Sunday, May 17, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Have we died yet?
Swine flu eh? Bloody swine flu.
I must say I learned alot about news reporting from the "pandemic". The look on people's faces when you tell them the death toll is in fact 20.
That is all. All this panic, all this scaremongering, over exactly 20 deaths. People will say "150, 150!" However, this is the amount of people who have died of flu like symptoms in Mexico this year, not a country known widely for it's sterling healthcare (the fact that so many can die of the flu is probably in fact the real story here). The reporting of the swine flu was in such a way you needed to dig down pretty deep to find the actual figures, as opposed to speculative amounts.
There was never any evidence to say this flu was more virulent than any other.
Seasonal flu will kill many, many more than the swine flu this year.
There's two different anti virals known to be helpful with swine flu.
There are reported cases of people simply sleeping it off over a couple of weeks.
So why all this hullaballo?
(On an aside, that is one of my favourite words. I should use it more.)
Without acting all conspiracy theorist, there simply has to be someone benefitting from this.
Is it the news channels? Recession getting on peoples nerves?
Perhaps it is the large pharmas. the company which makes Tamiflu has certainly seen large increases in their share price over the last few weeks.
Regardless, I think this 2-3 year cycle of BSE, SARS, Avian flu et al is really very dangerous. Sooner or later a disease will emerge that we really do have to worry about, and we'll be so used to the warnings we'll just go "meh".
I fear the Armehgeddon more than the Aporkalypse.
I must say I learned alot about news reporting from the "pandemic". The look on people's faces when you tell them the death toll is in fact 20.
That is all. All this panic, all this scaremongering, over exactly 20 deaths. People will say "150, 150!" However, this is the amount of people who have died of flu like symptoms in Mexico this year, not a country known widely for it's sterling healthcare (the fact that so many can die of the flu is probably in fact the real story here). The reporting of the swine flu was in such a way you needed to dig down pretty deep to find the actual figures, as opposed to speculative amounts.
There was never any evidence to say this flu was more virulent than any other.
Seasonal flu will kill many, many more than the swine flu this year.
There's two different anti virals known to be helpful with swine flu.
There are reported cases of people simply sleeping it off over a couple of weeks.
So why all this hullaballo?
(On an aside, that is one of my favourite words. I should use it more.)
Without acting all conspiracy theorist, there simply has to be someone benefitting from this.
Is it the news channels? Recession getting on peoples nerves?
Perhaps it is the large pharmas. the company which makes Tamiflu has certainly seen large increases in their share price over the last few weeks.
Regardless, I think this 2-3 year cycle of BSE, SARS, Avian flu et al is really very dangerous. Sooner or later a disease will emerge that we really do have to worry about, and we'll be so used to the warnings we'll just go "meh".
I fear the Armehgeddon more than the Aporkalypse.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Advice for Business Trips...
As I prepare to return to Ireland for a short time (yay!) I thought I would share some musings which first came to light on my favourite forum, boards.ie.
These are my findings on how to travel with your job. Bear in mind it is a different experience to a holiday. You will find you are often too tired or have too little time to get to know any of the language or culture. I've found the following helps.
1) There are a small number of phrases which you can survive on a business trip to any country with. They are:
Hello
Goodbye!
Please
Thank you
Beer?
Chicken
Chips
Steak
(Whatever name of a drink you like which is not alcoholic)
Try not to get too good at pronouncing these words as it may prompt an embarrassing silence when the waitress/ barman/ whatever asks you something outside of these ten words in the local tongue. It is best to appear endearingly poor at the native language, so the other party will want to help you!
If you're someone who doesn't like to experiment with the ol' outdoors, this here is enough to survive indefinitely on a companies expenses sheet in a hotel.
Seriously though dude, get out more.
2) You will no doubt have both CNN and BBC world service in your hotel room. Do not watch these on the first day as you will need them later when you're bored to tears and they have a short shelf life. Especially CNN, swishy graphics can make your head hurt.
3) MP3 players are your friend. Load up on podcasts you like before you go. The doomPod and my little travel speaker system are pretty worn out by this stage. Large gig music players might seem expensive but if you're going to be away on your own alot, they're a deity send. Believe it or not, other countries radio stations are just as crap as your own.
There's actually something kind of reassuring about that.
4) Try and find a pub which is nice and quiet but not touristy, and get on with the bar staff quick. It is a known fact that hotel rooms get smaller the longer you spend in them and you will need a home away from home. There's a significant chance it will be dark when you get home so wandering round may not be the best option if you are in unfamiliar territory.
(Who am I kidding, I've had the most fun of the whole trip doing this!)
5) DVD boxsets have hours of entertainment in a small container. Good option. I myself have endeavoured to become an expert in Japanese Transformers cartoons. Mastaaaah- Force!
6) No where is perfect. Try to remember that when the grass seems greener. Stay anywhere too long and you'll start seeing the nasty side to it. For example, Germany has many awesome things going for it, but I am beginning to miss people smiling instead of looking away when you catch their eye (which I am sure is where this "Germans are humourless" rubbish comes from).
7) Do something with your weekends. Explore. Find an outlet. Whatever you do, don't get so drunk you waste the day. Otherwise the entire trip will become an exhausting, grey, endless sludge (I am not saying don't drink though. There's no alcohol like foreign alcohol).
8) Resist the natural urge to become ridiculously patriotic. To be sure, begorrah. I'm told I am not the only one who suddenly feels very Irish when abroad. I think it's a form of homesickness.
9) The more English in the menu, the worse the quality of the food. Unfortunately. If there's not many people but tourists in your establishment there's generally a reason the locals are not using it.
10) If your trip is over 1 month, either insist on a flat while you are abroad or a weekend home. Most cities are done in a month.
...I hope this is of help to some of you!
These are my findings on how to travel with your job. Bear in mind it is a different experience to a holiday. You will find you are often too tired or have too little time to get to know any of the language or culture. I've found the following helps.
1) There are a small number of phrases which you can survive on a business trip to any country with. They are:
Hello
Goodbye!
Please
Thank you
Beer?
Chicken
Chips
Steak
(Whatever name of a drink you like which is not alcoholic)
Try not to get too good at pronouncing these words as it may prompt an embarrassing silence when the waitress/ barman/ whatever asks you something outside of these ten words in the local tongue. It is best to appear endearingly poor at the native language, so the other party will want to help you!
If you're someone who doesn't like to experiment with the ol' outdoors, this here is enough to survive indefinitely on a companies expenses sheet in a hotel.
Seriously though dude, get out more.
2) You will no doubt have both CNN and BBC world service in your hotel room. Do not watch these on the first day as you will need them later when you're bored to tears and they have a short shelf life. Especially CNN, swishy graphics can make your head hurt.
3) MP3 players are your friend. Load up on podcasts you like before you go. The doomPod and my little travel speaker system are pretty worn out by this stage. Large gig music players might seem expensive but if you're going to be away on your own alot, they're a deity send. Believe it or not, other countries radio stations are just as crap as your own.
There's actually something kind of reassuring about that.
4) Try and find a pub which is nice and quiet but not touristy, and get on with the bar staff quick. It is a known fact that hotel rooms get smaller the longer you spend in them and you will need a home away from home. There's a significant chance it will be dark when you get home so wandering round may not be the best option if you are in unfamiliar territory.
(Who am I kidding, I've had the most fun of the whole trip doing this!)
5) DVD boxsets have hours of entertainment in a small container. Good option. I myself have endeavoured to become an expert in Japanese Transformers cartoons. Mastaaaah- Force!
6) No where is perfect. Try to remember that when the grass seems greener. Stay anywhere too long and you'll start seeing the nasty side to it. For example, Germany has many awesome things going for it, but I am beginning to miss people smiling instead of looking away when you catch their eye (which I am sure is where this "Germans are humourless" rubbish comes from).
7) Do something with your weekends. Explore. Find an outlet. Whatever you do, don't get so drunk you waste the day. Otherwise the entire trip will become an exhausting, grey, endless sludge (I am not saying don't drink though. There's no alcohol like foreign alcohol).
8) Resist the natural urge to become ridiculously patriotic. To be sure, begorrah. I'm told I am not the only one who suddenly feels very Irish when abroad. I think it's a form of homesickness.
9) The more English in the menu, the worse the quality of the food. Unfortunately. If there's not many people but tourists in your establishment there's generally a reason the locals are not using it.
10) If your trip is over 1 month, either insist on a flat while you are abroad or a weekend home. Most cities are done in a month.
...I hope this is of help to some of you!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Now is the time to strike!
In a piece of stunning synchronicity with my last post about music and copyright in Ireland, a small war has broken out accross the waves in Eng-er-land.
Youtube, who have been making several poor choices lately (their ranking mechanism they have introduced recently smacks of censorship according to some of their more militant free speech advocating users), have failed to come to an agrement with the PRC and have started taking down all the professional official music videos from their site.
In the parlance of the interwebnetz, oh noes!
It is wildy held opinion that this situation is helping no one. Youtube is losing up to 50% of their most popular British videos, and the recording artists are losing their ads.
I'm sorry, I mean videos.
Full story here.
Anyway, the way I look at it is- this is a good thing for some people, and they're the people we all should care for more than the like of musical sock puppets like Leona Lewis.
There are many, many talented musicians who do not have huge backing from corporations, who, once again, don't care a fig for music but only for profit.
The music industry has been a conveyor belt for decades, but it seems to be getting worse and worse.
The "reality" era confuses me. The music is fake, produced pop. They show you how fake and produced it is. The music's awful. Yet, year after year people buy the X Factor winners single, only to tear them down when it's time for the next big thing. They laugh at these "winners", who are really nought more than pawns, and sometimes I think these people need to look at their own behaviour if they want to see something sad.
Why? What does anyone gain from this, save for perhaps Simon Cowell? X Factor is the same programme, year after year, with different people filling the same slots every mind numbing cycle (slightly edgy RAWK contestant, singer with a sad story from the past, singer who is overweight etc.). The conveyor belt is now visible, yet few seem to care. The editing is along the same lines as pro wrestling. It's actually blatant to a PW fan.
Even more insidious than this is the appropriation of rock music into the worst of pop stereotypes.
In case you wonder, "alt" and "indie" have actual meanings.
You are not "alternative" if you are in the charts. You are that which the alternative rails against. You are not "independant" if you are signed up to a major record label.
So here's my idea about Googtube not showcasing the big boys. Why don't you dig out a few actual alt and indie bands off of youtube, and give them a shout?
If you really want to be edgy, why don't you find some band who is young, and hungry, and deserves and needs your help.
You never know, you might even stop caring if the plastic music comes back.
Youtube, who have been making several poor choices lately (their ranking mechanism they have introduced recently smacks of censorship according to some of their more militant free speech advocating users), have failed to come to an agrement with the PRC and have started taking down all the professional official music videos from their site.
In the parlance of the interwebnetz, oh noes!
It is wildy held opinion that this situation is helping no one. Youtube is losing up to 50% of their most popular British videos, and the recording artists are losing their ads.
I'm sorry, I mean videos.
Full story here.
Anyway, the way I look at it is- this is a good thing for some people, and they're the people we all should care for more than the like of musical sock puppets like Leona Lewis.
There are many, many talented musicians who do not have huge backing from corporations, who, once again, don't care a fig for music but only for profit.
The music industry has been a conveyor belt for decades, but it seems to be getting worse and worse.
The "reality" era confuses me. The music is fake, produced pop. They show you how fake and produced it is. The music's awful. Yet, year after year people buy the X Factor winners single, only to tear them down when it's time for the next big thing. They laugh at these "winners", who are really nought more than pawns, and sometimes I think these people need to look at their own behaviour if they want to see something sad.
Why? What does anyone gain from this, save for perhaps Simon Cowell? X Factor is the same programme, year after year, with different people filling the same slots every mind numbing cycle (slightly edgy RAWK contestant, singer with a sad story from the past, singer who is overweight etc.). The conveyor belt is now visible, yet few seem to care. The editing is along the same lines as pro wrestling. It's actually blatant to a PW fan.
Even more insidious than this is the appropriation of rock music into the worst of pop stereotypes.
In case you wonder, "alt" and "indie" have actual meanings.
You are not "alternative" if you are in the charts. You are that which the alternative rails against. You are not "independant" if you are signed up to a major record label.
So here's my idea about Googtube not showcasing the big boys. Why don't you dig out a few actual alt and indie bands off of youtube, and give them a shout?
If you really want to be edgy, why don't you find some band who is young, and hungry, and deserves and needs your help.
You never know, you might even stop caring if the plastic music comes back.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
IRMA- Stealing our innernetz
I am one of those failed musician types.
I am sure you know a few, Recorded a few demoes back in the day, started in school with their band, eventually real life caught up, and music was religated by necessity.
(This isn't strictly true in my case, as I am persistent when it comes to things like music. My first album will be self released on iTunes shortly. So there).
IRMA doesn't represent the vast majority of musicians. The vast majority of musicians, lets be honest, are the people mentioned above. IRMA exist to look after the rights of the lucky few. They make a big show of putting on showcases for "young talent" alright, but really they do virtually nothing for the next generation of musicians. They often seem to exist purely to maintain the status quo.
I cannot stress enough how little IRMA have done for any musical colleague of mine. I cannot think of one they have helped in a significant way (Admittedly this might say more about the quality of our music. But that is beside the point, and I frown in your direction for trying to distract me while I am trying to make a serious post).
Eircom may shortly be restricting access to torrent sites in the Republic of Ireland on the behalf of IRMA, an organistation who has nothing to do with governing our country, who only represent a tiny proportion of the population in any way.
I am not going to discuss the rights and wrong of torrenting. That is not what this post is about. This post is about a dangerous precident in Ireland where an organisation which exists for the most part to generate money (and in a country so very rich with musical talent, they really could be doing a whole lot more) should not be allowed restrict the ability of people to access information over the internet. It is censorship for profit, plain and simple.
You may think this is not important, but if you check here for example, you will find this is a live, and dangerous issue.
There is an organisation in Ireland fighting this. I am supporting them and I think every sane person should. Information should be free, and if restrictions must be placed on it, I would rather it not be a profit making organisation like IRMA.
Thank you for your time. I shall put away my soapbox.
I am sure you know a few, Recorded a few demoes back in the day, started in school with their band, eventually real life caught up, and music was religated by necessity.
(This isn't strictly true in my case, as I am persistent when it comes to things like music. My first album will be self released on iTunes shortly. So there).
IRMA doesn't represent the vast majority of musicians. The vast majority of musicians, lets be honest, are the people mentioned above. IRMA exist to look after the rights of the lucky few. They make a big show of putting on showcases for "young talent" alright, but really they do virtually nothing for the next generation of musicians. They often seem to exist purely to maintain the status quo.
I cannot stress enough how little IRMA have done for any musical colleague of mine. I cannot think of one they have helped in a significant way (Admittedly this might say more about the quality of our music. But that is beside the point, and I frown in your direction for trying to distract me while I am trying to make a serious post).
Eircom may shortly be restricting access to torrent sites in the Republic of Ireland on the behalf of IRMA, an organistation who has nothing to do with governing our country, who only represent a tiny proportion of the population in any way.
I am not going to discuss the rights and wrong of torrenting. That is not what this post is about. This post is about a dangerous precident in Ireland where an organisation which exists for the most part to generate money (and in a country so very rich with musical talent, they really could be doing a whole lot more) should not be allowed restrict the ability of people to access information over the internet. It is censorship for profit, plain and simple.
You may think this is not important, but if you check here for example, you will find this is a live, and dangerous issue.
There is an organisation in Ireland fighting this. I am supporting them and I think every sane person should. Information should be free, and if restrictions must be placed on it, I would rather it not be a profit making organisation like IRMA.
Thank you for your time. I shall put away my soapbox.
Friday, March 13, 2009
WAR!
Remember I was talking about how kids entertainment should be mature, and deal with relevant issues?
I found one of these programmes yesterday. You will never guess what it is.
Go on, guess.
Yeah so it's the new Transformers. But I promise you, this is not just me promoting something I love for the sake of it. Transformers Animated: Transwarped shows the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons in such shades of grey as never seen before. It's more mature than the live movie by miles. (Like that would be hard, but shush).
I will not go into too much detail about the plot as I do not wish to ruin it for anyone but there is an extremely personal tale about the horrors of war there, and some extremely dubious moral choices made by the previously pure as snow leaders of the Autobots.
They make the choice in this episode to create a huge Autobot, and refer directly to him as a WMD. Furthermore they make the decision to retard his mental capacities so he doesn't question the death and destruction he will wreak upon his own race.
Secondly they took the annoying teenage character (there is at least one in virtually every single version of the Transformers- don't know why, as even as a child I had no urge to see puny fleshlings in my giant robot space opera) and made her pretty cool.
Transformers Animated: Transwarped is amazing. Check it out if you get the chance.
I found one of these programmes yesterday. You will never guess what it is.
Go on, guess.
Yeah so it's the new Transformers. But I promise you, this is not just me promoting something I love for the sake of it. Transformers Animated: Transwarped shows the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons in such shades of grey as never seen before. It's more mature than the live movie by miles. (Like that would be hard, but shush).
I will not go into too much detail about the plot as I do not wish to ruin it for anyone but there is an extremely personal tale about the horrors of war there, and some extremely dubious moral choices made by the previously pure as snow leaders of the Autobots.
They make the choice in this episode to create a huge Autobot, and refer directly to him as a WMD. Furthermore they make the decision to retard his mental capacities so he doesn't question the death and destruction he will wreak upon his own race.
Secondly they took the annoying teenage character (there is at least one in virtually every single version of the Transformers- don't know why, as even as a child I had no urge to see puny fleshlings in my giant robot space opera) and made her pretty cool.
Transformers Animated: Transwarped is amazing. Check it out if you get the chance.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
