Song for whoever
Dawn. Debbie. Michelle. Samantha. Susan. Melissa. Nicky. Tracy. Sue. Lisa. Jo. Sam.
One of my favourite songs is Song for Whoever by Beautiful South - you know, the one where he lists all the girls names and thanks them for their inspiration. Whenever I hear it (it just popped up on Party Shuffle) I mentally make my own list. Sadly, it’s not a very long list, and truth be told most of the names on it are just wishful thinking. (Which puts me in mind of the scene from Four Weddings where Charles has to admit that he’s only slept with nine people - oh, that it had got as high as nine!)
I never have been any good in social situations. I’m basically shy and if put into a room full of people that I don’t know, I’ll sit in the corner and only speak when spoken to. I’ve always been that way and I’m not sure why. Perhaps because when I was very small - before I started school - when I went with my Mum to her various jobs I had to sit and be quiet, or perhaps because as I grew up and became taller than all my friends, I figured that by being quiet I wouldn’t stand out so much. Or perhaps some other reason.
Whatever the explanation, I’m no good at talking to people I don’t know. I don’t do small talk; I’ve tried and it doesn’t come out right (I can tell by their faces). I’ve sort of come to accept that this is just the way I am, but sometimes it still rankles. I’m knocking on the door of 40 and yet, confronted with a woman I don’t know the best I can do is a mumbled “Hello”. Why is that? By now I should have been able to put the shyness behind me and just be myself - because I don’t think that shy is really who I am. As those whom I am lucky enough to call friends can probably attest, I can be large and loud and completely inappropriate without any provocation - usually, I’m sure, to the consternation of all those present.
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I walked away from this post for about an hour, while I watched something mindless on TV and coming back to it, I’m not really sure where I was going with it. I’m tempted to delete it, but I’m going to put it up there for now and think about it.
That data thing again
This story from the BBC highlights the latest arguments that are raging over online information. Apparently, the Press Complaints Commission are to undertake consultation about whether newspapers should be able to re-print information that individuals have made available on sites like Facebook and MySpace.
The impetus for this seems to be that individuals who have seen their information re-used in newspaper stories about them are objecting; they say that this information is private and not for public consumption.
Which is crap. This isn’t (or shouldn’t be) a privacy issue - it’s a question of copyright. You’ve already made the information public by publishing it on a website; if it gets re-used by a newspaper then the best you can hope for is to sue them for infringement of your copyright - so if they re-publish your holiday snaps without your permission, you’ve got a case.
As far as privacy goes, if you don’t want people to know about something then don’t put it on a website. As I’ve said before (here and here), you’re just opening yourself up for trouble.
In a related story, you may have heard of the issues that are surrounding the “whistle-blowing” site, Wikileaks. Everyone seems to be up in arms because they’ve been closed down for making public some confidential documents owned by companies; this is being seen as stifling of freedom of speech. Um, no. What it is is stopping the illegal use of documents that are not owned (and may have been obtained illegally) by those people who are making them public. Freedom of speech is a great thing and if it’s being stifled then I’m ready to protest as loud as the next person - but that’s not what is happening here.
That personal touch
I’ve long had a desire to buy myself that most ostentatious of personalised gifts - the private number plate. The one I really want (MB 1) was once offered for sale at £175,000, which is a little out of my price range, but Northumbria Numbers have some that are a bit more in my price range.
Their site is easy to use and you can either take a look at the various names and bargains that they’ve got available (like G380 RGY - Georgy - for £995), or come up with your own in either new style or old style plates. Once you’ve found what you’re looking for, Northumbria can take care of all the transfers for you and even supply you with a set of plates for your new number if you want. They really are a one-stop-shop for personalised number plates.
This post is sponsored by Northumbria Numbers.
Brief Notes
Its been a busy weekend, so I’ve not really been in front of the computer at all and haven’t had time to write any proper entries. There have been a couple of things I’ve wanted to comment on, though, so here’s another in my series of Brief Notes.
1. Sadly, Jeff Healey - guitar virtuoso - has died at the early age of just 41. If you’ve ever heard him play, you’ll know what a loss to the music world this is. If you haven’t ever heard him play, I suggest you start with See The Light, his 1988 Grammy-nominated album that really propelled him onto the world stage. (BBC)
2. A zero-emission sports car gets it launch at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show in a few days time. Developed by a consortium that includes Morgan, famed sports car manufacturers, this hydrogen fuel-cell powered car is showing the way that this type of car can really go. Who needs an ugly-looking hybrid car when you can have something beautiful like this? No word yet on whether it will actually make it into production (or how much it will cost if it does) but what’s exciting is that the development work on this type of vehicle is acutally moving forward. (BBC)
3. Unfortunately, Eastbourne Borough lost again on Saturday. We’re now four points behind league leaders Lewes, with the same number of games played. Hopefully, we can pull a couple of good results out of the bag over the last dozen or so matches of the season (and hopefully Lewes will have a corresponding downturn in form). Go Borough!
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