Brian Paddick: Line of Fire: Published Mayoral Candidates

One of the most unremarked aspects of the 2008 Mayoral elections is that the three main candidates are all published, as well as Left List candidate Lindsey German, who wrote (among others)The Balkans: Nationalism and Imperialism and Socialists and Class .

Ken Livingstone wrote If Voting Changed Anything They'd Abolish It, which I read in 2002.

Apart from the appalling title, it was a reasonable book with great detail on the Greater London Council.

Boris Johnson has written Have I Got Views For You, Lend Me Your Ears (a collection of columns and mystical interviews ,Johnson's Column and his novel Seventy-Two Virgins.

Brian Paddick recently published his autobiography Line Of Fire, which I read last week.

Detailed and honest, Line Of Fire is revealing about Sir Ian Blair , Paddick's use of Urban75 to engage in dialogue as "Brian the Commander", his jousts with the Daily Mail and the death of Jean Charles de Menezes.

The book also gives a history of the Met from the days of the SPG to now.

Writing Line Of Fire with Paddick was Kris Hollington, who also teamed up with Drugs Squad officer Harry Keeble.

Line Of Fire is £8.99 on Amazon.co.uk and shows how suited Paddick is to people management and taking unpopular yet needed decisions.

Two qualities that any mayor must have.

Dan Synge on magazine journalism

This afternoon, we had a talk in the Low End at 2pm with Dan Synge.

Dan spoke about his work at Esquire, Orbit and Source.

Orbit is the magazine of Voluntary Service Overseas, and Source is the trade magazine of John Lewis.

He discussed pitching as well.

Financial News: Grant Clelland talk to Journalism and Finance students

This afternoon Grant Clelland, the Deputy Editor of Financial News, gave a talk to some of us on his paper and financial journalism in general.

Financial News is mostly distributed inside banks, although there are a handful of newsstands around Canary Wharf.

It has a staff of around 130, 40 of whom are journalists.

Their website was founded in 1998.

Logins are sold to those in the industry as well.

Unlike some publications, Financial News is highly profitable.

Got a free copy of the paper and as I am specialising in financial journalism I will have a read after 5pm.

First glance: well-designed.

The future of newspapers: A website I created using Dreamweaver and Jakob Nielsen's guidelines

The Future Of Newspapers

I used Dreamweaver to build the site.

All my pictures were sourced or taken myself, using my Ricoh Caplio RR750 camera.

Written to Jakob Nielsen's guidelines.

Huge Paper Plane Fun

Am watching two students about to launch a paper plane from on top of "the street", a semi-covered walkway with the SU Shop and a garden.

House Of Commons Speaker Spends Taxpayers' Money On Home

£1.7 million, in fact.

£992,000 of this was spent on his garden.

What did he buy?

A swimming pool full of sharks that he could throw journalists into?

A platinum garden gnome?

The Government need to crack down on Martin's use of public money, instead of accusing his critics of snobbery.

They are fourteen points behind and still turn off voters.

Ivan Lewis, the Health Minister has already signaled his discontent.

"But we have been in government 11 years and instead of being on the side of the people, too often we simply defend the status quo, even when it is unacceptable.

"It is right we focus on the great challenges of climate change, globalisation, security and poverty at home and abroad and the nature of public service reform.

"However, we are too often silent on the daily realities facing hardworking families."

Power Of Messageboards: "The Claw" is caught by Web 2.0

1991 skyline gt-r stolen!

Shows how useful messageboards are as constant source of news by posters, and many sources so reports coming in from all over the world. More sources= more people to interview, so check messageboards.

Facebook is also key to catching the thief. Web 2.0 bust.

* Shaun Ironside (Envison)'s 1991 Nissan Skyline GT-R was stolen on Wednesday 26th March.
* Ironside (good surname for the guy to have) posts on http://forums.beyond.ca about
the car
* Another forum member (JAYMEZ) spots the car and calls the police. He also takes pictures and uploads them to the forum (Lower down page one)
*Other forum members see the car in Westhills.
* The thief, Jamie Jacobson, is found on Facebook
*His profile, now set to private, includes his name and address.
*Forum members visit address. Car is driven away but later returns.
*Another member later visits and the car is boxed in.
*Police later arrest thief: the bust is filmed and uploaded to Youtube. Pictures also taken
* New York Yankees Hat left in car is put on ebay. Current bid as of 3:42pm GMT: $48
*Calgary CTV feature the bust.

Nice job, posters.

Youtube of Lobster Claw Bandit arrest

My birthday today

It is my birthday today.

I am 22.

Things I would like:

Tfl to agree to RMT and TSSA demands so tube strike due first day of my Easter placement is settled.

A copy of Max Shulman's Barefoot Boy With Cheek.

A bejewelled hovercraft.

Viewfinder Magazine: March 2008: Channel 4@ 25

Aside from the odd choice of a topless Daniel Radcliffe in front of a horse mask as the front cover photo, Viewfinder number 70 is another good read.

Channel Four is twenty five years old (having started on the 2nd November 1982) and the front feature is on the channel's education contribution.

Full of interesting facts- worth a read.

There is also a review of Channel Four boos such as "A Licence To Be Different: The Story Of Channel 4."

Turning scientists into journalists is another feature: by the Head of Department of the Science Communication Group at Imperial College, Nicholas Russel.

I studied Biology at A-Level, so it was an interesting read.

Okayish feature on mapping Britain's Screen Heritage, but not keen on opening.

National School Radio Network: 4radio has linked up with our university, so nice to see more information on radio and education. Interest in media should be fostered among the young.

Good to see a well-explained feature on the BBC Motion Gallery- this can be used by academics.

Finally a feature on the National Video Archive of Performance.

More info here on getting copies.

Learning Adobe InDesign makes you look closely at how magazines are designed.

You see the grid and think "Why is that there? Why is it that size? How could this page be improved?

Quite hard to improve Viewfinder design.

Notifications@lloydstsb.com e-mail

I got four e-mails from this address even though I have no account with Lloyds TSB.

It's a phishing scam, report it.

I doubt fanclub.eisbaeren-fans.de would be part of the link to the real Lloyds web site.

And the Security Advisor seems to be nameless.

Dontreplay@lloydstsb.com is another clue: should be reply

Ashes To Ashes Episode Eight: Finale

Last night was the final episode of Ashes To Ashes.

Sorry it's taken me so long to blog it, but bbc iplayer had a problem.

After an excellent vision by Alex, she realised she had to stop a car bomb killing both her parents.

Lord Scarman,a Law Lord who chaired the 1981 Brixton riots inquiry, is also due to visit Fenchurch East Police Station, causing Gene Hunt, Sgt Viv and company to tidy away the worst aspects of the police station and lock Detective Constable Chris Skelton up to hide empty cells.

Against this backdrop of fear, a Gay Pride demonstration takes place on a pink tank (I didn't know the TA had a sale).

Ray is able to complain about Tom Robinson being gay "If you want to make poof music, you should dress up as a Red Indian or a builder."

"His Twatship" Lord Scarman, played by the wonderful Geoffrey Rush, walks in just as Gene Hunt questions his sexuality.

It is interesting how a girls under fourteen netball trophy has been won by Hunt and his team.

He is told Chris Skelton is a flasher and gives the DC a lecture.

Alex Drake gets to interrogate Leyton and arrests her parents to prevent them from being murdered.

After Hunt releases Alex's parents, she tries to stop them being blown up, but fails.

She realises that his father wants to kill himself with his own wife and child, and is stuck for now in 1981 with the Gene Genie and his magic.

A second series has been commissioned by the BBC.

Missing Headington Man

Do you live in Oxfordshire?

Have you seen Terry Marks, who was last seen 14th Feb?

As the Oxford Times link shows, Terry is slim, 5ft 11in tall and has short brown hair. He is 34.

LA Times apologises over 1994 Tupac Shakur article

The Los Angeles Times has apologised for a recent report about the shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur.

The Smoking Gun website was the first to break the story that con man and document forger James Sabatino did not have any dealing with Shakur, Marion "Suge Night" or Busta Rhymes.

Not investigating your source's veracity beforehand is a key mistake.

Sadly for the Los Angeles Times, the story is front page on The Smoking Gun under the headline "Big Phat Liar".

The Smoking Gun includes a detailed report of how James Sabatino was exposed, including typographical examination of the "302" documents" that Sabatino claimed were from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

It is also worth noting that examination of cuttings libraries or LexisNexis would have shown Los Angeles Times journos that Sabatino's claims were false, as The Smoking Gun points out.

Adobe Photoshop retouching: Magazine Production Day Three

Although we've all used Photoshop as part of WNOL, we need to know it to industry standard.

Today we are looking at retouching.

We've had a lecture from Malvin Van Gelderen about the political and cultural implications of retouching.

Malvin told us that pre-Photoshop techniques such as airbrushing via masking off and pencilling were used.

He passed around retouched photographs using these techniques.

We then had a slideshow of photographs and were asked to guess the altered ones including:

Slobodan Milsoveic's retouched photograph of a rally supporting him, which could clearly have been seen to have repeated some of the crowd.

A photograph of John Kerry with Jane Fonda, which was merged to promote the idea of Kerry as anti-war by the Republican Party.

George Bush and Adolf Hitler in front of a Nazi Flag.

"Butcher of Sagdad" showing Saddam Hussain. This one was real.

Adnan Hajj's photo from Beirut, which had extra plumes of smoke added.

We then learnt how to use the lasso, airbrush and marquee buttons, and are now able to alter the background of photos using the Patch Tool.

I also created a Rasta Egg.

That Mitchell and Webb Look: Myth Child

The Apprentice 26th March : Fishy Customers and Sugar's Firing Squad

Testicle Face Is Back.

Millionaire Sir Alan Sugar (or, as The Guardian's Emily Bell calls him, surallen) is once again in his 2001-style boardroom with his Musketeers Nick Hewer and Margaret Mountford.

Sixteen candidates, with a lexicon of cliches and the ability to create nausea when they speak.

Raef Bjayal tells us "The spoken word is my tool", although "tool" could be applied to several constestants, including David Cameron smarm-a-like Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, an artist, barrister and grinning fool.

From delacybrown.com:

And so to Nicholas’ latest exhibition, 'Sebastian’s Arrows': Story of an Artist as a Young Man’, a personal tour of themes such as betrayal, warfare and heartbreak, and where undoubtedly the most relevant piece is ‘Nicholas in the Renaissance’, which deals with his time on Alan Sugar’s show ‘The Apprentice’.

The task of selling fish leads to £23.69 profit for the boys and £153.98 (which Sir Alan Sugar mocks) for the girls. Alex, Nicholas and Raef then face the Firing Squad.

We saw how the team mislabelled fish, selling lobsters for a fiver.

Would most fish virgins have done better? Doubt it- but these people are a mix of horrible and slick so let's mock them.

£50 for fish when £130 a lower limit? heh.

If you don't want to know the result, avert your eyes while chanting "Sir John Harvey-Jones, Sir John Harvey-Jones, Sir John Harvey-Jones, Sir John Harvey-Jones."

Nicholas de Lacy-Brown packs his toothbrush and pants and leaves by taxi.

He does not thank Sir Alan as he leaves, but manages two angry handshakes for Alex and Raef.

NEXT WEEK IS OUTRAGEOUS.

March 26th: News from my bookmarks

Theyworkforyou.com's Free Our Bills Campaign.

Digital Inspiration tells you how to fix a wet iPhone or mobile.

Press Gazette: Muslim Girl goes digital for UK.

Google Lanches Document Freedom Day: Intended To Educate About Freedom From Vendor Lock-In.

Adobe InDesign: Day Two Of Magazine Production

Today we continued with Adobe InDesign:

We layed out a single and double page spread, as well as some practice in subbing.

Learnt importing text and picture effects.

Adobe Photoshop (to industry standard) tommorow (Thurs 27th March).

InDesign is like all technology-you need to revisit it so it sinks in.

Fun program

Magazine Production: Day One

This afternoon the Print Pathway began their Magazine Production module.

We learnt the basics of InDesign and designed magazine front covers.

Mine was "Mother Earth" and had an environmental theme.

History of Design:

Our tutor Malvin has been an artist and Deputy Art Editor.

He explained that newspaper design and magazine design are very different.

Pagemaker, developed in 1985 by Aldus Corporation, was the first design program.

Quark Express became the industry standard in 1986.

In 1999 InDesign was released and after a few years became the norm (dread phrase).

For £1000, InDesign comes with a licence and Acrobat, Illustrator and Photoshop. £1000 is the cost of Quark Express alone.

I've also got a booklet explaining typefaces and giving more info on Indesign CS3.

Traffic Problems

Seems to be MUCH lower traffic than normal today.

EMAP: Kieran Long, editor of Architect's Journal

To EMAP in Mornington Crescent where Kieran Long gave a talk in Boardroom 2 on the magazine he edits- The Architect's Journal:

The AJ is aimed only at professionals and has 12,000 readers.

It started as a very technical magazine and has 40 issues per year.

Hard news in the front, and 14 pages of features.

There is also a letters page and a separate comments section.

Designed using Adobe InDesign, the magazine has a good red-black colour contrast,

Although it usually costs £4, we recieved copies of the 6th March issue free.

I would be interested in an internship at the AJ, and will apply ASAP. I like the imaginative range of articles on a niche subject, and the quality of design is impressive.

Good News From Wales

Junk food is to be banned in hospital vending machines.

In Spite Of The Gods: Edward Luce on India

Edward Luce's In Spite Of The Gods is an excellent introduction to India.

A Financial Time journalist, Luce spent five years in India, four as the FT bureau chief and one writing the book.


Like Tobias Jones and The Dark Heart Of Italy, Luce is a critical friend to the country he loves.

He reveals India's history in digestible detail, focusing on Gandhi, Ambedkar and Nehru.

Luce praises Indians for how welcoming they are and is proud of the New Delhi Metro.

He is critical of India bureaucracy. including the backlog of 27 million lawsuits and the potholed Uttur Pradesh roads.

The Indian Space Research Organisation is a rare exception to this.

Luce is amazingly through, and visits BJP officials, nationalist Hindu organisation the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Sonia Gandhi.

As a journalist should be, he takes an interest in everyone.


Although he regards India's challenge as "herculean", Luce has hope.

He feels India has a chance to beat China as a great power and identifies four main challenges; lifting 300 million out of poverty, overcoming environmental catastrophe, reducing AIDS and improving democracy.

Luce sets out a rough blueprint for each.

An essential introduction to India, Edward Luce's book is a fact-packed tome. I recommend it with all my heart.

Private Eye: Number Crunching: Issue 1206

From Private Eye 1206:

£5,616: Annual income beneath which someone is living in poverty,according to government rules.

£6,335: Public money MP's can spend on installing a new bathroom, according to parliamentary rules.

World According To Newspapers: Online Mapping by Nicolas Kayser-Bril

Virtual maps of the media attention given to different countries by newspapers such as La Croix, The Sun and The Economist, as well as the blogosphere.

Created by Nicolas Kayser-Bril, you can find hi-res versions at L'observatoire des medias.

Kayser-Brill notes trends:

First, traditional newspapers are highly selective in their coverage of world news. Looking at the three British dailies, editors favour countries that are bigger and more populous, but also closer to home and better developed.

They also give more room to the countries of origin of British immigrants, especially if they are white (look at the size of Australia and New-Zealand). Hardly surprising, but still disheartening, especially when you consider that the only brand that does not advocate objectivity, The Economist, covers the world more equally.

Second, we see that web-only outlets do not offer such a different view of the world. That makes sense, considering the narrowing of the news agenda on the web that was described in the Project for Excellence in Journalism’s latest report.

Cardiff Couple Choose Classical Names For Children

A taste of classical history has come to Canton, Cardiff.

Tony and Elaine Romero have named their children after Romans, Greeks and Egyptians.

Shouting Caesar Augustus Constantine down the street might be a bit of a mouthful.

More here.

Beer Pong: University of Westminster students relax

If you're a prospective Westminster University student and, like me, you weren't shown round the halls of residence, you can see a typical kitchen in this video, depicting the Olympic sport of Beer Pong.



Our kitchen is similar, but we have blue doors. Red paint would be too exciting for N Block.

My Easter Weekend, by Richard Brennan, aged 21 and 11 months

I am currently writing a 1500 word feature asking if journalists get to close to their contacts and an article on new media for UNESCO. I am also thinking up interview questions for these.

The library (or learning resources centre) is closed so I have to endure my flatmate banging on the wall whenever I type, although headphones+Youtube allow me to ignore her.

It's also annoying to be told curtly "The station is closed" each time I walk back from the paper shop or supermarket to halls. First workers seem unaware the alleyway to the station also leads to a hospital and university. I feel like I'm being asked to justify myself.

I'm going to go for a walk in a bit.

Yesterday it snowed! It was Amy's birthday and some of us had a meal in town.

The day before I visited my grandparents in Ilford with my family, and on Thursday it was the anniversary of my friend David Brunton's death.

Classes start on Tuesday for two more weeks. We break up April 7th.

You can read my resume here.

News From My Google Reader: March 22nd

Sorry this has been so infrequent.

Ten Out Of Eleven Pubs and Resturants In Bicester (Oxfordshire) Test Positive For Drugs.

Pope's Good Friday Prayer Condemned As Insulting To Jews.

Facebook application created to help find blood donors in America.

Gordon Brown and David Cameron accused of claiming housing allowances that should not apply to them.

Two people have been fired for looking at Barack Obama's passport details.

Help stop hoax callers in Cheshire and Merseyside

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service now has a section of the website where you can listen to hoax calls from around

Twenty-four voice clips are on the site, each one marked by a red dot.

Good news from Sussex, where two hoax callers who made more than 70 hoax calls in two days to the police have had their mobile phones disconnected.

It would be nice if that was done more often.

Having a telephone brings some responsibility, and hoax callers are not responsible.

If you are from Cheshire or know anyone who lives in the area, please have a listen.

Recognise anyone? If you do, contact Nigel Mills here.

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Services also has a website listing hoax calls. If you know any of these people, contact the service via the website.

Hoax calls put lives at risk and cost the cash-strapped emergency services millions of pounds per year.

Jersey Fire Service have published a poem on their site, which shows a hoax caller suffering from the effects of his call when his entire family burn to death.

Penalties for hoax calls:

You could face up to six months in prison or a fine of £5000. All calls to the emergency services are recorded and your number can be traced.

It's also important to lock your phone so it doesn't accidentaly dial 999 from your bag or pocket.

Ashes To Ashes Episode Seven: The Gene Jenie is back on form!

Wonderful episode of Ashes to Ashes on Thursday.

Alex Drake managed to actually appear a little less icy and became somewhat interesting.

Told by a manifest that one of her team was at risk of death, she had to keep one eye on her crew while trying to solve the alleged theft of £20,000 from a fundraiser.

There were excellent boyband jokes from Gene and Chris, although Drake's reaction was a bit over the top. If you've seen Nathan Barley, you'll understand what I mean when I say ALEX REACTS. "Backstreet boys, guv. East 17."

Hunt also has a nice line when asking Alex for a date "You want sole? I can give you sole." and the Manc Lion unknowingly evokes George V when forced to take leave "Bugger Bognor."

It was good to see Alex Drake wrong for a change. Throughout I was waiting for her to be proved right and Hunt to be a wrongfooted flatfoot. This time, Hunt's dislike of his suspect proves to be correct. The scattergun approach worked.

Nice to see Hunt revert to his Life On Mars-style thuggery, as well as showing his unease at appearing on televison "Don't have nightmares...No, do have nightmares!" A hat-stapling nearly happens to a ska fan at one point.

Drake ends up reporting Hunt in an attempt to save her life back in the bland 21st century.

Shaz is still lovely, and gets stabbed by criminal Gil Hollis near the end, causing her lover Chris Skelton to give him a kicking while constables look on. Drake saves her life and Hollis is taken away.

Overall, I was reminded of Life On Mars at its beautiful best.

Let's hope the final episode is as good.

Remembering David Brunton: My friend, teacher and mentor

I want to dedicate today's blog posting to remembering my friend, teacher and mentor David Brunton, who died a year ago today.

David taught me English for five years and Media studies for two. I consider that the academic and cultural lessons I learnt with him, more than anything else in my life, made me who I am today. I know that is true for so many pupils and teachers who met him and worked with him.

It's so easy, in a quiet moment, to drift back to Room 131 in the Colin Sanders Building. I hear the sound of raucous laughter first, and then I see David sitting in the middle of the room, leaning back on one of the brown plastic chairs.

He's holding forth on Peagram, our chairman of governors and his donation of a gold tie-pin to the Head Boy. Taking off Peagram's clipped way of speaking, he mimics him "I will today donate a silver crack-pipe to the Head Boy."

Tables surround him in a u shape. Each table has a fifteen year old boy laughing with him, rather than at him, something that few people are able to make happen.

With David, he didn't need to make any effort to amuse others. He was a natural wit. Any occasion would be enlivened by his presence. A school trip to Central London (an exotic place at the time)or a home clothes day was made wonderful by his comments and good humour.

The bell rings as we're in the middle of a digression, although what digressions! Perhaps Lynn from Alan Partridge is being likened to Offred from the Handmaid's tale, or we're chortling over the "roundabout" in the playground: a large stone flowerbed that had steel mesh fences. Maybe he's re-telling his corker about the old Usher (Richard Cairns, now of Brighton College) buying a black car "because he couldn't get one in pin-stripe". Or perhaps Jennifer Rowsell, his friend and sometime comedy partner, has entered and they've started a pretend argument that's got everyone laughing. Humour and David go together like Torvill and Dean.

Most classrooms at Magdalen were dry places, full of the fug of chalk and dumped PE bags at the back. David Brunton made his classroom echo his passions, with film and Radiohead posters decorating the walls. An old-fashioned clock was on the back wall, a challenge to the staid white plastic wallclocks that blended into the white painted walls of the other rooms.

He loved telling us how shocked a parent had been by a Homer Simpson poster on his wall declaring "Every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain". No-one could have been less suited to that label than David. A brilliant scholar of culture, history and above all people, he was a true genius.

His desk was coated in a layer of books and papers. I remember John Pilger's Hidden Agendas vying for space with the latest copy of Private Eye. The concern he felt when boys tipped back on their chairs "Careful of the wall, it's just been re-rendered" became a catchphrase.

I have a page full of his quotes, some that will mean nothing to those who did not know him. Each one reminds me of a moment with him "Cook my beans, you mothers" when discussing sixth form trips or "150 dead in toddler's road cart rage" when giving examples of headlines in Media Studies.

He also had a sense of humour when it came to discipline, simply laughing heartily when he walked through the common room and saw that a giggling boy had been taped to a table by others for a joke-well, how else would you spend your Monday breaktime when a role of parcel tape is nearby?

Don't think that we never got any work done. The literature that I discussed in those English lessons has stayed with me for life. The Handmaid's Tale, Animal Farm, Carol Ann Duffy, King Lear, Lolita, Heart of Darkness, where "Marlow pisses on his chips", that's just a small selection. In Media Studies, we deconstructed the British tabloid and analysed why a news story is created, using the Key Concepts of Herman and Chomsky.

Outside of structured lessons, he set up the Wargaming and Fortean society, the latter dedicated to exploring conspiracies and mysteries, such as the moon landing and UFOs. He wore a green cloak one "home clothes day" and was always ready to mock stupidty in the system-something far too few people are prepared to do in New Labour's bland new world. Through David, I was introduced to Chris Morris (GCSE coursework!), Alan Partridge, David Brent, Private Eye, spoof adverts from Viz and above all the ability to question how tihngs were.

David didn't stop influencing me when I left Magdalen. Throughout my time at Sussex University, we would meet for a pint or three in the Angel and Greyhound across the road, looking out at Cowley Place. He helped write references for several of the universities I applied to for my postgraduate journalism degree, and was a constant source of advice up until he killed himself a year ago.

For the 39 years of his wonderful life,David Brunton suffered from bipolar disorder, which was diagnosed a week before he died. It is a constant source of sorrow to me that I never knew how he was feeling inside, and that I was unable to do anything to mitigate his depression. I made so many demands on his time, the last a request to meet up during Christmas 2006.

David replied saying he was unable to meet up as he had been feeling ill, but to e-mail him in the New Year and we could meet. He was also glad to hear that things were going well. Preoccupied as I was with university admission forms and work from my final year at Sussex, I decided to put off contacting him until the Easter holidays, as I would be unable to meet before then.

On February 20th, 2007, David Brunton threw himself off the church of St Mary The Virgin, opposite the Radcliffe Camera. It's a church I passed by every day walking to get the 2A home, sometimes with David, sometimes with others. I first heard of this on the Friday from a friend.

Disbelief, followed by shock and a growing sorrow set in. The difference that David made to everyone he met was reflected in the media coverage. Not for him the ghoulish and hypocritical coverage that someone like Madeleine McCann might have received (and I wish we could have deconstructed the McCann media circs with David). Telegraph articles, local newspaper stories and a Facebook group with 360 members show how popular this great man will always be.

In the days that followed, I sat through a talk by Christopher Hitchens (the Hitch) and Nick Cohen (of no nickname) my mind elsewhere. An interviw day at Goldsmiths College in New Cross passed by while I thought of David as I looked out at the East London Line before my interview.

The funeral was on March 29th in Magdalen College chapel, nice to see some old faces that took me back to simpler times of small blue hymn books, house sports and constant building work, as if Changing Rooms had become trapped inside the gates unable to escape. Reflections on David's life were given by his wife Jenny, his sister Joan, and his friend and co-worker Dr Grundy. Songs played were Van Morrison's In the Garden (not on Youtube or its sister sites at the moment) Goreki by Lamb and Ocean Rain by Echo and the Bunnymen. I want to go all Web 2.0 here-I'm sure David won't mind-and post Ocean Rain.



Dr Grundy ended his eulogy with "David shone like a crazy diamond, and I always felt he was perfect becuase of that." Tadhgh Barwell O' Connor, a pupil at Magdalen, mirrors some of my feelings "He managed to somehow make period 8 on a dull Thursday afternoon the highlight of the day...Dr Brunton was never just a teacher or housemaster. He surpassed those labels and became a friend and mentor...He made school ife fun simply by being there and we are all better people because of his part in our lives."

David also appeared in the Telegraph twice after his death. One piece was written by sports journalist and MCS parent Jim White, who wrote a superb piece about what David meant to him and his son " A great debt that went unacknowledged."

Unless you were one of the privileged few who came into his orbit, David Brunton is not a name you will be familiar with. You won't have heard of him because he was not the star of a soap opera, a contestant on a reality television show or a gobby mouth attached to a microphone shouting out of your radio, and was thus not the sort to whom renown is granted these days.

He was, in fact, a teacher, which makes it even less likely he would have been gifted fame.

But to my mind he was a heroic figure, his life worth celebrating. And he didn't even teach me.

The Telegraph also interviewed Jenny Liddard, David's wife.

She tried to make his illness comprehensible. She told them how much they had mattered to him, each one of them, and how she had found a thesis among his personal papers in which he movingly described how encounters with unhappy pupils in his early teaching career had taught him the value of listening and empathising and getting to know pupils as individuals. He believed teaching and counselling were inseparable because proper pastoral care improved their willingness and ability to learn. He felt privileged, she said, when boys chose to confide in him and gave him the opportunity to make a difference.

"If there's one thing I think he would want you to emulate," she told them, "it's never to be afraid to seek help and support - to do so is a sign of intelligence and strength, not weakness - and never to shrink from offering that support to others." It was a remarkable performance.

The Facebook group Dr David Brunton Memorial, along with the comments section of local papers reporting David's death, showed me how moved my fellow pupils were by David. Here are two examples.

Greg Iddon: He put the Dead Poets Society to shame - David was truly the definition of contemporary teaching. I learnt more about life in a 40min period with him that I did with any other teacher in my entire time at MCS. His quirky, forever changing obsessions with the likes of Freddos, Barry Scott (Cillit Bang), Ghost Watch and the likes always lightened our spirits and put us into a great state of mind to learn in. Never a dull lesson, never a dull conversation.

John Logan: When I was 13 he took 30 mins a week out of his lunch time for a year, just to help me combat dyslexia. I was then in his class for 5 years, all the way through to the end of my time at MCS. There was never a dull moment. A-level English Lit was the most fun I had at school.

It's thanks to David that I got a place studying English Literature at Sussex University, and it's thanks to David I got a place at Westminster University, where I am a postgraduate journalism student. Every time I edit audio I'm reminded of my AS Media Studies project on the JFK assassination: an eight-minute audio documentary. Every time I come home on the X90 I pass along the High Street and think of David. Every time I pick up a tabloid at Northwick Park Underground or the newsagents around Kenton I remember discussing the Mail and the Sun. As a proud Liverpudlian who remembered the Hillsborough disaster, David had a loathing for the latter. He was born in Maghull, and loved to read the description given by Crap Towns:

This dormitory town seven miles outside Liverpool is a
mean-spirited, characterless and deluded suburb, that fancies itself as a cut above the rest of Merseyside. Queueing up outside B&Q on a Sunday morning is the closest it gets to culture.

Contains Ashworth, that institution full of psychos thats always in the news. Every Monday, they test the sirens, they wail mournfully at the start of another week in Maghull.

Memories appear in my mind like drops on a window, and I could blog all year solely on David, but I must wrap up. I wish with all my heart David could have known that he got me into Westminster, and seen my career progress. I wish I'd known how he was feeling, and that I could have offered him even a fraction of the support he offered all of us. I hope that he can somehow see all of the pupils he taught over the decades,and how they benefited from his presence, his humour and his dedication to knowledge, honesty and logic.

It's so sad how we never appreciate fully the best things in life while we have them, and though we all loved David and loved his lessons, we never realised how because of five periods a week in Room 131 with David and the occasional lunchtime chat or chance meeting over lunch, our days studying alongside David Brunton would be the best days of our lives. "The History boys on speed" David might have called it, before slipping into a monologue to rival any touring comic.

David, we're all grateful to have known you and we'll always be thinking of you. Rest in peace up there in heaven, laughing with Peter Cook and asking John Kennedy "What exactly did happen in Dallas?" You've inspired a generation and through the bursary and word of mouth you'll continue to inspire others. To paraphrase Liverpool Football Club, you made sure we'd never walk alone.

The David Brunton Bursary was set up in his name, and is still accepting donations.
You can also purchase the song Last Chance, written in memory of David.

Further information on bipolar disorder can be found here.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to leave blogging for the rest of the week while I remember my friend, sitting in a classroom educating while entertaining-a perfect combination by the one person I've met who embodied perfection. Normal service will be resumed at the weekend, so please check back then.

Ricky Gervais casting in America for This Side of the Truth

Comedian Ricky Gervais is casting in New York and Boston for his new film This Side of the Truth.

More information at Gervais' blog.

We want fat, thin, young and old of every race and demographic. Preferably with faces like a catcher's mitt and teeth like a vandalised grave yard.

Magazine Production Talk by Petsa Kaffens

After Easter myself and fellow print journalism students will start studying magazine production.

We will learn the basics of magazine design before the April break, and will then start work on a magazine concept.

Today Petsa Kaffens gave a talk to us on magazine production and magazine formats.

Petsa is an experienced magazine journalist who has worked on magazines such as Women's Weekly.

She started by telling us that "all magazines are about aspiration" and gave a rundown of the history of magazines.

The best selling magazine of 2007 was the Sky TV guide, which sold 6 million copies.

Runner up was Tesco's magazine, which sold 2 million copies.

Fashion magazine Grazia was 18th with 700,000 copies sold.

Petsa then explained the main features of women's magazines, and used Women's Weekly as a case study.

There have been some complaints from readers after knitting pattens and serials were given less prominence.

If you are on knitting pattern cold turkey, you can find a directory here.

The protests show how important it is to balance modernisation and appealing to your target audience.

It's also important to make sure your front cover stands out. A frowning model will not make people feel good about buying the magazine.

Popular features in women's magazines include the celebrity feature, for example a soap star saying "I'd like to have Botox and go to Hollywood" and the shock feature, "Jailed for killing his own sisters", "Britain's Got Love Rats: I wed John the Winker*".

Many ideas for shock features are found from contacts, regional press and tabloids.

Petsa then told us the structure of a magazine.

Editor at the top, then deputy and his assistant, followed by chief sub and editors of various sections such as travel.

Past concepts by Westminster students have included Capital magazine and London Out Loud, not to be confused with the Masters International Journalism website.

We finished by watching A Week In Grazia, following editor Jane Bruton at work and recieving an award from the Society of Magazine Editors and Dara O' Brien.


*Not a typo. Both stories from latest issue of Take A Break Magazine.

WNOL is now over: Selection of my latest stories for the site

I have now finished work on Westminster News Online, a website run by University of Westminster MA Journalism (Periodical Pathway) students.

Some of my stories that have been up in the past week:

The 7th Wonder of London: Neasden Temple Wins Pride of Place Award: (With Soundslides montage comprising photos and my audio narration)

Through The Hatch In Lego: about a ten minute film made using Lego.

London Gallery West is "dazzling": review of an exhibition at Harrow Campus' art gallery.

We Need To Talk About Kevin: book review of Lionel Shriver's harrowing tale.

I also put six videos up on the WNOL TV page.

Youtube: New Model Army: Poison Street

Happy Easter!

Bill Bryson on Shakespeare and his England

The best bits of Bill Bryson's book don't directly discuss Shakespeare.

That isn't a criticism-far from it. Bryson is at his best when invoking the feel of a location.

He painted glorious pictures of rainy Seventies England, clone-like small town America and the Australian outback in his travel/autobiographical books.

Everyone should read them: although be aware that his books have different titles in America to here, for some reason.

Shakespeare's England:

Bryson explains in readable terms the oddities of Tudor England, including the regulation of food consumption by status and the regular flaring up of plague.

That's not to say modern England isn't odd. Perhaps MRSA is today's version of the plague, seemingly impossible to eradicate and with no says to guard against it (apart from not needing to enter a hospital).

I never knew that building often projected sixty feet over the river Thames or that Houndsditch in the City was named due to the number of dead dogs flung into it.

Maybe it is time for me to study some Tudor history in between my CSS Web Design notes.

London seems more lively in the time of Elizabeth than it is today.

Dirtier and with more poverty, but more lively and exciting.

Bryson is not hampered by the limits of certainty when it comes to talking about Shakespeare, indeed, he is able to write as well on what we do not know as what we do.

Crucially, he usually explains why we are unaware of a detail.

The problem with interpreting the Bard via his texts is that one can "find support for nearly any position he or she wishes in Shakespeare".

Bryson does not shy away from a balanced account, which is good. No work of art or literature should be up on an pedestal.

He admits that Shakespeare often borrowed lines from others, including Sir Thomas North.

The Michael Moore defender's stance that "everyone else does it" is used as well, with Christopher Marlowe's borrowing from Ludovice Ariosto cited as an example.

Bryson's book is packed full of revelations. If you want to know more about London in Tudor and Stewart times, the peculiarities of acting in the 1500's or the murder of Chrisopher Marlowe, then Bill Bryson's Shakespeare is a start-though further reading is a must after the book is devoured.

Shin Bet: "No, Mr Bond, I expect you to blog"

Four Israeli secret service agents are blogging.

They are shown in shadow, showing how blogs help ensure someone's anonymity.

Although I can't understand Hebrew, it's nice to see a few smilies in the text, and an RSS feed for each Shin Bet agent.

Shin-Tech blogs.

The Guardian has translated some entries.

One, called H, says she is a quality assurance engineer and took the job as it allows her to spend more time with her family. "There are things that I can't even tell my husband in detail," she writes. "At a family event someone asked where I work and had trouble taking a hint."

Another, Y, a 34-year-old martial arts enthusiast, writes: "You don't stay at work unless you really have to. It's rare for me to come home after 6.30pm."

One program engineer, A, says that his job is not as glamorous as he had hoped.

"I didn't get a siren to put on my car and I too have to sit in traffic jams," he writes. "This post will self-destruct in 10 seconds."

MySanAntionio Bloggers: Basics for blogging journalists and first-time bloggers

I've just been browsing The Journalism Iconclast.

A post links to this great resource for those just about to start blogging.

Advertisers want your data:BT,Talk Talk and Virgin sell customers' browsing details to Online advert system Phorm

Disappointing news.

BT, Virgin and Talk Talk will be allowing Phorm to access customer's data.

Phorm will then replace adverts on a page with ones relevant to pages the customer has visited.

Do you trust Phorm with your data? Are you happy that three internet providers have decided to sell your data without asking you?

Phorm says:

Phorm technology doesn't gather personally-identifiable information. It does not view any information on secure (HTTPS) pages, and ignores strings of numbers longer than three digits to ensure that it does not collect credit card numbers, phone numbers, National Insurance numbers or other potentially private information. It doesn't store IP addresses or retain browsing or search histories. The system does not integrate with any system (like the ISP's log-in system) that could identify the user.

The underlying assumption by the three internet service providers and Phorm is that internet users desire adverts targeted at them.

They do not. People try to ignore adverts online the way they do on the television or on billboards by the supermarket car parks.

E-mail signup for information is the best way of people recieving information from companies that they want.

From Interactive Investor:

The company has been criticised in recent weeks over concerns that its technology, which categorizes web-surfing habits in order to target online advertising, compromises user privacy.

As a result, Phorm's share price has plunged from 3,287-1/2 pence on March 5 to 1,942-1/2 yesterday. At 10.04 am today, the share price had recovered slightly to 2,062-1/2, off from an earlier high of 2,275.

The Foundation For Internet Policy Research has written an open letter to the Information Commissioner.

According to Badphorn, Talk Talk are making their system opt-in only, though why anyone would want to opt in to this I have no idea.

Trend Micro have described Phorm as adware.

What to do:

Web publishers should add terms to their blog refusing consent for Phorm to intercept any communications between their website and users.

I don't know what terms you can add to a blog, but I have not given Phorm any consent to intercept communications between Newsjiffy and its readers.

Webwise, which sends data to Phorm,can also be switched off.

For BT:
Simply go to www.bt.com/webwise and click 'BT Webwise Off' or 'BT Webwise On'. BT Webwise uses cookies stored on your computer to capture your preference. These cookies are linked to individual computers, user accounts and browsers, so you will need to switch the service on or off from each computer, user account and browser you use. If you delete the cookie, you'll need to reset your preference.

For Virgin Media (a company which failed to respond to three letters I sent them asking for my account to be closed, avoid like Jim Davidson in a disco), you won't know until their Webwise is launched:

Customers won’t be forced to use the system, and will have the choice to keep their internet experience exactly as it is now. As we get closer to launch we’ll explain how this will work.

It's sickening how ISP's try to make more money under the cloak of helping their customers (or, as they see the people who pay for their service, targets).

If you don't want your data used to target adverts based on your browsing, switch Webwise off today, or, better still, switch Internet service providers.

I would avoid Digital Village (Keycom).

Petition for Gordon Brown.

Lords Of The Blog Live

Today the House of Lords blog went live.

It's easy to navigate and the entries are detailed. There is a search bar and good links.

Given that over 60 million blogs are no longer posted to, according to research found by a colleague, I hope the Lords keep blogging.

A survey allows you to evaluate the blog.

Lord Soley on blogging:

In 2003 I started a blog as an MP. I regarded it as a success and it certainly attracted some interesting debates.

It was important for me because it enabled me to talk direct to people without first finding a media outlet. I saw it as a meeting room without walls. There are problems for an elected representative however. The more successful your blog is the more time consuming – and time matters for MP’s! You also have to decide whether to answer all the points or just those from constituents or just let the blog run itself with occasional inputs from the MP.

Over the last 12 months I have let my blog drift into gentle decline with only occasional posts. But down in the Westminster forest something was stirring. I had talked to the Hansard Society and to the House of Lords Library and Information department. The result? A new Lordsoftheblog has emerged blinking into the daylight! The Hansard Society has been a good midwife!

Free Mario Paint Composer

Just been reading on Cookd and Bombd about the Mario Paint Composer.

A remake of the music system from the original Mario Paint for the Super NES, it is made by unFun Games.

Support for composer.

A drawing program allowing you to create basic tunes

Ashes To Ashes Soundtrack Album Released Tommorow

Guess what I'm asking for as a birthday present:

Ashes To Ashes soundtrack

* 1. Alex Drake [introduction/dialogue]
* 2. Ashes To Ashes - David Bowie
* 3. Fade To Grey - Visage
* 4. Love Action (I Believe In Love) - Human League
* 5. Girls On Film - Duran Duran
* 6. Geno - Dexy's Midnight Runners
* 7. Souvenir - Orchestral Manouevres In The Dark
* 8. No More Heroes - Stranglers
* 9. I Fought The Law - Clash
* 10. We Don't Need This Fascist Groove Thing - Heaven 17
* 11. You're Nicked [interlude/dialogue]
* 12. Gene Genie [Gene Hunt's theme] - Edmund Butt
* 13. In Love With A German Film Star - Passions
* 14. Happy Birthday - Altered Images
* 15. It's Different For Girls - Joe Jackson
* 16. Money - Flying Lizards
* 17. Doors Of Your Heart - Beat
* 18. Staring At The Rude Boys - Ruts
* 19. Reward - Teardrop Explodes
* 20. Swords Of A Thousand Men - Tenpole Tudor
* 21. Let's Stick Together - Bryan Ferry
* 22. Vienna - Ultravox
* 23. Title Music - Edmund Butt
* 24. Fandabydozy [epilogue/dialogue]

I love the Clash and Heaven 17, so look forward to this soundtrack after how great the Life on Mars one was.

Internet Tough Guys: Youtube and Rant Sites

It never ceases to astonish me how some people, often too cowardly to say what they really think in real life, come over all tough on the Internet.

Youtube is a good example of this. Most popular videos of films will have at least one abusive exchange, sometimes featuring racism.

I don't usually post on the Internet outside of my blog, but I did visit Don't Start Me Off.com, after it was linked on another site. I posted once having a go at a rather unpleasent rant and got this message in return:

No, but I do fancy beating you do death with my bare hands and filleting your scrawny cadaver with a kitchen knife.

This was at the start of the year, and if I don't post for a while you'll know that someone from the Internet has beaten me "do death" and I have been filleted and sold in the Harrow Campus canteen, my flesh served by surly canteen workers who don't seem to know what a Fairtrade juice drink is.

"Trolls" such as TC Raymond of Cookd and Bombd are also only able to operate on the Internet. They are faceless, able to hide behind a computer and can make up whatever they desire, even forming a "sockpuppet" (pretending to be someone else).

Geeky as this may seem, journalists need to understand the Internet-and you don't have to spend hours browsing forums. Just find one and observe it. As Swanchita Haze says in the Brass Eye Special "I did".

Many online articles have comment sections at the bottom. Journalists should ignore the threats/bigotry that sometimes gets posted. Internet tough guys don't carry out threats.

Lords Of The Blog

Nine peers will be blogging about their work and the House of Lords.

Lords of the Blog goes live on Monday 17th March.

It's quite funny that the BBC's See Also leads to Lords bridge team "stuck in lift" and Some Lords "would like sick pay".

Not the image the blogging peers would want to project.

Harry Hill: Burping and Farting

A farting sailor opened this week's edition of TV Burp.

This was one of the clips used from Wonderland, The Curious World of Frinton-on-Sea, which depicted a town fighting the installation of automatic gates at its level crossing.

The residents were terrified their gates would be controlled by "a lunatic from Colchester" and set up a gentle protest.

Hill got lots of comic mileage from their placards, slogans and interviews, even pretending to control the automatic gates.

The program also used Freaky Eaters to lampoon Coronation Street.

American Inventor, a spin-off of Dragon's Den, showcased the Urinator, which enabled this week's fight to be between a toilet seat with the lid down and a toilet seat with the lid up.

Good show this week, although the finale was a little odd-surely Wonderland was shot in the New Year and shown a few days ago?

Flash: Motion Tweening on A Grey Afternoon

Aside from contacting people for Westminster News Online, I am brushing up on my Flash Skills.

Back to the basics: tweens, motion tweens and button links.

CSS coding is also on my list.

w3schools has a good Flash tutorial.

Sports Journalism Lecture

Today David Matthews gave a lecture on sports journalism, which is the option he will teach in May.

He discussed his books Looking For A Fight (about boxing) and Man Buys Dog (about greyhound racing) , and discussed the content of the seminars.

This content includes going live, commentating, the Press Pack, writing copy before the game finishes, the science behind sport, and writing for sport.

David also reminded people that sport isn't just about football and cricket.

Sports journalism is worth understanding, but I won't be choosing it as my specialism. I don't have enough interest in sport to justify a career in it, though I try to improve my knowledge.

A fair number of our class will be picking sport as their option.

Over 200,000 people join Facebook Carrot Buying Group

200,182 people have joined the Facebook group On May 15th 2008, everybody needs to go out and panic buy CARROTS.

It's only two months until the panic buying is meant to start.

The wall is a target for spammers and people promoting groups such as "I love Facebook" and "Nandos Should Deliver".

I've reported a couple of the most prolific spammers (who have created fake accounts simply to advertise rubbish) to Facebook- and I suggest any posts promoting Yuwie, free ipods or porn sites are reported as well.

The "John Lewis" list: Political Perks

BBC News has the full "John Lewis List" (Parliament's Additional Costs Claims Guide).

I wish there was a list for Westminster journalism students.

Did you know MP's can claim a recordable DVD player up to £270, a stereo system up to £750 and a wardrobe up to £700.

Who spends £700 on a wardrobe? I wouldn't pay that much unless it led to Narnia.

However, some sanity prevails

Garden furniture such as patio sets, loungers and barbecues are not allowed.

Quite right, we wouldn't want to go overboard. No MP can do his job without a free recordable DVD player or an expensive wardrobe.

But we need to set an example. Let's make them pay for their own barbecue

Funny how firefighters, police officers and NHS workers don't get to claim any items.

Or is ducking rubble and saving lives less important than passing laws and voting in the House?

These guys, for the most part, work their socks off. If they didn't dedicate their lives to public service we wouldn't stand a chance of attracting them on what, by most London standards, is a pretty ordinary salary. I don't like cynical exploitation of expenses any more than the next person, but this is starting to look like an emotional campaign against fine and dedicated professionals.
Tom, Coventry

(BBC)

An ordinary salary? Never met a cleaner or paramedic, Tom?

Bigsight.Org Has Vastly Improved

I must confess I haven't logged into Bigsight for over a month.

Been busy with my degree and Facebook,LibraryThing,Flickr,hi5,WAYN and Myspace are usually enough for my networking needs.

I've logged in now, and some changes have been made.

There is a Migration Map, which shows how far I have moved.

No other social networking site has this.

It is new and interesting.

Photos and articles can now be added, making profiles more detailed and worth visiting.

City network pages will also be added later.

Why I logged in:

I must confess, I am a sucker for e-mail reminders from social sites.

I recieved one from Dan Birdwhistell and Ben Sinclair, Bigsight founders.

So you shouldn't at all be surprised that 68 people have visited your bigsight page recently. I mean, way to be popular, buddy.

As we've said before, we reserved high-profile space for you on the web so that your page gets noticed. So be sure to keep it updated and to take advantage of all of the new features:

I don't know what timeframe they measure from, I presume since I joined the site 45 days or so ago.

Bigsight.org is worth signing up to. Let's watch the site take shape.

Facebook beater or sub-WAYN? We will see in time.

Ashes To Ashes: Episode Six: Post Offices and Panda Cars

You can tell Alex Drake's fantasy world isn't recent, a Post Office is still open.

That out of the way, I have to confess I'm getting tired of Ashes To Ashes.

Tonight's episode was formulaic.

Let's do a checklist:

1. Alex Drake has visions. Check

2. Shot of the black and white police station ceiling. Check.

3. Luigi is racially abused by the police. Check.

4. Alex visits her mother. Check

5. Ray and Chris make Khybers of themselves. Check.

6. Alex visits her godfather. Check.

7. Gene and Alex argue. Check.

A Post Office blag causes Gene to chase a motorbike, which gets away. The mannerism of one of the robbers leads Gene to Chas Cale, who is later released.

When another suspect Billy Dale is killed, Alex goes after Chas and Joan Cale.

She is locked in a freezer, the only exciting part of the episode.

Gene Hunt then blows the bloody window off and revives her, leading to SEXUAL TENSION. Oh wow (sarcastic).

Life on Mars had similar plots, but more spark. 1973 in the head of Sam Tyler was more interesting and unusual than 1981 in the head of Alex Drake.

Tyler's 1973 was a place that seemed desirable. Sometimes I wish I was in Manchester in the early seventies, before Thatcherism, the oil crisis and Bebo.

Drake's 1981 just seems like a drab suburb. I'm glad there are only two episodes to go

New way to move files

I am currently compressing files for WNOL.

We have changed the TV page, have a look.

I am using my camera to transport files as they are over 60MB.

Hopefully this has no adverse effects.

2008 Budget: More alcopops, Darling?

Today at 12:30pm the Budget was announced.

Cigarettes are going up by 11p-so more of a reason to quit for smokers. Beer is going up, as is wine, and, sadly, cider.

However, alcopops aren't.

Why drinks preferred by (mostly) sensible drinkers in pubs are going up and alcopops consumed by angry fourteen year olds are not, I have no idea.

Shame that supermarket booze can't have its own tax-having seen teenagers stand across the road from Kenton Sainsburys with a trolley necking beer it seems that this suply route for underage drinking needs closing.

Good to see new bands of duty for low-emitting cars

In some areas, Alistair Darling seems a little coy.

The chancellor said he might change the law to force utility companies to give a "fairer deal" to the five million customers who use pre-payment meters for their gas or electricity bills.

Might? Might? It's the Budget. It's not a rainy Sunday afternoon.

The David Blunkett lobby were sated by the use of biometric technology at airports, to speed up any security checks.

Shops must also charge for plastic bags or risk a tax-why not force supermarkets to charge for parking? This would discourage short journeys and increase the revenue for transport operators?

Not just cigarettes and alcohol, but alcopops and biometrics.

BBC News The Reporters' Budget blog.

A little noticed announcement in the Budget today indicated that all long-term recipients of incapacity benefit will have to undergo new tougher medical tests - called work capability assessments. The tests are designed to ensure that more IB claimants return to work and have already been introduced for new claimants.

Shame we can't run tests on wages paid to senior civil servants and politicans, to check we're not wasting any money that way.

Eddy Grant to play final tour

Sad news for fellow reggae lovers-the latest Voice reveals Eddy Grant's world tour will be the last part of his music career.

The summer tour will be Grant's first in fifteen years.

Starting on June 29th at the Glastonbury Festival, Grant will perform at the Dublin Oxygen Festival, T in the Park and the July Vienna Nuke Festival.

Would you like to read the Lisbon Treaty?

Marcus Brigstocke claimed on Question Time that most people in Britain had not read the EU's Lisbon Treaty.

If you want to find out more about the treaty, which has just been ratified in the House of Commons, there is a link to a PDF of the text here.

The BBC have provided a comprehensive guide.

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan mandir

Have been interviewing at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan mandir in Neasden, London for a WNOL story.

It is a beautiful place of worship and a focus for the community.

The mandir is also connected to the Swaminarayan School, which is across the road on the 13 acre site.

It was interesting to watch how the broadcast pathway student I was with filmed a piece to camera and I undertook a soundcheck for her.

The Mandir is free and open every day from 9 until 6.

I strongly recommend a visit, but allow at least two hours.

You can reach the temple via Bus PR2 from Wembley Park (except on Sundays, when you may have to walk there). Other buses are Bus 112 from Brent Cross and Bus 18 from Baker Street.

Neasden also has an Underground station, which is about fifteen minuites brisk walk.

One Month Ban For Driving At One Hundred Miles Per Hour

Sky News reports on a twenty-eight day ban given to a man who drove at 100 mph, with his children hanging out of the windows.

Why this moron was not banned from driving for life, I do not know. Perhaps if someone had been killed, the reaction would have been different. But he must have known he was endangering the lives of other road users and his children.

Are Bedlington magistrates seriously unable to keep Colin Goodall, who I will name because he is a pillock, off the road for longer?

Given that Damien Duff was banned for 42 days (another piddling sentence) for driving at the same speed, I reckon not.

Anyone driving along the A189 near Cramlington, where Duff and Goodall decides to endanger themselves and others, should watch out.

Still, Colin Goodall has a supporter.

Cars dont just spin out. Give it a break.. racers crash 210mph into concrete walls and walk away.. dont see you having a go at them. All you goodie two shoes tell me you dont go a mph past the speed limit and then you can say something. It's his kids, dont tell him how to be a dad.
Posted by Anonymous 888 from Stockton on Tees

Yes, how dare we tell people off for driving at 100mph.

Private Eye: Number Crunching

Next time you are lucky enough to be devouring Private Eye, take a look at the red Number Crunching boxes scattered on the pages.

Today's issue states:

2 Days it took MOD to get Prince Harry back from frontline in Afghanistan after his cover has blown.

25 Days it took MOD to get basic equipment to frontline in Afghanistan, as a result of which Captain James Philippson was unlawfully killed.

It's also clear that Nick Robinson is an easy target for MP's.

75 MP's who have signed early day motion "deploring innuendo" about parlimentary allowances by BBC political editor Nick Robinson and demanding he reveal his own expenses.

5 MP's who have signed early-day motion calling for "through examination" of parlimentary allowance system.

You can learn so much from Private Eye, in most newsagents (but not Sainsburys it seems).

Computer games

I haven't played computer games for ages.

Partly because I never had the patience to sit for hours sending my wizard through the Door of Bottom's Jelly in order to find the Staff of Victory, and partly because I don't like spending hours in front of a computer during my leisure time.

When I was younger, I used to play the Sony Playstation 2 with games like Street Fighter and Driver 2, but during the last couple of years I've only played PC games.

This is because a console requires more space, and I didn't have room for one during my last year in Brighton, when I lived in a minuite room in Roedale Road.

I prefer computer games that let me be creative, such as Sim City 3000 and Grand Theft Auto San Andreas.

It's quite fun to drive around San Andreas at top speed pursued by police helicopters, or re-ordering cities in the snow.

If I find my copy of Sim City 3000 I might have a play sometime.

The Observer Magazine: 50 Most Powerful Blogs

Today the fifty most powerful blogs are listed in The Observer.

Topping the list is the Huffington Post, written by Arianna Huffington, followed by BoingBoing and technical blog TechCrunch.

I wonder if this blog will one day grace a future list.

Newsjiffy currently gets between 80 and 170 hits a day, so around 800 hits per week. Chez Pim, a blog on food by Pim Techamuanvivit, gets 10,000 hits each week.

It seems I have a long way to go.

The Observer Magazine also has an interview with Nick Denton of Gawker, a gossip blog.

You can suggest alternatives at Bobbie Johnson's article.

One comment says:

As for the list of blogs, it reads like something someone who doesn't read blogs would draw up, which is probably quite useful for readers of a print newspaper.

This seems unfair-why should people only read news on the internet? Newspapers are a source of reading while travelling or a quiet day in the office. I feel most people read newspapers and blogs.

I think the list is well-researched, although it would be interesting to see how many hits each blog gets.

Travel Journalism Lecture

Yesterday afternoon we had a lecture on travel journalism from Andrew Grant-Adamson.

It was a good lecture with some nice jokes, and I'd like to write travel journalism in the future.

Andrew mentioned AA Gill's desire "to interview a place as if it were a person." and he made clear that travel journalism doesn't have to be far-flung or in a beautiful place.

Not sure if I'll choose if as my module, as I'd like to specialise in financial news.

Harry Hill's TV Burp: Addicted To Bread, Allergic To Bread

Freaky Eaters provided more ammunition for Harry Hill this week.

Joanne Stafford only eats bread , giving Harry the opportunity to turn to his side and gurn "B-r-r-r-e-a-d".

One of her friends tells Freaky Eaters that "if they stopped making bread, she would die" although we later find out Joanne is allergic to bread.

However, Harry didn't comment on the waste of food, where a can full of spaghetti was tipped into a bin.

He did comment on American Entrepreneurs and its likeness to Dragon's Den, as well as a creaking card on Coronation Street.

Sadly Brian from Big Brother was on the show again, this time pretending to have sex with Harry.

Both were wearing suits of armour.

It wasn't a dream, either.

Paul Burrell was another butt, and Harry poked fun at his innuendo "Would you like to step forward and take a look at this?"

One does wonder if Harry Hill's TV Burp has the effect of publishing the existence of drivel. There is the demoralising slogan "All publicity is good publicity."

Mad Max in the London Suburbs?

I have no idea what is wrong with some people.

Tonight I saw Stephen Berkoff speak at Harrow Arts Centre, and managed to get a swift interview with him just before his cab arrived.

I was going to interview him before the two hour talk, but Berkoff wanted to leave it until afterwards.

Anyway, I want to talk about before I got to Harrow Arts Centre, when some children decided to chase me in a motorised go-kart.

This occured just round the corner, in Headstone Lane, a H14 bus ride away from Harrow Bus Station.

If I hadn't managed to run across two lanes of traffic, no doubt they'd have knocked me down and taken my wallet.

I was reminded of the film Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, which I used to watch on Wednesday afternoons when I was home early from school years ago.

Mel Gibson plays Max Rockatansky, who brings the law to a dystopian version of the Outback in Australia.

During the film, Max is pursued by beserkers driving go-karts.

Given the threat of global warming and the number of shootings in Britain, one wonders how far off the Road Warrior is.

I also don't understand the mentality of parents who let their children play outside with a motorized gokart after dark.

Maybe drive-by gokarting are common around North London and I'm simply nostalgic for the old days when you knew your postman by name, you could leave all your doors open and you weren't in danger of being run down when walking along the pavement.

John Stewart on John McCain's Republican nomination win

The Daily Show reports on the Texas and Ohio primaries, as well as McCain beating Mike Huckabee.

Ashes To Ashes Episode Five: Just because you're gay I won't turn you away

The Eighties weren't exactly the decade of tolerance.

The murderous antics of a homosexual gangster gives Alex Drake the opportunity to scare her narrow-minded team, although Gene Hunt has learnt when to stop being mouthy and when to slam his Audi around London.

Although the wicked Section 28, which Nick Cohen describes as a "small war against gays" wasn't brought in until 1988, it's easy to see how the bill would have been popular among the male officers at Alex Drake's virtual nick.

Gene Hunt and most of his team (apart from the New Romantic Shaz Granger)are unable to comprehend homosexuality and fall back on spitting "poofters" out of their mouths while hugging one another after a football game.


It's therefore nice to see Ray Carling confront his sexuality in gay club Nirvana, watched by a shocked Chris and Gene.

The latter is clad in sunglasses in case he is recognised.


Good to see Alex Drake taking after Sam Tyler and becoming the maverick. Hunt is good fun when he is shocked, much more so than Chris or Ray (buttplug dropping aside)

Nice line from Hunt "Tinker Tailor Solider Twat"

A sad ending with a hint that Simon has AIDS, but Drake gets to play social worker and show how similar to Sam Tyler she is in some ways.

Identity Card Plans Revised By British Government

Given the recent data problems facing the Government, it seems that the are trying to re-work their identity card plans.

The introduction of biometric passports will be delayed from 2010 to 2012, and you won't have to get an identity card at the same time.

Non-EU Nationals will still be issued with compulsory identity cards this year.

This is one year before people with high-security roles, for some odd reason. Do the Government view people from Africa or South America as more likely to committ terrorism than an airline pilot or army explosives expert?

However many concessions the Government make, I won't support the plans and will avoid registering.

People will come up with a way to fake ID cards just like they did to get round chip and pin. The money that the scheme costs should be spent on frontline services in the fight against terrorism: the police, the NHS and the prisons.

And who trusts the security of the database linked to the cards after the problems with other government databases?

Shelve ID Cards, Gordon, and you might have money to spend on our police force, which is losing people at a drastic rate.

Youtube: Adam And Joe's Snatch (adult theme)

More than a little adult, Adam and Joe spoof Guy Ritchie's Britflick gangster bonzana Snatch.

Uploaded by Adam Buxton.

Compressor and WNOL website

This morning I attended a three hour workshop teaching me how to use Compressor, a tool which is a audio and video compressing tool than can be used with Final Cut software.

I also learnt how to convert files in Final Cut Pro.

I am currently compressing files created by my colleagues on the broadcast pathway, and despite the limited number of computers with Compressor, the late hour and how tiring being a webmaster is, am trying to keep my spirits up. Receiving payment from the NUJ did help with this.

Aaron Kay taught the class and did a good job of explaining the software.

I am also starting to write profile pieces for the Student Union elections at Westminster University.

On Thursday 7th March I stop being Webmaster and will become a reporter. I feel that I am picking up useful software and web skills and am fully confident using the Joomla CMS. My knowledge of Photoshop has vastly improved

Westminster News Online will carry on as a project for the next three weeks.

After that we will learn magazine production and Adobe InDesign.

Jacqui Smith Refuses To Review Britain's Gun Laws: Celebrate The Pellet?

I find it sad that Jacqui Smith refuses to review the UK's gun laws.

It's not surprising that Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has accused her of being complacent.

Airguns can kill and one variety, the Brocock air cartridge pistol, can even be adapted to fire live bullets.

I feel airguns should be banned across the United Kingdom and salute Solidarity MSP Tommy Sheridan's proposals two years ago to ban airguns in Scotland.

Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime; remember that? Has it been replaced by the wishy washy slogan shielding Gordon Brown from the audience at Labour's Spring Conference: "New Labour Your Britain"?

How many shopkeepers can tell the difference between an airgun and a real gun? Given that children have been stopped by armed police for playing with water pistols, why is it so hard for New Labour to ban airguns?

Ms Smith said she did "not believe it would be timely to hold a joint national firearms summit" and dismissed calls for an immediate review of the 1968 Firearms Act.

Mr Browne told BBC Scotland's Politics Show statistical evidence for England and Wales showed gun law changes seemed to have had some effect, in particular airguns, which he described as the "obsession" of the Scottish Government.

He argued airgun offences in England and Wales were at a seven-year low, and that the way evidence was collected in Scotland had changed.

You can see some of the gun crime incidents for last month here.

I count at least twenty incidents across Britain last month involving an air gun, twenty too many.

The use of airgun amnesties in the past show how concerned the police are.

The British Association For Shooting And Conservation disagrees with a proposen ban.

Donald Muir, Events and Training Officer for BASC Scotland said: “Unfortunately, Mr. Sheridan has missed the key points in this argument, namely that preventing private ownership of such firearms will do nothing to improve public safety. There is no evidence that legally held guns are used in crime and the majority of people using airguns in Scotland are doing so within the law.”

The same argument used after the Dunblane murders in 1996.

What about legally held weapons being stolen and then used in a crime? Should we believe that every airgun owner locks his weapons safely away?

Get tough on crime, Gordon: ban airguns except for those safely held in registered gun clubs.

League table result fourth most e-mailed story on BBC

A rather odd result for the fourth most e-mailed story on BBC News.

The results for Our Lady Immaculate Catholic Primary School in Liverpool seem to be very popular.

Perhaps the school is including the link in an e-mail.

Iain Dale's February Political Performance Index

Iain Dale says:

Each month I invite you to take part in compiling the Political Performance Index, which gives you the chance to rate how the top 40 politicians in the country perfored over the last month.

You can take the survey reflecting on Feburary here.

Portillo On Thatcher: The Lady's Not For Spurning

I've just watched a Sky+'d documentary on BBC4 fronted by the over exposed Michael Portillo.

Looking at the Conservative Party and Margaret Thatcher, it examines her often negative effect on the party she led for eleven years.

As noted by Portillo, David Cameron is the only Conservative Party leader since 1990 that Margaret Thatcher has not commented on. He's also the one who has done most to modernise the party. The candidate she supported won the leadership election,usually against Kenneth Clarke, whose support for the Euro revolted Thatcher (and no doubt still does).

Portillo speaks to William Hague for the first time since they were in the 2001 Shadow Cabinet, and the discussion seems quite friendly.

He also discusses the ups and downs of Thatcher with Norman Lamont, John Whittingdale and Kenneth Clarke.

Lamont and Thatcher both opposed the arrest of General Pinochet, and both were Eurosceptic during the nineties and beyond.

This strand of the programme is interesting, although rarely surprising.

Portillo also talks about his own encounters with Thatcher and his desire to modernise the Conservatives.

A former Labour supporter from a Labour family, he had a poster of Harold Wilson above his bed when he was eleven. During his university days, he crossed over to join the Tories.

His own narrative of his career is bitty, and does not mention being a Parliamentary Private Secretary to John Moore or being a whip.

He does mention his partial mea culpa for the poll tax, and indeed this programme dwells rather to long on it.

There is some nice catty commentating on John Major, whose 1997 defeat was aided by a bitter Thatcher, but much of the programme is rehashing old facts.

Aside from the interviews with former ministers, including Ed Vaizey's comment that he loved Margaret Thatcher so much he thought The Beat's "Stand Down Margaret" referred to the late Princess, there is not much in the way of political tit-bits.

Still, if you want to find out more about the Tories or how leaders can refuse to fade, then it's worth a look next time it's on BBC4.

Nevada Health Scare: Reused syringes put 40,000 at risk

Forty thousand Nevadans may have been exposed to HIV and Hepatitis strains B and C after visiting the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada between March 2004 and January 2008.

The business was shut down on Thursday by city officals.

Vistors between March 2004 and 11th January 2008 are urged to get tested for the diseases.

ReviewJournal.com has more.

The Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada is a high-volume gastrointestinal practice where colonoscopies are frequently performed. Reuse of syringes and vials at the facility was a "common practice" undertaken by everyone from doctors to technicians, health officials said.

Former patient Charles Rader is suing the clinc for damages over $10,000.

Harry Hill's TV Burp: The Jamie Rap and exploding mash potato

Tonight's TV Burp was impressive, inventive and coated with a layer of exploding mash potato.

A strong opening had Harry mock Eastenders and a dancing snake.

Then Harry got down to the nitty gritty. Jamie Oliver was parodied using the addition of audio to his spiel to create the Jamie Rap.

Eastenders was once again roasted in its own cliches, while a scene from Lewis was TV Highlight Of The Week.

Harry was also coated in jacket potato after a Holby City storyline where a microwave was blown up by one that had been overcooked.

The one downside was an overlong and revoltingly unfunny series of reaction shots consisting of people saying the phrase "Ear cataracts".

They even had gurning tosspot Jeremy Kyle on there in his trademark crumpled suit and faux-bad attitude.

Aside from three minutes of "Ear cataracts", the show was on top form and there were no lookist jokes.

The fight this week was between Crisp Man and Mr Broccoli Carrot Face, which is perhaps the most surreal sentence to end a Tv review on.

Catch A Fire: The story of Patrick Chamusso and life under apartheid

Written by the son of former South African Communist Party leader Joe Slovo, Catch A Fire is a powerful film about life for black South Africans under the apartheid regime.

Protagonist Patrick Chamusso is a factory foreman at Sasol Oil Refinery in Secunda, Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga), who also coaches fotball for local children during his free time.

When African National Congress members set off an explosion at the refinery, South African Special Branch members led by Colonel Nic Vos arrest Patrick and interrogate him, using a variety of torture methods, including the arrest and assualt of his wife. This causes Chamusso to ask Vos "What kind of man are you who does this thing to a woman?"

After Vos releases Patrick Chamusso due to lack of evidence, he travels to Maputo in Mozambique and meets a member of Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation) the armed wing of the ANC.

He trains to become a member and travels to Swaziland to purchase bombs.

Throughout this, Vos' officers have him under watch. Vos sends his wife pictures of Chamusso and a female ANC agent, which do not offer proof of any extramarital lison yet cause his wife to betray him.

After a second attack (which Chamusso takes part in)on the Sasol Oil Refinery, he is captured, tortured and sentence to twenty four years in Robben Island. He is released in 1994 and decides not to seek revenge on Nic Vos. After a while, he also manages to forgive his former wife.

The film, released in 2006, is based on the true story of Patrick Chamusso, who lives in Mpumalanga(formely Eastern Transvaal) with 80 orphans he fosters.

Oxford Times to go compact

This Friday's edition of the Oxford Times was the final broadsheet edition.

To mark the occassion, a special supplement was included with reproductions of various pages including the front page of the first issue in 1862.

There is also a page showing photographs of the various editors, from George Rippon to Derek Holmes.

It is interesting to see how the paper developed from all-text pages with stories reading downwards only to the present day.

The obituary of local resident and former newspaper owner Robert Maxwel is also included. Maxwell bailed out Oxford United and made his son Kevin Maxwell a chairman.

Derek Hoimes says "Our research tells us that this is what our readers want."

A compact paper is easier to store and easier to read while eating. It can also be read more easily on a blustery day.

You can see a preview of the compact Oxford Times here.

Supernanny points out the obvious for Kellogg's

I am sure you will all have seen the Kellogg's boxes with Jo Frost (Supernanny) informing us that "Children who eat breakfast every morning do better at school than those who don't"

What interests me about this endorsement is how rubbish it is.

It doesn't endorse Kellogg's products specifically. Jo Frost's advice could apply to any cereal.

It's also obvious. Anyone who has eaten recently will have the energy to concentrate as opposed to someone who is hungry.

I look forward to more of Jo Frost's endorsements:

*Supernanny could endorse the Metropolitan Police "Children who are safe from gun crime each day peform better than those who are at risk"

*Supernanny could endorse Greenpeace "Children who can breathe properly and aren't at risk of floods do better than thoe who are"

*Supernanny could endose Transport For London "Children who can take public transport to schol get more exercise pacing the platform waiting for delayed trains than those stuck in a stifling car pumping out fumes and mounting the pavement next to the school.