1,135-liter) tanks in his lab. "Atrazine is one of the more mobile and persistent pesticides being widely applied. In fact, residues have been found in remote, nonagricultural areas, such as the poles."

That may explain why amphibians are on the decline worldwide. As many as one third of the nearly 6,000 known amphibian species—frogs, toads, salamanders, even wormlike caecilians—are threatened with extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). And no one knows why.

In the case of the northern leopards, the culprit appears to be the common herbicide acting as a double-edged sword: It suppresses the frogs' immune systems while boosting the population of snails that play host to parasitic worm larvae, the latter of which infect the weakened leopard frogs.

Such herbicides are present in 57 percent of U.S. streams, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, and it is that water pollution—not inbreeding—that is the prime suspect in the high rate of deformity in U.S. amphibian populations, according to new research from Purdue University.

But national parks and other areas protected from pollution and development are providing no refuge. The frogs and salamanders of Yellowstone National Park have been declining since the 1980s, according to a Stanford University study, as global warming dries out seasonal ponds, leaving dried salamander corpses in their wake. Since the 1970s, nearly 75 percent of the frogs and other amphibians of La Selva Biological Station in Braulio Carrillo National Park in the Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica have died, perhaps due to global warming.

Throughout the tropics, amphibians are also falling prey to a devastating disease, believed to be exacerbated by climate change: chytrid fungus. This pathogen is marching though Central America at present, leaving silent streams—those without the chorus of dozens of frog species—behind. Researchers at the University of Georgia in Athens have surveyed such streams before, during and after such extinctions, and documented the impacts in those waters that have lost all of their amphibians, including muddier waters and a less productive food web.

"There are a whole lot of things that aren't being eaten, mostly insects," says biologist Joseph Mendelson of Zoo Atlanta. "And there are a whole lot of other creatures that don't have prey."

But the really bad news is that amphibians may be just the first sign of other species in trouble. Biologists at the University of California, San Diego, have shown that amphibians are the first to respond to environmental changes, thanks to their sensitivity to both air and water. What goes for amphibians may soon be true of other classes of animal, including mammals.

Whereas the exact causes of the amphibian decline remain a mystery, it is clear that man-made problems like atrazine pollution and climate change are contributing factors, both of which can be reversed. "The easiest thing to do," Rohr notes, "would be to identify an alternative herbicide that controls the desired pests but is less detrimental to amphibians."

--
tnn

In a way I am ashamed...

2008-11-01T21:00:00.001Z

...it is coming to the end of Diwali, the Indian festival of lights. It
is supposed to represent a multitude of the great things of the human
condition, triumph of justice over injustice, good over evil, female
over male etc.

However, I have just now, to the benefit of the internet, seen a clip of
something that makes me ashamed to be associated with people of the same
'following' as me. I am someone who believes in equality, in the basis
of philosophy, that the human mind and being is based on universal
principles that are immutable across time-creed-religion-and country. So
it is with great SHAME that I write this. When people of my
'following/religion/belief system' call for destruction of others it is
embarrassing and upsetting.

How can a place of great tradition, of philosophy of the mind and heart,
spout such CRAP?

So here it is, the mission of tnn - love, peace and harmony to all -
whoever you are, and wherever you are from, whatever you believe and
however you live - as long as your heart is true, your actions good and
your will intact, I stand with you.

And to those of mine, who say such ignorant things - I'm sorry, I'm
above you...can't stand with you at all. You're on your own in the dark,
in the past, and in ignorance.

Happy New Year to the best of us...

--
tnn

Happy Diwali

2008-10-28T15:49:00.001Z

Here's hoping this coming year is happier and healthier for us all...

The Num Num

As Nelson Mandela would say...

2008-10-26T11:41:00.000Z

..."I have an iPhone"

at least on Harry Enfield's show he says that.

Yep finally took the plunge and got one. I know its a bad time to get
one, but frankly I just wanted to try it. If they release the god phone
in Feb, who cares. I will stick with that I have until a time when I
need another.

A driving factor in my plunge was that my battery on the Sony Ericsson
P1i was less than good, and it had a terrible habit of 'crashing' half
way through me typing up blog entries or emails. I lived with it for a
while, but then figured 'bah humbug'. And 50 quid down the drain on a
8gb iphone.

The iphone battery, not as great as the p1i battery and i miss the
keyboard already. /moan

Otherwise its fine...

Xmas decorations are going up in shops already. Fab.

--
tnn

Oz down

2008-10-21T07:26:00.001+01:00

*Australia succumbed to only a second Test defeat since the 2005 Ashes
as India took just 18.4 overs on the final day to win the second Test by
320 runs.

Sometimes its nice for the underdog to win, no?
*

--
tnn

The little master

2008-10-17T18:39:00.002+01:00

India's Sachin Tendulkar has set a new record for the most runs scored by a batsman in Test cricket, overtaking the mark set by West Indies' Brian Lara.

Tendulkar, 35, scored the 15 extra runs he needed to overtake Lara's aggregate of 11,953 on day one of the second Test against Australia in Mohali.

Already the holder of a record 39 centuries in 151 Tests, Tendulkar hit the landmark runs off Peter Siddle.

A rapturous but sparse crowd in the Punjabi city stood to applaud him.

Afterwards, having been dismissed for 88 - and becoming the first man to 12,000 runs - he said: "It's definitely the biggest milestone because it's taken me 19 years to get - it's not something that can happen overnight.

"The journey has been fantastic. There have been ups and downs. So many times there have been stones thrown and you have to turn them into milestones.

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

"I knew I was 14 runs short [when Friday's innings started]. I have just been trying to focus on the game but whoever I see in front of me they have an opportunity to remind me.

"I decided to keep it simple and keep watching the ball."

Tendulkar insisted he had no plans to end his career in the immediate future.

"As long as I'm enjoying it I will play. I don't need X, Y or Z to tell me when I should stop or continue. When I started playing nobody told me that. So nobody need to tell me now either," he added.

He spent the tea interval on 13 not out, just one run away from Lara's record. But after the 20-minute break he hit his first ball for three down to third man and saluted the crowd before the Australian fielders went to shake his hand.

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Tendulkar celebrates record achievement

Fireworks were set off around the ground.

India's President Pratibha Patil later said Tendulkar had "given joy to millions of Indians", while the country's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, described the batsman as a genius.

"I congratulate Sachin Tendulkar on becoming the highest run-scorer in Test cricket," said Singh.

"Sachin is truly worthy of the mantle of the greatest run-scorer in Tests. I have been following his cricket and there is no doubt that he is a genius."

Former India captain Kapil Dev says his compatriot is a hero to a cricket-loving nation and admire the way he has dealt with the adoration.

"I think he is one of the finest batsmen the world has ever seen," said Dev, who was once the world's leading wicket-taker.

"Millions of people in this country love him. Every kid wants to be come Sachin Tendulkar.

"He has set a standard for those young people to follow him. The country needs heroes like him.

"It is not easy to play for 19 years with the pressure he has had throughout his career. People love him. He can't go out, do the things he wants to do.

LEADING TEST RUN-SCORERS
SR Tendulkar (India): 12,027
BC Lara (ICC/W Indies): 11,953
AR Border (Aus): 11,174
SR Waugh (Aus): 10,927
R Dravid (ICC/India): 10,302
RT Ponting (Aus): 10,239
SM Gavaskar (India): 10,122
India and Australia dominate the table.

"Every simple thing he does in his life, people notice. Hats off to him for still coming forward to play cricket."

It was fitting that Tendulkar established the new mark against Australia, the overwhelmingly dominant team of his era - and a side against whom he has achieved distinguished success.

A prodigy as a youth, his century as a 19-year old on an ultra-fast wicket in Perth is often regarded one of the best innings ever to have been played in Australia.

He was only 16 when he made his Test debut, in 1989 and scored his first Test hundred, a match-saving one against England at Old Trafford, a year later.

Tendulkar was regarded by the late Sir Don Bradman as the one batsman of the modern era who most reminded him of himself.

A tremendous performer in the one-day arena, Tendulkar is also the highest scorer and century-maker in that format.

Former England batsman Geoff Boycott , who became the first Englishman to score more than 8,000 Test runs, breaking West Indies all-rounder Sir Garry Sobers' batting record in the process, told BBC Radio 5 Live that Tendulkar will hold the record for years to come.

But the 67-year-old still regards Bradman as the greatest batsman the game has seen, saying: "There's none of us who have come near him."

"Tendulkar's handled publicity very well. In India where they're mad on cricket it'd be easy to get sucked into it, but he's managed to keep a private life and kept that at arms length from his public life and it's nice for him," said Boycott.

"There'll always be people who break records because nowadays they play more Test matches than ever, more one-day internationals.

"It was inevitable that people like Lara and Tendulkar - two of the great players of the last few years - would break records of some distinction almost every other year or two.

"I broke Garry Sobers' record and I said at the time that if you play enough Test matches and you're pretty good at what you do then you'll break records.

"But it didn't make me a better player than Garry Sobers and it won't make Tendulkar a better player than Bradman, a genius - the best batsmen of the lot."

Former England batsman Allan Lamb paid tribute to Tendulkar's feat, telling BBC Radio 5 Live: "He's very classical. He's a batter who keeps very still at the wicket. That's something that every youngster is told to do.

"He's got all the shots in the book. He can play all round the wicket and he's got a lot of time to play his shots, and that's what makes him such a great player.

"Lara got his runs in 131 Test matches, so you've got to say that's an incredible achievement.

--
tnn

The autumn leaf timetable

2008-10-13T07:28:00.000+01:00

If there ever was an excuse for issues and bad planning it is an autumn leaf timetable for trains.

Wtf

Tnn
[mobile]

Another 24 hour marathon

2008-10-11T18:21:00.001+01:00

We embark on another marathon of 24.

This time, it is series 4, here we go...

--
tnn

Kindle 2

2008-10-04T16:48:00.001+01:00

After my harping on about how eBooks might be quite a good idea for
those who have little space but a voracious appetite for reading and
re-reading stuff, gladly I find amazon releasing Kindle 2.

Now to wait for a UK version...amazon, be my bookshelf please!

From cnet...

After rumors surfaced on the Web a few months back that a new Kindle
might be on the way, Amazon.com did its best to shoot them down, saying
a new Kindle was not coming this year. Well, Boy Genius Report has
gotten ahold of some photos
<http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/10/03/amazon-kindle-2-ebooks-its-way-to-bgr/#more-5941>
that appear to be the Kindle 2, so we're curious what Amazon has to say
now.

From the looks of the new device, Amazon has tried to address some of
the criticisms of the Kindle
<http://reviews.cnet.com/e-book-readers/amazon-kindle/4505-3508_7-32751890.html>,
most of which revolve around its somewhat homely design and a few poorly
placed buttons. The shape has been modified to make the new Kindle more
attractive, but it appears Amazon is sticking with the same off-white
color scheme--for better or worse.

Old back versus new back.

(Credit: Boy Genius Report <http://www.boygeniusreport.com/>)

The Boy Genius Report's mole or "ninja," has some comments about the new
Kindle. First, ninja says the device is basically the same size as the
older model, but is thinner and has "a slightly heavier feel, and it
feels much sturdier." The source indicates the new model uses the same
cellular EV-DO network for downloads (it's Sprint's network in the
current model) and a metal back is visible in some of the pictures. I
particularly appreciated the look of the new leather carrying pouch for
the device since I don't like the existing Kindle's protective case.
There are more photos here
<http://www.boygeniusreport.com/gallery/devices/amazon-kindle-2/>.

Boy Genius Report also notes:

As far as buttons go, on the right side, the bottoms from top to
bottom are: Home, Next Page, Menu, a joystick, and Undo. On the left
side, there's Previous, Page, and Next Page. We're told the buttons
are significantly smaller to avoid accidental page turning. The
joystick takes the place of the scroll wheel and it "takes a little
getting used to." As far as the redesigned keyboard...it "has a good
layout, but lettering on the keys could be darker." Continuing our
tour around the unit, next to the sliding sleep button, there's the
headphone jack, and on the right side edge you've got the volume
up/down buttons. What's interesting (and you can see this in the
photos) is that the backside of the unit is mostly metal with the
speakers at the bottom pf the back. One more plus? They've finally
ditched their own charger. The Kindle 2 is able to be charged with a
miniUSB cable.

No word on when the next-generation Kindle will arrive, whether there
will be a European model, or how much it will cost. However, I have a
feeling we'll soon get an announcement from Amazon--if indeed this turns
out to be a real product that will go up against the upcoming Sony
Reader, the PRS-700 <http://reviews.cnet.com/8300-18438_7-82.html>,
which features a touch-screen display and will hit stores next month in
time for the holiday buying season.

--
tnn

Uncomfortable

2008-10-02T07:09:00.000+01:00

Sat on train and the person next to me is reading a story about mass immigration even though there is crisis.

Rather she read the bit about sharon wanting to inject her son with botox.

Hide pls.

Tnn
[mobile]

Ua

2008-10-01T07:40:00.000+01:00

Adrenalin starts to flow,
You're thrashing all around,
Acting like a maniac.

Whiplash
[mobile]

Those who I've spoken to, know I predicted this about two years ago...

2008-10-01T06:20:00.001+01:00

Netbook <http://blog.wired.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/09/26/netbook.jpg>

You may not know it yet, but the next computer you buy is going to be a
netbook. The numbers say so.

Despite their compromised feature sets and puny screens, netbooks have
pulled an all-out coup d'état on the portable PC market. Currently, nine
out of the top 10 best-selling laptops on Amazon are netbooks
<http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/09/ultra-mobile-de.html>. Over 2008,
manufacturers shipped 10 million netbooks. And looking farther ahead,
ABI Research forecasts that manufacturers will ship 200 million
ultra-mobile devices, including netbooks
<http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/09/ultra-mobile-de.html> by 2013 --
which is about the same anticipated size as the entire laptop market
worldwide.

Who could have guessed that low prices and ultra portability would have
struck such a chord with consumers?

People are going gaga over these pared-down devices, and manufacturers
are keenly aware of that fact. Most of the big PC makers, including
Toshiba, Dell, Fujitsu, Siemens and Samsung, have recently introduced
their first netbooks to this rapidly expanding market.

It's somewhat ironic that netbooks are shaping up to be the computers of
the future: They're hardly revolutionary; they're essentially a smaller,
dumbed-down version of standard notebooks.

"You're going to start seeing netbooks become more mainstream, as [top
manufacturers such as] Dell and HP begin to include more features in
these devices," said Vijay Rakesh, a ThinkPanmure analyst.

Rakesh said that the relatively low price point of netbooks -- they
range from $300 to $500 -- is their primary driving factor, especially
in light of a troubled economy. He added that other key factors
attracting consumers are their mobility and weight: Most netbooks weigh
no more than three pounds and measure about an inch thick.

Netbooks are only going to get more attractive and successful as they
expand their feature sets, Rakesh said. And many companies are already
taking aim on delivering a full computing experience to these miniature
devices, with new chips, batteries and power-saving methods on the horizon.

At the 2008 Intel Developer Forum, Intel officials announced
<http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/08/intel-shows-off.html> their focus
on empowering the netbook universe. The company is developing Moorestown
<http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/09/the-iphone-is-o.html>, a platform
due in 2009 that Intel promises will be exponentially more powerful and
more power efficient <http://www.neowin.net/index.php?act=view&id=40040>
than the current Silverthorne (Intel Atom) platform.

Meanwhile, netbook software also promises to evolve. Phoenix
Technologies, the company responsible for the BIOS (Basic Input/Output
System) that boots many Windows computers, is developing a low-power
mobile computing operating system it calls PC 3.0. Running parallel to
Windows, the instant-on environment will allow netbooks to perform
several internet-centric functions without actually booting into
Windows. Functions promised in PC 3.0 include multimedia players,
browsers, internet telephony, e-mail and IM.

The most important issue Phoenix's concept would address is battery
life, explains Woody Hobbs, CEO of Phoenix Technologies. If you want to
deliver mobile performance, you have to ensure a netbook can even handle
it without running out of juice.

"You can give up and say 'It's a trade-off; you can't have all that
power and solve all those problems,'" Hobbs told Wired.com. "But it's
not true: Technology is capable of addressing the problems. We just have
to address them smartly."

And if Phoenix's PC 3.0 environment isn't enough, Toshiba has the bases
covered with batteries, too. Toshiba recently unveiled its Super Charge
Ion Batteries
<http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/09/toshibas-super.html> (SCiB) in
Japan -- which take a bit over ten minutes to charge and will last
longer than current lithium-ion batteries.

A challenge manufacturers will face is keeping the price point low as
they cram more features into these puny devices, Rakesh said. He noted
that Apple has yet to step into the netbook world -- and consumers
should have high expectations from the company that revolutionized the
mobile phone.

Not much has been said about what Apple has in store. The rumor mill has
been churning about a special event announcing a revision of the
extremely successful MacBook, and many have speculated the next release
will be Apple's netbook: Perhaps the fabled "Brick
<http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/09/apples-brick-a.html>" or the
MacBook Touch
<http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/07/rumor-apple-to.html>, which would
essentially be a larger, more powerful version of the iPhone.

Whatever direction manufacturers decide to take, it's clear netbooks are
getting closer to fulfilling the vision of Alan Kay, the former Xerox
PARC researcher who first drew the concept of the mobile, personal
computer back when computers were still eating punch cards. In his
concept, dubbed "Dynabook," Kay assessed that a portable computer must
weigh no more than two pounds, sport a display containing at least 1
million pixels, and be extremely thin in one of its dimensions. And most
importantly, a Dynabook would have to be "an amplifier for human
(especially child) endeavors."

"I'd like to think that [netbooks] are finding a form factor and weight
that fits human beings better," Kay said, "but I'm presuming that it is
because many people use only a small part of what they could do on their
larger machines, and much of what they do use computers for can be done
through a browser or a few simple apps."

--
tnn

It is important to get a good insight into things...

2008-09-30T22:24:00.001+01:00

I like some of the magazines I buy - when I read this article, I liked
one of them more. Frankly, there are things that we should know, even if
they don't look newsworthy or glamour-based.

---

Will someone please put Sarah Palin out of her agony? Is it too much to
ask that she come to realize that she wants, in that wonderful phrase in
American politics, "to spend more time with her family"? Having stayed
in purdah for weeks, she finally agreed to a third interview. CBS's
Katie Couric questioned her in her trademark sympathetic style. It
didn't help. When asked how living in the state closest to Russia gave
her foreign-policy experience, Palin responded thus:

"It's very important when you consider even national-security issues
with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the
United States of America. Where—where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just
right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make
sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia,
because they are right there. They are right next to—to our state."

There is, of course, the sheer absurdity of the premise. Two weeks ago I
flew to Tokyo, crossing over the North Pole. Does that make me an expert
on Santa Claus? (Thanks, Jon Stewart.) But even beyond that, read the
rest of her response. "It is from Alaska that we send out those …" What
does this mean? This is not an isolated example. Palin has been given a
set of talking points by campaign advisers, simple ideological mantras
that she repeats and repeats as long as she can. ("We mustn't blink.")
But if forced off those rehearsed lines, what she has to say is often,
quite frankly, gibberish.

Couric asked her a smart question about the proposed $700 billion
bailout of the American financial sector. It was designed to see if
Palin understood that the problem in this crisis is that credit and
liquidity in the financial system has dried up, and that that's why, in
the estimation of Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Fed chairman Ben
Bernanke, the government needs to step in to buy up Wall Street's most
toxic liabilities. Here's the entire exchange:

COURIC: Why isn't it better, Governor Palin, to spend $700 billion
helping middle-class families who are struggling with health care,
housing, gas and groceries; allow them to spend more and put more money
into the economy instead of helping these big financial institutions
that played a role in creating this mess?

PALIN: That's why I say I, like every American I'm speaking with, were
ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the
taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is
help those who are concerned about the health-care reform that is needed
to help shore up our economy, helping the—it's got to be all about job
creation, too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right
track. So health-care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending
has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans. And
trade, we've got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive,
scary thing. But one in five jobs being created in the trade sector
today, we've got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things
under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that.

This is nonsense—a vapid emptying out of every catchphrase about
economics that came into her head. Some commentators, like CNN's
Campbell Brown, have argued that it's sexist to keep Sarah Palin under
wraps, as if she were a delicate flower who might wilt under the bright
lights of the modern media. But the more Palin talks, the more we see
that it may not be sexism but common sense that's causing the McCain
campaign to treat her like a time bomb.

Can we now admit the obvious? Sarah Palin is utterly unqualified to be
vice president. She is a feisty, charismatic politician who has done
some good things in Alaska. But she has never spent a day thinking about
any important national or international issue, and this is a hell of a
time to start. The next administration is going to face a set of
challenges unlike any in recent memory. There is an ongoing military
operation in Iraq that still costs $10 billion a month, a war against
the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan that is not going well and is
not easily fixed. Iran, Russia and Venezuela present tough strategic
challenges.

Domestically, the bailout and reform of the financial industry will take
years and hundreds of billions of dollars. Health-care costs, unless
curtailed, will bankrupt the federal government. Social Security,
immigration, collapsing infrastructure and education are all going to
get much worse if they are not handled soon.

And the American government is stretched to the limit. Between the Bush
tax cuts, homeland-security needs, Iraq, Afghanistan and the bailout,
the budget is looking bleak. Plus, within a few years, the retirement of
the baby boomers begins with its massive and rising costs (in the
trillions).

Obviously these are very serious challenges and constraints. In these
times, for John McCain to have chosen this person to be his running mate
is fundamentally irresponsible. McCain says that he always puts country
first. In this important case, it is simply not true.

--
tnn

LOL

2008-09-27T08:24:00.001+01:00

So last night I was at a cultural gala event, with some interesting
speeches and some rather dull ones as I mentioned in my last post.

Well, much to my amusement, I notice this article in today's paper:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/sep/27/polls.conservatives1

I have to laugh - because last night there was a tory chap, saying how
great it is to be a 'X' in modern Britain. I leave it to you to figure
out whether X is acceptable by the chap quoted in that article.

Superb.

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tnn

Another gala dinner

2008-09-26T21:56:00.000+01:00

Sat at a gala dinner, celebrating
A section of the indian community here in britain.

Lots of speeches, lots of politicians. Frankly i wish they would change their speaking idols from stale professional peeps to wild and engaging folk.

Ironically as a recently elected official of a large org, i will have to set the bar.

So expect to hear of a mad num num who took a speech that little inch too far.

Hats off to the millionaires in the room tho.

Tnn
[mobile]

Recession

2008-09-17T07:14:00.000+01:00

I have bleen debating the pros and cons of modern life with colleagues, and we have all agreed that somewhere it started to go wrong.

Its not clear where that was, but what is clear is the fact that society is now a very fragile thing.

Luckily there are still pockets of strength and sense, and whilst we are suffering inflation and an economic slow down, these pockets of strength are stepping up to shape the future.

But in this moment i must ask - all those people that paid a total of 100m for thingscalledart, did they think of how better to spend it? Are they the kind of pocket that will actually thrive whilst most starve?

Tnn
[mobile]

Dinner with delores

2008-09-16T19:14:00.000+01:00

Listening to the song on the train. I like prince, i like him a lot. Been a while since his last album.

Work update - apparently i cant write. Things need editing and re-writes. Wouldnt mind but who reads my stuff anyway? It gets lost in gigabytes of noise. So does it matter if in a 18 page doc approximately 1 page of rewrites are necessary - taking a total review time of 8 hours?

I would think its not that big a deal. But when you cant argue with the content i guess the presentation is next best thing.

What i do need to do is be more abstract. Apparently concepts like simplification are more sexy than standardised offerings.

Its all irrelevant when the chips are down on the happiness table though.

Tnn
[mobile]

This is SMART

2008-09-15T08:38:00.000+01:00

3M, that bastion of innovation, has released a pocket projector. So what
you might ask - well look at these videos, then think. Think like kids
think, the future spenders. What do they like doing these days, with
those 5mp cameras on their mobiles?

http://www.popsci.com/video/2008-01/3m-beats-everyone-micro-projector-business

Amazing little gadget. The first step in this personal broadcast
revolution I suspect.

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tnn

eBooks

2008-09-13T09:08:00.001+01:00

These have piqued my interest lately. I have lots of physical books, and
whilst i appreciate the feel and experience of reading a real book, I
can't help but think I'd be able to free up soooo much space if I let
amazon (where I buy most of my books) be my bookshelf and just 'get'
them when I need them.

That is, ladies and gents, the Kindle's simplicity. Forget its dodgy
v1.0 issues, the fact that four days of battery life isn't fabulous, and
the lack of tablet-pc type browsing capability. Instead concentrate on
the fact that it is many books in one unit.

There are many reviews out there, here's an arbitrary one:
http://reviews.cnet.com/e-book-readers/amazon-kindle/4505-3508_7-32751890.html

Problem is, when will it be available in the UK?

The best would be:
- make it available in the UK for about 150 quid
- let amazon.co.uk customers 'convert' real books to ebooks for free, I
mean we've paid OTT for paper, emphasise the nature of the beast by
turning bookshelves virtual at no cost
- flat price books at 3 quid
- flat price magazines at 99p

That would all work, because think about it - no more printing and
distribution costs.

Anyway, thats what I would do if I were a billionaire eCommerce dude.

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tnn

Why are kids PCs so expensive?

2008-09-12T17:54:00.001+01:00

Exactly that - I want to buy my Nieces and Nephew small laptops (they
don't have room in their home for three desktops), but the best price I
can see for an entry level machine is 300 quid.

That's a lot of money for basic equipment in my opinion. If you consider
an iPhone is only a little more expensive, and contains much more
innovative technology. So why hasn't commodity laptop pricing reduced
these to say around 200 quid?

I am hoping this pinch in the economy will drive prices down. That way,
these kids can get a good usable laptop to work through school assignments.

At present, I am thinking of getting this:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146032/show_product_overview

Its got good battery life, good reviews, and is Linux rather than Windows.

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tnn

Worryworts

2008-09-11T07:11:00.000+01:00

Like my mate swisst, i worry.

I am now worried about something. Its immediately impacted me physically. My stomach is funny and breathing shallow.

Hate this feeling. Time to think of nicer things.

Tnn
[mobile]