Testing mobile upload and ID cards

According to an article in today's observer, last year 80% people were in favour of ID cards. This year it is 80% against. I am curious to find out more.

Change

In today's London Times a short piece about how people manage grief but repackaged about how they manage change at work. It is based on Elizabeth Kubler-Ross' stages of dealing with bereavement, but is used to describe emotional reactions to all types of change or trauma. It's pretty dark stuff but worth thinking about, especially when so many people are being made redundant every day.

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

On the news front Mandelson pumped $2.3bn into the UK car industry to try to prevent those five stages occuring.

Obama!

This is one night I wish I was back in the States.

I woke up in some Dutch hotel at what seemed a random time in the middle of the night. I turned on the TV to see if Obama had been elected, and by some odd coincidence within a few minutes the polls had closed on the west coast and Obama was projected as the winner.

Wonderful and amazing.

The Romance of British Train Travel ll

This shot was also taken on 26th September 2008 using the blackberry camera. It is of St. Albans station taken through the scratched window of the train I was sitting in.
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Madonna and Guy Ritchie are to divorce.

The Romance of British Train Travel

This picture was taken with a blackberry camera on 26th Sept 2008 on a First Capital Connect train from St. Albans to London.
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Today, the US government agreed to use some of the $700bn bail out money to buy equity in the major banks, following the UK model.

Seeing the World Differently

We normally see the world map by size of country. Imagine if we looked at a map of the world by the relative proportion of the world's population living in each country. It would look like this:

And a world map that shows the relative proportion of Muslims by territory, would look like this:

and by water reserves:

It is fascinating. Worldmapper.org enables us to look at the world in many different ways: by resource allocation, trade, religion, transport use, income, disease, energy, etc

Republicans and Democrats couldn't agree on the proposed $700bn US "bail-out" plan. Sebastian Coe and Kelly Holmes sprinted in the Tate as part of a art work celebrating humam movement.

Small Pleasures

In amongst a day of overcrowded trains, grumpy gym staff with bad attitutude (why do Brits have to be so difficult sometimes, though I guess that is a case of the pot calling the kettle black) and a day long meeting on a subject that could, in the right hands be wonderful and amazing, but barely got above dull, was a little bit of walking through London. It is such a interesting place to walk. The light was good, making nice-looking buildings look even nicer. Below, as an example, is a view from where I was working. There are more views from places I have worked or stayed here.The UK govt. are suspending the practice of 'selling short'. The GB paralympics team returned home, second in the medals table at Bejing games.

Green Bay vs Giants

Hardy commentary team gameside for the Green Bay Packers vs New York Giants. It was the third coldest game in NFL history with temperatures at -1F (with wind chill down to -23F). They destroyed the hardy myth by revealing that they watched the match tucked up inside and came out only for the pre, mid and post game analysis. Meanwhile many of the players were in short sleeves.

Obama wins in Iowa

Obama in Iowan primaries. CNN polls suggest that his perceived ability to bring change was an overriding factor in his victory. In contrast Clinton is seen as the candidate of experience (which seems to matter less), and therefore the traditional candidate. American narratives like the outsider that rides into town and sorts everything out. And Obama is nothing if not an outsider, though his own personal story is wonderfully American: immigrant family, broken home, self-made success. He also did much better than Clinton amongst 17-44 yr olds (Clinton did much better with 65yr +)

"Change" is the key word of the moment; and tied to it, the notion of unity through change. I looked for a couple of meangful quotes on the subject, words of great wisdom. The following fitted. It had both wisdom and humour:

"There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse; as I have found in traveling in a stagecoach, that it is often a comfort to shift one's position and be bruised in a new place." Washington Irving "Tales of a Traveler"