If anyone is under the delusion that only Islam has its extremists and those using the religion to further their own violent agenda, think again.

Those jumping on the ‘Christian’ bandwagon - often politicians - are just as guilty.

Some may see it as more respectable, and somehow acceptable, because a politician or prominent public figure in our Western world generally holds values closer to our own.

That’s no excuse.

Take a look at the murderous plea of Pat Robertson for the US to assassinate Venezuela’s president. Robertson is a well-known’ Christian’ public speaker in the US, but just how far removed from Christ’s teaching and attitude is this terrorist speak?

This is no more acceptable because it comes from an American citizen, and is ashamedly associated with Christianity (as far as the general populous is concerned) than if it had come from Al-Qaeda.

Thanks to FluidFaith for original article.

This brief post is in response to Adrian Trenholm’s proposal of an anti-CAPTCHA meme which I wholeheartedly agree with.

Having suffered with poor eyesight in the past, I can testify to just how frustrating Captchas and other screen irritations can be - and my eyesight was never appalling, nor was screen work more difficult than reading from paper.

There are plenty of options that don’t involve graphical captchas; every system has its advantages and disadvantages, but surely (regardless of any legal implications) it’s worth any decent “webmaster” making a little effort to put the needs of those with visual impairments above the need to thwart spammers.

I’ve left comments on blog posts specifically referencing Captchas, and had mixed responses.

Some are resigned to using Captchas because of a deluge of spam - but to be frank, I think if you are flooded with spam and have to use a Captcha, you haven’t looked hard enough for a different solution.

Some people have responded quite aggressively. Maybe these are the publishers with 20-20 vision who never comment on Captcha-enabled sites?

Even Captcha-based sites can fall victim to comment spam; I don’t know how prevalent the problem is but I have heard of spammers (many of whom are sophisticated programmers) using manual labour to crack Captchas. In this case, other methods of spam-prevention are also required, so why not simply spend greater effort on non-visual spam-defences in the first place?

I’ve been rather quiet over the past couple of days because I’ve rediscovered my love of music sequencing.

I’ve been messing about with Reason which seems to be a mighty fine music synthesiser, sequencer, audio mixer, and all-round digital audio master.

I haven’t really done much since my mid-teens when I had an Atari ST and Steinberg’s Pro 24 package.

It’s good to be back making muti-track music. My first project is a series of tracks reworking a piece of music I composed back in the early 1990s, whose melody is still in my head.

I’ve laid down a fairly ethereal synth-string pad track, and distant piano track interweaving it, which I’m pretty pleased with.

Glad I have fast broadband, as I downloaded several hundred megabytes of samples and plugins yesterday. I shall have great fun testing them all out.

It’s worth listening to advice on securing a website, but I certainly won’t be paying too much attention to someone whose idea of security is to write all of his clients’ passwords down in a black book.

It’s less than four months since I last updated the look of the site.

The last look served me well, but I was beginning to feel a little claustrophobic, and the content was disappearing in the colours, squares and links.

This is my ‘back to basics’ look, with a smaller header, two-column layout, removal of elements that didn’t get used, and more prominent content.

Also more prominent is the Blue Fish Network link which is rolling out across all the blogs I oversee, without being overpowering.

Hope you like it.

I know situations are always more complex than at first glance, but I find it interesting that Sir Ian Blair can call in an outside police force for an immediate investigation into the leaking of documents relating to the shooting of Mr Menezes (The Times, 19/7/05, “Police complaints official is suspended over inquiry leak, P4) yet refused to investigate the killing at the time.

I know the safety of the country was of paramount importance on July 22nd.

I know that evidence would have to include secret intelligence information.

Should the member of staff at the Independent Police Complaints Commission have leaked the documents?

Would we ever have found out about this had they not?

Very unfortunate situation.

I don’t think Blair should be called to resign at the present time. Let us see what the official investigations bring to light first. I do think he’s on fairly shaky ground at the moment.

Unless your blog primarily cites and links other sources on and off the Internet, with no content of your own, or you play the blogging game so completely safely that you don’t publish an opinion on anything, then you are an observational blogger.

Be it observation on your own life, on the people and situations around you, or on the wider world: media, politics, human rights, global issues, you are publishing your own observations and ideas on everything you write about.

Giving your personal opinion on topical issues, sharing the experiences of those around you, and publisihing interesting sources of information that mainstream media may well have missed (or not be able to use) can make your writing interesting and readable.

Whatever you are observing, and however professional you think you are, there are some practical things you can do to ensure that you are always ‘on the ball’.

Keep these items with you:

Notebook (good old-fashioned paper and pencil)

Sometimes, nothing beats the traditional methods. You won’t always have your computer or PDA with you, or be able to load it up and type something in. Carry a small notepad and pencil with you to write down:

• ideas for blog posts
• situations you find yourself in
• bits of conversations you hear
• descriptions of people you meet
• good words to add colour to your post
• media headlines, articles and content you see, with a reference to look it up later if its online
• poetry and lyrics
• what you are feeling about a particular issue/ situation/ person

You can transfer these ideas to electronic storage later on.

Dictaphone

For capturing “soundscape” and dialogue:

• sounds of events, to bring back memories when you are writing your posts
• interviews and quotes
• musical ideas

Any good sounds could be digitised and included on your blog.

Camera

For web images, the camera on your mobile phone or cheaper digital camera will be perfectly adequate.

Use it to capture

• textures, colours, objects, newspaper headlines, nature: to use as inset graphics to make your posts more interesting
• photos of people you have met/ interviewed (seek permission to publish these)
• photos of events and incidents

Dictionary/Thesaurus

Every writer needs to know the correct meaning of words, and often needs inspiration to find alternative / better words to say the same thing. A computerised one is ideal, given that most of your blog writing will be done using your computer, though you may prefer a print version as well.

Having good ideas and capturiing inspiration for blog posts is essential, and these tools can help you to capture what you have learnt and observed, and to write interesting prose.

Don’t rely on your memory alone to recall everything your senses observe around you.

As a blogger, you are a journalist, a photographer, an editor and a publisher, all at the same time.

I’m sure we’d all love to improve our content, publishing articles that people love to read.

A new survey by Investors in People shows that 75% of bosses and 80% of staff thought some of their colleagues were ‘dead wood’.

• Half of all employees said they worked with someone who was lazy and not up to the job.
• Four out of ten workers thought their managers did nothing about colleagues not pulling their weight.
• The survey suggests the perception is more keenly felt in larger organisations.

The survey identified ‘tell-tale signs’ of slacking:

• Prioritising personal life over work
• Refusing extra responsibility
• Passing off colleagues’ work as their own

Working alongside a lazy colleague could prompt workers to look for a new job.

Read the full article: Staff brand colleagues as ‘lazy’

What do you think?

Whatever you think of politicians in general, it’s a sad day when someone of such influence, determination and wit (to name just three qualities) passes away.

Today, Mo Mowlem died. She was a prominent Labour MP who (amongst other achievements) oversaw the talks which led to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement during her time at the Northern Ireland office.

“As a politician, Ms Mowlam revelled in being original and unorthodox and was never scared to express her opinions” says this BBC article.

We need people like that.

Mrs Mowlem had been diagnosed with a brain tumour, and had been admitted to a hospice in Kent. She fell and lost consciousness earlier this month.

Read first BBC report: Former minister Mo Mowlam dies