.. title: MJR's slef-reflections

  * I Can't Dance
  * Talk with People who want to Discuss
  * Explaining web site improvements: what's important to you?
  * Updated GnuPG Key Expiry
  * Back from Cuba
  * Strategy on Strategies
  * Posting Ahead
  * No Battles - Just Stand Firm On Best Practice
  * BBC TV: Click: Free=beer and facebook-flaming
  * Mystified by Remote Controls
  * Met Calyx about Koha
  * Another Toll Road Crash
  * Updates: Fishmonger re-opens, Bombing Exeter, Eurovision
  * Sky Data Protection
  * Update: Experts Say Ofcom Wrong About Rural Broadband
  * Bristol and Bath Perl Mongers
  * Fuel Price Bleating and Biking
  * Kewstoke Annual Village Meeting
  * Quick Question: opticaljungle.com = publicdomainregistry.com?
  * Getting Linux InfraRed Beaming to a Palm III with a Belkin USB Device
  * Told You So: Exhibitions and Spammer Registrars
  * Please Tell Me How To Do It
  * BBC website, TV and Technology
  * World Environment Day
  * Bridgwater College Computing Advisory Panel
  * Fixing things the wrong way
  * More driving and cycling
  * Warning for Webmasters: Friday 13th ahoy!
  * Forthcoming (and past) Events News: LUGoG, BikeWeek, HacktionLab, SPI
  * Firefox 3, day 10: security flaw 2, more banks, looking for a new browser
  * End of this blog!

![photo](../../../../mjr2002.jpg)

## life Entries

###  [I Can't Dance](../../I_Can_t_Dance.html)

#####  Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:00:42 +0100

My legs hurt.

It hurts to sit. It hurts to stand. It hurts to walk. $DEITY knows what it
will feel like to ride my bike.

How did I do this? It wasn't some bizarre biking accident. I was laying cables
under the floor between the two offices at the opposite corners of my building
yesterday. I lifted three floorboards and four carpets and drilled one hole.
Afterwards, I rebuilt some shelves. How did that hurt my legs???

[Today is Blogger Appreciation Day
[UNOFFICIAL]](http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/04/14/today-is-blogger-
appreciation-day-unofficial/) so I'd like to thank
[Steve](http://www.steve.org.uk/) for Chronicle which is now powering this
blog instead of [the old homebrew](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/blog/).

Meanwhile, messages that came in while I was AFK included a strange one from
Paul, [Steve being elected as Debian Project
Leader](http://www.debian.org/vote/2008/vote_001#outcome) (well done!), ['Free
Software in Ethics and Practice' - Richard Stallman, Thursday 1st
May,](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/fsuk-manchester/2008-04/msg00011.html)
[Interview: How a hacker became a freedom
fighter](http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/mg19826511.900-interview-
how-a-hacker-became-a-freedom-fighter.html) From New Scientist Print Edition,
[Understanding Design & Computers: Notes from an Introduction to OpenMoko,
by Ole Tange for UKUUG](http://understandinglimited.com/2008/04/13/ole-on-
openmoko/)

Finally, in a [cycling](http://cyclingfans.net/satellite/) and cooperatives
cross-over, [this article on Hammond's
crash](http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/Hammond_Crashes_in_ParisRoubaix_article_227492.html)
also mentions the other two Brits, who ride for cooperative teams. I watched
[the race](http://cyclingfans.net/satellite/2008/paris-roubaix), but didn't
see much of them.

[1 comment.](../../I_Can_t_Dance.html#c)

Tags: [cooperatives](../../../tags/cooperatives),
[cycling](../../../tags/cycling), [debian](../../../tags/debian),
[life](../../../tags/life), [phones](../../../tags/phones),
[software](../../../tags/software).

###  [Talk with People who want to
Discuss](../../Talk_with_People_who_want_to_Discuss.html)

#####  Tue, 15 Apr 2008 14:58:37 +0100

I spend too much of my time trying to talk with people who don't want to
discuss, yet somehow I won't stop.

I keep hoping that things like [suggesting good advice on meeting
scheduling](http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.politics.software.free-
software.manchester/419) will avoid them repeating old mistakes. The most
extreme life-and-death example is probably trying to help with [Kewstoke Toll
Road, where people still speed and someone crashed off again last
night](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/7348581.stm) (although I
don't know what caused last night's crash - could have been a simple
accident).

Of course, it's better to talk with people who have asked questions and want
to hear the answer. I'm currently involved in several groups like that and it
makes me [much happier
[4HWW].](http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/04/14/6-reasons-to-visit-
the-worlds-happiest-country/) I've even [made a confidentiality agreement
[Network Blogging article]](http://networkbloggingtips.com/should-you-sign-a
-confidentiality-agreement/) about one group because I really like the
organiser and want to help them, but I've yet to see changes happen because of
it and that's probably about all I can write here, which does rather suck.

But talking of changes that make me happy, I spotted that [Bristol
Wireless](http://www.bristolwireless.net/) has now gone further than
[TTLLP](http://www.ttllp.co.uk/) by deciding to change people away from
Microsoft Windows when they find it:-

> "all Windows stuff must be gone from the premises [...] no longer help do
callers favours with broken Windows machines, apart from fixing them properly
and permanently by installing Debian"

[at their March
meeting.](http://www.bristolwireless.net/wiki/index.php/MonthlyMeetingTues4thMarch2008)
Well done, BW!

After a request, I finally put [four photos from Social Source South
West](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/blog/2008/sssw) (which was hosted by BW)
online, which reminded me to subscribe to watfordgap's travels.
Disappointingly, on my first read, [it promotes the Suppliers Directory
developed by Lasa.](http://watfordgap.wordpress.com/2008/03/08/do-you-know-a
-good-plumber/) That directory is a big problem because it creates a silly
barrier to entry which hinders new social enterprises and cooperatives. At a
time where most non-profit software is unsustainable and needs to change,
requiring three referees is a way to obstruct change. Also, persuading three
people to support their work is no substitute for supplier evaluation.

Any non-profits who want to lead their sector should approach ICT suppliers
directly. The article also mentions [Experts
Online](http://www.expertsonline.org.uk/taxonomy/term/1/9) which is even more
short-sighted about computing: "both PC and Mac" indeed! What about GNU/Linux,
thin clients, and other changes which are already making a big difference to
some non-profits...?

But here I go again, talking to a brick wall.

I expressed these concerns when that Directory started and it didn't do any
good then, so I doubt they'll change it now, near the end of its life.

So I'm going to move on. There are lots of people emailing who want to hear
from me, so it's time to concentrate on talking with people who do want to
listen. If you want to discuss this with me, visit my website for the comments
form (click the title or look for a "view original post" link, depending what
site you're reading).

[4 comments.](../../Talk_with_People_who_want_to_Discuss.html#c)

Tags: [cooperatives](../../../tags/cooperatives),
[debian](../../../tags/debian), [life](../../../tags/life),
[photos](../../../tags/photos), [software](../../../tags/software), [toll
road](../../../tags/toll road), [wsm](../../../tags/wsm).

###  [Explaining web site improvements: what's important to
you?](../../Explaining_web_site_improvements__what_s_important_to_you_.html)

#####  Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:32:33 +0100

![\[Photo of Some
Traffic\]](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/attachments/traffic.jpg)  
Is this traffic or congestion?

This is one of those Friday Afternoon Projects \- it's been put off all
through a busy week because it's unpaid, I'm not completely sure how to
approach it and now my arms hurt like hell from travel jabs which are making
it hard to concentrate! So I'm going to float it on here...

I've been asked to brief a meeting next week about that group's current web
site and its problems. I'm not linking it yet to avoid insulting/embarrassing
them.

The site looks OK, but doesn't rank well on search engines and doesn't allow
much member participation. I need to explain why that's a bad thing and how
the site's technical choices have led to that. I'm not directly pitching for
[TTLLP](http://www.ttllp.co.uk/) to get any work (because I'm a member of that
group, it might be a conflict of interest and we're pretty busy anyway - even
our own site needs work on some of the points I'm going to mention), but I
don't want to be unhappy if we're asked to implement my recommendations.

I've got a usual outline that I follow, but my presentation's time is limited,
so I'd like to ask you: what about this is important and what isn't? If you
give me useful feedback, I'll put you in the Acknowledgements with a backlink
and I hope the briefing will be shared pretty widely over the next few months.

The current plan is to start with a basic explanation of how search engines
rank pages, as far as we can tell, referring to [PageRank Explained Correctly
with Examples, by Ian Rogers](http://www.sirgroane.net/google-page-rank/) as
well as the shorter official summaries from the dominant search sites at
[Yahoo,](http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/search/ranking/)
[Microsoft](http://blogs.msdn.com/webmaster/archive/2008/01/11/i-m-not-
ranking-in-live-search-what-can-i-do.aspx) and
[Google.](http://www.google.com/technology/index.html)

Then I go through a quick evaluation of the site against the basics of
validation, accessibility and robot-friendliness, followed by a couple of SEO-
style checks of its current rankings and inbound links.

Next is a bit different because I have access to some of their web access
stats: I summarise what we know and suggest some other stats they've probably
not considered and why they're useful, along the lines of [Dave Briggs's
measures of blog success.](http://davepress.net/2008/04/17/how-do-you-measure-
blog-success/)

Finally, I suggest ways to improve the site. The top tip will be to take
control of the site hosting and stop using the cheap and cheerful donated
server that makes all links except the front page point to another domain.
I'll probably suggest a mix of free and open source software tools to power
it. If they don't want to move it all yet, I'll suggest running a second site
for member participation, using tools like Wordpress, NoseRub and so on.

What do you think? Plan for success, am I missing some tricks, or am I setting
myself up for [a
lynching?](http://www.asktog.com/columns/047HowToWriteAReport.html) Let me
know with a comment or email, please.

[2
comments.](../../Explaining_web_site_improvements__what_s_important_to_you_.html#c)

Tags: [cooperatives](../../../tags/cooperatives), [life](../../../tags/life),
[software](../../../tags/software), [web](../../../tags/web).

###  [Updated GnuPG Key Expiry](../../Updated_GnuPG_Key_Expiry.html)

#####  Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:42:37 +0100

I'm still alive, so it's past time to update the signature on [my gpg
key](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/comp/gpgpubkey.txt) into next year. The key
phrase in [the handbook](http://www.gnupg.org/gph/en/manual.html#AEN329) is:

> "The expiration time is updated by **deleting** the old self-signature and
adding a new self-signature."

but somehow I always have to look it up, so I thought I'd make a note of it
here.

It looks like [debian-keyring should
update](http://keyring.debian.org/replacing_keys.html) now I did --send-key to
it, but I guess I'll find out in a few weeks.

[Be the first to comment.](../../Updated_GnuPG_Key_Expiry.html#c)

Tags: [debian](../../../tags/debian), [life](../../../tags/life),
[software](../../../tags/software), [web](../../../tags/web).

###  [Back from Cuba](../../Back_from_Cuba.html)

#####  Mon, 12 May 2008 15:58:47 +0100

I'm just back from a trip to Cuba. Sorry for the abrupt disconnect. I expected
to have limited connectivity there, whereas I actually had none at all except
for 23 minutes! I hope the other members of [the
cooperative](http://www.ttllp.co.uk/) and [the editorial
team](http://www.cyclingfans.net/satellite/) stepped in suitably well. I'll
check in with them now and then start on the emails, but I wanted to put this
broadcast out first for those who are watching closely and wondering...

[Be the first to comment.](../../Back_from_Cuba.html#c)

Tags: [cooperatives](../../../tags/cooperatives),
[cycling](../../../tags/cycling), [life](../../../tags/life),
[travel](../../../tags/travel).

###  [Strategy on Strategies](../../Strategy_on_Strategies.html)

#####  Wed, 14 May 2008 20:39:48 +0100

![\[SNR Event Welcome
Slide\]](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/attachments/snrevent.jpg)  
Anyone seen this before?

Today, I went to an event about the Sub-National Review Consultation (as a
substitute for someone else AIUI).

I'd not heard about this before, but if you're in England and you've any
interest in our regional planning system (which I think you should, if you
have your main home here or run a business here), you have six weeks left to
comment on the UK Government's suggested changes.

As I understand it, it will move the second-highest tier of planning control
from democratically-accountable regional bodies to the business-led Regional
Development Agencies, with some oversight by MPs and the very- indirectly-
accountable council leaders. I've posted [more detail on Co-opNet.](http://www
.co-opnet.coop/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=753)

When I asked about local involvement and cooperatives, I was directed towards
Local Strategic Partnerships, but I'm pessimistic about how easy it will be to
influence regional planning through those: a few weeks ago, I was at the
launch of the [North Somerset
Partnership](http://www.northsomersetpartnership.org.uk/) [Sustainable
Community Strategy for
2008-2026.](http://www.northsomersetpartnership.org.uk/community+strategy/sustainable+community+strategy1.asp)

It's a 72-page A4 glossy book which I've still not found time to read
properly. I think the size says something about its sustainability. I've
posted [a little more detail on
WsMForum.](http://www.wsmforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=100.msg293)

I'll try to answer questions about either of them on this blog or those
forums...

[Be the first to comment.](../../Strategy_on_Strategies.html#c)

Tags: [cooperatives](../../../tags/cooperatives), [life](../../../tags/life),
[wsm](../../../tags/wsm).

###  [Posting Ahead](../../Posting_Ahead.html)

#####  Thu, 15 May 2008 09:52:52 +0100

I'm convinced by [The Argument for Posting Ahead [Network
Blogging]](http://networkbloggingtips.com/the-argument-for-posting-ahead/) so
why didn't I set it up for [my recent
trip?](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/Back_from_Cuba.html)

Well, a while ago, I had a bit of an email discussion with
[Steve](http://www.steve.org.uk/) about delayed posting features for
[Chronicle](http://www.steve.org.uk/Software/chronicle/) which I think ended
with the addition of chronicle-spooler to the released files. I initially
suggested ignoring a post when its Date is in the future, like
[Wordpress](http://www.wordpress.org/) does, but I think that wouldn't be
backwards-compatible and isn't as flexibile as it could be.

chronicle-spooler works by moving files from a spool dir into a live dir. I'd
forgotten how much it confuses me when files on a "static" site start moving
themselves around. It means I have to merge before upload, which isn't a big
change, but still annoying.

So, I've added the following lines to chronicle to skip entries with a Publish
header in the future:-

    
    
    --- chronicle-2.7/bin/chronicle.orig	2008-05-15 10:13:55.000000000 +0100
    +++ chronicle-2.7/bin/chronicle	2008-05-15 10:13:43.000000000 +0100
    @@ -607,7 +607,8 @@
             #  Read the entry and store all the data away as a
             # hash element keyed upon the (unique) filename.
             #
    -        $results{ $file } = readBlogEntry($file);
    +        my $result =  readBlogEntry($file);
    +        if ($result) { $results{ $file } = $result; }
         }
     
         #
    @@ -1479,7 +1480,7 @@
         my $tags    = "";    # entry tags.
         my $body    = "";    # entry body.
         my $date    = "";    # entry date
    -    my $publish = "";    # entry publish date - *ignored*
    
    +    my $publish = "";    # entry publish date
     
         open( ENTRY, "<", $filename ) or die "Failed to read $filename $!";
         while ( my $line = <ENTRY> )
    @@ -1527,6 +1528,14 @@
         }
         close(ENTRY);
     
    +    # MJR - embargo stuff until its publish date.
    +    # Steve recommends using chronicle-spooler,
    +    # but I want uploaded files to stay where I put them,
    +    # else I get my local copy confused.
    +    if (($publish ne "") && (str2time($publish) > time())) {
    +    	return 0;
    +    }
    +
         #
         #  Determine the input format to use.
         #
    

I think that's compatible with chronicle-spooler, too...

[Be the first to comment.](../../Posting_Ahead.html#c)

Tags: [life](../../../tags/life), [software](../../../tags/software),
[web](../../../tags/web).

###  [No Battles - Just Stand Firm On Best
Practice](../../No_Battles___Just_Stand_Firm_On_Best_Practice.html)

#####  Fri, 16 May 2008 08:52:52 +0100

> "Here are three examples of rules that I think it's time to abandon. These
particular examples are all about email.

>

> [1/ Top Posting](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html#quoting) [...]

>

> [2/ HTML Email](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html#attachments) [...]

>

> [3/ Reply-To On Mailing Lists](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/comp/list-mua.html)
[...]

>

> So, yes, the barbarians are at the gate. The lunatics have taken over the
asylum. Good ideas have been crushed by the number of people who don't
understand them. But there's no point in complaining about it. You just have
to accept it and move on."

[\-- Pointless Battles For Geeks, By Dave
Cross](http://blog.dave.org.uk/2008/05/pointless-battles-for-geeks.html)

Unsurprisingly, given the above links to my site, I disagree with Dave Cross's
conclusion, but I do agree with two aspects: battling is generally pointless
and using hard rules about these things is unnecessary.

I have those pages on my website so that I can point to them when their broken
emails aren't handled as expected. I use some aspects of them as scoring
inputs in my mail filters. I don't use them as rules and I try not to complain
about them too often.

Nevertheless, I still believe sending properly-trimmed plain text emails from
a list-friendly email client is clearly best practice, to be recommended when
someone asks why their email bad habits are causing them problems.

[4 comments.](../../No_Battles___Just_Stand_Firm_On_Best_Practice.html#c)

Tags: [life](../../../tags/life), [software](../../../tags/software),
[web](../../../tags/web).

###  [BBC TV: Click: Free=beer and facebook-
flaming](../../BBC_TV__Click__Free_beer_and_facebook_flaming.html)

#####  Fri, 16 May 2008 17:15:36 +0100

Free software finally gets significant coverage on BBC TV's Click show this
week, but I think it's very much Linux rather than GNU/Linux and free cost
rather than freedom. They mentioned free security software and even raised the
possibility of trojans, but didn't mention how free (as in freedom) software
allows any random end-user to check or have it checked.

Quite a missed opportunity! However, Click has a regular letters section, so
watch it (times below), email click@bbc.co.uk and see if we can get the free
software view across.

The letters section this week seemed to be flaming proprietary SaaS social
network site facebook for their pathetic default-permit approach to security
of user details. I really think there's a role for something like
[noserub](http://noserub.com) in free software social networking.

[Click-UK](http://www.bbc.co.uk/click) is shown on BBC News Channel Saturday
1130, Sunday 0430 and 1130, Monday 0030 and Sunday 0430 on BBC-1 (times BST)

[Click-World](http://www.bbcworld.com/click) is shown Thursday 19:30 GMT,
Repeated Friday 09:30 and 12:30 (Asia Pacific only), Saturdays 06:30, Mondays
15:30, Tuesdays 01:30 (not Asia Pacific, Middle East or South Asia) and 07:30
GMT

Anyone else see this?

[1 comment.](../../BBC_TV__Click__Free_beer_and_facebook_flaming.html#c)

Tags: [life](../../../tags/life), [satellite](../../../tags/satellite),
[software](../../../tags/software), [web](../../../tags/web).

###  [Mystified by Remote Controls](../../Mystified_by_Remote_Controls.html)

#####  Sun, 18 May 2008 13:44:36 +0100

Can a Panasonic EUR7615KTO remote control for a NV-VP30 video player use its
TV mode to control a Goodmans 257NS TV?

I've tried every setting listed in the instruction book and I still can't get
it to work. Neither the book nor the stuff on Panasonic's web site has a
compatibility list. Search engine results are full of people selling
replacement controls and no compatibility lists.

I guess it doesn't work, but it's a bit irritating not to know for sure. Why
doesn't anyone produce proper hardware compatibility lists for these devices?
Video players are worse than Linux...

[Be the first to comment.](../../Mystified_by_Remote_Controls.html#c)

Tags: [hardware](../../../tags/hardware), [life](../../../tags/life).

###  [Met Calyx about Koha](../../Met_Calyx_about_Koha.html)

#####  Tue, 20 May 2008 12:22:23 +0100

I met Irma and Bob from [Calyx](http://www.calyx.net.au/) yesterday. They're
fellow [Koha](http://www.koha.org/) service providers from Sydney, Australia
who are over in Europe visiting various people.

It was nice to see them (first time I've met Bob) and have a bit of a chat
about where we're each going with Koha. One interesting difference is that
they have several private-sector clients, while I don't think [my
cooperative](http://www.ttllp.co.uk/) has yet done a private-sector Koha, but
there seemed to be more similarities than differences, including adding more
robust project management and ticketing as we deliver Koha 3 to people.

We went for lunch at [The Cliffs Tea
Rooms](http://www.bizwiki.co.uk/cafes/197634/the-cliffs-tea-rooms.htm) at the
other end of [Kewstoke](http://www.kewstoke.org/) Toll Road, which has great
views towards Wales, but I forgot to take any pictures. Ooops.

[Be the first to comment.](../../Met_Calyx_about_Koha.html#c)

Tags: [cooperatives](../../../tags/cooperatives), [koha](../../../tags/koha),
[life](../../../tags/life), [software](../../../tags/software),
[wsm](../../../tags/wsm).

###  [Another Toll Road Crash](../../Another_Toll_Road_Crash.html)

#####  Tue, 20 May 2008 14:07:44 +0100

I'd not long written about [lunching at the other end of Kewstoke Toll
Road](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/Met_Calyx_about_Koha.html)
yesterday when I read [this news of another Toll Road
crash.](http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/content/twm/news/story.aspx?brand=Westonmercury&category=news&tBrand=westonmercury&tCategory=znews&itemid=WeED20%20May%202008%2012%3A11%3A41%3A500)
I hope the three people carried from the wreckage recover.

I fear the press will have another field day about how dangerous the road is,
instead of primarily blaming whatever caused the accident. (The fishmonger
crashed while avoiding a loose dog, by the way.) That road is not up to modern
standards and I don't believe it was designed for the volume of traffic that's
been using it since they stopped collecting the toll, but there is a very low
speed limit (25mph) and warning signs all over it. Neither car left the road
this time, as far as I can tell from the reports.

I hope the press proves me wrong.

[Be the first to comment.](../../Another_Toll_Road_Crash.html#c)

Tags: [life](../../../tags/life), [toll road](../../../tags/toll road),
[travel](../../../tags/travel), [wsm](../../../tags/wsm).

###  [Updates: Fishmonger re-opens, Bombing Exeter,
Eurovision](../../Updates__Fishmonger_re_opens__Bombing_Exeter__Eurovision.html)

#####  Fri, 23 May 2008 10:58:07 +0100

Three quick updates to items I've posted in the past:-

Justin Rolfe has re-opened [his fishmonger's shop on Alexandra Parade Weston-
super-Mare](http://www.wsmforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=102.msg295#new) less
than six weeks after what [Avon Fire called a "lucky
escape"](http://www.avonfire.gov.uk/Avon/News/Incident+archive+2008/Van+driver+has+lucky+escape.htm)
when his van crashed off Kewstoke toll road.

I'm glad I didn't try to go to an event in [Exeter
yesterday](http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/may/23/ukcrime.uksecurity1) that
I was invited to. I don't remember seeing that restaurant, but [the BBC writes
it only opened last
September.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/7415831.stm) A religious
bombing in Devon. Whatever next?

[Eurovision](http://www.eurovision.tv/page/home) is tomorrow night. I'm not
going to write in detail here this year (because I don't want the pain of
dealing with the planet-purgers again) but I might try to guest blog somewhere
else and mention it at the end of tomorrow's post.

[Be the first to
comment.](../../Updates__Fishmonger_re_opens__Bombing_Exeter__Eurovision.html#c)

Tags: [life](../../../tags/life), [toll road](../../../tags/toll road),
[wsm](../../../tags/wsm).

###  [Sky Data Protection](../../Sky_Data_Protection.html)

#####  Sat, 24 May 2008 08:52:34 +0100

For the first time in a while, I've filed a [data protection
complaint](http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints/data_protection.aspx) with the
[Information Commissioner's Office](http://www.ico.gov.uk/) about a company's
bad behaviour.

Take a bow, Sky TV! Claiming that you can't remove my details from your
mailing lists because I'm not one of your customers is stupid beyond belief.
If I'm not one of your customers, never have been and have never permitted you
to have my personal details, then you shouldn't have them anyway and you
definitely shouldn't keep them after I've asked you to stop.

[1 comment.](../../Sky_Data_Protection.html#c)

Tags: [life](../../../tags/life), [satellite](../../../tags/satellite).

###  [Update: Experts Say Ofcom Wrong About Rural
Broadband](../../Update__Experts_Say_Ofcom_Wrong_About_Rural_Broadband.html)

#####  Mon, 26 May 2008 17:24:34 +0100

[Last Friday, I
mentioned](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/Silver_Surfer_s_Day_2008.html)
Ofcom announcing that [Rural broadband households overtake urban for the first
time](http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2008/05/nr_20080522) and wondered
whether the Ofcom definition of broadband is as broken as [the Ofcom
definition of digital
television.](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/blog/2004-8.html#ofcommadness1103)

Of course it is.

Apprently, it ignores download speed, alternative access points and lots of
other aspects. See [Rural broadband - lies, damn lies and
statistics](http://simonberry.ruralnet.org.uk/2008/05/22/rural-
broadband-%e2%80%93-lies-damn-lies-and-statistics/) (hey, don't blame the
numbers - blame those doing the interpretation!), [Lifetorque: Ofcom still out
of touch on broadband](http://lifetorque.blogspot.com/2008/05/ofcom-still-out-
of-touch-on-broadband.html) and [It's Broadband Jim - but not as we know
it!](http://swict.wordpress.com/2008/05/23/its-broadband-jim-but-not-as-we-
know-it/) for some of the points and links to more.

Can we ever trust any of Ofcom's statistics?

[Be the first to
comment.](../../Update__Experts_Say_Ofcom_Wrong_About_Rural_Broadband.html#c)

Tags: [life](../../../tags/life), [phones](../../../tags/phones),
[statistics](../../../tags/statistics), [web](../../../tags/web).

###  [Bristol and Bath Perl Mongers](../../Bristol_and_Bath_Perl_Mongers.html)

#####  Tue, 27 May 2008 08:55:01 +0100

The first meeting of the new [Bristol and Bath Perl
M[ou]ngers](http://perl.bristolbath.org/) is tonight (Tue 27th) at 7pm,
according to [this mailing list
post.](http://mailman.bristolbath.org/pipermail/bristolbathpm/2008-May/000126.html)

Despite their [rules,](http://perl.bristolbath.org/rules.html) I've already
been well-flamed by one member, so it will be interesting to see what sort of
group it becomes. Hopefully the flamers are nicer in real life.

[Be the first to comment.](../../Bristol_and_Bath_Perl_Mongers.html#c)

Tags: [koha](../../../tags/koha), [life](../../../tags/life),
[software](../../../tags/software).

###  [Fuel Price Bleating and
Biking](../../Fuel_Price_Bleating_and_Biking.html)

#####  Tue, 27 May 2008 10:17:26 +0100

![\[Photo of
Cyclists\]](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/attachments/polbikes.jpg)  
England swings like a pendulum do!

There's another fuel price protest and [the
coverage](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/yourview/2032819/Should-the-
Government-cut-fuel-taxes.html) [in the
London](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1021946/Road-revolt-2-Lorry-
drivers-shut-London-roads-capitals-largest-fuel-protest.html) [press
is](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1022066/MPs-demand-Brown-U-turns-
green-tax-millions-family-car-drivers.html)
[pretty](http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1210306.ece)
[biased,](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7420792.stm) with occasional [balanced
reports](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/new-fuel-price-
protests-test-ministers-green-resolve-834585.html) and [very
rare](http://www.24dash.com/news/Environment/2008-05-23-Government-urged-dont-
cut-fuel-duty-but-spend-it-wisely) [dissenting
opinion.](http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/may/27/carbonemissions.energy)

One of the favourite whines on [news-and-nutters phone-
ins](http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/victoriaderbyshire/2008/05/find_out_how_much_your_road_ta.html)
is "waah, I live in a village, I need my car". While that's true for some
people, most villagers could switch to bicycles for many journeys without
problems.

At the moment, the biggest problem with cycling to town is the number of cars
on the small lanes, followed by the number of potholes. Switching to cycling
or walking will have a triple benefit: fewer cars on the road will free up
space for cycling, wear the roads out less and reduce fuel demand (so petrol
should become cheaper for those who really need it).

Over the last few days, I've been happy to read [Bike The Drive 2008 [Dirk
Eddelbuettel],](http://dirk.eddelbuettel.com/blog/2008/05/25#bike_the_drive_2008)
[Mountainbike, By Joerg
Jaspert](http://blog.ganneff.de/blog/2008/05/26/mountainbike.html) and [How to
Start Bicycling to Work, by John
Goerzen.](http://changelog.complete.org/posts/716-How-to-Start-Bicycling-to-
Work.html)

A couple of tweaks to [that last one:](http://changelog.complete.org/posts/716
-How-to-Start-Bicycling-to-Work.html) in England, I don't think that a cycling
helmet is necessary. I've not worn one for the last few months (it went mouldy
after a rain storm) \- I find I can hear traffic better and many drivers seem
to give me more room on the road. I wonder if helmet-wearing "dehumanises"
cyclists to drivers? The safety data seems rather confused, but it's a
personal choice. If you feel safer with a helmet, wear one. I also wear
ordinary business or casual clothes, relying on a good quality commuter saddle
rather than cycling shorts. I suspect that drivers here are developing a sort
of blindness to the "screaming yellow" hi-vis jackets, so I don't wear those -
but sometimes I wear hi-vis reflective armbands if I'm wearing black in the
dark. I agree completely with the comments on that page about being
predictable, [Cateye](http://www.cateye.com/) lights and pannier bags.

Finally, [Bike Week 2008](http://www.bikeweek.org.uk/) starts on 14 June,
which would be an ideal time to try a group ride - or just get a free
breakfast for cycling into town.

Update: [Wheelism: How To Commute By
Bicycle](http://www.wheelism.co.uk/article.php?story=20080528115257419) and
[Drake.org.uk: The Pushbike Song](http://www.drake.org.uk/2008/06/the-
pushbike-so.html) \- it's a veritable wave!

[9 comments.](../../Fuel_Price_Bleating_and_Biking.html#c)

Tags: [cycling](../../../tags/cycling), [life](../../../tags/life),
[travel](../../../tags/travel), [wsm](../../../tags/wsm).

###  [Kewstoke Annual Village
Meeting](../../Kewstoke_Annual_Village_Meeting.html)

#####  Wed, 28 May 2008 08:51:23 +0100

Tomorrow (Thu 29th) at 7.30pm is the [Kewstoke](http://www.kewstoke.org/)
annual village meeting. That should be my first meeting as a councillor, if I
get back from London in time. (I hope I do - councillors who miss meetings get
[this sort of
criticism](http://bristol.indymedia.org/article/688379?condense_comments=false)
but at least village councillors aren't paid that much: I think expenses for
all 12 or so councillors totalled under £60 last year.)

Apart from the two reports, the agenda is a good summary of the challenges
affecting the village this year:
[Cygnet](http://www.cygnethealth.co.uk/referrers/hospitals/kewstoke/) Liaison,
[Sand Bay Management](http://www.kewstoke.org/sandbay.htm) and [the Toll
Road.](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/tags/toll%20road/)

[Be the first to comment.](../../Kewstoke_Annual_Village_Meeting.html#c)

Tags: [life](../../../tags/life), [toll road](../../../tags/toll road),
[wsm](../../../tags/wsm).

###  [Quick Question: opticaljungle.com =
publicdomainregistry.com?](../../Quick_Question__opticaljungle_com___publicdomainregistry_com_.html)

#####  Wed, 28 May 2008 12:21:26 +0100

Are opticaljungle.com and publicdomainregistry.com the same people?

Their addresses look identical but their phone numbers are different. Both
appear to have some connections to directi.com. Is there any way to check if
they are the same people?

I don't know how to verify US companies when they appear not to want to be
verified... [Domain Detectives thinks they're both
directi](http://www.domaindetectives.net/reports/directi/directis_domains.php)

[Be the first to
comment.](../../Quick_Question__opticaljungle_com___publicdomainregistry_com_.html#c)

Tags: [cooperatives](../../../tags/cooperatives), [life](../../../tags/life),
[software](../../../tags/software), [web](../../../tags/web).

###  [Getting Linux InfraRed Beaming to a Palm III with a Belkin USB
Device](../../Getting_Linux_InfraRed_Beaming_to_a_Palm_III_with_a_Belkin_USB_Device.html)

#####  Thu, 29 May 2008 08:55:01 +0100

I lent someone my old [Palm](http://www.palm.com/) IIIe as a data entry device
for an exhibition this week. I don't use it much since [I got a Samsung
K608i](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/blog/2007/phone#k608i) last year. They weren't
comfortable with using their smart phone as a data entry device. I can
understand that: I'm still pretty slow at phone-typing and it corrupted data
when its memory filled recently.

The batteries had been removed from the Palm to avoid them leaking, so it
needed reloading with [useful Palm free
software](http://www.palmopensource.com/) for data entry. The first problem
was that I decommissioned _bouncing_ a while ago and that was the last machine
to sync with the Palm. I wasn't keen to pull it out of the store cupboard and
connect all the wires, but my current desktop machine _nail_ doesn't have a
9-pin serial port for the cradle and that's the only connector on the Palm.

Actually, it's not the only connector: the Palm has an InfraRed emitter and I
have a Belkin F5U230 USB-IrDA dongle thing. I don't use it that often, but it
worked enough to connect _nail_ to the internet through my old mobile phone.
That was a while ago and I forgot the specifics, but eventually I noticed the
key phrase in the **irattach** man page:-

> "Note that there is another USB driver for those devices called ir-usb which
is NOT compatible with the IrDA stack and conflicts with irda-usb. Because it
always loads first, you have to remove ir-usb completely."

Sure enough, I checked the **lsmod** output and found ir-usb there, screwing
stuff up. A few modprobe -r commands, then I simply ran

> "irattach irda-usb"

and saw the irda0 network device appear.

Still one thing to do: beam the actual applications. This was pretty easy
because I remembered reading that
[obexftp](http://dev.zuckschwerdt.org/openobex/wiki/ObexFtp) defaulted to IRDA
sending when I was getting bluetooth working. All I had to do was enter a
command like

> "obexftp --irda --put db.prc"

and the Palm asked if I wanted to accept it! Yes!

First test with **obexftpd** for receiving files wasn't encouraging, though
and I can't see how to use
[sobexsrv](http://www.mulliner.org/bluetooth/sobexsrv.php) for this: I'll
probably write next week whether we get any data off the Palm! The Palm IIIe
is too old to hotsync over infra-red, as far as I can tell. I've got a
roundabout route through the K608i but it doesn't seem to be very reliable.
Anyone got any expert tips?

[2
comments.](../../Getting_Linux_InfraRed_Beaming_to_a_Palm_III_with_a_Belkin_USB_Device.html#c)

Tags: [gobolinux](../../../tags/gobolinux),
[hardware](../../../tags/hardware), [life](../../../tags/life),
[phones](../../../tags/phones), [software](../../../tags/software).

###  [Told You So: Exhibitions and Spammer
Registrars](../../Told_You_So__Exhibitions_and_Spammer_Registrars.html)

#####  Fri, 30 May 2008 08:54:13 +0100

I used to help staff more exhibition stands than I do now. Part of the reason
I stopped was that few free software people seem to appreciate the basics of
running a good exhibition stand and I got bored of arguing that we should give
people space, avoid putting a counter across the stand, keep notes of contacts
made and basic stuff like that.

So, it was good to read [Connecting People: Making an exhibition of yourself -
the exhibitor](http://networkingandreferrals.blogspot.com/2008/05/making-
exhibition-of-yourself-exhibitor.html) and the linked [Business Startup Coach
shares Exhibition &amp; Trade show
secrets](http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=103601) which repeat many points
I've made before. Don't want to listen to me? Listen to the marketing experts.

Some time after noticing [WDPRS](http://wdprs.internic.net/), I tried
reporting as much spam as possible for a while, to hosters and registrars
based on WHOIS details.

Some hosts and registrars were good at dealing with spam (Yahoo and
walla.net.il were exceptionally good) many were bad (bresnan.net,
registrationtek.com, publicdomainregistry.com (PDR), ait.com, omantel.co.om,
ttnet.net.tr) and some were ugly (Tucows/OpenSRS wrote back to say they don't
do anything about domains they register, while ENom and Moniker never sent
human answers).

So it's no surprise to see ENom, Moniker, PDR and AIT on the list of

[

> "Top Ten Worst Spam Registrars Notified By
ICANN"](http://www.schwimmerlegal.com/2008/05/top_ten_worst_s.html) ultimately
taken from [this report.](http://www.knujon.com/registrars/)

>

> [Be the first to
comment.](../../Told_You_So__Exhibitions_and_Spammer_Registrars.html#c)

>

> Tags: [cooperatives](../../../tags/cooperatives),
[life](../../../tags/life), [software](../../../tags/software),
[web](../../../tags/web).

>

> ###  [Please Tell Me How To Do It](../../Please_Tell_Me_How_To_Do_It.html)

>

> #####  Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:47:09 +0100

>

> ![\[Meeting
Room\]](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/attachments/platform_empty.jpg)  
>  (Guess I arrived early.)

>

> Dear Reader,

>

> I'd like to read any opinions on these three:-

>

> 1\. when I get new information about a story I've already written about,
should I make it a new blog post and/or add it to the old post or something
else?

>

> For example, I've got new links about the [Yahoo's good anti-spam
actions](http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=208400289)
which is sort-of linked to last week's [spammer registrar
post.](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/Told_You_So__Exhibitions_and_Spammer_Registrars.html)

>

> 2\. what should I do with links to sites where I've commented? Should I make
a new feed like [my bookmarks
feed,](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/blog/bookmarks.html) silently ignore them, or
something else? [Last time I did a link
post,](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/21_today__MJR_around_the_web___.html)
mildly irritated comments followed on [one of the
planets.](http://planet.debian.net/)

>

> 3\. Tonight is my first full [Kewstoke village
council](http://www.kewstoke.org/parish.htm) meeting. Main (non-routine)
topics include Sand Road Lay-by, Crookes Lane Memorial Seat, the newsletter,
replacing the gazebo on the village green, coopting more councillors,
completing the Crookes Lane Footpath, the 2007-08 accounts and reviewing the
Sand Bay Management Plan. Any comments on any of those?

>

> [8 comments.](../../Please_Tell_Me_How_To_Do_It.html#c)

>

> Tags: [life](../../../tags/life), [web](../../../tags/web),
[wsm](../../../tags/wsm).

>

> ###  [BBC website, TV and
Technology](../../BBC_website__TV_and_Technology.html)

>

> #####  Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:43:29 +0100

>

>
![\[Dish\]](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/attachments/satdish_sm.jpg)  
>  (How I get TV)

>

> The British Broadcasting Corporation, the largest UK public service
broadcaster, is seen as a slow lumbering beast and a bit clueless about
technology, as you can see from [the comment when I wrote about Click:
Free=beer and facebook-
flaming](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/BBC_TV__Click__Free_beer_and_facebook_flaming.html#c)
recently. I think that's a pretty typical view.

>

> For example, the BBC has recently helped to launch
[Freesat](http://www.freesat.co.uk/) which is good in some ways (free-to-air
and maybe more standards-based than Sky) but still publishes half-truths like

>

>> "Installing a satellite dish is a job for professionals"

>

> (On balance, it's no harder than installing most TV aerials, in my opinion,
but remember you get no warranty on DIY.)

>

> It's pretty much the same situation online, which is why stories like [The
BBC and innovation [DavePress]](http://davepress.net/2008/06/02/the-bbc-and-
innovation/) and [Good news for websites - BBC told to link out
more!](http://www.blogstorm.co.uk/good-news-for-websites-bbc-told-to-link-out-
more/) continue to be news, nearly 12 years after the BBC's website launched.
[(Source)](http://web.archive.org/web/19961029213728/http://www.bbcnc.org.uk/)

>

> One of the few areas where BBC triumphs is probably news-gathering, picking
up stories that are unpopular with both business and government, like [BBC
NEWS: Towns triumph in broadband
tests](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7431336.stm) which follows the
[Experts Say Ofcom Wrong About Rural
Broadband](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/Update__Experts_Say_Ofcom_Wrong_About_Rural_Broadband.html)
storm online. I recently helped [The Doon of May team look into internet
connectivity](http://www.doonofmay.org/blog/?p=21) and I was surprised how bad
it was in their location: a bit of attention from BBC News is most welcome.

>

> If you'd like to try receiving the BBC - or some other national broadcasters
in Europe - by satellite, I'm currently taking [Questions About Cycling on
Satellite](http://cyclingfans.net/satellite/2008/questions-about-cycling-on-
satellite) over on my Cycling Fans blog.

>

> [Be the first to comment.](../../BBC_website__TV_and_Technology.html#c)

>

> Tags: [cycling](../../../tags/cycling), [hardware](../../../tags/hardware),
[life](../../../tags/life), [satellite](../../../tags/satellite),
[web](../../../tags/web).

>

> ###  [World Environment Day](../../World_Environment_Day.html)

>

> #####  Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:04:16 +0100

>

> Today is [World Environment Day 2008](http://www.unep.org/wed/2008/english/)
and also [Recycle Week in the
UK.](http://www.recyclenowpartners.org.uk/local_authorities/news/are_you_ready_for.html)

>

> Locally, our poor recycling record has attracted attention. The main
Somerset CC area averages 50% recycling and composting, while North Somerset
only does 36%. This will cost us money, as explained under the subtly-titled
local newspaper article ['REDUCE WASTE NOW OR FACE A £12M
FINE'](http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=147472&command=displayContent&sourceNode=147472&contentPK=20792383&folderPk=84808)
It's very annoying to read a Conservative councillor say

>

>> "The message we really have to get out to people is that this is their
problem too."

>

> We **know** it's a bloody problem. Have you tried to use your stupid
recycling system?

>

> **Criticism of the stupid collections** is strangely absent from the local
Lib-Dem's [Mid table place shouldn't be good enough when it comes to recycling
(Mike Bell)](http://www.mike-
bell.org.uk/news/000428/mid_table_place_shouldnt_be_good_enough_when_it_comes_to_recycling.html)
and I can't even find recycling mentioned on local Labour sites - I think
those two groups may have been in coalition when the stupid system was
introduced. It's left to [local residents to explain the
problem.](http://www.wsmforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=15.0)

>

> [Local waste collections have been simplified
recently](http://www.n-somerset.gov.uk/waste/) but it still seems bloody
awkward, taking different types of waste to different places. The most recent
edition of the council's [North Somerset
Life](http://www.n-somerset.gov.uk/Your+Council/Communication+and+information/North+Somerset+Life/default.htm)
magazine explained that they don't collect plastic bottles from the doorstep
because it would add £10 per year to our local tax. I'm damn sure it already
costs me more than that to store them and ferry them into town over a year.
The only people rewarded by saving that £10 seem to be those who live near the
town centre collection point, drive to that Tesco anyway, or don't recycle
plastics. Why reward them?

>

> **Speaking of Tesco...** those [national](http://www.nomillroadtesco.org/)
and [local favourites](http://bristol.indymedia.org/article/688196) have
applied to build [Two more Tesco stores for Weston [The Weston
Mercury]](http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/content/twm/news/story.aspx?brand=Westonmercury&category=news&tBrand=westonmercury&tCategory=znews&itemid=WeED04%20Jun%202008%2016%3A30%3A52%3A210)
including one directly opposite another supermarket. The application number is
[08/P/1230/F](http://wam.n-somerset.gov.uk/MULTIWAM/showCaseFile.do?appNumber=08/P/1230/F)
if you want to respond.

>

> **The planning system seems my main chance to protect my local environment**
at the moment. Next Monday evening at 7.30pm, [08/P/1070/F - Erection of 5
storey building to provide 14 flats, restaurant and office with basement
parking following demolition of
restaurant](http://wam.n-somerset.gov.uk/MULTIWAM/showCaseFile.do?appNumber=08/P/1070/F)
will be considered by a [Kewstoke village
council](http://www.kewstoke.org/parish.htm) planning meeting in the village
hall. As I understand it, the public may make statements at the start of the
meeting and 2 Kewstoke Road is currently the Castle.

>

> [Be the first to comment.](../../World_Environment_Day.html#c)

>

> Tags: [cooperatives](../../../tags/cooperatives),
[life](../../../tags/life), [statistics](../../../tags/statistics),
[travel](../../../tags/travel), [wsm](../../../tags/wsm).

>

> ###  [Bridgwater College Computing Advisory
Panel](../../Bridgwater_College_Computing_Advisory_Panel.html)

>

> #####  Sat, 7 June 2008 08:52:34 +0100

>

> Probably due to some mistake or just an excess of randomness in the world,
[our webmaster cooperative](http://www.ttllp.co.uk) has been invited to
[Bridgwater College's](http://www.bridgwater.ac.uk/) Computing Advisory Panel
meeting next week and it looks like I'm going.

>

> The interesting agenda items are:-

>

> 5\. Current Curriculum offer

>

> 6\. Computing and ICT Sector Developments - Education and Training \- ICT
Diplomas \- Distance Learning \- Specialist training / apprenticeships

>

> 7\. Meeting Employer Needs

>

> I've asked some [nearby cooperatives and social
enterprises](http://www.software.coop/info/other.html) for comments and I'll
probably highlight things like [Linux opens London's
Oyster](http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,39419829,00.htm) and
[Specsavers sees clear benefits in open
source](http://resources.zdnet.co.uk/articles/casestudy/0,1000001994,39303425,00.htm)
when arguing for more free software use and emphasising "worker needs" rather
than "employer needs", but please send me any other suggestions in a comment
on this blog post or an email.

>

> [Be the first to
comment.](../../Bridgwater_College_Computing_Advisory_Panel.html#c)

>

> Tags: [cooperatives](../../../tags/cooperatives),
[life](../../../tags/life), [software](../../../tags/software),
[web](../../../tags/web), [wsm](../../../tags/wsm).

>

> ###  [Fixing things the wrong way](../../Fixing_things_the_wrong_way.html)

>

> #####  Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:14:56 +0100

>

> For some reason (maybe related to upgrading openssl recently), my Jabber
client became unstable. Instead of fixing it the right way, I simply upgraded
to Emacs 22.2 (which also got me the emacsclient --eval option mentioned on
this blog previously). It still wouldn't make SSL connections at first, but a
quick application of [[jabber.el] Anybody using emacs-jabber with Emacs
22.2?](http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/message.php?msg_name=87od88hl58.fsf%40blackbird.nest.zamazal.org)
fixed it.

>

> That's the wrong way to fix that bug, but it's not quite as wrong as
misusing computers to try to fix copyright infringement. MediaDefender denial-
of-service attacked a TV production company, as described in [Inside the
Attack that Crippled Revision3 on May 29th, 2008 at 07:49 am by Jim Louderback
in Polemics](http://revision3.com/blog/2008/05/29/inside-the-attack-that-
crippled-revision3) MediaDefender or MediaDestroyer?

>

> That's the wrong way to fix that bug, but it's not quite as wrong as making
treaties mostly in secret, under NDAs to try to evade local copyright law-
makers. The US government, the European Commission, Japan, Switzerland,
Australia and a handful of other countries are meeting in a secret negotiation
on a new treaty

>

>> "that undermines civil rights and privacy, and which many say will change
the substantive rights the public has to use copyrighted works or inventions."

>

> Read more at [Act On ACTA](http://actonacta.org/) and then contact your law-
making representatives.

>

> [Be the first to comment.](../../Fixing_things_the_wrong_way.html#c)

>

> Tags: [life](../../../tags/life), [software](../../../tags/software),
[web](../../../tags/web).

>

> ###  [More driving and cycling](../../More_driving_and_cycling.html)

>

> #####  Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:17:56 +0100

>

> [Jeff Bailey](http://jbailey.livejournal.com/53415.html) asked:

>

>> "Heya Brits! Any of you still driving cars at ~ 1.15 according to the Daily
Mail"

>

> Yes, I am. I drove on Monday (at 1.18/l) because it was the least bad option
for the journey. I try to avoid it and I felt bad afterwards (literally - it
was too damn hot and each part of the journey was too short for the cab to
cool down), but the car was available and the other choices involved not
attending some events.

>

> On Sunday, I used my bike instead, but I was I wondering if the world is
full of Sunday drivers today or whether I was really riding that badly. You
name a junction on my route and I seemed to get into a conflict with a car at
it.

>

> Today's bike trip went much better, even getting thanks from a coach for
pulling aside halfway up an incline, but I had to take avoiding action as I
re-entered the village because of a police car. I'm pretty damn sure that
wasn't my fault, but I do wonder when it's the police.

>

> I'm still riding without a helmet, without ill effects. [Gunnar Wolf was
getting a breeze through a different kind of
helmet](http://gwolf.org/node/1829) but I think it's telling that cyclists
"feel naked" rather than actually being naked (usually, at least). Have we got
too used to being cocooned in metal boxes while out on the roads? I've always
ridden and walked a lot - is this why I don't miss the hat much? I must
remember to drink more in summer without it, though.

>

> I share [Criag Sanders's scepticism about the
protests](http://taz.net.au/blog/2008/05/31/sick-of-whinging-about-petrol/)
and [Chrisitan Perrier's enthusiasm for bike-
pools.](http://www.perrier.eu.org/weblog/2008/05/28#planet-summary) I don't
agree with many of [Russel Coker's views on oil
prices](http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/06/09/record-oil-prices/) but they are
interesting reading, even so.

>

> I'm taking part in [JamBustingJune for the West of England
region](http://www.jambustingjune.com) and [BikeWeek 14-21 June
2008](http://www.bikeweek.org.uk/)

>

> [3 comments.](../../More_driving_and_cycling.html#c)

>

> Tags: [cycling](../../../tags/cycling), [life](../../../tags/life), [toll
road](../../../tags/toll road), [travel](../../../tags/travel).

>

> ###  [Warning for Webmasters: Friday 13th
ahoy!](../../Warning_for_Webmasters__Friday_13th_ahoy_.html)

>

> #####  Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:18:11 +0100

>

> Personally, I like Friday 13th. It's usually been pretty good for me. But
for this one, I won't be surprised if computer abusers are planning some big
attack tomorrow.

>

> I've just spent a big chunk of my day upgrading and securing some of the
websites that [our free software cooperative](http://www.ttllp.co.uk/)
supports for a customer. The number of attacks in the access logs is
surprising - and I've been fixing other people's cracked servers for over a
decade. It makes me wonder if someone is finding and recruiting exploitable
systems for tomorrow.

>

> If you have a website, please check that any web applications on it are
installed correctly and the latest secure versions. I've been seeing a lot of
attack attempts for [Joomla](http://www.joomla.org/) and
[WordPress](http://www.wordpress.org/) in particular, even on sites which
don't run them. That says something bad about either the success rate of
attacks for them, or the stupidity of their attackers.

>

> In our case today, the damage seems to have been minimal (touch wood!), with
the customer merely being banned from some networks for a while. It could be
so much worse, like this BBC News report about Cotton Traders [Card details
stolen in web hack](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7446871.stm) (which
is part of why I suggest small online shops avoid storing credit card details
on their site - leave it to the payment gateway).

>

> Finally, there are some new scams like [Conmen abuse web address
checks](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7448187.stm) on the horizon for
online shops, so make sure you've got your 3D-Secure rules set correctly by
now and be cautious about sending goods before you're sure you've got the
money. I think all web card payment systems are a risk, so please try to limit
your risk.

>

> **Update:** If you do get attacked, try to help track the attackers down so
we can get other results like the [Jail sentence for botnet
creator.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7451268.stm) I wish our
governments would concentrate on toughening up blatent computer misuse law and
stop [tightening copyright law in secret.](http://actonacta.org/?p=9)

>

> [Be the first to
comment.](../../Warning_for_Webmasters__Friday_13th_ahoy_.html#c)

>

> Tags: [cooperatives](../../../tags/cooperatives),
[life](../../../tags/life), [software](../../../tags/software),
[web](../../../tags/web).

>

> ###  [Forthcoming (and past) Events News: LUGoG, BikeWeek, HacktionLab,
SPI](../../Forthcoming__and_past__Events_News__LUGoG__BikeWeek__HacktionLab__SPI.html)

>

> #####  Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:05:41 +0100

>

> [LUG of Glastonbury](http://www.lugog.org.uk/) meets at [Tor
Leisure](http://www.torleisure.com/) in Glastonbury at 7pm tonight (Monday).
It will be a general planning meeting, maybe with some GPG-key-signing and
other tasks. If you want the LUG to show you something in particular, this
will be a good event to attend.

>

> This week is [BikeWeek 2008](http://www.bikeweek.org.uk/) and there's [a
free cyclists
breakfast](http://www.bikeweek.org.uk/event_search.php?pagemode=display&event_id=548)
at the Victorian Cafe on the Weston-super-Mare seafront about 8am Wednesday
morning. For events in other areas, stick a partial postcode into [the
BikeWeek event search.](http://www.bikeweek.org.uk/event_search.php)

>

> [Someone from The Doon Of May was at Hacktionlab 2008 @ Highbury
Farm](http://www.doonofmay.org/blog/?p=24) this last weekend, as were [Bristol
Wireless, who were running the
wifi.](http://www.bristolwireless.net/news/?p=393)

>

> I've not seen an official announcement, but [SPI's board meeting](http://www
.spi-inc.org/corporate/meetings) will be on Wednesday at 8pm UK time (1900
UTC), according to [my last meeting report.](http://lists.spi-
inc.org/pipermail/spi-general/2008-May/002574.html)

>

> I've heard through [BBLUG](http://www.bristol.lug.org.uk/) that the
notorious Shevek is co-organising an event called "An Adventure in Technology"
at Trinity Community Arts in Bristol on 28 June 2008. It's a follow-up event
to the 2003 Bristol Linux and will be an all-inclusive event where everybody
is encouraged to bring something along, talk about it, swap ideas, and build
things on site. It doesn't have to be Linux-based, but a lot of things will
be. The event web site is <http://www.techadventure.org/> and you should post
there if you have an idea or want to run a session. There will also be a list
for people who decide on the day that they want to give a talk.

>

> [1
comment.](../../Forthcoming__and_past__Events_News__LUGoG__BikeWeek__HacktionLab__SPI.html#c)

>

> Tags: [cooperatives](../../../tags/cooperatives),
[life](../../../tags/life), [spi](../../../tags/spi),
[travel](../../../tags/travel), [web](../../../tags/web),
[wsm](../../../tags/wsm).

>

> ###  [Firefox 3, day 10: security flaw 2, more banks, looking for a new
browser](../../Firefox_3__day_10__security_flaw_2__more_banks__looking_for_a_new_browser.html)

>

> #####  Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:45:44 +0100

>

> Well, I was hoping to get Yet Another Blog Reorg done before posting this,
but it just hasn't happened, so here are a few more thoughts on Firefox 3 on
this ol' blog. In fact, I'll probably finish the FF3 series here before I
switch over.

>

> I was in central London on Tuesday and suffered both [the
rudeness](http://www.drake.org.uk/2008/06/more-london-fun.html) and [the black
snot](http://she.geek.nz/archives/502-london-so-far.html) (which no-one else I
know seems to suffer) so maybe that's why I've been underachieving this week.
I've had London lethargy.

>

> I had a report about online banking that doesn't work with FF3.
[NPBS](http://www.npbs.co.uk/) will move into the hall of shame, sadly. I'm
almost certain I warned them months ago that their online banking was doing
Javascript stunts that aren't going to work forever. I emailed them and
haven't heard back since.

>

> Back to the browser: I share the contempt for the [Firefox 3 and
SSL](http://blog.madism.org/index.php/2008/06/26/177-firefox3-and-ssl)
problems and I [like the new URL bar
too.](http://upsilon.cc/~zack/blog/posts/2008/06/firefox_3_un-ranting/)
However, I am finding the FF3 seems to use more CPU (and so power) than FF1.5
and there seems to be some frustrating delays in FF-clipboard communications,
so I'm looking at other browsers. [Conkeror](http://conkeror.org/) looks
interesting. Still Gecko (useful for work) but stripped down.

>

> I spotted another post about microformats, which I mentioned in my last
post, [about the BBC dropping support for microformats [John
Resig]](http://ejohn.org/blog/bbc-removing-microformat-support/) and I also
noticed [just how good SVG and Minimalist Markup looks in FF3 [Sam
Ruby]](http://www.intertwingly.net/blog/2008/06/24/Minimalist-Markup) \- I'd
love to try it, but my IE-using clients probably wouldn't understand and I
hate making single-browser special editions.

>

> [2
comments.](../../Firefox_3__day_10__security_flaw_2__more_banks__looking_for_a_new_browser.html#c)

>

> Tags: [banking](../../../tags/banking), [life](../../../tags/life),
[software](../../../tags/software), [web](../../../tags/web).

>

> ###  [End of this blog!](../../End_of_this_blog_.html)

>

> #####  Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:02:09 +0100

>

> This blog has moved on to [software cooperative
news](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/blog/all.html) \- please click through to
continue reading.

>

> [Be the first to comment.](../../End_of_this_blog_.html#c)

>

> Tags: [life](../../../tags/life), [software](../../../tags/software),
[web](../../../tags/web).

>

> [![RSS Feed](../../xml.gif)](life.rss)

>

> #### Archive

>

>   * 2008

>     * [April (9)](../../archive/2008/04/)

>     * [May (20)](../../archive/2008/05/)

>     * [June (14)](../../archive/2008/06/)

>     * [July (2)](../../archive/2008/07/)

>

>

> #### Tags

>

>   * [banking (2)](../../tags/banking)

>   * [charities (3)](../../tags/charities)

>   * [cooperatives (19)](../../tags/cooperatives)

>   * [cycling (5)](../../tags/cycling)

>   * [debian (8)](../../tags/debian)

>   * [gobolinux (2)](../../tags/gobolinux)

>   * [hardware (3)](../../tags/hardware)

>   * [koha (3)](../../tags/koha)

>   * [life (31)](../../tags/life)

>   * [links (1)](../../tags/links)

>   * [phones (5)](../../tags/phones)

>   * [photos (1)](../../tags/photos)

>   * [satellite (3)](../../tags/satellite)

>   * [software (28)](../../tags/software)

>   * [spi (5)](../../tags/spi)

>   * [statistics (3)](../../tags/statistics)

>   * [toll road (5)](../../tags/toll road)

>   * [travel (6)](../../tags/travel)

>   * [web (26)](../../tags/web)

>   * [wsm (12)](../../tags/wsm)

>

>

> [Home](../../../../) [Contact](../../../../email.html)
[News](../../index.html) [Work](http://www.ttllp.co.uk/) [TV
guide](../../../../blog/tv.html)

>

> Published to: [PLANET DEBIAN](http://planet.debian.net/) [LUG.
ORG.UK](http://lug.org.uk/aggregator) [COOPERATIVE
MAGAZINE](http://cooperativemagazine.co.uk/) [RECENT
LOG](http://advogato.org/recentlog.html) [KOHA
COMMUNITY](http://owu.towers.org.uk/planets/koha/)
[PLANETλ](http://www.scheme.dk/planet/) [PLANET
ALUG](http://planet.alug.org.uk/)

>

> Forums: [WsM FORUM](http://www.wsmforum.co.uk/) [CO-OP NET](http://www.co-
opnet.coop/) [CANARIES FAN](http://www.norwichcity-mad.co.uk/) [PLANET
LISP](http://planet.lisp.org/) [SCHEME UK](http://schematics.sourceforge.net
/scheme-uk/)

>

> Others: [MartynD](http://www.drake.org.uk/) [Sam](http://cambridgeco-
operation.blogspot.com/) [dc](http://www.davidcasal.com/) [Gordon](http://www
.eighty-twenty.net/blog/) [NewsNow](http://www.newsnow.co.uk/)
[Ztroller](http://ztroller.blogspot.com/)

>

> [W3C XHTML 1.0](http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=referer) [W3C CSS
1](http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/) [WAI WCAG](http://www.w3.org/WAI/)

>

> This is copyright 2008 MJ Ray. See fuller notice on [front page](/).

  *[AFK]: Away From Keyboard