Where will it all end?

I noticed today that the hedgehog has been added to the endangered species list in the UK. In fact, since 1997, this list has increased from 577 to 1,150 native species. I would guess that man has a lot do with this with the destruction of the habitats and over fishing two main reasons. But does that really tell us why, for example, the house sparrow has disappeared from the gardens of London?

According to the RSPB, the increase in well manicured gardens has reduced the amount of food, in the form of insects, available to  a lot of birds.

However, it is not all doom and gloom. Since 1997, 123 species have been removed from the list including the Adonis blue butterfly, the pipistrelle bat and the ladybird spider.  It just goes to show that species can recover and we can make a difference.

Social Networking, the Facebook Phenomenon and a little Paranoia!

I an relatively new to on-line social networking and sites like Facebook. I never got into Myspace or any of the other social networking sites. I did enter my details on Linkedin, but hardly use it. I did add my details on FriendsReunited and, subsequently, GenesReunited, but that’s another story.

So why Facebook? No more reason than a friend mentioned that she was adding her details to it, so I thought I would give it a go.

That was about a month ago. What I hadn’t realised was how big a phenomenon Facebook has become. It is also no longer just a social networking site, but, some would contend, a business (net)working site (see JP Rangaswami’s blog – www.confusedofcalcutta.com).

This is all very well, but there are some problems:

• If someone wants to see details of anyone on Facebook, they must have an account.
• Some networks, groups and individuals restrict their activities to friends and members. To join some business and college networks, you need the correct email address. You can’t view the activities in those networks without one.
• Some companies and organizations are banning Facebook (and other social networking sites), such as Credit Suisse and Dresdner Kleinwort. Others are using internet filters to block access t0 social networking sites (e.g, Metropolitan Police, British Gas and Lloyds TSB).  Some are telling employees that it is a sackable offence to access such sites during working hours.
• Not everyone wants their “life” exposed to view through such sites. On Facebook I have 7 friends (including 2 nieces). “Billy no mates”; that’s me! That isn’t quite true; I have other friends who:
  • Don’t use PCs everyday. In fact, some wouldn’t have a clue how to open a text message on a mobile phone, never mind set up an account on Facebook!
  • Want to become or stay anonymous. Having a mobile phone number is as much as they can handle!
  • Only want to share their lives with friends that they socialise with on a ”real” rather than “virtual” basis.
  • Do not want to meet up with “friends” from the past. If they were true friends, they would have stayed in touch.
  • Are afraid of having their information available to scrutiny (and by whom). Perhaps they have good reason. In July,  Oxford University Officials searched Facebook for information after receiving complaints of unruly behaviour during traditional end of year “thrashings”. They used postings from the site to identify and then fine students who had taken part.
• The information in Facebook cannot be trusted.
  • People lie / embellish the truth.
  • People create accounts for people who don’t exist or false accounts in the name of celebrities.
  • People don’t keep their profiles up to date. 

(Ok. Some of this is not just true of social networking sites. When you meet people socially, read someone’s blog or CV, you have no way of knowing what they say about themselves is true. People embellish their lives to get a step higher up the social ladder, to try and get that better paid job, or just to impress.)  

• Users of Facebook cannot be trusted. There have been stories of social networking sites being used by criminals intent on such things as identity theft.
• Facebook cannot be trusted. This may be an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory, but there are those that believe Facebook is run by the CIA or US Dapertment of Defence (see http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZMWz3G_gPhU).
• Facebook messages cannot be trusted. According to research by HP, 43% of facebook messages are spam (see http://plentyoffish.wordpress.com/2007/03/27/43-of-facebook-messages-are-spam-according-to-research-paper/).  In the last few days I have received friend requests from people I have never heard of. Maybe I am being paranoid, but I’m thinking spam. When I receive a message from a friend to, say, support a cause, how can I be sure it is genuine?
• Facebook groups cannot be trusted. Have you mysteriously become a member of a group with a name like  “FREE CRUISE TO BAHAMAS”, “FREE COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS”? These groups contain links to  spam websites. 
• People are fickle. Friendsreunited one minute, Myspace the next, and now Facebook. What will it be next year?

Social networking isn’t something new. People have always done it. whether it be in a pub, bar or club, writing letters, at parties, at work, at school or college, playing sports etc.  Facebook (and others) bring modern technology into play, including more spam.

CD – happy birthday

It is 25 years today since the CD revolutionised the entertainment business. A lot has happened in that 25 years. We still have CDs, but we also have DVDs, MP3 players, iPODS (etc) and we can download music from the internet. 

And we still have vinyl.

CDs were supposed to kill off vinyl, but we still use them. You can still buy “record players” or decks to add to your hi-fi system. Trendy DJs still use vinyl, because they can play with them to adjust the sound. Purists still prefer the warmer sound from vinyl. I suspect this depends on your listening pleasure. Classical needs to be clean and crisp so that you can hear every nuance of the piece. Jazz and blues, I would argue, needs to sound like it is coming from some smoke filled basement club. Rock is a wall of sound so it doesn’t matter. The least said about pop, the better. 

People still have vast collections of vinyl records that would cost a small fortune to replace with some other format. That supposes you can still get some of the recordings. You can buy record decks with a usb connector. Through this you can copy your vinyl onto your PC and then download it onto an iPOD or produce your own CD. (I dare say this would breach copyright law, but, hey, 25 years ago we copied records onto audio cassettes so we could play them in the  car.)

You can still buy brand new record decks from a few pounds to over £2000, and you probably do not get “an arm” for that. The arm holds the cartridge that contains the needle that follows the tiny bumps and hollows in the grooves on the record. There is still a market for vinyl. Will a market for CDs still exist in another 25 years?

What is a bowser?

I recently learned a new word bowser – “a large container, often with wheels, used for holding liquids such as fuel and water”. Well it was a word I hadn’t come across before.

A couple of weeks ago I went to a beer festival in Postlip, near Cheltenham. It was during the water shortages brought about by flooding. Our route from Stroud took us through some roads that were under water a few days earlier.  On almost every corner in Cheltenham stood a bowser. Up to a week earlier, I had not heard the word “bowser” before.  So I looked it up.  Obviously, I have lived a very sheltered life! I have now discovered that there are different types of bowser – water bowsers and fuel bowsers - and different types within those!

What I would like to know is where are these bowsers kept when they are not in use? Is there a bowser mountain somewhere?

Good Health!

Please forgive my ramblings as I ease my way into the world of blogging. I would like to start by relating an incident that happened to me a couple of years ago. One Monday morning I couldn’t get out of bed. This had nothing to do with comfort and warmth, but excrutiating pain in the right side of my groin. Everytime I threw my leg over the side of the bed to get up, I was thrown back by the pain. It was agony! Eventually I managed to get out of bed and the pain seemed to subside a little as I moved around. But the next night in bed I could hardly move. Everytime I did, the pain knocked me back. I have always been reluctant to see my doctor, so I left it, hoping that the pain would eventually go. It didn’t. So after a few days, I did go to see my doctor. She poked and prodded, and found nothing.

She said, “You have probably pulled a muscle. Nothing to worry about , but while you are here, and you are over 50, lets check you out. Jump on those scales.”

I knew I was overweight, but avoided scales like the plague. I didn’t want to know by how much. So, a little gingerly, I stepped on to the scales. To my horror, the scales shot up and up, eventually settling on 21st 8lbs! Wow. I have always been overweight, but that heavy! 

My doctor, as calm as you like, said “That will have to come down. You will have to stop eating fat.”  Oddly, she didn’t mention alcohol. I don’t drink every day, but I do like a pint of Guinness, or cider, or real ale, or a bottle of wine, or a g&t, or a glass of whiskey (Irish, of course)…. Hmm! Yes, well!

“Let’s take your blood pressure.”  You’ve guessed it, that was high. Very high – 200 over 102! I was a heart attack or stroke waiting to happen!  “Diet and exercise, that’s what you need. I will refer you to the dietitian. And for blood tests. And here’s a prescription for water tablets. That should help bring down your blood pressure.”  The blood tests showed high cholesterol, but, thankfully, no diabetes.

That was that. I needed a change in life style. The odd thing was, as soon as I left the doctor’s surgery, the pain in my groin had completely gone. It was as if my body had been telling me to get to the doctor; there is something wrong. Strange!