Oooh – dust off your copies of Google Earth and train it on the UK because they’ve upgraded the detail level hugely. And when I say hugely, I mean you can see my house. Not just a smudge where my house is – you can actually make out my house. I think this is the high point for human civilisation. Unless we get Google Earth in Real Time (note – probably physically impossible) I don’t think there is anywhere for us to go but down.
Oh, and proper Firefox is now out. En-GB Firefox. With colour spelt correctly and everything.
Good night!
Awww bless! Congratulations to David Cameron, who proved that even Tories understand that after three election defeats, you might want to start doing something about it. It’s all very reminiscent of New Labour’s birth – after all, don’t those rectangles (Change to Win – Win for Britain) at the top right of their bright new website look familiar? Or is it just me?
Seriously, having a proper opposition could be a good thing for Labour in the long run. When Gordon Brown takes over (or he doesn’t, and the universe implodes) the party will need to change to present a fresh face to the electorate at the next election. I’m not talking about swinging leftwards, but simply finding new ground for New Labour to explore. A lot of the original battles now been won – a minimum wage, or civil partnerships. When the Conservatives appear to have embraced a bit of investment in our public services, you know it’s time to move forward.
In other political news, Adair Turner has definitely become my new favourite Lord. (Take that, Robert Winston!) Seriously, he rocks socks. Best-Pensions-Commission-Ever. And I mean that. No I’m not just being silly, it really is good, but regurgitating it all now might send you to sleep. Part of the problem is the name NPSS for the new super pension collection thingy. It’s uninspiring. Come on Turner! Call it Free Parking or something, that’ll get people to invest in it.
In all its glory
Yesterday we had an English trip to Queen Mary’s College for 4 lectures on Angela Carter’s Wise Children. Without naming names – one of them was brilliant, one was quite good, another was dull and the last… well, he didn’t seem to have been told what the title of his lecture was supposed to be. He was making good points, but thoroughly unconnected, and he kept pausing awkwardly after each one as if we were supposed to applaud. And his shirt wasn’t tucked in. 
Lecture Notes
Swiping the card
I’m a big fan of the ‘cashless society’ in any case. I don’t know how long it will take, but I see a day when cash is virtually extinct, and we’ll be better off for it. Organised crime thrives at the point when physical notes and coins become untraceable. Plus cash is so 20th century 
I’ve already had the discussion with a friend about the big scary Big Brother nature of Oyster. Look – I’m convinced that most of these paranoid claims are made by people who didn’t really understand the point of 1984. Of course if the state turns evil it can really screw you over, but Nazis and Soviets proved that rather a long time ago without any CCTV or glorified electronic bus tickets. I just simply don’t believe I have a ‘right’ to be untraceable. I might have a right to avoid intrusive marketing, or turn off my phone, or go away to the country without telling anyone. But if the police really want to find me I’m pretty glad they can.
I always wondered if I had a mild fear of telephones. Not the actual phone itself, just making calls to someone. A slight nervous feeling – the odd moment at the beginning when you wonder if it’s a bad time, or they can’t quite remember who you are from your voice, or something. Then I read this rather disturbing account and realised that I was being ridiculous and that a slight nervousness and preference for e-mail \ IM \ in-person communication instead is nothing compared to thinking that a hearing a ringtone is “as though someone hit you across the back of the head with a two-by-four”. Phew!
Anyway – I only mention that cause I just phoned an old friend from primary school who I haven’t seen properly for ages. Weird feeling. But lovely to speak to them again! Thanks to Rob and El Barto for shouting at me to shut up and use the damn phone 
What else? Oh yes – Jeffrey Archer! Or should I say… Lord Archer? I’m so pleased to see him back in the news again. As Sky News put it – the decision to readmit him back to the Tory party is a case of either modern or compassionate conservative, but certainly not both
Linda Moffitt on Colombia: “Such a sweet memory of the four of you meeting up in Colombia!” Dec 2, 07:42
