Its been a while

May 10 2010

Its been a while. In more ways than one.

Firstly, its been a while since I posted here. Whilst I've sort of randomly updated my identi.ca account, I've been irregularly working on lapwing-web, RPMification of Lapwing-Linux and various other bits n pieces. I'm hoping to rectify that a bit (not the first and definitely not the last time I'll say that) by using this blog to demonstrate/showcase FOSS I've written. Or I could move everything to http://samwwwblack.lapwing.org. I dunno.
Otherwise, its business as usual; looking for a developer/computer support related job in the Midlands in a job market fixated on the south east whilst working in the Argos stockroom offloading lorries. Great return for 5 years of uni ;)

Secondly, its been a while since we had Liberals in power, and hopefully by the end of today tomorrow we will again. I have to admit to being really disappointed at the outcome of the election, with the LibDems loosing seats even when getting more votes than last time. I spent most of the following day pissed off (5 hour shift at work didn't help) that the LibDems had done as badly as they did, especially after the hype and hope in the run up (teach me to invest emotionally in hype).
However, I kept coming back to how Dib Lemming put it; the Lib Dems won. Not in terms of seats, votes or forming a LibDem government, but in terms demonstrating the fatal flaw in first past the post voting; how can a party get more votes than last time, but lose seats? Is that a fair representation of the people's will? Is giving 9% of the seats to a party with 23% of the vote fair?
Viewed in those terms, the case for voting reform is made readily apparent.
I hope the current Tory/LibDem talks end well, although I don't like the secrecy surrounding them. I can understand the case for keeping the discussions under wraps as both sides could be tearing chunks out of each other whilst publicly proclaiming to be getting along, so as not to worry the people or fuel the anti-coalition sceptics. It just seems, as a FOSS developer (and I use developer in the loosest terms), that this antithesis to public conflict is counter productive. Raging arguments of opposing views happen on a regular basis in the FOSS world, yet those projects around the arguments still exist and release code. It seems that some very good work has come out of these major arguments and disagreements, the GNU Project being the most prominent example.
Open arguments engage more people, allowing them to contribute their view point, their experience and their information. It also allows a greater number of people to fact check "truths" used in an argument, and to provide counter arguments backed with "truths", and so on. This perpetual proposition and rebuttal process tests an idea to destruction, where it either evolves to fix the flaws or dies. Having this argument in public, recorded for the public, adds the sense of ownership to the idea.
In a time where people are disillusioned in politics and the LibDems especially standing for a "new era" of politics, airing everything in public and inviting public input is the best way to push this change.

Thirdly, its been a while since I started to write this post. I tend to take the best part of a day getting things just so. Thus, everythings probably changed when this post appears ;)

No responses yet

Extended job titles

Feb 27 2010

The BBC wrote up an article on extended job descriptions.
From the comments;
"My boss in the bank was always going on about targets and "vision" and as I didn't have a job title he was thrilled when I came up with my own - Sales, Lending and Vision Executive. Of course when I put it in as the reference in a letter I got into trouble for using the acronym SLAVE. - Isla Biggs, Durham"
and
"I once had the pleasure of meeting Kevin Mellett, Nasa's man in charge of refitting space shuttles between flights. Pompous job title? Not a bit of it. On his business card he simply describes himself as "Rocket Scientist". -
Ewen McLaughlin, Swansea"
That made me chuckle.

No responses yet

Illegal anti-terror law threatened, terror alert goes up

Jan 23 2010

I'm naturally sceptical. Especially when it comes to governments "protecting" us from an unseen threat "out there".
Just today, the Government, acting in response to absolutely no specific intelligence (kinda like the last time then), raised the terrorist threat level.

This happened just over a week after the ECHR ruled that Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 was unlawful. This is the bit of legislation that allows the police to stop and search anyone in a designated area for any reason "in the prevention of terrorism". London has been under a section 44 since the assent of the legislation, and you'll only find out a section 44 is in use when you are stopped and searched.

Whilst the Government are appealing the decision, its business as normal for using section 44 (if I were convicted of a crime, and I continued doing it whilst I awaited the appeal, I'd be charged again. Not so for UK.gov it seems).

Anyway, I mention the raising of the terror level "[with] no intelligence to suggest a terrorist attack was imminent" and the attached "advice" of the Home Secretary "to support the police and security services in their continuing efforts to discover, track and disrupt terrorist activity." as a likely reinforcement of the absolute need for section 44; I fully expect whilst the threat level is raised that the number of section 44 stop and searches will dramatically increase, and when the threat level lowers for the Government to crow "See! See! Section 44 is really needed in the fight against terrorism! Without it, who knows what might have happened!".

It might be that I'm being hyperbolic. I really hope so, and that there is genuine chatter relating, however imperceptibly, to an attack in Britain in the near future and this is an appropriate response.
However, I simply don't trust this Government, who seem more determined than ever to micromanage everyone's lives, not to use the Bush Fear Manipulation Handbook for their own political benefit.

2 responses so far

Still not dead

Jan 18 2010

+++ BEGIN TRANSMISSION +++
I've been working at Argos since November as a stock assistant, still plugging away at Lapwing-Linux (still no release though) and various other bits n pieces. Nothing really to report.
+++ END TRANSMISSION +++

No responses yet

Back in Lichfield

Jul 01 2009

Back in Lichfield, joining the "Real World" after 5 years in uni. Trust me to pick the worst economic crisis in modern times to rejoin it.
2:2 in Computer Interactive Systems MEng. No idea how I managed to achieve that, and even less of an idea where I'm going to use my degree with jobs being so competitive.
So yes, back in Lichfield, which seems stupidly quiet compared to Brum; just as people move out it seems :)

2 responses so far

« Newer posts Older posts »