The Romford Incident

This would be the mandatory angry blog post about my harassment in Romford yesterday. I was told by the police I was breaching the terrorism act, public order act, various misc copyright and child protection laws and otherwise being an “Agitator”.

The incident started when I took an image (not a very good one it seems :p) of a Police Cadet unit forming up to take part in an Armed Forces Day parade. I was quickly and aggressively stopped by one of their adult officers asking me who I worked for. I responded that I was a freelance and upon being told I needed parental permission to photograph them, I explained this was a public event in a public place and that I didn’t for editorial use.

She then demanded my details and when I declined, I was quickly pulled aside by police officers. Then started recording, see below for the rest

See more at julesmattsson.wordpress.com

Muslim staff escape NHS hygiene rule

The Department of Health has also relaxed rules prohibiting jewellery so that Sikh members of staff can wear bangles linked with their faith, providing they are pushed up the arm while the medic treats a patient.

Some Muslim staff and those from other groups may be allowed to use disposable plastic over-sleeves which cover their clothes below the elbow and allow the skin to remain covered up.

Derek Butler, chairman of MRSA Action UK, said: “My worry is that allowing some medics to use disposable sleeves you compromise patient safety because unless you change the sleeves between each patient, you spread bacteria. Read more at www.telegraph.co.uk

40 yard dash: average dude vs pro athlete

Video from the NFL Combine showing just how fast prospective NFL players can run compared to normal people.

It is almost unbelievable how quickly Jacoby Ford (the top performer in the 40 this year) covers that distance. Read more at kottke.org

Back to 1992: the moment Gordon Brown pronounced the Tories dead

And just how badly did the Tories do that night? On the plus side for Labour, it experienced a 3.6% swing. On the minus side for Labour, the Tories clocked up just over 14m votes – 2.5m ahead of Labour – and more than Margaret Thatcher ever won. Major, to his surprise, found himself back in No 10.

To be fair to Brown, he was obviously speaking on the basis of the BBC Election Night exit poll, which was famously wrong. Read more at www.guardian.co.uk

‘New Britain’ was built on James Bulger’s grave

Between its defeat by Major’s Tories in 1992 and its eventual victory under Tony Blair’s leadership in 1997, Labour did not so much consciously reinvent itself or devise anything like a clear-cut political programme, as feel around for ideas, leap upon anything that seemed to create traction amongst the public, and intuitively redefine itself as the party that could stem the apparent social and moral decay and free-for-all individualism that had been unleashed by the Tories.

Why has the liberal elite been so harsh towards Fergus? Possibly because it cannot bear to face up to the truth of who is really responsible for creating this backward New Britain: Them, not Us.Read more at www.spiked-online.com

Ten high-class days out for less than £100

2. Luxury in London

3. Spa day in Bath

7. The Thames Valley Return train fares from London Paddington to Henley start at about £26. Take a five-mile cab journey from the station to have lunch at The Crooked Billet (about £40), rated one of the country’s best and most scenic country pubs. Return to Henley to explore and have tea at one of the riverside tea rooms (about £10) Read more at timesbusiness.typepad.com

2009: The year in technology

Twitter, crowdsourcing and the reinvention of Apple - some of the Guardian’s technology team looks back at 2009 and pick out their best bits of the noughties

<embed src=”” height=”329″ width=”400″ wmode=”opaque” quality=”high” flashvars=”” type=”” > See more at www.guardian.co.uk

Inside the Excruciatingly Slow Death of Internet Explorer 6

It’s the bane of designers everywhere, and it makes most modern sites look broken and horrible. So why are 20% of Web surfers still using it?

But Internet Explorer 7 did eventually come out, and so did Internet Explorer 8, Firefox, Safari, Chrome and new versions of Opera. And yet, IE6 remains the second most popular browser in the world (behind IE8). What gives? The chief reason Internet Explorer 6 keeps hanging on is because people are using it at work or on work computers.

For its own part, Microsoft would be happy to see you stop using IE6, too. In another blog post, the company says, “Think about what technology and the Internet were like in the year 2000 – and consider how they’ve evolved since then. In 2000, ‘phishing’ was something that happened at the lake, not online. There was no social networking, no RSS feeds, and no real blogs. It was a different time – and people’s browsing needs were different.” Read more at www.popsci.com

Ubuntu dumps the brown, introduces new theme and branding

Canonical has revealed the style of the new default theme that will be used in Ubuntu 10.04, the next major version of the popular Linux distribution. In a significant departure from tradition, Ubuntu is shedding its signature brown color scheme and is adopting a new look with a palette that includes orange and an aubergine shade of purple.

The theme change is part of a broader effort to redefine Ubuntu’s visual identity, a move that could help make the open source desktop platform seem more professional and attractive to a mainstream audience. According to design documentation in the Ubuntu wiki, the new style was developed last year by Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth and a team of designers. They chose “light” as the thematic concept behind the new brand identity. The new Ubuntu logo, which was also unveiled today, has a thinner font and a smaller icon.

See more at arstechnica.com

Hurt Locker producer barred from Oscars

A producer for Oscar-nominated war film The Hurt Locker will not be allowed to attend the awards ceremony after breaking Academy rules.

Nicolas Chartier has been barred from the event after sending an e-mail to voters urging them to name his movie as best film over rival Avatar.

Subsequent emails, posted by the Los Angeles Times, showed Chartier asking Oscar voters to rank his film at number one and Avatar at number 10 among the list of nominated films. Read more at news.bbc.co.uk