Art, media, opinion and ideas
Some time ago I lamented the passing of Top Of The Pops. For the same reason that TOTP went to its grave, the singles charts will soon be a thing of the past too. This is a real pity, as a look at the top ten will tell you much about the state of popular culture at any given time, as well as serving as a valuable corrective to those who choose to rewrite a critically correct history.
The Irish Times has an leader article today on Data Retention. A small extract:Perhaps because such legislation deals with electronic data, and the surveillance happens unseen in the background, it has not provoked significant public debate.
Ever since uploading my Magnum Opus No. 1 (Pipe Cleaner Snake meets The Tooth) I've been looking at the terms and conditions of the various video uploading sites. Frankly, I'm not happy with what I read.
I'm not one of them and if you are you represent 10% of the population. You may have been discriminated against and subjected to cruelty in the past. Even today the other 90% don't fully understand you even though you are probably more creative than they are.
Some time ago, Karlin Lillington of the Irish Times linked to details of a secret Council of Ministers questionnaire. This was drawn up in advance of any data retention legislation being in place, in November 2002. It is interesting in its entirety, but I'd particularly draw people's attention to question 5 and the Irish Government's answer.
Digital Rights Ireland have sent letters to the Minister for Justice, the Minister for Communications and the Garda Commissioner looking for undertakings in relation to data retention. McGarr Solicitors represent DRI. I won't be commenting on the case beyond this.
Michael Larkin of Disillusioned Lefty notes that Top of The Pops is soon to be no more. Given his tender years, he freely admits to not having watched it as a central part of the pop music experience. A child of the 80’s, I lived through it’s final few years of relevance, before it was lost to re-formatting and re-scheduling.
MCD, promoters of the Oxygen festival, recently took umbridge at people discussing their perceptions of shortcomings in some aspects of the most recent Oxygen event. (see "How we feared for our lives at Oxegen . .
The following is a Tuppenceworth public service announcement. If you did your Leaving Cert in 1994 the chances are that your passport has expired. Do not discover this at 4.
Life is precious. Life is precarious. There is a pair of purple martins nesting in the garage at the bottom of our apartment.
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