France has a history of social revolution

HE citizens of France want changes and they reckon that a bit of a mess (unrest if not localised chaos) can bring about those changes.

I am sceptical but supportive as I recognise that without modest disruption of some kind (not only criticism) no meaningful change will come about.

At the EPO, for example, there are industrial actions right now.

Don’t shoot the messenger

HIS weekend I published the seventh part of a series, a long series (lots more to come) which concerns swatting in the UK. Here are all the parts published thus far:

The more ‘beefy’ details will come later this week. I’m glad that the time has come to share this information. We have strong momentum because the public can nowadays see what really happened and who the culprits are (they’re connected).

‘ve already asked around before writing this, as I generally wanted to ensure this observation and sentiment was not just my own.

Many decades ago a “household” (with kids, car/s etc.) could – but no longer can – be managed by a single provider or breadwinner as they called it. That sort of ended after the 1990s with stagnation of wages. Then two parents were expected to work full-time – with dashes added as it became a proper word – to attain the same income level (comparatively).

Now the couple is expected to not only work full time (for the same lifestyle) but to also work overtime.

Sometimes overtime is voluntary, but there is a hidden cost. People fall behind on critical chores like food-buying, laundry etc.

As a result of that, even with a weekend off, there is no true rest, just “catchup” ahead of Mondays.

This won’t be sustainable as it leads to mental fatigue.

Did the “architects of the system” take this into consideration?

Lack of sleep worsens the quality of work. Lack of rest makes moody people, which interferes with health of relationships (couples, parents, peers).

ver two years ago Rianne and colleagues celebrated her site that she curates turning 20. Back then the site and its community were besieged by American aggressors. The aggression did not end well. Rianne and the site received more publicity, more people offered to help/contribute, and last month we all celebrated in northern England as the site turned 22.

Here is another ugly story which reminds us that suppressive regimes are far from gone.

The Russian authorities have charged opposition leader and former chess champion Garry Kasparov following clashes with police in Moscow.

All the man did was criticise the government (and rightly so).

OMPUTERS slowly penetrate the less developed nations. Only sheer ridicule can at times prevent this from happening, as Bill Gates once tactlessly demonstared. Possibly in response to the $100 Open Source laptop, Microsoft announced that they will launch Windows XP Starter Edition in Africa around July this year. Yet, do not get excited or raise your hopes prematurely. Starter Edition of Windows XP is very limited, much like the Starter Edition of Windows Vista. To quote an old writeup:

The cut-down software limits the users in a number of ways including number of applications running at once, printing and network abilities. Gartner’s research has pointed out that the lack of features and limitations with applications will be very frustrating for users who may have had access to computers before at school or in cyber-cafes.