The Adventure Show: West

Another good radio prog from the Adventure Show on Radio Scotland. I'll need to catch the first 15mins using the 'on demand' player. This week covered the western theatre of operations. Ardnamurchan et al. Ancient volcanic landscapes, golden eagles and pine martens, hailstones and kayaks. Great idea having Cameron McNeish giving a personalised interpretation of the weather forecast, down to "tea shops in Peebles". He almost gave the old "Hill Street Blues" ending for folk to "be carefull out there", but different words, same sentiment. 

Me? Having had yesterday off ill with a head full of clag, overly photosensitive, i spent the day in darkened rooms avoiding computer screens and caffeine. So i'll be off in to work as soon as it opens to clear as much of my essential paperwork and marking as i can get thru before closing time.

Blogging for Charity

This is a strange one. I picked up from a post from Paul Webster that he was going to blog for charity. "Hmm", I thought, "that's a good idea. Can I adSense and give any pennies raised to charity?" So, I was about to email a certain charity, but searched on Google's adSense site to find out their policy.... here's what they say...

While we do appreciate your charitable efforts, this practice is not permitted by our program policies. We want users to click on ads because they are interested in the products or services offered by the advertiser, not because they are interested in supporting a site or a charity. Using this type of language can draw undue attention to the ads, and we aren't able to verify whether earnings are actually donated to the third-party mentioned on each site. As a result, we don't allow publishers to offer these types of incentives.

But they go on...

However, please know that once you've received your payments, you're still welcome to use them however you wish - whether it's donating them to a charity, paying your hosting bills, or treating yourself to a night out on the town. We just ask that you avoid using any language on your site that would directly or indirectly encourage users to click on your ads. (source)

So, the upshot is...if I put adverts on my blog, I can't say that they are for charity. I can't imply that they are for charity. So, what is the point in me cluttering up my blog with adverts. Readers could accuse me of raising revenue via this site, and I'd be unable to say that it was for charity.

Yet more stress caused by people behind the computer systems. So, finally, the upshot is ... this site is still advert-free. Money I donate via memberships and donations are still my own business, or maybe I'll set up a "justgiving" site for donations instead - but you can do that yourself, so why should I get involved.

Prosperity and long life - it is indeed the year of the rat.

Just add Photons

Yet another corker via Kirou's feed. A torch so hot that it can be used to cook with.

Sadly, I've just bailed on a winter Munro bag, so feel a fake posting about the outdoors. Equally sad that getting out becomes a "stressor". Don't bother telling me that I need a life - I sold my desk on eBay, and the only time anyone'll find out is when I do all my paperwork and filing. I didn't raise enough to buy the three hundred dollar torch though.

Adventure Show: North

The Adventure Show is on Radio Scotland on Saturday morning for 4 weeks. They are cunningly focusing on the compass points, and this first week is "north" (of Scotland).

And Cameron's in it too ("pull duvet up over head and go back to bed...looking pretty grim....").

ListenOnDemand

Lovely Morning

The benefit of working on the 6th floor of the tower block.

Personal Wind Turbine

This came through on Kirou's newsfeed: the alternative power source HYmini is now available for purchase.

A quick search and there's a longer article on CoolHunting. I'm more interested.

I find the manufacturer's site: hymini.com

I finally see a photo giving me an idea of scale. I'm impressed. I want to see if I can secure it to a pack during the day and use it to generate and store power. Even tie it between 2 guylines overnight.

YouTube search brings up some good videos, for example, this one:

I want one for the next long hiking session. After 3-days, I get concerned about recharging the mobile phone. And finally, it looks like the output is via USB instead of some proprietary connection.

And The Clocks Were Striking Thirteen

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

And so starts George Orwell's "1984".

On each landing, opposite the lift-shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption beneath it ran.

Orwell was writing it exactly 60 years ago this year, and it was published in 1949.The book is as apt today as it was when I read it in 1984.

He had been appointed to a sub-committee of a sub-committee which had sprouted from one of the innumerable committees dealing with minor difficulties that arose in the compilation of the Eleventh Edition of the Newspeak Dictionary. They were engaged in producing something called an Interim Report, but what it was that they were reporting on he had never definitely found out. It was something to do with the question of whether commas should be placed inside brackets, or outside.

Following links from Wikipedia, there are copies from Australia and cartoon versions, even a radio play from 1949. I must re-read it before April this year. There was a good series on BBC2 recently about British Science Fiction. I think it came originally from BBC4. I used to read a lot of early sci-fi when I was travelling to/from school on the bus, but I think it was American early and "golden years" stories. Unlike tv programmes and fleeting media, I find that reading things stays more in my brain. But I'm sure that's just a sign of my age. But then again, what's the point in remembering tv programmes if you can't give a copy of the documentary to a mate - but you can point them to a book, or a film. We are losing information into the aether of marginal tv channels where the makers can generate extra revenue in the hope that we, the public, will follow. If the data is out there and we can't find it, then it might as well not exist and we should call the fire brigade.

There was a whole chain of separate departments dealing with proletarian literature, music, drama, and entertainment generally. Here were produced rubbishy newspapers containing almost nothing except sport, crime and astrology, sensational five-cent novelettes, films oozing with sex, and sentimental songs which were composed entirely by mechanical means

If you've never read the book, go to the library and get it. Go to a bookshop and buy it (maybe even from one of these cheap shops or charity shops). Or read the linked file text from Wikipedia. You won't regret it. Or you can get back to your entertainment, being happily advertised as "brain-dead tv".

It's A Family Affair

Despite all the modern games and stuff, some kids just can't help dragging their hands in the water:

Or the old-fashioned, fling yourself down snow-covered hills:

And who could their fun-loving role-model be???

How Many d's in Luddite?

I won't apologise for stating the bleedin' obvious, but computers create as many opportunities for problems as they do solutions. 

There, i've finally said it! And the world hasn't come to an end yet!

BBC Supports ePetition

George discovers a new format: Lego Weekend News.

The host, Pete Blog, mentions the ePetition too. So, the Brick Broadcasting Corporation supports Darren.

Ahem, what, you thought it was the other BBC. There was never any intention to mislead, so it must be your fault for jumping to conclusions. Heck, if you jumped to the conclusion of the text, you'd have seen what I meant right away. :-)

Cross-fertilisation

Cross-fertilisation.

I noticed with interest that "Live for the outdoors" (Trail/Country Walking) have an advert in a photography magazine (Digital Photo, March 08). It's not great, as it isn't tailored to that market especially, and the graphic used is badly pixilated....but, in the same way that Bob's TOS allowed him to move away from 'just' being sticky content for BPL.co.uk, so this rebranding allows L4dO them to market their online content to people who are interested in the outdoors, but not the magazines.

As this involves a lot of user-generated content, I wonder how people who participate in it feel about being 'used' in this manner. No doubt, so long as there are still meets and competitions, and a feeling of community, they are happy that the hosting of photos, and cross-fertilisation of ideas and gaining of new ones is worth it. Of course, as magazine sales drop in favour of online content, one also wonders how long it will take before revenue generation becomes a bigger part of online companies. The usual way of doing this is to have basic (free) access, and additional (subscription) content. Just look at BPL.com for this model.

The fight is on, not for you to buy their magazine, but for them to get you going to their one-stop-shop for all your <insert interest here> needs. If you take photographs of the outdoors, go to <insert name of site> and you'll find content that you can customise to give you the information that you want and need. Of course, there'll be advertising tailored to this, but it will not be spam, because you might find some of it interesting.

The hunt is on. The customer is the prey. You can always switch off, escape from it all, but you'd better not go near a digital media service of any sort. Artificial intelligence and marketing. All for your benefit. Just don't eat the soylent green.

Wild Camping Petition: Commentary

Written in response to Dawn's comment earlier today:

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Good one, Dawn. I feel, like so many others, they can't be seen to be encouraging (how do I phrase this without the BBC's lawyer's to hand): the toleration of the unlawful status quo.

Not that it can be anything in comparison with some of the serious and life-threatening unlawful activity that goes on in the UK.

Remember, landowners can give consent to wild camping. They could even put out an 'honesty box'. Heck, one of the main reasons I joined the National Trust for Scotland was the free parking at places like Linn of Dee (access to the Cairngorm Plateau et al). They provide a good service, so I don't object to putting some money their way.

It isn't rocket science! But then, I'm not a townie, so was brought up differently. Free range childhood, slippy rocks as slides, ruined blackhouses as dens, hiding behind wind-blown trees, lambs and goats for pets, and later the same sheep for lunch. I remember one summer, it was so nice that some of us kids stayed out in a home-made tent for over a week, just in the garden.

But, times are different now. Other people are scum, unworthy of our trust, just want to murder us in our beds, set fire to the countryside, and steal our satnavs. Meanwhile, we some people are fighting for this same society, and getting shafted by pen-pushers who see a "covenant" as something to get out of paying if they can. Well, folks, we have a "social contract", we can't just go and decide what laws we will live by and which we don't. And we certainly can't have VAT-registered organisations openly saying that it is okay to break the law, because there is probably a law against that. "Incitement to cause civil disobedience", which, if memory serves me right, carries a statutory fine.

Wild Camping Petition: T+9d pm

From a response I left to John Hee's comment across on Darren's blog:

It gets people thinking too. Which can only be a good thing.

Some people who want to give kids ASBO's for having a kick-around in the street with a hood up. "Fear of crime". Maybe, just maybe, that's why some kids don't leave the sofa. Maybe, just maybe, with more toleration, then obesity levels would drop.

Are we going to be a more tolerant society or less over the coming years? Some people have already described police helicopters being used to monitor unlawful wild camping.  But anecdotes and here-say are useless.

Just look at what Reyaz Limalia (Trail, March 08, p87) was saying about getting "weird looks" from outdoors folk.

Why should mature, sensible wild camping be tolerated when it doesn't hurt the landowner or the environment, and may bring extra revenue to isolated communities.

Life is but a dream, shamoomshaboom.

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Signature count: 303.

Wild Camping Petition: T+9d am

Wild camping ePetition signatures reached 300 before noon today. There'll be dancing in the streets of Farnborough tonight.

The guilty couple can be found here. Well done, Linda (300) in letting Colin (299) go first.

Spell checker needed for windows

Oh dear. I hope it wasn't one of my students who wrote this.

Wild Camping Petition: T+8d eve

ePetition at 294 signatures. Just 6 off reaching 300 by the end of the first full week. Ah well.

Wow! I just checked, and it is now at 298 in the 15 minutes this screen's been open.

Wild Camping Petition: T+8d.pm

TGO editorial blog by "Scotland's best known hillwalker" (I think that's what the  BBC call him), Cameron McNeish: Wild camping in E&W

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Signature count: 289.

Perceptions Change

I get strange looks in my office when the wild weather outside cheers me up instead of gettting me down. Nature in its element. Inhuman. Impersonal. Uncaring. It accepts no blame for your misjudgement. It just is.

Wild Camping Petition: T+8d

In the OutdoorsMagic newsletter/email that arrived this morning, the ePetition and discussion on wild camping on the forum is highlighted by: "                             ". Yup. No mention. Two threads that were mentioned were "Venue to be decided, but may I suggest North Wales?" and "I am looking to buy a new headtorch, any opinions?" - cutting edge stuff.

Just means that Darren's not doing enough to get a mention.

Signature count: 287.

BS08

It may not be my choice of abbreviations, but BS08 marks "Breathing Space Day 2008".

Anyone can feel down or depressed from time to time. It helps to get some Breathing Space. You are not alone and talking about how you feel is a positive first step in getting help. So don't let problems get out of hand, phone Breathing Space where experienced advisors will listen and provide information and advice.

Breathing Space Scotland's Home Page

Breathing Space Day aims to encourage people to think about what they can do to take a breathing space from their hectic lives in order to nurture their mental health and well-being.

Tony McLaren, National Coordinator for Breathing Space, said: "This is an exciting initiative, designed to get people talking about how they take care of their own mental well-being in daily life, and in general promoting awareness of positive mental health and challenging stigma in relation to mental health problems.

Who could resist an organisation that uses a photograph like this? My idea of heaven - except I'd be wearing more appropriate gear and heading up that track to see what's on the other side.
For example, Cairn Toul during a 4-day unsupported solo trek to the Cairngorm plateau, Summer 07. It's 1291m/4236ft, and the Lairig Ghru's off to one side. Topped 5 Munros in the circuit. MapLink

There's lots of information on the site: "open up when you're feeling down".

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PS: Looking at the photo again, I think the chap may be caught at the bottom of the slope, concerned about it. Aye, here's the same chap again under the "Lonely? Feeling isolated" heading.