Author Archives: Fordiebianco

G’day from Portugal

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The best girlfriend ever and myself have been spending the last days travelling down the atlantic coast from Oporto via Torreiras to Lisbon. The last two nights were spent at the delightful Pousada da Ria. Classic sixties architecture with a sprinkle of Bauhaus and a dose of Art Deco, it’s a wonderful building, full of surprising spaces, comfy corners, a great bar and an excellent restaurant. The choice of meat on the menu was nevertheless surprising:

The best girlfriend ever and I were made thoroughly welcome and its location meant we had easy access to the marvellous beaches at Torreira and Sao Jacinto.

So today we’re exploring the Baixa in Lisbon. Wish us luck and gentle weather.

The N-Prize. The best idea in space flight since Sputnik.

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Being the anorak that I can’t deny I am, I keep a close eye on what’s happening in space. Whether it’s the life and times of Phoenix, Spirit and Opportunity on Mars or New Horizons on the way to Pluto, if it flies or rolls and it’s somewhere up (or down) there, I’m keen. Now a chap called Dr. Paul Dear has come up with the N-Prize. Obviously a tongue in cheeck version of the X-Prize, it’s rules are simple:

The N-Prize is a cash prize of £9, 999.99 (nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine pounds and ninety-nine pence, sterling), which will be awarded to the first person or group to put into orbit, around the Earth, a satellite with a mass of between 9.99 and 19.99 grams, and to prove that it has completed at least 9 orbits. The cost of the launch (but not ground facilities) must fall within a budget of £999.99. Imaginative use of string and chewing gum is encouraged. Entrants are responsible for everything, organisers are responsible for nothing.

There are already some teams from all over the world at work, with the most advanced from the UK, although it’s tricky to decide what’s hyperbole and what’s truth. Good luck to them anyway. The cheap and clever way to achieve low earth orbit, making it achievable for hobbyists to get up there (hopefully) must be the easier way to democratise space than handing 200.000$ (US) to Richard Branson to enjoy 3 minutes of weightlessness. 200.000 dollars given to one of the N-Prize teams is probably going to be enough to help these guys achieve their goal and buy them 100 gallons of beer and some sausages to celebrate their success.

Maybe I should put my money where my mouth is and sponsor one of them.

Where’s the paypal button where you need it…

British Politics in interesting times.

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It’s certainly interesting to follow British politics these days. It also challenges my notions of good and bad, red, green and blue, libertarian, conservative and socialist, autocracy, democracy and tyranny. With the British parliament a confrontational slugfest arena, this makes it even more interesting, especially compared to the rather sedate German federal parliament that’s of course in the iron fist of a majority of teachers and lawyers.

Picture courtesy of accrama on Flickr

So yesterday parliament decided that the executive and judicative powers in this country can lock me away without a charge for up to 42 days. I find that hard to defend and – being of rather simplistic nature – understand. If there is a suspicion that somebody is planning a terrorist act (or is a terrorist) the police will do what the police (and the secret services) in every country do what they do best: they investigate, research the facts and then arrest the individual, present him with the charges and get him in front of a judge who will then decide whether the charges are founded enough to bring him to trial.

So easy, so normal.

So, lets follow the British Government’s argumentation. The police/MI5 pick up that some bad person is planning a really nasty deed threatening human life. They are quite sure but lack the hard facts, so they arrest him under the counter terrorist bill and put him in a cell while they investigate further before charging him. I can understand that as well. But does is really have to be 42 days? And why 42? Is Jacqui Smith – the British Home Secretary –  an avid Douglas Adams fan and finds that within 42 days she might find the answer to life, the universe and terrorist activity? And why did only 36 Labour MPs vote against this. And who knew that the DUP was actually still in parliament?

It makes me feel profoundly uncomfortable. This is a country that already has the highest number of CCTV cameras per capita in the world (one camera per 60 inhabitants) and easy access to ISP’s records. Together with wideranging powers of arrest without charge this is more than a little bit creepy.

And here’s where my confusion begins, but not ends. Being a left leaning liberal, plenty of ideas that the labour party stands for I support wholeheartedly: a (more or less) comprehensive health insurance for all, a commitment to excellent state education, egality in front of the law regardless of your sex or ethnicity, a safetynet for these not being able to thrive in society and who need support by the state. All these are goals I am happy to pay my taxes for. But then I look at the current labour government and I start becoming uncomfortable again. There are some policies that have profoundly backfired: Privatisation of the NHS? Polyclinics? Primary Care Trusts (don’t get me started)? No incentive for microgeneration? 10 pence income tax evaporation? Iraq? Still in Iraq after what, 5 years? Then I look at the policies of the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats and start recalibrating my political compass.

And this morning David Davis, Shadow Home Secretary for the Conservatives resigns from parliament to express his outrage about the 42 days issue with some of the most stringent arguments on personal freedoms I have heard for some time.

My political compass is all over the place.