Agreed it's horrifying! I think most organised efforts like this require a clear distinctions so people can make clear choices and that's not what happens in UK politics. We have a choice between two centre right parties who spend a lot of time and effort trying to criticise each other despite the fact that they largely agree on the important stuff and would mostly make the same decisions in the same way using the same advisor's all things being equal. It's very hard to get excited about that!

A day late and a dollar short for my money. Their interface was creaking as much as their design language five years back. I looked at an X6 today and it's basically an I phone clone, just a cheaper plasticky one. Come on nokia you need to genuinely innovate not just throw out new keypad layouts on the same old candy bar phones.

The times of London is reporting that Jobs had N-Stage liver disease and had the highest UNOS score for his blood type at the time of the transplant. (http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article6567133.ece). The interesting part is your assumption that he bought the organ.

This guy has had one of the rarest and most deadly forms of cancer around (I had to watch my father die from this, it's no fun at all) then ends up with N Stage liver disease, probably caused by the chemo. So could we show a little RESPECT for the fact that he fought it, survived, and kept working afterwards, when many others would have retired.

He will probably spend the rest of his, much shortened, life on immunosuppressant drugs, which are about as much fun as chemo.

Hope you feeling better Steve, hope the transplant holds, and thanks for Apple (even if we love to hate it).

I recently gave my sister an old laptop running Ubuntu while I was repairing her main machine, when I was done fixing the new one I asked her how she got on and if she would like me to dual boot the newer machine. She said: "It was ok but I don't need it". Linux didn't to anything different or special, in her judgement, to windows and she already knew how that worked. This makes sense most people buy based on need or desire.

It's a really nice commercial, but it sells Linux to Linux users; plus as Bush discovered freedom is in the eye of the beholder. Linux is not a lifestyle product like Macs, but it could be a business product. If you want it to sell tell me (or in this case corporate middle management and small businesses) that it will cost me less, tell me that open office is compatible, tell me that Linux is interoperable, tell me it will run better on older lower spec hardware, and then tell me that the guys who set it up will cost me no more than the guys who set up my windows network. Talk about freedom all you want but freedom will not sell Linux because the OS may be free but the hardware, support and set up is not.

The security cameras in my town allow the operators to shout messages (sadly unintelligible one's) at pedestrians behaving in an anti-social manner.

Reminds me of a line from D.A.R.Y.L. (1985) "A child with a stick of chewing gum has just rendered your $15,000,000 worth of military hardware useless. Any suggestions?"

This is a pretty good indication of what you should do if you find yourself in trouble with the law, it from the NightJack Police blog, http://nightjack.wordpress.com/2008/07/24/a-survival-guide-for-decent-folk/

Complain First

Always get your complaint in first, even if it is you who started it and you who were in the wrong. If things have gone awry and you suspect the cops are going to be called, get your retaliation in first. Ring the cops right away and allege for all you are worth. If you can work a racist or homophobic slant into it so much the better.

Make a counter allegation

Regardless of the facts, never let the other side be blameless. If they beat you to the phone, ring anyway and make a counter allegation against them. Again racism or homophobia are your friends. If you are not from a visible minority ethnic culture, may I suggest that that the phrase âoeYou gay bastardâ or similar is always useful. In extremis allege sexual assault. It gives us something to bargain with when getting the other person to drop their complaint on a quid-pro-quo basis. This is particularly good where there are no independent witnesses. When it boils down to one word against another and nobody is âfessing up, CPS run a mile and you, my friend, are definitely on a walk out

Never explain to the Police

If the Police arrive to lock you up, say nothing. You are a decent person and you may think that reasoning with the Police will help. âoeIf I can only explain, they will realise it is all a horrible mistake and go awayâ. Wrong. We do want to talk to you on tape in an interview room but that comes later. All you are doing by trying to explain is digging yourself further in. We call that stuff a significant statement and we love it. Decent folk canâ(TM)t help themselves, they think that they can talk their way out. Wrong.

Admit Nothing

To do anything more than lock you up for a few hours we need to prove a case. The easiest route to that is your admission. Without it, our case may be a lot weaker, maybe not enough to charge you with. In any case, it is always worth finding out exactly how damning the evidence is before you fall on your sword. So donâ(TM)t do the decent and honourable thing and admit what you have done. Donâ(TM)t even deny it or try to give your side of the story. Just say nothing. No confession and CPS are on the back foot already. They forsee a trial. They fear a trial. They are looking for any excuse to send you home free.

Keep your mouth shut

Say as little as possible to us. At the custody office desk a Sergeant will ask you some questions. It is safe to answer these. For the rest of the time, say nothing.

Claim Suicidal Thoughts

A debatable one this. Claiming to be thinking about topping yourself has several benefits. If you can keep it up, it might just bump up any compensation payable later. On the other hand you may find yourself in a paper suit with someone watching your every move.

Always always always have a solicitor

Duh. No brainer this one. Unless you know 100% for sure that your mate the solicitor does criminal law and is good at it, ask for the Duty Solicitor. They certainly do criminal law and they are good at it. Then listen to what the solicitor says and do it. Their job is to get you off without the Cops or CPS laying a glove on you if at all possible. It is what they get paid for. They are free to you. There is no down side. Now decent folks think it makes them look like they have something to hide if they ask for a solicitor. Irrelevant. Going into an interview without a solicitor is like taking a walk in Tottenham with a big gold Rolex. Bad things are very likely to happen to you. I wouldnâ(TM)t do it and I interview people for a living.

Actively complain about every officer and everything they do

Did they cuff you when they brought you in? Were they rude to you? Did they racially or homophobically abuse you? Didnâ(TM)t get fed? Cell too cold? You are decent folk who donâ(TM)t want to make a fuss but trust me, it pays to whinge and no matter how trivial and / or poorly founded your complaint there are people who will uncritically listen to you and try and prove the complaint on your behalf. Some of them are even police officers. Nothing like a complaint to muddy the waters and suggest that you are only in court because the vindictive Cops have a grudge against you. Far fetched? Wait until your solicitor spins it in court and you come over as Ghandi.

Show no respect to the legal system or anybody working in it

You think that if you are a difficult, unpleasant, sneering, unco-operative and rude things will go badly for you and you will be in more trouble. No sirree Bob. It seems that in fact the worse you are, the easier things will go for you if, horror of horrors, you do end up convicted. Remember to fake a drink problem if you havenâ(TM)t developed one as a result of dealing with us already. Magistrates and Judges do seem to like the idea that you are basically good but the naughty alcohol made you do it. They treat you better. Crazy I know but true.

So there you go, basically anything you try and do because you are decent and staightforward hurts you badly. Act like an habitual, professional, lifestyle criminal and chances are you will walk away relatively unscathed. Copy the bad guys, its what they do for a living.

If you thought this was good then it's also worth checking out Inspector Gadget Blog,