The Obvious?

Trust

Some time ago, before I left the BBC, I took part in a meeting about blogging with Mark Byford, the BBC's Deputy Director General and the executive with primary responsibility for news and editorial standards.

During the meeting he raised the familiar question about whether you could trust bloggers. In response I said that trusting individual bloggers on the first reading would be foolish but that over time one built up patterns, connections and associations that I did believe meant that you could trust bloggers - certainly when seen as a network.

I also said that I increasingly didn't "trust" BBC news in the sense that I found their coverage to be sensationalistic and focussed on the negatives in the world and that I and others were increasingly choosing not to "consume" it.

On the web I can exercise judgement as to who I read, who I link to and largely what images I am subjected to.

Once I let the television into my living room I can't.

I have had it with television news

And yes BBC I mean you.

Having studiously avoided any images of this morning's execution of Saddam Hussein I have just had it projected into my own living room before I could get to the remote control to change the channel.

Shame on you ....

State sanctioned murder

I find the idea of capital punishment deeply, deeply troubling. If taking a life is the ultimate crime then doing so in cold blood is even worse. When that is done by the very institutions that we claim make us more civilized there is something deeply wrong and filming it for public consumption is beyond the pale.

Christmas iPods

I have been amazed at the number of conversations over the past few days at various parties about iPods. Goodness knows how many they have sold but it did seem as if every family had bought at least one!

Napsterization of the workplace

I have always believed that it is crucial to cultivate shared ownership of social computing activity in organisations. It reflects the peer to peer nature of what is going on and makes the systems more robust in a "wisdom of the crowds" sort of way.

The thought that just occurred to me is that if you keep ownership of your systems - shall we say "confusing" - then it is harder for people to work out who to shout at to turn them off!

Oh dear, oh dear ...

 

First guitars, then ripping the pews out of old churches and now this poster outside a local church!

Happiness

Tomorrow is mostly about teaching our kids that it comes from outside rather than within.

Why?

Lowered expectations

My wife and daughters are away for a couple of days and I woke up this morning in the house alone. I am used to being alone in hotel rooms but this was different.

What felt strange was that no one "expected" me to get up. Now one "expected" me to make their breakfast or pack their lunch. Now one "expected" me to do anything.

I didn't like the feeling ....

Be careful out there

A couple of my friends are having a pretty rough time with their health and that of those close to them these days.

Reading about them reminded me of having a big operation many years ago and how that made me realise that we are brought up to expect that everything will be OK. That it is our right that everything should be normal and we get upset if it isn't. In fact everything is fragile and risky and we should think ourselves lucky when it goes OK.

Here's hoping they all continue to improve.

Customer service?

My wife and kids have gone up to Liverpool to stay with her mother for a couple of days and my mother-in-law had kindly booked a taxi from the station to her home.

When they got off the train there was no sign of the taxi and when my wife called to see where it was she was told it wouldn't arrive for another 20 minutes with the explanation "Oh we never send taxis to the station for the time they are booked because the trains are always late"

!!!!!!!