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Showing posts from August, 2010

Technology Loves Irony

After a week of not running, it was well past time to head back out and get some more training in now that the Great North Run is looming almost overhead. With the incredible deluge of rain passed (and my flat still dry ... for now), I decided to risk a run, knowing it would be hard and that I would quite possibly get wet.  I didn't realise just how wet I would get so was a little unprepared for the second deluge that fell, my shirt proving that it could wick moisture in both directions. Unfortunately, I also discovered that the amount of rain was a tad too much for my little iPod Nano, which couldn't keep going and finally drowned ... right in the middle of Queen's Don't Stop Me Now .  Hmmmm.  

Musical Itch

I've never been particularly clued up when it comes to music, it's more a case of if I happen to hear something I like, I usually end up buying the album.  The end result is a music collection that is more eclectic than the spirit collection on top of my fridge - though far less potent! The latest addition to the collection is a bit of a departure to the more upbeat tones of Train 's Hey, Soul Sister or V V Brown 's Shark in the Water .  After hearing just a clip of Islands, I've ended up with The xx being played to death on the way to and from work: Okay it's a bit on the dark side , but this one has managed to get into my head and won't shift, like an itch that can't be scratched ... which is fine at the moment, but if I start wearing black clothes, looking moody and dying my hair black , someone come and slap some common sense into me!  

Facebook RIP

At what point do you draw the line when you advertise your every thought and feeling on the social web?  Before or after you realise that it impacts on others? Like it or not, the social web has obviously caught on in a major way: Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, Bebo, Twitter and many, many more like them waiting in the wings, hoping to be the next big thing.  People are sharing everything from the most mundane aspects of their lives to their most personal thoughts and feelings; as a means of self-expression and narcissism, there is nothing else like it . Combine this with an 'always-on' culture and the ease and speed of information spread is quite phenomenal. However, this freedom of expression and near-instant feedback comes at a price: we are now so eager to tell everyone our current thoughts and feelings that we forget, or do not consider, that what we say may have an impact on others. Perhaps I am being old-fashioned, but there are some things that should not be express