…when we really should be going for a walk…
Ha! The Olympics have a set of Terms of Use for their website, which say, amongst other things, that you can't link to their site if you're using anything other than text to do so, and that you can't say derogatory things about them. Well, I'm sorry, the web doesn't work that way and I don't accept your censorship. Let’s see…
The London 2012 Olympics is probably the single biggest waste of taxpayers' money in my lifetime. It is depriving children of books, hospitals of nurses, and elderly people of care. The Olympics have been a financial disaster for almost every city that has ever hosted them and I object to such large amounts of my money being spent this way. I have no objection to people running round fields or kicking balls if they want to, and people who want to watch them are entitled to pay to do so. But public money should not be used to pay for it on this scale for one ‘trophy’ event for a few politicians. If you insist on spending £11bn on sports, a new gym and swimming pool for every school in the country would be a much better investment. I have visited three former Olympic venues now, and at each I have marvelled at the big, empty stadia with a few tourists wandering around them. Why does nobody learn that this is a Bad Idea when there is such a track record?
Anyway, you can see their site and their ugly logo here. You can also get to it by clicking on this picture of money going down the plughole:
Thanks to Taxbracket.org for use of the image.
It's long been clear that (except in a small number of specific fields) the patent system is very broken, and now serves chiefly to stifle, rather than encourage, innovation.
If you still doubt this, read some of what Richard Posner has been saying. Or look at this CNET article from a few months back which points out that from 2002-2009 patent trolls and other 'non practicing entities' made more than three times as much from litigation as those who were actually using their patents. Or listen to this episode of TWIT about how all the phone manufacturers are suing each other in a huge flurry of paperwork.
I can speak from personal experience here – I put my latest startup ideas on hold, largely because I discovered a few patents which came a bit too close for comfort, even though none of their owners are making use of them in any of their products. (I should also, in the interests of full disclosure, mention that some of my income is currently coming from being an expert witness in a west-coast patent case, so I’m arguably part of the problem, but at least I'm on the side of the defendants!)
I'm sure many entrepreneurs dream of a world in which they could just opt out of the whole system and just rely on good old competition. Imagine if you could only prosecute someone for patent infringement if they also held patents. Ah, what a sweet thought! Remember War Games?
“A strange game, Professor Falken. The only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess?”
Sadly, history offers few examples where unilateral disarmament has been a sensible choice. But we can at least dream.
Fortunately, enough noise is being made about this state of affairs now that it is growing more and more likely that something will be done about it. And a thought occurred to me this morning: I wonder if the lawyers and their clients have cottoned on to this? Could it be that big companies and patent trolls alike have realised the danger that their patents may soon be a radically devalued currency?
Perhaps the ever-increasing legal battles are partly due to an awareness that, having invested in all these armaments, they'd better start lobbing shells at each other pretty quickly before the rain takes the fizz out of their gunpowder…
I’ve written before about my favourite guide to public speaking: Brian Robinson’s curiously-named slim volume: “The Face & Tripod”.
So I’m delighted that it’s now available in a Kindle edition (UK, US, DE) which means I’ll have it not just on my bookshelf, but on my Kindle, laptop, iPad and phone, when I head for the next speaking engagement…
Recommended. It’s a fun read, too.
After my recent post about how much I liked Skype, and how much I disliked what they’d done to the Mac version recently, it seems only fair to point out that the worst aspect of the redesign – the amount of desktop space it takes up – has largely been fixed in the latest version.
There’s now a ‘Contacts monitor’ window, which you can tuck down the side of your screen as in the good old days, and get rid of the main window (at least until you’re actually in a conversation).
I still don’t think version 5’s layout is as good as 2.8’s, so I’m pleased that they still give you the option of using that version, but, with a bit of tweaking, it comes close. I’m also willing to believe that there may be improvements under the hood that are worth having. And it also looks as if they’re listening to their customers. So I’ve upgraded my machines.
Remember the little rhyme that we call the Hokey Cokey, but our transatlantic cousins call the Hokey Pokey?
A chap named Jeff Brechlin created this wonderful Shakespearean rendering of it.
O proud left foot, that ventures quick within
Then soon upon a backward journey lithe.
Anon, once more the gesture, then begin:
Command sinistral pedestal to writhe.
Commence thou then the fervid Hokey-Poke,
A mad gyration, hips in wanton swirl.
To spin! A wilde release from Heavens yoke.
Blessed dervish! Surely canst go, girl.
The Hoke, the poke — banish now thy doubt
Verily, I say, ’tis what it’s all about.
— by “William Shakespeare”
Wonderful stuff – thanks to Adrian Higgs for pointing it out.
Nick Bilton in an article in the NYT:
A research report issued this year by the University of California, Irvine, found that people who did not look at e-mail regularly at work were less stressed and more productive than others.
Gloria Mark, an informatics professor who studies the effects of e-mail and multitasking in the workplace and is a co-author of the study, said, “”One person in our e-mail study told us after: I let the sound of the bell and pop-ups rule my life.””
Ms. Mark says one of the main problems with e-mail is that there isn’t an off switch.
“”E-mail is an asynchronous technology, so you don’t need to be on it to receive a message,”” she said. “”Synchronous technologies, like instant messenger, depend on people being present.””Although some people allow their instant messenger services to save offline messages, most cannot receive messages if they are not logged on. With e-mail, it is different. If you go away, e-mails pile up waiting for your return.
Avoiding new messages is as impossible as trying to play a game of hide-and-seek in an empty New York City studio apartment. There is nowhere to hide.
My two top tips for email, if you’re overwhelmed:
I’ve often thought about creating an auto-reply system a bit like a voice menu:
“Thank you for your email. Your message is important to us and will be answered just as soon as one of our representatives is available. Your email is currently number 74 in the queue…”
But as we’ve discussed before, I really think email needs a small cost associated with each message…
Ely Cathedral is an amazing place – most of the structure being an outstanding feat of engineering nearly a thousand years old.
I’ve been visiting it for about the last thirty, but not until a couple of weeks ago did I go on one of the tours that let you see behind the scenes. Or ‘above the scenes’, really; you go right up into the octagon. You see those paintings of angels at the top of the picture above? Here they are a little closer:
And here’s the view if you look down:
The lead on the roof outside is also rather pleasing.
And behind the decorations, millennium-old tree trunks hold it together.
Lots of good launching points for birds.
This clock is high up on the western tower – normally only seen from a couple of hundred feet below!
And stained glass, I always think, is best enjoyed close-up.
Definitely recommended if you get the chance. More information about the tours can be found here.
Over dinner last night it occurred to me that, amidst the great and the good, the Nobel laureates and knights of the realm, the giants of history and legendary figures of the past, there is one man (or woman) who has never been awarded the recognition they deserve; someone whose exploration and discovery has perhaps contributed more than anyone else to the sum of human happiness (in exchange for minimal expenditure of labour)…
Actually, I’ve always thought that one of the fun things about having a time machine would be to go back and research some of life’s more unexpected discoveries. Who was it, for example, who first thought of trying nettle soup? Someone either very adventurous, or exceedingly desperate, I imagine…
Of which discovery would you most like to uncover the true history?
High up in Ely Cathedral…
© Copyright Quentin Stafford-Fraser
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