Ethical Companies – The Blog

As you may well recall I have published a number of posts here on my blog concerning Google’s Street View software (you might want to check the older posts if you’re not too familiar with the software). Yesterday I spotted the following article on the Daily Mail’s website, which presumably appears in the actual newspaper as well:

Mother’s fury after Google Street View publishes naked picture of her son, three, online.

A woman has told of her horror after Google published a photograph of her young son naked on the internet. Claire Rowlands, 25, was stunned to see the image of Louis mears playing on a sunny day in his grandmother’s garden in Walkden, Greater Manchester.

We can see where this is going can’t we ? A Warholesque fifteen minutes of fame, a bit of “publicity” in the media (somewhat not surprisingly the Daily Mail) and can’t you just smell a whiff of compensation demands coming on ?

Louis, three, had been snapped by Google’s controversial ‘camera car’ as it took pictures of every road in Britain for the search engine’s Street View service. The company blurred out the registration plate of a car on the drive of the house – but the image of Louis, who was wearing nothing but his shoes, was uncensored. In another image, taken seconds later, Louis’s face was clearly identifiable, but his modesty was preserved by a fence. Shocked Claire, who lives on the same road as her mother, said she had no idea the pictures had been taken and accused Google of invading her son’s privacy. She said: ‘I just felt sick to my stomach when I saw the naked picture of Louis on the internet. I’m angry, disgusted and upset about it – they should be checking every image before it goes up. ‘They should be extra careful on warm days because this is what children do – he was just playing in the garden and we didn’t expect in a million years he’d have his picture taken and put on the internet for anyone to see. ‘It’s such a clear image, I see it as an indecent photograph – my concern is that paedophiles could see it and there’s no way I ever wanted my son to be seen naked all over the world. ‘Louis was on private property. Surely residents should be asked if they’re happy to have their pictures taken before this is allowed to happen.’

We can argue the privacy issue surrounding Google Street View until the cows come home. However, in my opinion these are “images” anyone could have seen walking down the street in Walkden, Manchester. It’s a nice sunny day, if I walk around my town long enough I’ll probably find a naked child if I look at people’s gardens …. I was at Astbury Mere the other day (it’s a lake near Congleton with sandy “becahes”, very popular when hot outside. There were loads of small children around in various states of undress, as well as a number of women in limited “dress”. I saw nobody learing out of the bushes ogling the children, perhaps it’s time we laid this “every other man is a paedophile” myth to rest ? I don’t deny that such people exist, but I doubt it’s anywhere near as common as the media might have you believe. Besides why scour Google Earth/Google Street view for such images ? I’m not a paedophile, but I’m aware there’s far easier ways of finding images of naked children than this.

Google has now apologised and said it has blurred the image. The company’s software automatically obscures car number plates but does not detect human bodies. A spokeswoman said: ‘We take issues around inappropriate content in our products very seriously, and we removed the image in question within an hour of being notified. For us, privacy and user choice remain paramount. ‘This is why we have put in place tools so that if people see what they believe to be inappropriate they can report them to us using the simple tools and the images will be quickly removed. We apologise for any inadvertent concern this may have caused.’ Privacy groups have already blasted Street View, which they branded a ‘burglar’s charter’ when it was launched last year. Alex Deane, from the Big Brother Watch group, said: ‘This is not the first time this has happened but the excuses are wearing thin. ‘Google still needs to take greater responsibility for people’s personal privacy and introduce stronger safeguards to the system.’

Google has done more enough concerning this issue as far as I can see. As for Alex Deane …. Big Brother Watch ? Surely there’s better on television to watch ?

So yet more people moaning about Google Street View ….  I still can’t see what all the fuss is about, I consider it to be a great piece of software, and very useful.  The final word on naked bodies (children or otherwise):

“If you don’t want people to see you naked when outdoors, then KEEP YOUR CLOTHES ON, it’s not rocket science is it ?”

Steve

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Homeowner hit by burglars three times… after they spotted his garage door left open on Street View.

A milkman has criticised Google’s Street View software, claiming burglars targeted his garage three times after spotting its door wide open on the controversial website. Gordon Rayner believes criminals may have used the service which offers 360degree views of the country from street level. On the website, Mr Rayner can clearly be seen standing next to his house in front of an open garage. Mr Rayner said: ‘When you look at the photograph, my face is blacked out, the windows of my house are blacked out but because the garage door was left open, you can clearly see everything in there. ‘I would argue that they should have blacked that out. It is just an invitation for any criminal to take what they like.’ The bike was stolen during a break-in last month. The thieves returned the following two nights and tried, without success, to get into the garage. Mr Rayner has now removed anything of value.

Google has defended the site saying there has been no increase in crime as a result of its launch in 20 countries. Street View’s launch sparked concerns from privacy campaigners who claimed the site made it easy for criminals to check out potential victims. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), though, has given the service the all-clear. A Google spokesman said the company had agreed to blur or rub out images of people or houses on request. The spokesman said: ‘The imagery on Street View is no different to what anyone could readily capture or see by travelling down the street themselves. ‘We’ve now launched Street View in around 20 countries and nowhere has there been any increase in crime as a result.’ A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said it was investigating the garage burglary, which happened on March 12.

Well ….  I only have two questions:

1. How does he KNOW for certain that the “burglars” had spotted his garage and contents on Google Street View and they weren’t in fact just opportunists and just happened to pick his garage ?
2. Is he just looking for someone to blame and a few quid out of a news hungry media ?

Steve

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Apple’s new iPad has finally been “launched” on the world …. Media and blog reaction is somewhat mixed, however, I do sense a certain amount of disappointment:

You cannot be serious! Internet virals take a bite out of Apple’s new iPad amid widespread disappointment.

As you recall I already blogged on the subject of Apple’s new product but I thought I’d take a look at the criticisms levelled at the device, if only to jump on the “bandwagon” and maybe get a hit or two from Google for “iPad” Here are the points (in italics, my comments not in italics)as detailed on the Daily Mail article linked above

No multitasking – As a replacement for netbooks, one of the most surprising deficiencies of the iPad is that it does not have a multitasking facility. This means that when you run a programme, such as a word processor, you would not be able to run another programme, an internet browser for example, in the background. This is likely to prove a deal-breaker for many people, especially business professionals who need to be able to run multiple programmes concurrently. Apple have said the reason behind the lack of multitasking is that it is a drain on battery life.

Multitasking is pretty damn useful.  Multitasking has been with us some time now, right back to the Commodore Amiga (at least, someone will no doubt be a techy know it all and point out it had been “done” before that.)  Multitasking is useful, it’s what lets you reply to emails, listen to MP3’s and download all at the same time.  All PCs (Windows, Linux etc) are multitasking and to me this is an “essential” feature of a modern computing device.  You can get by without it on a smartphone or PDA as you’re unlikely to use those for more than one task at a time but multitasking is what would have made the iPad so much more than just an oversized iPhone.

No camera - This is one of the biggest issues concentrated on by Mac fans. The iPad lacks a still camera, a video camera and a webcam. Many users are asking why the iPad cannot handle a camera if the iPhone can.

Good point raised above.  Not that it bothers me particularly, my mobile phone doesn’t even have a camera, I have a Canon Ixus model something or other for that.

No Flash - Lacking Adobe Flash will make using the iPad extremely difficult for anyone wishing to view webpages which include a large amount of video, or applications and adverts which need to use Flash to run.  Basically it will mean that users will discover large areas of webpages missing due to the lack of Flash. Apparently the lack of support for Flash is down to a long-running battle between Apple and Adobe.

There’s a lot of sites out there that use Flash now ….  Even Linux/Firefox users are capitulating and installing the Flash plugin to make sure they can see sites properly.

Touch keyboard - Despite much of the technological world moving into the keyboard-free zone, the touchscreen keyboard on the iPad could prove problematic for some users.  As people have already found by using the iPhone, a touchscreen keyboard can be temperamental as the buttons need to be pressed hard and directly in the centre. However, Apple have made a separate keyboard, which they are selling for $70, that can be used with the iPad.

Long as it works (it is implied above that it doesn’t though) I don’t see this as a problem myself.  Touch sensitive isn’t always a good thing though ….  Some of those early computers had atrocious keyboards (Atari hang your head in shame here.)

Lack of input - As well as lacking any card slots, the iPad comes without a USB port – making it extremely difficult to transfer documents and information from an external drive on to the device.  Instead of a USB port, the iPad has an iPod connector, meaning that users will have to purchase one of the many adapters on sale in order to use a non-Apple product with the iPad.

Oh please, that’s just plain ridiculous.  USB is a global standard, it probably costs pennies to build a USB interface ….  Oh hang on, the “adapter” will bring in some extra cash for Apple via “upselling” so that’s why ….

Closed applications - Despite being marketed as the most innovative product in the world of netbooks, users of the iPad will only be able to download apps from App Store.  This means that unlike other laptops and netbooks which allow any type of external software to be downloaded, with an iPad users will only be able to get hold of software after it has been approved by Apple and added to the App store.

Well that’s a great way to encourage innovation isn’t it ?  Not.  You want innovative ?  Get a Linux netbook or laptop; open source free software, now that’s innovative.  Have you any idea how many apps there for Linux (or even Windows, let’s not get too much like a Linux fanboy here.)  Did you know that Apple wouldn’t allow a Commodore 64 emulator on the iPhone ?  So much for the app store, it’s restrictive and stifles innovation because all “entries” are moderated/vetted.

The name ‘iPad’ - It was inevitable that Apple would choose a short name for the new product, and one which is associated entirely with previous Apple products – such as the iPod and the iPhone.  However, many people have criticised the name for sounding too much like a female hygiene product, and its moniker has led to a series of humorous internet virals relating to this association.

Snigger, I suppose it does sound a bit like that.  Mind you I suppose Nintendo were no better ….  A console that sounds the same as a term for urine.  Perhaps Apple will release the iTampon or iWings next ?

Small screen - The iPad has a 9.7inch touchscreen and a 4:3 format ratio with a resolution of 1024×768 pixels. This means that the iPad has been released without being HD ready. It is also not ideal for people who wish to watch widescreen films on the device, as they will only be able to do so with a black bar at the top and bottom of the film.

Oh dear.  Where to start ….

There’s no WiFi either (so you can’t sit outside Wetherspoons or McDonalds in the car to check your email.)  So would I buy one ?  Hell no.  I’d get one of these instead:

In fact, I’d just get a laptop. Sorry Apple, not very exciting in my opinion.

Steve

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If you must get ill, make sure it’s before 6pm.

Warm, fuzzy escapism is one honourable role of popular fiction, so Friday’s Coronation Street was justified in offering us a heart-warming medical vignette. A child had a fever; anxious divorced parents called their GP, who shortly turned up in their home, smiling, familiar, articulate and reassuring. At no point did anyone have to explain themselves repeatedly to NHS Direct “information handlers” on the phone, or wait four hours for an outsourced “provider” to send round a jetlagged foreign doctor they couldn’t understand. Nobody had to bundle the shaking child into the car to A&E, after scrabbling down the back of the sofa for change for the hospital car park.

This is from an article by Libby Purves, columnist for the Times newspaper.  Sarcastic as the above paragraph sounds she is of course pretty much on the mark.  I’ve had some problems over the last couple of months with my left foot.  After prolonged walking (2+ hours) it would ache, gently at first then alarmingly.  I’d go home and it would calm down and it would all be back to normal quite quickly.  However, being diabetic and being aware of the need to “look after your feet” as a result of diabetes I went to the Health Centre to see the foot lady. She decides, after a very cursory glance, I may have a collapsing arch and says she’ll refer me to “biomechanics” (presumably a department at the abysmal North Staffordshire Hospital) and I’m still waiting to hear ….

Roll forward a couple of days and I slip up in the snow and twist my foot a little (which prompted to consider the possibility I’d broken something), within a couple of days it’s hurting like bloody mad a lot more so I decide to see the doctor. Can I get an “urgent” appointment ? Can I heck. So after a night of painful foot + no sleep = a cranky Steve, I get an appointment by ringing at 8.30am next morning for a “book on the day” appointment and …. Well all I got was …. Nothing. Next day it’s hurting so much I am convinced it’s broken so I wake David up at get him to take me to casualty (it’s still “casualty” to me, not “A&E”) at the aforementioned North Staffordshire Hospital. They decide it’s “probably not broken” but give me an x-ray to be on the safe side. Phewww …. Nothing broken, however, another doctor (this time one that seemed to know their onions) informs me it’s gout.

I get home (eventually and several quid lighter thanks to the car park’s meters) and look gout up via our good friend Google. Well, I see pictures virtually identical to my symptoms, and a description which is a text book match for my description of “what it feels like.” Yet, neither the Health Centre (the people I saw are supposed to be feet SPECIALISTS) nor the GP spotted it …. Several codeine and colchicine tablets later and we’re back to normal (well more or less, it’s getting better by the day.)

In relation to Libby Purves’ article I’m just glad I was around during the day to get this sorted, how I would have dealt with it “out of hours” I dread to think. I’m glad I don’t have children, keeping them “well” must be an absolute nightmare, it’s hard enough getting to a doctor yourself when you’re working 9 to 5, let alone getting a child there. You can’t exactly send a 7 year old to the GP on their own can you ? I know this might be a radical idea but how about GP shifts are changed ? 11am to 7pm perhaps ? At least the 9 to 5′ers would have a couple of hours to get their appointments in then ….

One other question. Why do hospitals have pay and display car parks ? It doesn’t seem right to me somehow, surely they should be free ?

Steve

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Emulators on Wikipedia.

“An emulator in computer sciences duplicates (provides an emulation of) the functions of one system using a different system, so that the second system behaves like (and appears to be) the first system. This focus on exact reproduction of external behavior is in contrast to some other forms of computer simulation, which can concern an abstract model of the system being simulated.”

Ok, that’s accurate but somewhat “dry.”  Basically emulation allows you to use software for one system on another system.  For example you can run Windows software on Linux or Macintosh or ….  More interestingly you can play old games from non PC systems on your PC.  This ranges from the 8 bit systems of the 1980’s through the 16 bit glory of the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga to consoles such as the Sega Dreamcast and Sony Playstation 2.

I discovered computer emulation about 1995 or so with the C64 emulator C64S.  Whilst it wasn’t stunningly compatible and didn’t run all C64 games on your PC it did work on a 386 PC under MS-DOS.  The Commodore 64 was a massively popular home computer and there are thousands (I mean that, it’s not an exaggeration) of games available for it and they are not too hard to find on the internet with the use of Google.  Your verdict on C64 games may of course vary but for me these are some of the classics:

• Elite. Heck, who hasn’t heard of this one ?  It started life on the BBC Micro B, and was also ported/written for:  Sinclair Spectrum, Acorn Electron, Commodore 128, various other BBC models, Acorn Archimedes, Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore Plus4, Amstrad CPC, MSX, Apple 2, 2 PC versions and even a port for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) console.
• Ultima IV. A classic computer RPG and for me one of the greatest RPGs ever.  Again converted for several systems including the C64, Commodore Amiga and Atari ST.  Don’t think it made it to any of the other 8 bit systems, as it was very large on 4 disks so may have been out of the reach of many 8 bits which were tape drive orientated.  Might have been available on the Apple 2 ?
• Paradroid. Superb game where you run around a spaceship as a robot destroying all the rogue robots to regain control of the ship.  A little crude graphically now, but heck what a game considering it was under 40k in length !  C64 only, although a new version called Paradroid ‘90 later appeared on the 16 bits.
• Impossible Mission. You might have seen this in the last year or so turn up on the Nintendo DS; yes it’s the same game.  Was released on various 8 bit systems, including the Sega Master System and the NES if I recall correctly.
• Sanxion. Superb shoot ‘em up and one of the pioneers of the genre.  Also the game which brought Rob Hubbard to fame for the music which he wrote for the game.  Converted to Sinclair Spectrum but the music soundtrack was “destroyed” in the process as the Commodore 64 was streets ahead musically over the Spectrum.
• Hypersports. A joystick thrashing game.  I played this one ….  A lot.  The skeet shooting was my favourite bit.  Also ported to several other 8 bits.
• Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. Classic command line text adventure.  How many hours have been wasted trying to get the babel fish on this game ?  Shows up on various platforms, not very processor intensive so easily written, even for low end 8 bits.

I could go on for hours ….  As you can probably tell I was a big Commodore 64 fan.  Here’s the Commodore 64 emulator running Elite right on my Vista desktop:

Vice also emulates the Commodore VIC20, Commodore PET and various other 8 bit Commodore platforms. You can download it here.  Vice is free, there are other C64 emulators but this is the one to pick in my opinion.

So what of the other platforms ?  Well there are emulators available for:

• Sinclair Spectrum (various models.) Don’t know much about them, was never a big Spectrum fan. World Of Spectrum is an extensive resource detailing Spectrum emulation and also the Sinclair QL (a computer I know virtually nothing about.) Games to look out for are: Elite, Jet Set Willy, Manic Miner, Head Over Heels and Atic Atac.
• BBC Micro and Acorn Electron. Never owned either of these (didn’t use one at school either like a lot of people did.) BeebEm seems to be the favoured emulator for BBC, and Elkulator for the Acorn Electron. Again, look out for Elite, and also Chuckie Egg.

This link will help you find emulators for MSX, Atari 8 bit, and pretty much any 8 bit computer system you can think of ….

Once you’ve got your emulator running, turn to Google to find the games …. Most of the 8 bit era games are pretty easy to find. If you can’t find what you’re looking for just drop us a line and if I can point you in the right direction I will !

Happy emulating !  I’ll be writing some more entries on emulation over the next few days.

Steve

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I was looking for something about Jaguar (the car that is) on the internet recently and as per usual I toddled off to Google to enter my specific search query. One of the “targeted” advertisements that came up stated: “See the new Jaguar everybody’s talking about – Click here !” (well not exactly, but you get the idea.) Then it occurred just how ridiculous a statement “everybody’s talking about” is; as in:

• “See the new Jaguar everybody’s talking about – Click here !”
• “The Eastenders episode everybody’s talking about”
• “Everybody’s talking about Avatar !”

When you think about it it’s a complete lie.  I’m not talking about Jaguar, I’ve never watched EastEnders and as for Avatar I’m aware it’s a film but it could be the new James Bond movie for all I know.  Even something as topical as the ineffectiveness of Gordon Brown and you’ll find everybody is NOT talking about it.

I suspect “everybody’s talking about it” is yet another attempt by marketing executives to try and create some interest in a basically naff product, as in “everybody’s talking about it so YOU REALLY SHOULD TAKE A LOOK.”  Well I have news for the marketing boys and girls, it ain’t working and it’s a LIE.

Steve

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The Age Of Love – Behind Blue Eyes

I’ve been reading the Behind Blue Eyes blog on and off recently and found his comments on the 1980’s interesting as I have been considering the 1980’s myself for a number of reasons.  It is often said that we look at the past through rose tinted spectacles and that our recollection of the past is tainted by only remembering the “good stuff” and forgetting the bad.  Is this true ?

Myself I left school in summer 1981 largely unsure of what I wanted to do but with some notion of becoming a star chef (God knows where I got that idea from) and immediately got a job at a local (well localish) restaurant and started attending college on day release to get City and Guilds 706/1 and 706/2 (these qualifications are considered to be somewhat “rare” now and have been replaced with NVQs.)  College was pretty good what I recall of it and the tutors Chef Oliver (not Jamie lol !) and Chef Salsano were nice people to work under.  My boss at work was, however, a different story.  An Austrian by birth he had come to the United Kingdom and started up a restaurant and was quite definitely the most irritating and obnoxious boss I have EVER had the misfortune to work for.  He was also a miser and I was very poorly paid, even by “school leaver” standards and had to work up to 55 or so hours a week with no “overtime” pay.  Whilst I don’t deny the job gave me some valuable experience this is not the way life was meant to be so my important years of 16 to 19 were essentially ruined by poor wages, a bad boss and absolutely no social life due to the working hours.

Things got largely worse work wise after some changes, and I rapidly came to the conclusion that the catering industry was not for me.  I can cook, and I consider myself to be quite a good cook but it’s not my idea of a career.  Only those who end up on the TV or set up their own premises can make big money and even now catering is still is a poorly paid and largely disregarded profession.  We’re not all Gordon Ramsey or Jamie Oliver after all.

I ended up in the transport industry next.  I’ve been a courier, a next day delivery driver (DHL style but not DHL), an HGV driver, a despatch rider and even an international air courier.  Again not much scope for a “career” but better pay than catering and it is possible to get by.  Work wise that about sums it up for the 1980’s, although there’s other bits and pieces.

What about the “Age Of Love” part ?  Well ….  Let me see, there was …. Err, not a lot of that going about.  I was never a very confident teenager and health issues (I had had a lot of health problems when I was young with asthma and recurring bronchitis etc which I fortunately “grew out of”) had left me a nervous lad with little self confidence.  I couldn’t say “boo” to a goose, as the expression goes, so “love” was largely off the menu.  My first experience was ok, but my first girlfriend was less than pleasant and her treatment of me little short of disgraceful.  Funnily though I have stuck her name into Google and Facebook once or twice, as I am convinced that she probably now has 6 children, and lives in a council sink estate, maybe that’s just wishful thinking  A little bit of “revenge” mentality ?

Not surprisingly I was uninterested in politics, but it was of course an era of major change.  The Warsaw Pact was disbanded and the Soviet Union ceased “hostilities” (if you can call them that) with the Western world, essentially ending the Cold War.  The real change though was the change in economics.  The Margaret Thatcher/Ronald Reagan era was essentially a revival of capitalism and laissez faire economics (free market economics), the downside of which we are now feeling.

So have I anything positive to recall about the 1980’s ?  Err ….  Well there’s always the music.  Like any 16 year old lad I was into music, and Top Of The Tops was something I looked forward to every week (I worked Thursday nights so used to ask my mum to record it which she didn’t always manage to do) when I got home Saturday night after a long day in the kitchen.  Tainted Love by Soft Cell was number 1 when I left school and remains a firm favourite song for me.  Then there was Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran, Modern Romance, Michael Jackson and the greatest of them all ….  Frankie Goes To Hollywood.  Born out of what was called “Boystown” disco (Divine was another example) genre, to me Frankie was explosive.  Relax was great, Two Tribes even better, and I even discovered a taste for ballads with The Power Of Love.  God I wanted a Frankie Says Relax t-shirt as well, but I never got one ….  To anyone who has never listened to Frankie: if you’re going to experience the 1980’s then Frankie is what it’s all about (to me at least), they are the musical symbol of the 1980’s era.  I know some will disagree with me (doubtless Russ and Richard) but I still don’t think 1980’s music comes any better.

TV and film wise I don’t recall much of the 1980’s due to the antisocial hours I was working.  I do recall finding Private Schultz and Blott On The Landscape rather humorous though.  As for the films, well this is the era that gave use Back To The Future and Indiana Jones, seriously good stuff …

The only other memorable aspect of the 1980’s was the boom in computers.  The Commodore VIC20 and 64, and miscelllaneous arcade games exploded onto the world and we were awash with Pacman, Defender in the arcades and superb computer games such as Fort Apocalypse.  So the era gave me a grounding in computers, valuable experience for the future.

So all in all a pretty naff era.  What about the 1990’s ?  Well that’s another story, and I might reflect on that at some later point.

Steve

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Just in case anyone is wondering why Google has a barcode on its search page today, instead of the usual logo:

The rise of the barcode.

Apparently the barcode is 30 years old today.

Steve

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