Derek Bond, the 72 year old pensioner arrested at gunpoint by the FBI in connection with a multi-million dollar telemarketing scam, has been set free. I can’t believe the FBI thought Bond and Sykes were the same person, I mean the difference in the shape of their noses is a bit of a giveaway isn’t it? Unless of course they thought Bond/Sykes was a master of disguise on a par with Inspector Clouseau.

The BBC’s guru of all things Web related Bill Thompson has written a piece on the possible need to regulate search engines now that Google seems to be getting powerful to the point of infringing on our rights to privacy. However, sandwiched between some interesting thoughts on the subject, Thompson goes off on a tangent with the following:

“Blogging is not journalism. Often blogs are as far from journalism as it is possible to get, with unsubstantiated rumour, prejudice and gossip masquerading as informed opinion”

Bill seems to be suggesting that if you don’t work for the BBC or a big publication then the opinion you express in your weblog isn’t informed and therefore worthless. Conversely, if you are a ‘proper’ journalist, then everything you write can be relied upon to be truthful and correct.

While I enjoy much of Bill Thompson’s writing on technology, this article typifies the arrogance of the mainstream journalist when it comes to the value of weblogs. In fact, it is for this reason that independent publishing is so worthwhile; weblogs tend to be free of the smugness that writing for a mainstream publication often gives.

Matt Webb speculates that the real reason for the Blogger acquisition is to enable Google to feed the entire Blogger archive “into OpenCyc to create a composite artificial intelligence”. That or they’re planning to build The General.

I was tucking into a Peshwari Nan at the Indian restaurant at the top of our street when I heard a voice I recognised; its baritone rumblings were sticking out a mile from murmur of the restaurant. I looked up, and there, sitting a few tables away was the king of comedy himself, Barry Cryer [hey, this is a big event in Whitley Bay, OK?]. He looked different without his trademark thick-rimmed glasses, but the shock of white hair was a giveaway. Unfortunately, the fact that I recognised him didn’t stop me from getting his name mixed up and when he left the restaurant, I exclaimed to the restaurant staff “Do you know who you’ve just had in your establishment? Barry Humphries!”. They stared.

In news that’s set to tear the roof off the Blogosphere [well maybe], Google has bought Pyra Labs, the company behind Blogger. Two years ago, Google did the same to another community building website, DejaNews and in doing so allowed 20 years worth of Newsgroup communications to be searched using Googles legendary user interface. It will be interesting to see if this has an equally positive effect on the weblog medium and the extent to which it will change the way Blogger works. Ev has stated that it will give Pyra the “resources to build on the vision I’ve been working on for years”. Exciting stuff.

• No War Blog
• Not in Our Name
• Vote No War
• International A.N.S.W.E.R.
• United For Peace & Justice
• Stop the War Coalition
• No War On Iraq Liaison
• Peace.Protest.Net

Why doesn’t Google come up with any sites from which I can send a decent Valentine’s ecard? Amongst the results was this selection of stunning designs: Valentine’s Cards For Race Walkers

For some reason, Blaze Media have decided to park their domain on top of my subsist.org address. We can’t let that happen without some form of retaliation now can we? Anyone got any ‘creative’ ideas for their site then?

Garry Kasparov is currently playing Deep Junior in the deciding 6th game of the human vs. computer Chess tournament; you can watch live via flash widget here. When I was studying for my A-Levels, Kasparov played Nigel Short in a tournament televised on Channel 4. In the space of a couple of days, the sixth form common room went from a pit of noise and general teenage madness to a hushed arena of contemplation as everyone hunched over their Chess boards. You could forget Nirvana, Sonic Youth and The Smashing Pumpkins, Chess was where it was at.
Incidentally, Fark is offering some interesting perpectives on the Kasparov/Junior game.
Update: The game ended as a draw. This puzzled the commentators because Kasparov was clearly in a winning position. One explanation is that he had a bad headache and could not continue. I don’t blame him really.

I admit it, I was glued to Martin Bashir’s documentary ‘Living with Michael Jackson’ aired on ITV1 on Monday. It was 110 minutes of sensationalist documentary making at its very worst. On the one side you’ve got Bashir, whose focus was purely on rooting around for scandal in Jackson’s words. Then there’s the pitiful Jackson himself; seemingly scarred from a life of fame, stuck in Neverland, a child bringing up his own masked children. The documentary was billed as being about the ‘real’ Michael Jackson, but really its sole aim was to keep you watching by rolling out a series of increasingly scandalous revelations. It appears that there is no longer a real Michael Jackson; his life is the camera, the printed tabloid page, the mask set up infront of the lighting rig. The sad thing is that behind it all is the person who made some great records, whose talent has been completely overshadowed by the media frenzy that surrounds him.

Sony speakers, possibly from the 60s and later procured cheaply from some dusty second-hand furniture shop are now hanging in the kitchen. They are wired through to my Mac, allowing for all sorts of electronic media to spit and fuzz forth somewhere above the cooker. Here’s my listening choice of BBC radio streams:

Mixing It

Robert Sandall and Mark Russell present the latest experimental music. Check out their excellent media archive at the bottom of the page

Late Junction.

Fiona Talkington presents an eclectic mix of music from around the world.

Just A Minute.

The original panel improvisation game with Nicholas Parsons.

Hearing Colours, Seeing Sounds

A series of programmes about Synaesthesia, the bizarre condition whereby the sufferer(?) experiences a mixing of the senses.

What Remains to be Discovered?

A study of the future of science.

‘The US space shuttle Columbia has broken up soon after re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere and all seven crew aboard are presumed dead.’ – BBC News

A shocking and tragic loss of life; this is sure to put humankind’s exploration of space on hold for another few years.

• Astronaut Profiles
• Google News
• Metafilter