Via NTK I discovered Idiot Toys, a hilariously irreverent tech blog. In between finding out about all the latest gadgets, you can laugh at all the pictures of Asian women holding things, and then laugh even more at the commentary, such as:

She spent the winter training under 1963 World Thing-Holding Champion Kim Il Kwok at altitude in Mexico — and boy does it show!

and:

This one seems to have three hands, a new development in the world of thing-holding, plus there’s a bonus woman holding a thing on the mobile phone screen itself, making a stunning total of FOUR things, TWO women and a sensational FIVE HANDS in the one photo! Beat that, Samsung!

Also don’t miss reports on German pornography, wierd sex things (”NUMBER OF FEMALE HICCUP SAMPLES: 169; NUMBER OF MALE HICCUP SAMPLES: 25; CONCLUSION: This is definitely a sex thing”) and even actual technology, such as a mannequin called Cleopatra onto which you can project the face of your choice (”No details on the realism of her genitalia is available at time of writing”) and a Samsung MP3 playing camera (”If only it could make phone calls!”)

Posted by Rob Fisher as Links at 10:00 PM EDT

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The Telegraph has an article headlined, “Speed of cars ‘will be limited by computer’.”

The Government is examining the results of research into “intelligent speed adaptation technology” carried out by the Institute for Transport Studies at Leeds University.

I think you can see where this is going. Between this, satellite road charging and retention of mobile phone geographical data, they’ll know where you are pretty much all the time. Currently, “there are no plans to make it compulsory.” At least until, say, a small child is killed by a speeding idiot and everyone decides that Something Must Be Done.

I can just imagine the effect this will have on people’s driving too. Merging could be extremely hazardous, not just because drivers won’t be able to control their speed properly but because the expectation of that lack of control will make them more hesitant. And my experiences of satellite navigation do not fill me with confidence that the system will work very well. What happens you find yourself doing 30MPH on the motorway because the system thinks you’re on an adjacent road?

The only good thing about this is that people might start barking up the right tree for once and demand that ridiculous speed limits are corrected or abolished entirely.

Posted by Rob Fisher as Civil Liberties, Driving, Privacy at 7:16 PM EDT

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…Not a new medical condition, but another in a long line of invasive ideas cooked up by authoritarians. Suw Charman has an article describing it in depth:

The UK, France, Ireland and Sweden are trying to push a directive on data retention through into EU legislation which would force all member countries to compel all telecommunications and internet service providers to save information about the use of their services by us, the public (document 8958/2004). They say that this is for ‘the purpose of prevention, investigation, detection and prosecution of crime and criminal offences including terrorism’, but whilst it would have far-reaching consequences, the benefits appear to be non-existent.

The data they want to retain includes web sites visited, addressees of emails and the mast your mobile phone is talking to (meaning that your approximate location would be recorded as long as your phone is switched on).

If that doesn’t immediately send chills down your spine, then it should. In short, the government will be keeping track of all your conversations and communications, and the cost of that spying is going to show up on your phone bill. But worse will be the damage to your civil and human rights. The lack of any meaningful checks and balances in the system means that there’s a high risk of abuse not just from the government, but potentially from the private sector too. And the benefits from all this will be negligible at best, illusory at worst.

Suw goes on to explain who wants the data (everyone including the Postal Services Commission); what it will cost; how useful it will (or rather won’t) be for law enforcement; why the directive might be illegal; why you should care (item 6 is poignant); and what you can do about it.

It’s all too familiar — so many of the arguments for and against ID cards are the same — and I’m sure we can expect a lot more of this type of thing. Suw writes, “precedents will have been set and future amendments or new directives will only become more and more draconian”. We are already a long way down that road.

Posted by Rob Fisher as Civil Liberties, Privacy at 7:02 PM EDT

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There’s some excellent discussion on the existence or otherwise of God in the comments to a post by Kasparsohn at the Daily Ablution. Ade made me smile:

If we accept for a moment that god does exist, the next question is whether we consider that the appropriate action is to worship such a cruel, violent and psychopathic entity.

A similar sentiment was expressed by Slocum, further down. Nick (South Africa) adds:

The problem of suffering and evil is indeed a valid question for those who posit any omnipresent, omnipotent, benevolent deity – the stock answer of ‘god works in mysterious ways’ leaves me for one considerably unimpressed, indeed it’s a cop out just like the cosmological argument.

Nick’s other comments are worth a read, too. A full discussion of theodicy can be found on Wikipedia.

Posted by Rob Fisher as Imaginary Friends at 6:38 PM EDT

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Another somewhat lazy post because I am once again working away from home and getting very little time to myself. But this is good, worthwhile stuff nonetheless.

The aim of Samizdata.net as far as I can see is to shift the boundaries of political debate by getting ideas about smaller government and more personal and economic freedom more widely talked about. Perry de Havilland takes a good stride in that direction with an article in the Times about freedom vs. security, in particular why they are not vs. each other at all.

Scott Wickstein has a good story that I must try to remember next time I get into a debate about private vs. public education.

This recalls to me the time, long ago now, when I was studying like a demon in order to obtain the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) qualification, back in the dark days when networking involved lots of wires. As it was, I was dating a university student at the time and she was appalled that I had to acheive an 85% score to pass and obtain the qualification. She was doing sociology or something of that ilk in a Melbourne university and told me smugly that she only needed to score 55% to pass. Easy for her, but who do you think knew their subject better? After all, Cisco had a real stake in me being proficient in knowing how to use their product.

So the private education provider has a definite incentive to provide value for money.

I’m reminded of a system of paying for education that one of my lecturers once suggested: Have a transfer system similar to that used by football teams. In other words, an employer pays the university when it employs one of their students in return for a guaranteed number of years of service. It might be an attractive alternative to a loan for some students. My lecturer thought the idea would lead to much more funding for engineering and much less for media studies, which he saw as a good thing. More generally, private money paying for education would provide more of the education people are prepared to pay for and less of what they’re not, whatever that happens to be.

Speaking of education, Michael Jennings has a very educating article (and for free!) about the solar system. He explains the controversy over whether Pluto is a planet, and on the way describes the solar system in fascinating detail.

Posted by Rob Fisher as Links at 9:58 PM EDT

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