Rising Dawn

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2010-04-29T12:47:00.001+01:00

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Revival

2008-03-01T16:16:00.003Z

It's time to revive this blog after a long time of inactivity. I have also set up a daily feed from my delicious bookmarks each of which should have a few notes about their significance.
Click here for the new Rising Dawn blog

The iPod suit

2007-07-05T12:24:00.000+01:00

This is not just any iPod suit it's Your M&S iPod suit. Gimmick; marketing hype; useful gadget?

I've no idea, but the idea of buying a new suit because it will control my iPod seems to be missing some sartorial point. How long before it's out of date? As soon as the iPhone hits the UK market - cue the iPhone suit?

FYI M&S describes this elegant piece of tailoring like this:

In classic black pinstripes, our new iPod suit is perfect for music lovers who don’t want to compromise their professional look.
The wool rich suit contains a strategically placed iPod pocket which houses the connector without bulges, while the ‘smart fabric’ control pad on the inner lapel lets you operate the iPod without touching the main controls. Carefully placed loops along the lapel help conceal the earphone wires.

The price: £149.00 but if you're feeling a bit skint you can buy the jacket for a mere £90.00

Alan Johnston is free

2007-07-04T05:05:00.000+01:00

The BBC correspondent, Alan Johnston, has been freed by the captors who kidnapped him in Gaza sixteen weeks ago. His release was negotiated by Hamas, the ruling party in Gaza that recently took power in a military operation in that part of the Palestinian territories.
Alan has just spoken at a news conference and he sounds extremely well and lucid considering his ordeal. He spoke of listening to BBC World service and being encouraged by the messages of encouragement broadcast for him by the former prisoners in the Middle East, Terry Waite and John McCarthy. He described his imprisonment as being like being "buried alive", "occasionally terrified," and wondering just how long he would be held. He said, "It was a huge battle to keep your mind in the right place," and spoke about his lucky break when he managed to get hold of a radio. He was comforted by the massive support there was for him around the world. He also clearly regretted being unable to report on the momentous events that were unfolding all around him while he was in captivity.
Waking at 4.30 this morning and listening to the radio I could no longer sleep, but had to get up and watch events on TV and then write this short blog. Alan has been in my mind ever since he was captured. My son, who used to speak to him from the BBC newsroom in London, has told that Alan was a really nice guy, always obliging and helpful. Alan's family must be so relieved to hear this news. What a good start to the day. Many prayers have been answered this morning.

Wi-Fi hysteria

2007-05-21T09:39:00.000+01:00

"radio frequency radiation levels in some schools are up to three times the level found in the main beam of intensity from mobile phone masts."

This meaningless comparison proves nothing, but it does generate fear in the minds of thousands of parents. Most people do not understand electromagnetic radiation so they are dependent on people like the BBC to explain it to them properly. Not in sensational headlines worthy only of the Daily Express or Mail.
The radiation from mobile phone masts and a Wi-Fi network are so different that they cannot be compared. They use different radio frequencies, different digital standards, different antennae, serve vastly different purposes and transmit at widely differing power levels.
Why not compare the Wi-Fi radiation to the TV transmitter at Crystal Palace or the Microwave link on top of the BT Tower, both in the centre of densely populated areas in London. I suggest that the mobile phone mast was chosen because it is already surrounded by hysteria and is more likely to connect parents with their fears in a massive short circuit of common sense.
The headlines may scream, so might some misguided protesters but if our children were going to be in pain from radiation it would have happened in a provable way by now. Radio waves have been with us for more than a 100 years and the BBC and other broadcasters have been pumping millions of watts of electromagnetic energy towards our homes since the 1940s.
This Panorama is bad science and helps to serve nothing except the audience figures.

Free Energy?

2007-05-14T10:28:00.000+01:00

There's a Guardian Reader offer for a device called a Freeloader.
It allegedly offers free energy for a one off payment of £29.95. It supplies enough energy to charge a mobile phone or iPOD from Solar Power.

I have just received an electricity bill from my energy supplier which charges £0.072 for each kilowatt hour. That's enough energy to power a 100W lightbulb for ten hours.

This Freeloader device supplies just 5 watt hours per charge. Assuming it could be recharged a thousand times your £30.00 delivers 5 kilowatt hours of energy. This works out at £6.00 for each kilowatt hour a mere 8,334 times more than the cost of plugging in my mobile phone charger.

There is also an option of using the device from the USB socket of a computer .... the will does not exist to calculate the cost of this source of power ..... but it goes without saying that it will be even more expensive than using the rays of the sun.

And before you stray down the "green" road. Just how environmentally friendly is it to create a device that uses a rechargeable battery to charge a rechargeable battery. Isn't that one battery too many?

Keep looking

2007-05-13T07:19:00.000+01:00

Four burning candles stood in the centre of the meal table. Fragile flames flickering in the gentle breeze of our conversation reminding us of the tiny life that is the focus of so many of our thoughts this weekend. Madeleine McCann is missing, abducted by people of evil intent, keeping her from her family who are anxiously searching The Algarve for their lost girl.

The family here in the UK has set up a website with pictures, messages of support and the latest news about the investigation into her disappearance ten days ago.

Keep looking.

Light Four Candles for Maddie's Birthday

2007-05-12T07:16:00.000+01:00

Today is Madeleine McCann's fourth birthday. She is still missing, nine days after being abducted from her holiday home in Portugal. I write this as part of the campaign to keep her profile high and to engage as many hearts and eyes as possible in the search for her.
If you pray, pray for her safe return. Send her picture to your friends by email.
In the remote chance that she has been brought by her abductors to your area, keep looking for her. Remember her face.
Today - whenever you read this message - light four candles for her. It's Maddie's birthday.

Alan Johnston

2007-04-26T08:23:00.000+01:00

As a journalist and former BBC employee myself, I want to do my bit keep up Alan Johnston's profile until he's released by his captors. He was abducted in Gaza on 12th of March 2007 and it's believed he is still alive - despite one unsubstantiated claim that he has been executed.
My son tells me that of all the BBC Correspondents he has to deal with (he too works for the BBC) Alan is one of the most helpful and co-operative. A really nice guy.
So, who ever you are, please don't forget him. He should be at home in the UK by now. His job in Palestine was about to come to an end and he is being held against his will.

Doing a Hammond

2007-03-06T17:30:00.000Z

I'm not really a petrol head - that's too environmentally unPC these days - but I do notice car stories, especially when an £800k motor has a tiff with a common old Astra. It doesn't really matter which one came off the best, this Bugatti Veyron definitely lost. Loadsa money in damage, face, street cred and probably points off someones licence.
I heard Top Gear's James May on 5Live this lunchtime saying that he'd driven one of these at something like 230 mph. The name of the driver of this one isn't given but it sort of fits Dicky Hammond's reputation ......

Murdoch in trouble

2007-02-23T14:25:00.000Z

Is the spat between Rupert Murdoch and Virgin Media a sign that the Sky Empire is in trouble?
In this age when everyone wants to be on as many platforms as possible, Sky is pulling itself off cable and planning to take it's News and Sports News off Freeview - reducing the potential audience on two fronts.
It means that advertisers will be looking for lower rates and possibly indicates concern within the Murdoch empire. Clearly there is so much concern about the potential damage that cable and Freeview are presenting to satellite that a brave (and misguided?) attempt is being made to pull everyone onto one exclusive platform. Looks like desperate measures to me; too many people have already made their digital choice and they're unlikely to change now.

Call me grandad

2007-02-10T14:47:00.000Z

I am now officially a grandad. My son, Wesley, and his wife, Deborah, have a new baby son. They've called him Alexander John. I don't know if this means that they hope he'll be great and conquer the world or if he'll have a ragtime band.
Today he's tiny and weighs just 6lbs 15oz, utterly dependent on the care of his parents. What he will be, will be forged by the events of the next few short years.

Psychic eh?

2007-02-09T10:19:00.000Z

A lack of visitors has forced the closure of a Psychic Museum in York. Shouldn't they have known that before it opened?

Pointing the finger

2007-02-01T17:01:00.000Z

You have to be careful when pointing an accusing finger - because you point three at yourself at the same time.
Jeremy Paxman had a moan about the BBC over its poor green credentials. His colleague, Gavin Esler, made this comment in his Newsnight daily email this afternoon:

Imagine my surprise this morning opening my copy of The Times to read that my esteemed colleague Jeremy Paxman has offered a devastating critique of the BBC's failures to be Green enough, failures on recycling, failures to cut power consumption, failures to help save the planet.

Great stuff, I thought. Then imagine my surprise because in the BBC office Jeremy and I share with Kirsty and Emily, the computer and monitor (which we also share) were left switched on all night. The culprit? Hmmm. Who could it possibly be wasting all that electricity? Well, the last log-in that I could discover was "Paxmanj." Any ideas?

Never mind Jeremy - at least you can save on one Christmas Card next year - an environmentally friendly gesture of course.

Counter sue the idiots

2007-01-27T18:56:00.000Z

If you're a regular recycler you'll know the frustration of finding the bins in the council depot full. After all the effort of separating and collecting the waste you're frustrated because the council's contractor hasn't kept up with taking the rubbish away.
So when I heard about a child in Kent who was threatened with jail and then fined £50 for leaving her box of waste next to a full bin I went ballistic. The council should be fining the contractor and apologising to the public for failing to provide an efficient service.
I would file a counter claim in the small claims court. Even if I lost they would have to answer the summons to provide a proper answer.
I regularly call the so called recycling helpline when I'm faced with an overflowing can bank in York. I never receive a reply to the message I leave on the ever present voicemail. It's time us recyclers were treated properly instead of being fined by petty minded officers.

How fast?

2007-01-22T09:17:00.000Z

"I'm so fast, that when I walk into my hotel room and switch off the light, I'm in bed before the room gets dark." Muhammad Ali

That fast!!!

This gem is buried in a story in today's Media Guardian (scroll down to "Who is the world's greatest copywriter?")

BB: Referendum on racism

2007-01-19T08:13:00.000Z

So Big Brother has now become part of the democratic process. The nations' attitude to ethnic minorities is to be judged by the votes of the viewers of a reality TV programme. That's the implication of Andy Duncan's limp response to the complaints about the behaviour of some of the celebrities on the show.
The outcry over the antics of the inhabitants of this manufactured community in Hertfordshire, locked away for a TV show, has reached fever pitch. 30,000 complaints to the broadcasting regulator, OFCOM, questions in the House of Commons, outrage by cabinet ministers and news headlines have propelled this show into the stratosphere. But to make judgements about the attitude of the nation based on either the response of the viewers or more widely the outrage of millions who've never seen it is utter folly.
You will gather that I'm not a fan of BB, celebrity or otherwise, but that's my choice. But when choices are made about my attitude, based on the posturing of a few showbiz people and the manipulation of their TV audience, I object. I thought the debates in the House of Commons could be mindless, but this row plunges mindlessness to a new low.

Pay not to use your car

2007-01-16T09:52:00.000Z

Residents in the London Borough of Richmond are to be charged up to three times the normal rate for residents parking if they own a 4x4 vehicle.
This is idiocy. If they don't drive their gas guzzler they'll be charged a surcharge for parking it. If you want them off the road increase the cost of driving it. What will happen as a result of this policy is that 4x4 owners will be driving around looking for a parking place that doesn't cost the earth - and in the process they'll be burning fuel and costing everyone the earth.
And how do you police this process? My vehicle can drive all four wheels but only if the wheels lose their grip - so most of the time it's a two wheel drive vehicle. Whilst it's parked none of the wheels are driving. There are lots of two wheel drive cars that cause more damage to the planet than my car. So if I lived in Richmond would I be penalised?

Theatre of Dreams

2007-01-02T22:42:00.000Z

I have been a supporter of Man U for long time but I've never been to Old Trafford. That probably makes me an armchair supporter and opens me up to a torrent of ridicule.
This Sunday that all changes. I will be at the cup match between Man U and Villa in Manchester. The ticket actually says Theatre of Dreams"
My first recollection of the existence of Manchester United was of my dad listening to the FA Cup final in 1957 whilst painting the hall, stairs and landing. The mains lead of our old Cossor radio was stretched to the limit to reach the top of stairs so that he wouldn't miss any of the action. Their opponent on that occasion was also Aston Villa who won 2-1.
I'm not sure why he supported Man U, but he came from the Lake District so I suppose he was on the right side of the country.
My interest was revived when my sons started to support Man U as schoolboys - long after their grandad had died.
This Sunday one of those sons, Wesley, will meet me in Manchester, to see the game. Wes bought me the ticket as a Christmas present. He bought himself one at the same time.

Dawn Riser blog creates a headline

2006-09-13T14:39:00.000+01:00

The call came out of the blue. A young voice said he was calling from the Evening Standard, he had been reading my blog and was interested in what I'd said about Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth.
He was compiling the Readers Views page for today's paper and wondered if I could send him a shorter version of my blog post.
So I did. Later, he called me again. Liked my piece but would like to develop a couple of things. How did the film compare with other recent documentaries eg the one by Mike Moore and The Day After Tomorrow? As I hadn't seen these films I was unable to help with that one. Secondly - is there anyone in the UK able to put across these messages more strongly to a UK audience? By this time I was travelling home by train, so we discussed a few ideas and he said he would write them up and call me for my approval.
He called back and after some discussion we agreed to add the bit about Test the Nation and Planet Idol to fill out the story. We didn't discuss what would be left out.

Here's the text of the letter published above my name in the Evening Standard tonight.
So that you can compare, here is the text I initially sent to him:

I was surprised that the City Screen in York was full for the preview of Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth. I had to stand in line and wait for a seat in the hope that someone wouldn't show up.
At its most basic the film is nothing special. Just a series of graphs charting the arrival of global warming and predicting it's potential damage if we don't do something soon. The presentation is interspersed with short recollections from Al Gore's past and stills of shrinking ice caps, glaciers and polar regions. The upbeat ending makes believe that it's not too late to rescue the planet from pending doom.
Will it show to capacity crowds when it's on general release in Britain? Will it change anyone's mind here about the threat of global warming?
At the preview I'm sure I was sitting with the already converted, who left inspired to turn down the thermostat, use the car less and to recycle more waste. Your average cinema goer may prefer more entertainment. An action adventure or romantic comedy.
The film's biggest weakness is Al Gore. Not Al Gore the campaigner, but Al Gore as the presenter of his own film. An impartial film maker harnessing a range of views would be more convincing for a UK audience. Those who do choose to watch it will think, despite it's hard hitting and factual content, that it's all together too smultzy and self congratulatory to be convincing.
All the same I am telling my friends to go and see it. It's the best argument so far to counter the belief that we are in just another climate cycle that can be ignored. And just as my initial prediction was proved wrong, it may be that An Inconvenient Truth plays to packed houses in Britain as well as Manhattan.

It's interesting how things change in the publishing process. Were my views fairly represented? I'll leave you to judge.

The end of infinity

2006-09-09T06:41:00.000+01:00

Who said the internet was infinite? Somewhere between this blog and the last page lies something less than infinity. Doesn't it?
And somewhere else in that space lies Rocketboom

There's a country to run

2006-09-07T10:14:00.000+01:00

I think it's time to change the way we run the country. The last two significant governments in Britian have ended in acrimony and I think it's because we have no way to bring the whole thing to an end. In the US there are fixed terms for government. Leaders know how long they have to run things and that's it. Here, the process is in the hands of the ruling party. There's a notional date for a general election, but it can be called at any time at the discretion of the Prime Minister. And there seems to be no way for a Prime Minister to step down without being knifed in the back.

So we should have a General Election after four years, and if a Prime Minister wants to step down from office, that too should either trigger a general election or some other kind of election for the office.

The recriminations of the last few days must never be repeated. They're a disgrace. I am ashamed to be British at the moment. There are much bigger issues than "Whose turn is it now?", and they are being neglected because a small number of nobody Labour MPs think they can manipulate events.

I have issues with Tony Blair, but he's the best Labour Prime Minister ever, and if we're not careful we'll end up throwing it all away and getting a Cameron premiership in his place - and then where will we be?

An inconvenient truth

2006-09-03T14:14:00.000+01:00

I've just been to see Al Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth" at a special preview screening for members of York's City Screen. As I walked to the cinema I was thinking about how many people would turn up at 11am on a Sunday morning to see a documentary by a failed presidential candidite talking about Global Warming. I may, I thought, be the only one there!
The queue was visible as soon as I turned the corner. It was sold out and the only people going into Screen 3 had booked in advanced. I stood in line and hoped to fill the seat of someone who didn't show up. I was ushered in a couple of minutes before the film began.
I'll talk about the style of the film in a minute. The content was compelling. Al Gore presented graph after graph and statistic after statistic to demonstrate how the climate change we are experiencing cannot be part of a cycle of events, simply repeating what had happened many times in past centuries and eons.
We were treated to misty recollections of his youth and images from across the planet to backup the dry charts of scientific findings. Melting glaciers, dried up lakes, intensifying tropical storms, floods, droughts and tree damage were all projected on the screen to convince us that our lifestyles must change if we are to avert disaster, not just in this generation but in others that lie ahead - if the human race survives that long.
Was I convinced? I felt as though I was sitting with the converted. Intelligent, educated, comfortable middle class people. People who were already thinking about reducing their impact on the planet. Not much convincing needed - more like reinforcing.
So what about the film? It was essentially a film about the presentation that Al Gore in his own words has given over a thousand times in cities across the USA and the world. Hence the graphs and stats. It was all held on his Apple Powerbook and delivered on Keynote software. There was a manageable dose of mockerty directed at George Bush and a muted gripe about the rigged election that Al Gore won and lost.
The ending was upbeat. After the gloom of his predictions, Al Gore turned campaigner and preacher and roused the audience to an optimistic climax. We can do something, more than is needed, by making changes now. It's not too late. I suppose it's the only way that a film like this could end if the American audience is to be kept on board.
It's great weakness is that Al Gore is making a film about Al Gore's campaign. It may work in the US but here it needs someone more impartial to present the film and to interrogate the facts and projections.
Will it make people think? Yes; if they go to see it, stay the course and want to be convinced. Will is change the masses? No; but it's a start - and perhaps other film makers, producers and writers will get on board to drive the message into hard to reach lifestyles. Go and see it. Judge for yourself - and comment here.
And when you go - don't expect to be the only one there - be on the safe side and book in advance!

Stars and stripes

2006-08-22T16:18:00.000+01:00

Grand Canyon
Originally uploaded by Dawnriser.

We're home from the United States and you can look at my pictures on Flickr. You will find views posted from Sedona, Grand Canyon and San Francisco plus a few from Saratoga Springs near Ukiah in Northern California.

We had a great time - now we need to get over the jet lag.

Snoopy Rock

2006-08-01T07:20:00.000+01:00

snoopy rock
Originally uploaded by Dawnriser.

Today we set off on a journey to the United States. Starting in Sedona, Arizona we're also travelling to San Francisco and Saragosa Springs in California.
The last few days are for a gathering of digital storytelling facilitators, but for the first two weeks it's a holiday.
The Snoopy Rock is just one of the intriguing red rocks around Sedona. From there we'll go to view the Grand Canyon too. 'View' is too small a word for the awesome grandeur of this wonder of the world.
I've travelled this route before, for work, but I promised Joan that one day I would take her to see the places I'd been so enthusiasatic about.
So today we go. I hope to blog some pictures here - if the wireless networks in the US are working.

You can read the blog of my last trip to Sedona here