Pool post

By 6000 | 6000 | October 3, 2009

Today was the first “proper” day of “summer”.
We celebrated it by playing in the pool, something like this (which was taken back in March).

And then we headed out for a romantic dinner. And plenty of red wine.

You are indeed fortunate that I managed to squeeze a blog post in between those two events.

Leave a comment | Tagged , | Posted in flickr, quota photo, the parenting bunny, this is south africa

Flying is cheating

By 6000 | 6000 | October 2, 2009

After the whole Andrew Strauss/Fatty Smith controversy, the ICC Champions Trophy is rapidly sinking from “poor sportsmanship” to “blatant cheating”:

109020

It’s about time that post-match blogging evidence was taken into account.

Leave a comment | Tagged , | Posted in annoying people, sport, this is south africa

Eighty

By 6000 | 6000 | October 2, 2009

Let’s slow things down a little. 120 is fine for normal daily run-of-the-mill decisions, but it’s not always good to rush into big things. Like major changes to the appearance of your beloved blog.

While you guys have been examining my front end in minute detail, The Guru has been tinkering around behind my scenes, as it were. And The Guru, being The Guru, has come up with (as in designed himself) a new theme for this blog, which he has graciously called SixThousandMiles and which he is now not-ever-so-gently prodding me toward using.

I’m still a little unsure. Not because the theme is anything less than wonderful, because it isn’t. It’s lovely. But just because the idea of change scares me. I’m only human, after all.
The silly thing about this is that the new theme is not drastically different from the old (current) one. There’s no garish pink, no flowers and (best of all) no garish, pink flowers.
But it is a bit different. Sure, there are one or two things which need ironing out – and when the changeover occurs, we may find others – but the only real reason for my reluctance to change is… well… my reluctance to change.

So – here goes. I’m going to flick the switch… soon.

EDIT: Switch flicked. Sidebar gone. Oops!
EDIT 2: Guru steps in. Sidebar returns.

3 Comments | Tagged , , , | Posted in admin, flickr

Damage done

By 6000 | 6000 | October 1, 2009

So Sky News now tell us that 14-year old Natalie Morton died as a result of a “malignant tumour in her chest which affected her heart and lungs” and that her death was “nothing to do with the vaccine that she had at school”.

This report is in stark contrast to their previous report which contained the unattributed quote that the schoolgirl had suffered a “rare but extreme reaction” to the vaccination that she had received earlier that day. The Times in SA even went as far as reporting that she had “died on Monday after an adverse reaction to the Cervarix vaccine”.

Quite who gave them this information is unclear. 
What is clear is that it was completely incorrect: “the inquest heard the tumour was so severe, Natalie could have died at any time.”

But it was still published.

In incorrectly linking the HPV vaccine to Natalie Morton’s death for the sake of making a big story out of something that actually wasn’t, news organisations have done untold damage. Much like the Andrew Wakefield MMR/Autism debacle, this story will have a detrimental effect on the uptake of the HPV vaccine.
And lower uptake means more HPV and more HPV means more cases of cervical cancer. Nice.

The mainstream media has a obligation to provide accurate news to it’s readers/viewers/listeners. And while some stories may be open to subjectivity and differences in opinion, this isn’t one of them.
Simply, Natalie Morton did not die because of an adverse reaction to the Cervarix vaccine.

This is poor, irresponsible and dangerous journalism.

EDIT: Please also see this.

10 Comments | Tagged , , | Posted in annoying people, in the news, uk

Charlie Brooker on Mac Fanboys

By 6000 | 6000 | October 1, 2009

I’m a full-on Windows user. Not because I think it’s particularly brilliant, but just because - for me - it works. We use it in the lab, I use it at home, my friends use it and my family use it.
And yes, occasionally there are flaws and stuff, but (literally) 99.9% of the time, it works.
Which beats my car, my swimming pool pump and my burglar alarm – to name but a few.

Another reason that I use Windows rather than a Mac, is Mac users’ constant and nauseating insistence that I must use Mac products if I want to be a “real” computer user. And yes, perhaps if I was a silver Loerie-winning, arty-farty Ad Wizard or a graphic designer or something, then maybe it would suit me to use a Mac. But I’m not, and it doesn’t.
So why would I want to shell out 2½ times the money for a product that I don’t want and I don’t need? Because it looks nice? Because it will make me appear ”trendy”? Big wow.

The Guardian’s Charlie Brooker knows exactly what I’m on about and sums up everything I want to say in the first two paragraphs of his piece on this issue - the rest is certainly worth a read as well.

I admit it: I’m a bigot. A hopeless bigot at that: I know my particular prejudice is absurd, but I just can’t control it. It’s Apple. I don’t like Apple products. And the better-designed and more ubiquitous they become, the more I dislike them. I blame the customers. Awful people. Awful. Stop showing me your iPhone. Stop stroking your Macbook. Stop telling me to get one.

Seriously, stop it. I don’t care if Mac stuff is better. I don’t care if Mac stuff is cool. I don’t care if every Mac product comes equipped a magic button on the side that causes it to piddle gold coins and resurrect the dead and make holographic unicorns dance inside your head. I’m not buying one, so shut up and go home. Go back to your house. I know, you’ve got an iHouse. The walls are brushed aluminum. There’s a glowing Apple logo on the roof. And you love it there. You absolute MONSTER.

And he’s right, because the only people that this issue really matters to is the Mac Fanboys. If it mattered to me, I’d do something about it. But it doesn’t, so I haven’t and I won’t.
When I’m at a braai enjoying a drink, I don’t expect someone to repeatedly badger me about my choice of beer; telling me how their imported-from-Tibet Lèopard du neige bèvèragè is made with water from Himalayan glaciers, which is then crystal-filtered through the Dalai Lama’s undergrunties. I like my Black Label – I don’t need your stupidly expensive alternative.

As Marcus Brigstocke quipped at the recent Edinburgh Festival:

To the people who’ve got iPhones: you just bought one, you didn’t invent it!

All of which makes tweets like this, comparing that gadget to the achievements of space travel and automotive vehicles, seem a little absurd. Because it’s just a mobile phone, with a dodgy camera, prone to occasionally exploding – even if it has that annoying little fruity symbol on it. 

So Charlie Brooker is right. Microsoft Windows (in whatever guise) might not be the best product ever created, but it generally does what it is supposed to do and it generally does it very well.
Is Mac better? Maybe for you Mac Fanboys.

But then, as Brooker says: “I don’t care if you’re right. I just want you to die.”

9 Comments | Tagged , , , , | Posted in annoying people
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