Google Base

So Google are pretty cool, there's no doubting that. Today (or pretty recently at any rate) they have opened-up Google Base for general use. This is pretty nifty - a database that anyone can add items to. There are some pre-defined types such as recipes, jobs and so on, or you can add your own. There are already nearly 1,000 recipes on there, and I expect that this will grow massively.

Aside from providing a good place to dump data that you don't mind being public, Google have provided what is effectively a massive Wiki version of the Web as a whole. There are links for each item to mark it as bad, so if someone posts porn as a recipe, for example, it can be taken down. The possibilities for finding information are great. Let's say you want to find a review of a DVD player you are considering buying. If you type any model of DVD player and 'review' into Google at the moment you'll get hundreds of hits for price comparison sites and very few useful reviews. However, with Google Base you should (in theory) be able to search for that DVD player model in the 'reviews' category and get straight to useful content.

If it all works then it will be really cool. I suppose the concern is one company owning all of that data, but to be fair to Google they haven't gone for Microsoft-style evilness so far so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. If having some unobtrusive Google ads at the side of the page is the cost for getting straight to the information I want, I'm all for it.

If you usually read my blog via my Web site then you'll notice that you've been redirected to my LiveJournal. There were some storms last week and one casualty of a lightening strike on the power line was the PSU of my Web server. This is a pain but at least it's under warranty. Not only that, but it's an external PSU (being a Mac Mini) so it could all have been a lot more painful! Anyway, I put my photos on Flickr as a temporary measure but I've decided to make that permanent. Go take a look - it's a neat site.

Good idea

Luckily I've never had a mobile phone stolen, but all too many people do. The MEND UK Web site allows you to register your phones unique IMEI number on the national mobile equipment database. Should the police recover it, you've then got a good chance of getting it back.

You never know - your phone might get stolen. I think that registering it is a good thing to do. You'll certainly regret not taking two minutes to do so if the worst does indeed happen!

eBay

I've got to hand it to her, this girl is enterprising. She's put up an invite to a wedding she doesn't want to go to for sale on eBay. Read the description - it's most amusing.

Internet 'tax'

So, the music industry is thinking about giving up on chasing people who illegally download music and putting a 'tax' on Internet charges instead? Great. Why should I pay because some crackhead teenager after his Britney fix can't be arsed to buy a CD? I don't see the government saying "OK guys, we'll get rid of speed cameras and just charge all motorists equally to get the fines".

Downloading illegally shared music is illegal, and the people who do it are criminals (as the law stands). Whether they think this should be the case or not, people who download this stuff know it is illegal and should therefore be prepared to face the consequences. I don't see why they should be let off just because they are hard to catch and everyone else made to pay for them.

The way to change the music industry is not to download stuff illegally shared on P2P networks. The way to do it is to embrace the emerging legal downloads on sites like Magnatune. If all record companies adopted this approach then illegal downloading would cease to be a problem. Of course they don't like this idea as it would eat into their profit margins, but in the end we would all be better off (especially less popular artists).

Some countries (Canada?) have a tax on every blank CD sold. Some of the money goes to the big record labels on the assumption that people will be copying music. The presumption of guilt has seemingly gone unquestioned. Most blank CDs are not used for copying music, as most people who work in IT will tell you. Who are the record labels to think that they can make the law? If this new Internet tax proposal gets anywhere it will show just how much in the pockets of big business our government really is.

Wind Power

Wind power is great. It's clean, efficient, and promises cheap energy for all with no pollution. Despite this, some people bizarrely object to it (the NIMBY brigade, as usual). I think that the best solution would be to slap these people until they realise that while turbines might be visible on hills, at least they mean we don't melt more ice caps or generate nuclear waste that will be a problem in 10,000 years (and produce more expensive electricity!). Failing that, us level-headed people need to make it known that we support wind farms.

This 'Embrace The Wind' site allows you to put your name down as a wind supporter. As a bonus, they will engrave your name on a wind turbine as a show of thanks. Go on - immortalise yourself in a turbine and do some good at the same time!

Scottish Parliament

Take a look at the Scottish language version of the Scottish Parliament Web site. If this wasn't an official site I would have assumed that they were taking the piss. I mean, come on! It's like those pages on the Web that translate to Geordie by inserting 'fook' between every other word!