Violence and stupidity

It's hard to know whether I feel ashamed of my country right now or proud. I have never been patriotic... when patriotism seems to only show it's face during sporting events it seems like a weakened concept. However when patriotism comes down to simply liking of and willingness to to protect your home we British do flourish. Most Brits wouldn't dream of flying the flag... it's a thing that doesn't come to mind unlike in America. Though when so soon after the riots began the hashtag #riotcleanup appeared, I felt a surge of affection for my country.

So beautifully British.

Can anybody link me to the original source of this photo?

Whilst only a minority were calling for the army, armed police and assorted violence to stop the violence a huge about of people were already on the streets beginning the cleanup, websites popped up, ready to publicise photographs of the offender and the general feeling in the country appears to be that of shock and outrage.

How dare people destroy their own country? Our governments of years passed have damaged it enough without 'yobs' hindering the attempted economic recovery.

There are no excuses for the riots right now. This is not a protest, protests have a message, and there is absolutely no moral authority for nicking flat screens. Labour MP for Blackley and Broughton, Graham Stringer put it brilliantly; "[the riots are] nothing to do with cuts, nothing to do with racist, it's entirely to do with criminality". These people are criminals, they are doing nothing good, nothing productive and it is not a protest.

And I truly wish that news agencies, MPs and irate members of the public would stop with all the keywords. They're blaming youths, bad parenting, frustration, chavs, society. There are so many factors that turn people into criminals and that's simply what they are. Not protesters, not neglected children, criminals.

Now onto another matter that has come out of these riots. It's not just violence that is rife, but also stupidity. Yesterday I became angry and tweeted this...

Last night many in Lincoln and Lincolnshire were tweeting about rumours of rioting in Lincoln. This is tiny, middle-class Lincoln. These tweets were speculation and guesswork. I was even told that there was "rumoured police confirmation". Now there's an oxymoron if I've ever seen one. It took me less than a minute to check the websites and twitter feeds of the local emergency services. Nothing. No press release, no statement.

Then this morning an offical statement was released.

"There were no public order incidents in Lincolnshire related to the on-going national disturbance issues last night."

- from a @lincspolice press statement.

If there's a time to trust the police this is it. Don't believe pathetic rumours. This willingness to believe unfounded rumours seems almost as if you would want the ritos to come here 'for the excitement'. No thank you. Rioters or rumourmongers... you do not deserve respect.

Oh how fantastically awfully I am...

I'm genuinely ashamed of my lack of writing this summer. I find that moving house (which i'm half way through doing), working (which I'm on holiday from at the moment) and drinking/reading/lounging about on a beach (which is the reason why I currently look like a pasty patchy lobster) don't fit together as a good enough excuse.

Other than drinking and moving I have little motivation for anything that really matters... losing weight, not being poor, writing etc. In fact, gimme two more months of this I'll be fat, broke and illiterate and that will just not do.

In spite of all of this anti-productivity I have managed to do some mildly course-relevant work, designing posters and such for my Aunt's play in October. I've also delightfully misused Quark Xpress to make a drinking game. I really need to actually get work experience so that I'm making layouts that aren't spoof birthday presents or card games. This is my one talent and the last two layouts I've created involved fake stories (Jamie and Hazel's diamond heist) for birthday presents. It's a shame that I can't help but create phoney layouts in a tabloid style. It looks more cutesy than professional. Damn my need of experience to get experience. I don't like that I know I'm good at layouts but have no substantial way of showing this.

Now that I've rambled incoherently, I'm gonna to pootle off and thing of things to write about that aren't simply "I can't think of things to write about".

GGGAAARGKK!!

I am enraged. There is a small group of websites that I visit every day: BBC News, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Gizmodo and Lifehacker. Gizmodo... Lifehacker... you bastards. Gizmodo, a tech blog, used to look like this...

A nicely designed blog format... simple and accessible. Now however, it looks like this...

I have no problem with the design itself. It looks good. But no longer is it easy to browse the articles, see what's popular (the old style had bigger pictures for interesting articles) or do basically anything. You can't share it without just using the direct link, it's dreadful on slow connections and something weird is going on with the domains. Going to uk.gizmodo.com gets you the old format though clicking on links brings you to the new one, kotaku.com redirects to uk.gizmodo.com. Just what?! Sort yourselves out. I love the Gawker network, stop fucking it up.

Sorry, internet. I take you for granted.

It's seems so childish and pathetic that as soon as the pitiful internet connection I have at my student accommodation goes down, I instantly run to my Blackberry and moan about it on Facebook or Twitter. Most of the time my internet use is largely for procrastination, sometimes I'm writing a blog post, sometimes I'm actually doing research for uni... but most of the time I'm just pootling around the dastardly addictive Tumblr, mooching over the BBC news homepage, having the occasional glance at Reddit, all whilst flicking backwards and forwards to goddamn Facebook.

Sometimes I think I take the internet for granted. It's possible to do so many good and wonderful things but here I am reblogging a picture of a dog standing on his hind legs. "Reblogging", a word only really exists in the shallow end of the swimming pool of the interwebs.

Credit: Cristóbal Cobo Romaní

Egypt has no internet access right now. Yeah, they can use dial-up to get their voices heard but it's the protests that are still being stifled in a massive way. The internet is such a symbol of freedom and I... we... take it for granted. The Egyptian people are being oppressed and this huge thing, this brilliant form of communication has been shut down in a blink of an eye. This shows how important the internet actually is. Not for online shopping or talking to your friends but as an actual force of good, a way of spreading a campaign or message. Egypt is offline and the rest of the world are chipping in, free dial-up is being offered from all corners of the world, photos and videos are managing to get out and people are sharing and sending information to keep this moving.

Sometimes I think the way I use the internet is a little pathetic. I need to stop updating and staring at Facebook all the time. It's pointless. See me demoralised.

I still think Spongebob is a paedophile.

My default picture not a cartoon character, this means I want to abuse children. However, I did just donate £5 to the NSPCC so who knows?

Change your Facebook profile picture to a cartoon character from your childhood and invite your friends to do the same, for the NSPCC. Until Monday (December 6th), there should be no human faces on Facebook, but an invasion of memories. This is a campaign to stop violence against children.

What is this really trying to do? Are you really telling me that every person I've seen change their default picture on Facebook to that of a cartoon has really donated to the NSPCC? I really don't think this ridiculous so-called "campaign" is going to do anything. It's not as if child abuse is a cause that needs more awareness. We know that there are terrible terrible people in the world who do terrible terrible things to children and we have two major charities that deal with this. Children in Need and NSPCC. What about charities that don't get as much publicity? Don't we care at all about them?

I just think it's ridiculous. This isn't going to help anyone. This just means that when I look at Facebook chat I've got no idea who half of the people online actually are. No, you are not a Disney anthropomorphic creature, you are a university student who should be smarter.

This just gives people a chance to pretend they're doing something good for charity. No you're not, not unless you've actually donated or actually done something worthwhile.

Some sense from Reddit via the Daily What.

My fellow blogger, Jamesy McPollitt shared his thoughts on the subject on his own blog.

And let's end on a brilliant quote from Jonathan Holmes Esq.: "we could all change it to pictures of our arses to raise awareness for bowel cancer..." Just as ridiculous as the cartoons, I think.

New feature on Bullet from yours truly

Blog your relationship?!

One of the "assigned stories" for my News, Features and Reportage unit was entitled "Blog your relationship".

Blog your relationship?! I don’t think so. Yes, I have my own personal blog but my security’s tight. And I have a blog (here!) on an entirely different platform for my more journalistic ramblings. And on my Livejournal (my personal blog) I throughly vet anyone wanting to add my as a friend. You’ve got more chance if you live in a different country. But what about Facebook? I’m clearly in a relationship on Facebook and if something ever goes wrong in that relationship the break-up is broadcast to the world.



Has the “Facebook Status” become a milestone in the blossoming relationships of young people today? Where does dating fit in with being “in a relationship”? Should we even be telling the online community about our love lives? Or are we breaching our own privacy by moving our inner thoughts from locked diaries kept snug underneath our mattresses to their very own domain name?

Would you want a stranger reading your diary entries? How about your friends, your ex or even your boss? It’s not just your privacy that you’re toying with online when you blog about your life.

The Applemath

The techbloggers have been out in force over yesterday's music event and to be honest I can't see any conclusive opinion on the annoucements.

But as an update to my blog yesterday here's some links that i've found interesting.
Gizmodo's hands on impressions
A breakdown of what was announced (from Gizmodo)
What Engadget had to say
Even Aunty Beeb had a (mildly difficult to find) article on her website... Alas as dumbed down as most of her tech news.

Also, since yesterday I've learnt something... interesting. Apple's done something strange. And I believe, stupid. Ping, the new musical social network integrated into iTunes 10 does not infact have Facebook connect like the screenshots from the keynote promised. Is it really wise too leave out the biggest social network in the world?



image courtesy of Gizmodo.com

OHAITHERE Apple Fangirlishness, you have returned. You may proceed with the blog.

September 1st, time for an Apple music event.




So once again my fangirl gland will pulsate excitedly whilst I stare at a computer screen. Well, this time I probably won't have the luxury of such a large screen. See, Apple has done something a little bit odd for today's announcement. Steve Jobs will be presenting the event from far away San Francisco and the whole saga will be broadcast live online for anyone to watch. Well, not quite everyone, this is Apple afterall.

You only have the priveledge of watching live from an Apple product and as my Macbook is 60 odd miles away in Lincoln I'm stuck with the tiny screen of my iPod.* Oh Apple, you really need to stop acting like an upmarket, overpriced members-only club. Even if that's what you are. And if that's what you are then I darn right want a few more wingback chairs in Apple store.
*Let's ignore the fact that pizza stopped me from watching it live at all. Damn cheesy goodness

Give me a drum roll please for the big announcements.

What to do when you have writer's block? What else?! Write about your dreaded writer's block.

Why do you do this to me internet? I thought you loved me? I thought we were friends. Though actually, you always do this to me, you did this so much last year that I spent more time staring into your abyss than doing anything practical. Y'know, exercise, housework… my degree. Those things. Those things that designate me as a useful human being as apposed to one who spends her days sat in bed, laptop on lap, biting her nails and wondering why her eyes are feeling funny when she’s been staring at a screen for the past god knows how many) hours.

I genuinely blame my first year's performance on two things… the internet and what happens after a hefty night in Cubes. I suppose the internet helped me a little bit. I would have never scraped together 2000ish words for that god damn theory essay if it wasn't for Wikipedia. Though I think I’d still call that pass a miracle. And of course Cubes never helps anything. Far too many mornings after have been spent in bed. And then the afternoons after the morning afters too. God, Cubes, I miss you. You and your “ways”.

Earlier this evening I was in a wonderful mood for writing. I had a few blog ideas, maybe I’d even write a bit of fiction. The kind that sits in my hard drive and rots... but it’s still creativity non-the-less. And then it got me! Grabbed me by my nostrils and dragged me headfirst into a huge steaming pile of... well, I don’t really know what. I think I somehow spent several hours looking at apps. I played about with Firefox, adding themes, installing extensions... before I returned quickly to Chrome. I tend to forget that no matter how cute that icon is, I still don’t like using the Firefox browser. So a few hours of faffing and all I got out of it is that my windows can now “snap” to either side like on Windows 7. Oh time well spent. *snark*

After all of this ridiculousness I realised that all my inspiration had flown straight out of my window. Note to self: buy muse-catching net. Suddenly all the ideas I have merged into what I’m writing now.

“Oh I know! I’ll write a blog about my inability to write,” said I.

Good lord, I fail at life sometimes. This is meant to be what I’m good at and yet i’ve spent the last few hours lapsed in a zombie-like state looking through random webpages. FML. Or even, “Fuck my wasted evening.”

I think it’s time to get up from the snug surroundings of my duvet and pop to the shop for some fresh air. Maybe I’ll buy cake. Or a can of pop. Either way I’ll return, feel revitalised and write something... something proper.

Or maybe I’ll stay slumped here like a moron.

Or go to sleep.

Someone slap me?

Life without the internet?!

What's this? What's this? There's colour everywhere.
What's this? There's WiFi in the air.


Now, hold the phone… what's this?! 


click for fullsize

Is this for real? And I seeing this? Can I truly believe what is on my screen? Is the internet in my student accommodation actually finally working? Do I have full WiFi signal? Does the internet actually stay connected? YES YES YES!! Is it faster than old school dial-up? Well… I wouldn't go that far but it's better than a slap in the face with a soggy fish.

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What are you doing to me Facebook? I thought we loved each other. I told you time and time again how much you mean to me. Didn't you get the flowers I sent to you? All those love notes? Think of wonderful times we've spent together. I've devoted hours to you and and does this mean nothing? You’re breaking my heart, Facebook. I’m falling apart and my soul is shattering into a million tiny pieces. How could you do this to me? We can’t go on like this... I thought you loved me too.

A backwards move for blogging.

I knew it. I knew as soon as I saw that we would be doing a blogging assignment that'd it'd be a step backwards for me.

I've kept my personal blog on Livejournal for several years and when I saw that we were to do a blogging assignment I was thrilled. Overjoyed that I was gonna be tested on something I loved. So I decided to buck up my ideas a bit. I started a proper (mildly journalistic) blog on Blogger (though as you see I've now moved it over to Wordpress) because I needed to write blogs that didn't include so many "lols" "wtfs" and "omg there's this guy in my seminar who wears really tight trousers". Even though I still write a huge pile of drivel it's now more of a blog than a diary.

But no. Apparently that's not good enough. Suddenly, having had a blog before being giving this assignment is a disadvantage. I've been told to set up yet another blog because it has to be (inexplicably) started today when the assignment was set. Are you kidding me? You want us to be journalists off our own backs? You talk about blogging having no gateways? But by these standards we are only allowed to blog when you say so. This is actually ridiculous. It's stupid. This is journalism... it should be one of the most up to date courses on the university curriculum. Surely it should be the assumption that your students already have blogs? Not that it's an entirely new thing that we're learning.

There is absolutely no good reason why I shouldn't be able to carry on using this blog. It's not as if it has a backlog of thousands of entries. It's not like it's my personal diary. It's my blog that I set up in acknowledgement that I'd be doing an assessment on blogging.

Suddenly I've become incredibly restricted in something I love. My passion for journalism is about new media, social media, the idea that anyone can get their opinion out of the internet, the fact that I talk to people across the globe. The internet is the most wonderful example of free speech but somehow, somehow this has been has been completely ignored.

I've never lost so much faith in journalism as I have today.

Texting Protocol

Over half the population of our planet* own a mobile phone. And aren't they wonderful creations? You can contact your dear old mom from anywhere... not including lifts, the London Underground, the pointy bits of Wales and my old common room (unless you hung out of the window). You can text your friends from as far as the other side of the room, update social networking sites ("Suzy is on the toilet. lol" etc.), enter competitions, and when at my favourite rock club one can make a vain attempt at getting the DJ to play Love Shack. Then of course there's other things you can do with you phone: play games (I will never play a game that isn't Snake... oh Nokia, you genius), take photos of amusing placenames and phalic vegetables, bluetooth things back and forth endlessly and let's not get onto the possible uses of a vibrate function.