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.

Dressing Up Time

A rare picture of me, aged 17. This is one of my more tame outfits from back then.

This year for Halloween, I decided not to do anything major, as I usually wake up feeling like death warmed up the next day. Plus, anyone who’s ever met me knows that I get dressed up to the nines pretty much every day. Right now, taking a tea break whilst working from home, I’m wearing a tartan mini skirt, have a 4ft chain of fake pearls wound around my neck several times, over my “I [heart] Paris t-shirt, with 4 inch black patent stilettos.

Halloween is always an amusing time of year for me, I love it when people dress up, and put more effort into the way they look than normal – whether it’s to don the traditional Playboy Bunny so popular in Croydon these days, or to swap fake blood recipes on Facebook. I think it’s cool when people go all out once a year, even though I tend to practice slow-releasing aesthetic adventure myself.

"I want that one"

A few years ago at college, someone decided that for Halloween that year everyone should dress up as someone else in the class. My friends were the grungers of the class so it was very easy for me to dress up as any of them: Cut-off baggy denim combats with stripy socks, blue hair mascara and sweat bands. Five sweat bands.

The next day I came into college, thoroughly looking forward to seeing everyone, maybe witness a few arguments, maybe to discover that we all dress exactly the same but some of us chose skinnier jeans than others. I think the latter is probably closest to the truth… Imagine my shock, then, when I come in and four out of the ten girls in my class had come in dressed as me, and none of them had got it right, but all of them recognised that they’d independently had the same idea. To say I was gutted would be a massive understatement.

My mum made me this dress, a grown up version of one she made me when I was five!

So learn from their example: For a really scary Halloween costume, just dress up as me!

This was my Halloween costume last year - I was going for the newly turned vampire look.

Cx

Skeptics, Smeptics

Hello all,

I woke up this morning after a pleasant 9 hours in bed, to check my Twitter feed and find I’m being followed by @sudocremtube. I really don’t know how to react to this piece of information (other than something between curiosity and indifference) so I thought I’d check on a blog post I’ve been quite interested in to see if there were any developments.

There are a few reasons I was particularly interested in it initially: The first is that I was at TAM London as part of their volunteer crew, and the second is that I’ve met both Martin and Gimpy and get on quite well with both, so it is fascinating to read them arguing about things I’m directly involved in.  Also, that a few of my friends have also commented on it, either as people who went there or not, makes it all the more exciting – no matter what opinions we hold, we care enough to put them into writing, and I think that’s really important.

Frank Swain (aka @SciencePunk) gave a really pivotal talk at Westminster Skeptics a few months ago (a rough transcript can be found here) in which he discusses the rise of skepticism in the UK and possible directions for improvement. One of the things he covered was something I briefly mentioned in a blog post back in February after 10:23. I received a fair bit of hate mail from people who accused me of trying to prevent people caring for their children, being paid to take part by some multi-billion pound pharmaceutical company, or bizarrely for being an attention seeker. Moi? Jokes aside, I was pretty upset by these criticisms because they had no evidence to support their accusations (except the attention seeking, which I’m pretty loud about) and seemed to just be out to put me down using emotional blackmail – one woman even threatened to call the police or any authority who’d listen, because I wrote about children who’d been innocent victims of their parents prejudice (?) against medicine.

If it’s smug of me to point out that my opinions have been formed after talking to doctors and nurses and scientists and science writers and lawyers and investigative journalists about the evidence in favour of whatever it is I blog and talk about, then yeah, I’m pretty glad to be called out on it. If the best available minds on the subject tell me “That is pretty much the case, chiropractic won’t do squat for your asthma,” then I’m going to take their word for it, and be proud that I did my best to go to as many useful sources as possible to avoid being  misinformed. My mum happens to be a massage therapist, and a few of her friends are well into CAM, and can generally point me in the direction of someone trained to speak to annoying naysayers like me. I don’t just stick to my little skeptics clique, believe it or not.

After Frank’s talk, I received several emails and phone calls from other Skeptics in the Pub organisers about what to do  about the lack of ethnic minorities and women in regular attendance. I’ve blogged about it a few times and I’m a girl on the swarthy side  so perhaps I should be an expert, but honestly, I don’t know what to tell my white male colleagues. There isn’t a big conspiracy to keep black and asian people out of the pub, really there isn’t.

If  Skeptics in the Pub is divisive, insular, smug (but not “proud of our achievements”?) or unfriendly towards women, ethnic minorities, children, or anyone else who isn’t a white middle class bloke, then please, please stop bitching about it and get off your arse to do something about it. Ladies Who Do Skepticism did that, Reclaim The Pub did that (which is about to be taken over by the fabulous Georgie), The Pod Delusion did that, and there’s no reason why you can’t too.

Nobody is stopping you from setting up a lunchtime group for young mum’s who can get together in your local cafe, town hall conference room, even church or community hall. No one can prevent you from setting up a forum for black atheists. If you want to start up a Skeptics Disco, I’ll recommend a long list of bands and acts who’ll happily play for free (or the cost of a pint). And if these ideas are lame, then come up with something better, something that you’d want to go to, because the chances are that you’re not alone.

Ed 25th October 2010: Since writing this, Alom Shaha has been in touch with me about a project that we will be working on together over the next few months. Watch this space!

If anyone has any ideas for things they’d like to organise but don’t know how to, please get in touch, I will be happy to help

Rhymes With Flat Hunting

 

Yeah but look at the view from the roof...

 

The epic saga with my former landlady is still going. To sum up: Back in July, she asked me to leave the flat ASAP in order to rent it out to a foreign student she had in mind, at a higher rate for a short term let. When I left as she asked, she refused to return my deposit, claiming I’d breached the tenancy agreement by leaving early. My solicitor sent her solicitor a letter telling her to pay up or we go to small claims (and she’d be fined 3x the deposit amount). That deadline was last Thursday and I’m getting bored of giving her all this leeway. The good news is that if she doesn’t return my money and we go to court, she’s broken the law and the fine she pays me will be spent on my second ever holiday (the first was a family holiday to Portugal when I was nine). Or a really massive TV to go with the XBox I’d also buy. And a truckload of Ferrero Rochers.

In the meantime, I’m stockpiling any money I have so I can move back out from my grandparents place. As much as I love them, I am big enough and ugly enough to get a place of my own (and by “own” I mean rent without living with someone else, who the hell can afford a mortgage?). I don’t want something huge, I’ll only fill it up with stuff, so I’m looking at one bedroom flats in South London. I have a budget of half my salary to go on rent, with an approximation of bills at a quarter of my salary, leaving me with a bit of money for food and gin and ribbons. And my extortionate iPhone contract. I’m not expecting to have a large amount of disposable income, perhaps £50 a week to spend on transport, food, and one night out a week after all my bills and rent are paid. Whilst this doesn’t sound like a lot, I can live quite comfortably spending £20 a week on travel, £11 a week on supermarket shopping (in Waitrose I’ll have you know) and the rest on a few drinks at the weekend and maybe a Sunday roast down the pub if there’s any leftover from the excessive drinking I’ll obviously be doing in my local Wetherspoon’s.

So imagine my shock to discover it’s acceptable to call a studio flat a one bedroom flat. For that matter, when did homeowners start charging £150pw to rent a room in their house? £150 FOR ONE WEEK WITH A ROOF OVER YOUR HEAD EXCLUDING BILLS. I can’t be the only one who’s pissed off by this, so why aren’t we complaining? Earlier today, Samira Ahmed posted a tweet asking for the cost difference between council housing and privately rented accomodation. Croydon Council charge up to £90 a week for a property. This means that if I’d put myself on the Housing Association list when I was 17, I might have got a flat now for £90 a week. I’m currently looking at a mixture of places all round London in the private sector and cannot find anything close to a train station for less that £140 – and some of these are SINGLE BEDROOMS – not even double, and very few flats. What exactly is the landlord doing with this extra £50 a week?

Why do I feel like I’m asking for too much? When did the generation above me get so f*cking greedy that it’s ok to charge someone in my salary band 3/4 what they earn just to live in a poxy studio flat, with the caveat that “it’s a great location”, as if the view is an acceptable alternative to eating every day? Or do I need to concede my lifestyle and shack up with someone just to afford a roof over my head? I want a bedroom with a double bed and wardrobe, a living room with space for a table and a bookshelf, and a kitchen with a hob, sink and microwave. If it’s ok, can I have a washing machine as well? Central heating I can do without, I have a pleasant range of jumpers and crocheted blankets I can make good use of. Electricity would be nice though, a meter would do the trick. Oh and if it’s not TOO much to ask, within 20 minutes walk of a train station – for some reason in London this is a big ask…. in London.

Why the hell, on my salary (which is actually not bad), can I not afford something as basic as a roof over my head?

Now what did I do with that cardboard box…

Ed: In case it isn’t obvious, I don’t want a house share. I am picky about butter and have an odd taste in music and am not the easiest person to live with.

Damaged Goods

They are coming for your children!

I’ve just been reading this article on the Guardian about a study looking at the relationship between children’s psychological health and the amount of “screen time” they have per day.

Despite repeating that there is no causal link – NO CAUSAL LINK – between the two, the article still ends with:

Australia and the US have adopted guidelines that advise parents to restrict the viewing time of children under two to no more than two hours a day, but there is no similar recommendation in Britain.

Firstly, maybe Britain isn’t as reactionary as our Oz and US counterparts when we’re told that there’s NO CAUSAL LINK. And secondly, to imply that Britain doesn’t care about child welfare is just crazy and comple…. Oops.

TV’s and computer screens are not a new phenomenon, my grandparents have had a TV since 1972, which they rented until they bought their own one in 1974. My grandmother’s favourite programme was Neighbours and my grandad watched mostly news and sports. Obviously, the TV hasn’t had a negative impact on them because they’ve always been grown ups and their brains were fully developed by the time they bought a TV so there’s probably absolutely no reason to do anywhere near as much research into long term effects of TV on adults as there is on children.

What I don’t understand is how is staring at a variety of screens all day can be any different to looking at the world through a pair of glasses? How is reading articles written by some of the best and brightest in the world online of lesser value than reading a book (Harry Potter and the Mystery of the Appalling Grammar anyone)? How is going head to head with my 11 year old cousin on Wii Boxing less exciting than going out for a game of Rounders in the park? At least on Rounders, I actually stand a chance. My legs are much longer than hers.

We’ve always had at least one TV in the family home. I’m staying with my grandparents at the moment. There are 3 TV sets and 4 computers (a desktop, a netbook and two laptops) in the house, any one of which is in use between 8am and 1am (in a household of 4).  I spent a large part of my childhood A-B-A-B-Up-Down-ing on the family SNes and am a fairly well adjusted adult. I think. I hope. Maybe I’m psychologically damaged but don’t realise it?

Since TV’s have been around for such a long time, can we really trust those who argue that “screen time” is a Bad Thing? Even if they themselves limit their use of computers and TV’s and Kindles and iPhones and pocket calculators to just one hour a day, how can we tell for sure that this is really safe? Isn’t that a little bit like saying that injecting class A drugs into your system is ok, as long as you combine it with regular exercise and social interaction?

And if all this “screen time” is really so bad, then shouldn’t everyone brought up in the 70s, 80s and 90s who regularly watched TV (without this aggressive level of scaremongering) be a complete idiot?

Now excuse me while I catch up on Horrible Histories via BBC iPlayer read book 5 of the True Blood novels with a box of Ferrero Rocher’s and a can of coke.

Ed: For further reading, download Vaughan Bell’s Powerpoint Presentation, “Don’t Touch That Dial!” for a look at technology scares and the media throughout history.

Ed: I just found a ruler and my glasses are approximately 16:9 and I am also quite an aggressive person. I take it all back.

Science Is Vital

Photo courtesy of @rbhinkley

Hello all!

Yesterday I attended the Science Is Vital rally outside the Treasury building in Westminster. It was jolly good fun as you can see from the expression on my face, although I was BLOODY NERVOUS! We had some great speakers and a buzzing atmosphere and there was a massive sense of good humour, despite the seriousness of the subject.

We were protesting to try and prevent the disastrous list of cuts to the science industry in the UK, a country which doesn’t spend a particularly high amount on science in the first place, but due to the innovative and creative nature of UK scientists achieve so much more than the stuffs they’ve got to work with.

Britain has produced some of the best scientists in world history. Here are some of my favourite examples:

Isaac Newton: Apparently the apple didn’t actually land on his head, he just saw an apple fall off a tree and thought “Hmm… that’s weird. Why did it fall down? Does everything fall down? What about the moon and planets and stars?” and then laid the foundations of modern physics, mathematics and philosophy, and is probably one of the most influential people to have ever lived. End of.

Rosalind Franklin: Developed carbon fibre technology in the 1940s and X-Ray diffraction in the 1950s. Without her contributions, we wouldn’t have as broad an understanding of DNA or carbon fibre toilet seats.

Edward Jenner: Developed the world’s first (official) vaccine. Because of his work, we have completely eradicated smallpox, and were well on our way to getting rid of measles, mumps and rubella until an ongoing media circus (still alive and well according to @giagia’s Twitter stream this morning) was partly responsible for parents failing to immunise their children. Here’s a list of side effects of measles if you decide to not immunise children. Immunisation is a Good Thing. Got it?

William Jessop: One for my Croydon Massive. He built (arguably) the first ever railway in my fair hometown. Check out the rest of his achievements via Wiki. Pretty impressive. National Rail and London Transport are far from perfect these days, but the fact that we have these networks in place at all is something quite special to me – as a non-driver, I think sometimes I take our rail system for granted.

Stephen Hawking: Science communicator extraordinaire. His work has been enthusing young physicists for decades. If you haven’t already done so, go and read A Brief History of Time. My copy is full of pencilled in notes of ideas for songs, short stories and general “Awesome!” and “Wow, really?” scribbles. Famously quoted as saying “The human race has no future if it doesn’t go into space.” Perhaps, like me then, also a fan of Stargate SG1.

Charles Darwin: Looked at the evidence and suggested that all life on earth has evolved over billions of years. Proof that all great men should have beards. I could write an epic tome on his work, but luckily he already has a fanclub.

Ernest Rutherford: Widely considered to be the father of nuclear physics. He’s the one what split the atom. Arguably, his work has since been used for political gain and could end up destroying the planet. But still, he split an atom. An atom. I have trouble cutting a cake into equal slices sometimes.

Charles Babbage: Rhymes with cabbage. Devised the first concept of a programmable computer. Without which, we might never have been blessed with the brilliance of…

Alan Turing: Inventor of the Turing Machine and puzzle fanatic. His contributions truly shaped the face of the world as we know it today, from breaking Nazi ciphers during WW2 to planting the seeds of modern computing today. Look at me, texting on my iPhone, blogging on my netbook. Amazing.

Ada Lovelace: My bestest ever scientist. Just look at her picture, doesn’t it inspire you to wear more lace and sip tea and partake in a bit of online gaming, using the household wireless broadband connection? The patron saint of computer programming, she is widely considered to have written the first algorithm to be processed by a machine. No Ada, no Street Fighter Turbo II. Simple as.

This is just a tiny list of Brits that have done the world proud. There are thousands more developing cures for serious diseases, researching alternative energy sources for when the oil runs out, and generally building a better world for the future. If you really want to show your support for those with breast cancer, or alzheimers, or just can’t wait for your flying jetpack, then by all means tell the world what colour your bra is or wear a pretty ribbon, but please sign the petition and tell all your friends to do the same.

This is not just about saving the UK economy, or sharks with laser beams attached to their heads, it’s about the future of the whole planet – one that the next generation of science groupies will rave about just like I am here. Please join me and support the campaign!

Cx

Odds and Ends

I’ve been too busy getting around, as I do, to blog, which is a shame as I’ve been doing some pretty cool things recently.

[Deep breath...]

Got a new job, moved back to Croydon, joined the Hong Kong Cavaliers, discovered that my tattoo artist is world famous, booked an incredible line-up for the TAM closing party, got my septum pierced, started dating again, learnt to walk in high heels  (I still wear my Doc Martens mostly, but it’s nice to know I have the option),  bought my first ever TV, recorded a wonderful set for the Pod Delusion Birthday Bash, started a new band (Krystal Sim and the Nega-Corrs), had an offer to record an LP with a fabulous producer, started learning pentatonic scales on the guitar, baked a yakawow cake, went to my first ever tattoo convention, got ID’d buying a bottle of Sangiovese (I mean, really?) and painted my nails black and sparkly.

Phew!

The great news is that due to my new job as a part time assistant, I have the time to be involved in some really thrilling projects over the next 6 months, including a film extravaganza and next years 10:23. Although I might not be able to update my blog as much as I like, feel free to follow me on Twitter, as I’m on that several times a day!

Cx

Just a quickie:

I’m doing two gigs next week – the first at Relief-O-Matic on Monday night where I will be doing a solo as part of the BHA Choir. I can’t reveal what the song will be, other than it is a Monty Python song I haven’t yet covered. Oooh the suspense! I’ve just been told that tickets are sold out so if you didn’t manage to get in there, come to The Pod Delusion Party on Tuesday 14th at The Monarch in Chalk Farm, where I will be doing a live set with accompaniment by the fantastic John Gregson on guitar.

More details here: http://london.skepticsinthepub.org/Event.aspx/349/The-Pod-Delusion–LIVE

This is the first time in a LONG TIME that I’ll be singing without holding a guitar, so I’m particularly nervous and would love as much support as possible (or an equal share of the £250 You’ve Been Framed bounty if I mess it up)! Expect cavorting, winking, and outrageous flirting with the audience, a bit like Jessica Rabbit but with a slightly more realistic figure, shorter black hair, and a nose ring.

Chickha-chickha!

Cx