LibDem Blogs - Archived!

My Treo 650 is an odd device; it combines one of the best interfaces of any mobile device with strong multimedia and is not a bad phone. On the other hand, it has many obvious omissions and deficiencies; It is as if device was designed by a genius, and then in a last-minute cost-cutting operation, [...]

I have been thinking some more about the column by Nick Cohen which I recommended here a couple of days ago. Cohen was, quite rightly, taking issue with Irene Khan, the new secretary general of Amnesty International, and her claim that: "If you look globally today and want to talk about human rights, for the vast majority of the world's population they don't mean very much. To talk about freedom of expression to a man who can't read the newspaper, to talk about the right to work to someone who has no job; human rights means nothing to them ...

This bit of news did not get much attention since it appeared just after the election: - Britain faces big chill as ocean current slows - Sunday Times - Times Online Apparently the Gulf Stream is going to stop. The least alarmist scenario is that the cooling affect will just compensate for global warming so our climate remains the same; the most alarmist is the dawn of a new ice age. By my own calculation Stoke on Trent will have roughly the same climate as Queen Charlotte in British Columbia. That is bearable, -3˚ in winter, 20˚ in summer, ...

The whole subject of ASBOs has been in the news today following a report from the Institute for Criminal Policy Research which found more than 66% of people thought prevention was the best way to tackle rowdiness and vandalism. I support the use of ASBOs when they are utilised properly and as part of a process that includes prevention and working with potential recipients on a voluntary basis. That is how the Police forces in South and Mid and West Wales operate and as a result they have a smaller than average number of ASBOs but achieve the same results ...

Yes, it is now possible! A few things to note first of all. THIS IS NOT OFFICALLY SUPPORTED!. I have it working with a Vodafone SIM with blackberry.net APN enabled and a Vanilla P910i using the Web Client Software. First download this zip file Register Now. This should tell the blackberry webserver your PIN and IMEI number. Now on the internet with your computer visit

So the UK population is 59M and there are 73M entries in the National Insurance register (It is allocated at the age of 16 automatically). Some people with NINOs will live abroad, but there are so many rumours floating around about fraud it is amazing. NINOs are used both to receive tax and pay benefits and one would hope, therefore, that the government would make some effort to ensure that the

On the Tsunami the issue of the slowness of the original response remains, but a relatively low proportion of government budget is being recycled back to the UK government. On the relative merits of Pelicans and Puffins which is an important national issue to anyone who has to walk across a road. The Government claim that Puffins cause less vehicle delay, but they are in practice really nasty

On the weekend Heather brought this book, upon flicking through it, I found a picture which I was in. How long did it take Heather to find me? A day and a half!

(a large church in London, probably stolen from the Catholics during the reformation) is training its guides to deal with people who ask questions about the Abbey's role in the Dan Brown book the Da Vinci Code. Just how long does it take to train people to say: 'The book's rubbish, now piss off and stop bothering me.' For a splendid demolition job on the book, read Christoher Howse's 'I've