Banned Books

Arrghhh now that the damned eternal illness seems to be lifting I had the energy to take the web for a spin. I ended up looking lists of banned books, many of which seemed really interesting. I ended up ordering my mother one and my father one, in the hope I could nick them later.

Talking of nick, Steal This Book was banned but you can read it online here:

http://tenant.net/Community/steal/steal.html

Quite amusing.

Blogging

Nice article on blogging here:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12270994%255E7582,00.html

Professional blogs are a great way to get away from main stream media. More and more I see people turning from TV to the Internet for information which only the former provided.

I see it has part of the technological power to the people current that is flourishing with communications.

First satellite allowed broadcasters to reach homes everywhere, so even East Germans could see what was happening in West Germany. It shrunk the world of a number of magnitude.

The Internet shrinks the world again and gives the indivudual the ability to become a broadcaster to anyone anywhere instead of just a receiver.

I noticed that during the Kosovo war, blogs kicked in but were not known as such then. People in the war zone would post daily to a web page what they saw, heard and felt.

After 911 Internet forums were full of chat on associated issues and then the Iraq war created similar. I think both created a feeling that the news organisations were not representing individual feelings and this seemed to spur blogging IMHO.

Airlines

I see that airlines now have to pay out if they cancel or delay your flight. See news at http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-13300601,00.html

It sounds good but in practice all it does it put up costs for everyone. Compensation does not come out the sky (pun intended).

It reminds me of the change around six weeks back on forcing airlines to give same price regardless of domincile. Very soon afterwards flight to Vienna were another £50 on average. I now fear another increase. Seems a shame that what sounds good for the consumer will just cost the consumer.

But it would make me feel better about KLM. They cancel a flight at the drop of a hat, and seem surprised when you get a little angry. Twice in the past 4 months they just cancelled a flight on me, and that would have paid me out £170*2 = £340GBP according to the news article.

Mmm I should not have said KLM. That really gets my ticket (pun) going.

Burglary on air

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-13300000,00.html

Seems they went over the top! Seems crazy that they thought it would be a good idea to break into a home, spray paint it, make things like stolen, and expect it to be a laugh when the guys returns with his Wife...

Reagan and fall of Berlin wall

I said the other day to Petz that Reagan played a huge roll in bringing down the Berlin wall and that Bush will play a huge role in defeating terrorism of an Islamic fundamentalist kind through bombing democracy into the Middle East.

She thought Reagan did not play a role so another web trawl today:

http://www.theamericans.us/reagan-American%20Myths.html - note the Beatles played a big part as well as CNN/NASA!

Also Petz - note the Americans spent 13 billion (worth vastly more 60 years ago) on rebuilding conquered European countries (IE Austria) and kept them out of the clutch of communism. So think of that next time you act anti-American because you think Americans do not recycle enough!

Vienna

I was reading " Vienna’s differentness is also used to great effect when advertising seemingly profane things such as its air and water, its forests and river banks. In actual fact, the city offers an exemplary quality of life.
The city is, for example, surprisingly free of dust and smog. Another point in Vienna’s favour is the high degree of security in public places. It is still possible to move around its streets safely, even late at night."

I agree, great city.

But the guide (http://congress2005.fitce.at/ ) also states " The fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 was a decisive factor in the revitalisation of Vienna.
All at once Vienna was no longer on the periphery of the western world but took on the role of cultural, political and also economic nerve centre linking East and West."

So now I wish to make the argument that the Austrians owe even more to Reagan following on from my rant that Reagan played a huge role in pulling down the Iron Curton.

Caffeine

I have not drunk caffeine for 14 days since I had sleeping problems. I wondered if coffee was bad for you since I had heard decaf was especially bad due to chemical process used to make it. I did a quick web trawl and it seems that coffee is good for you, sort of, maybe...

http://www.thefactsaboutfitness.com/news/coff_diab.htm - seems you need to drink 10 cups of coffee a day to have 50% reduction in getting type 2 diabetes

seems that drinking milk or fruit juice is bad for you : http://www.mercola.com/2001/may/23/fruit_juice.htm

Seems bottled water is bad for the planet http://www.mercola.com/2001/may/23/bottled_water.htm and you should drink tap water with a Brita filter.

I also wondered how caffeine was removed and found a very nice description here http://home.howstuffworks.com/question480.htm