It’s not just a pen

He ain't getting in to the Brixton Academy.

On Wednesday this week, I went to see The Deftones, one of my favourite bands, with Coheed & Cambria supporting. It was great, the hairs on the back of my neck were standing up, and I woke up yesterday morning with that elated pain all over my body that you only get from a good night out.

One of the friends joining us was stuck in traffic, so once the rest of us had passed security (checking we haven’t got any sharp obects on us etc) I walked through to the ticket office to leave her ticket behind the counter so the rest of us wouldn’t miss the support act. The clerk at the counter didn’t have a pen, so I fished around my handbag, where I duly found my purple felt tip that I use for note taking in meetings.

As I was leaving the ticket office to go to the bar, a security guard stopped me and asked to use my pen. He held it up in front of me and said “I need to confiscate this, come and collect it off me at the end” and told me his name and where to find him after the gig. So when the gig was over, I walked back to where he’d stopped me to collect my felt tip and he wasn’t there. About 20 minutes later, he came back and apologised, because he’d thrown my favourite pen in the bin.

I appreciate that these guys were just doing their job. They probably understand that the vast majority of people carrying a pen on them are not going to use it to stab someone in the eye, but all it takes is for one person to change the way a pen is perceived, so they have to follow the rules that the venue give them. The thing is, had he or his colleagues done their job properly, they could have confiscated my two other pens, set of tweezers, eyeliner, lip liner, and metal crochet hook. One of the friends that I went in there with had a can of hair spray and a lighter in her handbag.

This blog post serves no purpose other than to rant at the frustration of having my favourite pen confiscated on security grounds, when taking a flame thrower into the venue didn’t seem to be a problem at all. If they really wanted to do things properly, I’d suggest a no-bags-policy in the concert hall and metal detectors on the way in. Make criminals out of every one of us.

Cx

Pick’n'Mix Cinema

Any of you that have an interest in films should check out a new event I help organise called Pick’n'Mix Cinema. Each month, you nominate a classic film that, for some reason, you missed on the big screen. Maybe you were grounded, maybe you were too young, or maybe you just weren’t even born. Whatever the reason, we want your nominations!

My first blog post is about a film that I saw on TV as a teenager when I should have been revising for my SAT’s. I enjoyed the first 2 minutes so much, I taped over my Blue Peter Thunderbirds lair video. Now I’ll never know how many toilet rolls I’ll need to complete it.

You can also follow us on Twitter!

Cx

The Mass Libel Reform Blog – Fight For Free Speech!

Today marks the first anniversary of the Free Speech Is Not For Sale report. I am standing together with hundreds of other bloggers all over the world in solidarity against England’s draconian libel laws.

Like most bloggers, I don’t get paid for my writing, so if someone decided to sue me for libel, I would have to dip in to my piggy bank (above). I estimate it has £14 in assorted change (and maybe a few francs), which is apparently nowhere near enough to meet the costs of a libel suit, or even a suit to wear to the libel suit.

Wikipedia has a pretty decent page on the history of English libel laws here. In particular, note “McLibel” and Simon Singh vs the BCA cases, both of which really brought this issue into the public sphere. These were occasions when big institutions (McDonalds and the British Chiropractic Association) decided to sue for vast sums of money over something arguably very small.* The publicity from these cases was enough that eventually the claimants backed down, but for many lower profile cases, this isn’t necessarily going to happen, and the defendants involved could be financially ruined, the costs really are astronomical.

The Libel Reform Campaign website has an astonishing list of people who have been sued for libel in England a) over the most trivial things and b) involving people with no direct links to England in the first place. If you post something online on your Blogger or WordPress site, or on Twitter, or even allow comments to be published on your blog, then there is a high chance that you are also at risk of being sued.

If you haven’t already done so, please please please sign the petition to reform these bloody laws. It doesn’t matter where you live or what nationality you are, anyone can sign it, and if you’d like to make a donation when you’re done, even better. And tell all your friends!

We’ve got to put an end to things like this.

Ed: Simon Singh is a lot bigger in real life than he looks on my 15″ TV screen

Integrating into the culture: a quick rant

Angela Merkel knows this much about integration

Really angry about German Islamophobia on BBC news right now. Angela Merkel calling for Muslims to “integrate with German culture” – it’d be easier if someone was to just draw up a list, say ten points, for them to follow. Maybe make 4 of them about worshipping god, and the rest can be an arbitrary and somewhat chronologically irrelevant selection of rules regarding loyalty to parents, coveting neighbours belongings, and telling porky pies.

Integration, integration, integration. The buzz word of the last few years. Do I integrate when I wear my Batman skirt in to the office? Was I integrating when I shaved my hair off for charity? Or when I express my opinion that Cheryl Cole is a lucky but otherwise untalented vocalist, much to the disagreement of the general UK population?

I wish people would stop using the word “integration” as if they actually know what it means. It means nothing unless they want a completely homogenous society. If Galileo, Einstein, Martin Luther King, and David Bowie had integrated into mainstream society, we’d all be a bit worse off for it. So there.

Cx

Ubuntu 10.10: Initial Thoughts

Those that know me might be aware that I’m into gadgets and techy stuff. Those that know me better are aware that I’m not actually that good at gadgets or techy stuff but am willing to learn. That’s why I installed Ubuntu on my netbook today. Truth be told, I’ve had the USB stick for a few days (you save it on a USB stick so you can use it in addition to Windows) but have been nervous to try it out because if it fails, the world could very probably asplode. And we certainly wouldn’t want that.

My netbook is primarily used for work, so I was a bit reluctant to bite the bullet, but I had my iPhone and laptop on hand just in case. As it turns out, I didn’t need either of them save for a phone call, which was pleasantly surprising. The desktop feels quite similar to the last time I used an Apple Mac (are they even called that anymore?) except the menu is on the left hand side, as opposed to the bottom of the screen, and the icons don’t attack you if you should accidentally hover the cursor over them. It is, however, very black, which looks cool and all but will probably take some getting used to on a 10.1″ screen. There is a desktop theme with larger icons, but it’s not very pretty. If any of you Linux Luvvies know of any pretty, medium/large icon themes that I can download, links in the comments would be much appreciated. I had a brief look at some of the downloadable themes but they’re all a bit masculine, even the backgrounds with flowers are heavily saturated, heavily contrasted, quite garish. Where’s the subtlety, lads? I’m a girl, dammit.

What I would usually refer to as “Programs” (because up until today I was a Windows XP user) is called “Applications” and is laid out as a giant folder, rather than a drop down menu. I quite like this, as it’s all in alphabetical order and has tabs at the top, dividing the not-called-programs-but-the-same-thing into groups, making them relatively easy to find. I’d organise my DVDs like this if I could, maybe one day when I get my Quantum Library. I’m curious as to whether this might take a bit of getting used to, as I’d otherwise have the programs I use regularly (Last.fm, Google browser, etc) on the Windows desktop. The extra effort involved to slide my index finer across the hardware might be slightly annoying, but I’m sure I’ll get over it. Any programs I use regularly will go in the side menu as soon as I figure out how to put them there (I got Google Chrome up there by complete happy accident).

After a couple of hours playing around, working out how to add my email address to “Evolution Mail” – an email client very similar to Outlook – and downloading a super-duper Super Mario Bros background image, messing around with the themes (I’ve gone for blue with little stars, I are one klassie lass dontcha know) I’m feeling much more confident on it. Friends have told me that it’s easier to use than Windows, and I can really see why. After two hours of messing about, I’ve managed to customise the entire layout, set up emails, and save all my passwords back onto the internet. No tutorial, no googling Ubuntu FAQs, and no frantic calls or emails to mates what know more’an me about this sort of thing.

My favourite app so far is Stellarium, which pinpoints constellations, planets etc. You can google your latitude and type them in so even if it’s a cloudy/smoggy night, it’s nice to know you can still tell what’s out there. I got all excited when I saw Alderaan in the distance, a mere 65 light years away – that’s really not far in the grand scheme of things, only to re-read it as Aldebaran. We live in hope. There’s a few apps I’m really looking forward to trying out, like learning BASIC (a type of code), and having a go at Mah Jong. There’s also a free video editing app that I’m relishing trying out so I can get round to updating my YouTube channel.

I haven’t had a chance to play around loads with this new system yet, as I’ve been working most of today, but I’m quite excited about the prospect of fiddling with it a bit more over the next few weeks. As far as Day One is concerned, I’m fairly confident that I’ve made a good decision, and would recommend it to anyone who’s sick of Microsoft but can’t be arsed with Apple.

The future is apparently Open Source.

Cx

Ed: I mentioned this to my Grandad, with the key phrase “no viruses” and he’s now very excited about swapping Windows XP on his computer with Linux as well. I’ll try and do a follow up blog post to see what he makes of it in a few days time.