Move along, nothing to see here.

2011-07-12T11:38:00+01:00

It's been a while since I've last posted. I make a conscious effort not to post general household news in favour of things that stimulate debate and comments. I hope that my writings end up being interesting to someone even if it is only me reviewing these posts in the future. However the gap between posts can become intimidating so I'm minded to tap the microphone and whisper "is this thing on?".

Like a large chunk of the country I have been watching the unfolding drama of the News of the Screws dirty demise. However things have been moving so fast anything I posted would probably be out of date by the time I hit publish. It's a feeling the newspapers have been having for years.

It's hard not to notice the glee that News Corps many and varied opponents attack this story. I'm not totally unhappy about it, indeed when I want a smile I just have to recall the how much money they burnt with MySpace. However predictions of the death of NI as a leading power behind the Fourth Estate are probably misplaced. The axing of NoW and withdrawal of undertakings with respect to Sky News may have been dramatic events but I suspect the story still has some to go. In fact Murdoch may well divest himself of more of his print empire if it serves his longer term aims. After all the papers are dieing slowly anyway, this could be just the excuse he needs to divest himself of the liabilities.

Still it gives the journalists something to talk about over the summer.

The shape of things to come?

2010-04-19T10:41:00+01:00

The ramifications of the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull continue to rumble on as people suddenly find themselves stranded and reminded that the Earth is actually quite a big place. Meanwhile it's news that EU ministers co-ordinating a response has a video conference to discuss the response to the transport paralysis.

I find it interesting that the fact they had a video conference is news worthy. It implies that normally any time a bunch of European ministers need to discuss something they all de-camp and meet in a single physical locality. This is a measure of how far we have taken the ability to jet about for granted. While I'm sure there are good reasons to have conferences where close physicality to a mixture of people can result in useful side meetings I find it slightly disheartening that video-conferencing isn't used more routinely. Having said that the European project does ferry it's MEPs back and forth between two buildings every week so maybe I'm expecting too much. If Europe wants to take the lead on reducing the worlds carbon footprint it could do worse things than fixing up a few of it's inefficiences.

The news will no doubt spend the next few days reporting on stories of weary travllers making it back to the shores of old Blighty showing appropriate displays of Dunkirk Spirit. While we celebrate the return of out fellow countrymen to the this green and pleasent land I wonder if we'll take deeper stock of what the future without cheap and plentiful air travel will be like? Has anyone been in a supermarket the last few days and noticed the state of the fruit and veg section? This is the shape of things to come.

Alex's Adventures on the Infobahn - news

Move along, nothing to see here.

The shape of things to come?