"...the cloth-brained, soul-sapping nullity of the age in which we are doomed to live"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/aug/05/england-frank-lampard-ipod

Marina Hyde, you are a woman of wisdom!

Woe unto the Nations!

Woe to the miserable sinners of the city of London! A Judgement upon all those who heed not the call, but listen to Rihanna on their iPods! Lament, all ye who - failing to take note of the final warnings - did not make straight their paths but merely read a free newspaper on their comute home!

O Wicked City!

If Cameron genuinely believed in his absurd 'Big Society' he would be tackling the increasing G-dlessness and disorder in our 'community' by encouraging itinerant preachers of all descriptions and denominations to spread the message of their respective religions in the streets. Some could be on foot, some could preach from a small open-topped vehicle such as a Fiat 500 with sunroof.

If the 'Brokeback Coalition' really wanted to make a start in fixing our broken nation, they would be implementing the above by means of small grants or tax incentives for preachers.

What is the point of a Broadband 'service provider' (name omitted to protect the guilty fools!) suggesting I check online for help and assistance on how to troubleshoot my internet connection problems *when I am unable to connect to the Internet in the first place* - my reason for seeking assistance?

I hold no brief for crazed spree killers of any description, who should rightfully be condemned, but sometimes I wonder that I have not yet run amok in the streets with heavy weaponry.

"free2rhyme"

In a recent attempt to register a new Yahoo email account, I was enraged and saddened in equal measure to see that their example of a 'typical' email address is free2rhyme@yahoo.co.uk

https://login.yahoo.com/config/login?.intl=uk&.src=ym&.done=http://uk.mail.yahoo.com&rl=1


It is simply nauseating to think that these Yahoo 'creatives' assume that anyone registering for one of their tawdry accounts is a by default ome kind of teenage know-nothing Eminem wannabee ( iam assuming that "rhyme" in this case does not refer to the nursery variety, but to the debased US argot known as 'rapping').

And what does "free 2 rhyme" mean anyway? Is it a declaration of defiance, that is to say that they will not permit anyone to get in their way of their human right to "rhyme"...

Ye Gods! can this really be the same nation that once gave Shakespearean prose and poetry to the world?

Library IT developments

There is much talk these days in the library community of Web 2.0. They speak of wikis, mash-ups (whatever they are), of community tagging, or folksonomies. Academic libraries now see the need to have a Facebook or a Second Life presence, and lately there has been talk of Twitter.

Now I am not averse to new technology. Clearly there have been some welcome developments in terms of online catalogues, and in enabling patrons to manage their accounts remotely.

But I fear there is a headlong rush to add ever-new innovative software technologies and developments to something that is already functioning in a quite adequate fashion. In a recent poll of their user group, an Oxford college library [yes, I realise that you'd like a damn link here, but you will just have to take my word for it] learned that its patrons did not want Facebook etc as an adjunct to the library catalogue; no, they merely wanted a catalogue that delivered them information on the materials they required.

The latest 'hip' buzzword is folksonomy, whereby, if I have understood correctly, patrons (or the 'user community', God help us) are able to add their own tags to describe catalogue items. This is all well and good, but who will be monitoring these tags? At best, we will have a plethora of vague, generalized concepts such as 'art' or 'politics'. And at worst there will be an assortment of swearwords such as would make a sailor blush.

It may also be the case that the drive to empower patrons to do this aspect of cataloguing is driven by secret management agendas to reduce further the staff, namely the cataloguers, and to de-professionalize those 'rump' who remain. If one can acquire rudimentary catalogue records (title, author, publisher, phsyical description) free from the publisher, and have the patrons themselves adding the descriptive, subjecty heading elements gratis -why, that may render the professional cataloguer's post moribund and obsolete!

It seems to me that subject classification is best done by the use of a controlled taxonomic resource such as Libray of Congress Subject Headings - yes, we may not agree with some of the more American terminology (such as 'future life', meaning the afterlife), but at least if we all agree to utilise a single taxonomy, the likelihood of inaccuracy or ambiguity is lessened. Of course, the subject headings must still be applied by preofessional, qualified people (such as myself!)

I do believe that there is here a difference in philosophy, with the 'folksonomists' trusting in the people's good sense and ability not to make a damn nonsense of the catalogue. I have no such optimism! I suppose it ultimately rests in whether one can trust the general public not to act the goat...

Mawkish displays

So Michael Jackson, the 'King of Pop', is dead. Doubtless this is a tragedy for his family and close friends, but I fail to understand why seemingly millions of otherwise normal folk are now overcome with grief for someone they had never met, indeed, someone who (to be frank) was a damn weirdo.

Yes, he was a first rate dancer, and made some undeniably superlative recordings some decades back (admittedly with the help of Quincy Jones, a consummate artist), but quite honestly, Jackson hadn't produced any great musical offerings for many years.

What I find unacceptable is the manner in which the British 'stiff upper lip' seems to have vanished into thin air. Instead, we have letters to newspapers and messages on the Internet, all expressing their writers' devastation and grief. Sentimentality is rife! These mawkish, public displays of over-emotion may have their place in the USA, or possibly amongst Spaniards. But I find it an utterly perplexing carry-on for the British to be behaving in this way.

No doubt the streets outside the 02 Arena will now be deluged with flowers and teddy bears.