http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk An infuriatingly infrequently updated reflection on the Internet, the US, and life in general Sun, 21 Sep 2008 06:01:23 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I mentioned about a month ago how I was considering setting up a second blog so I could more easily separate my personal and professional life. And yesterday, twice, I was reminded that there is a bit of an unusual overlap when I spoke to two people: one, the spokesman ... http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2006/11/16/how-to-avoid-learning-a-little-too-much-about-kierens-life/ I have just seen an article in the Oxford Mail entitled "Watchdog criticises PC World". Hy heart leapt as I started reading: "Staff at a computer store in Oxford have been accused of failing to diagnose basic computer problems and overcharging for repairs." The PC World branch in Botley Road misdiagnosed ... http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2006/11/10/ha-pc-world-oxford-finally-gets-it-in-the-neck/ There are two Board positions going at UK registry Nominet that will be decided on Wednesday (27 September) at the company's annual general meeting in London. Last week, Nominet announced that there were six candidates and released a statement from each. Despite the extremely tight time period (for example postal votes ... http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2006/09/24/recorded-interviews-with-the-nominet-board-candidates/ Last night, as I was scrabbling around by the front door in the dark with a torch and a piece of fuse wire, my letterbox started juttering away behind me. Even the postmen manage to deliver before 9pm, so I was intrigued. And sure enough it was the latest newsletter ... http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2006/09/12/st-ebbes-residents-association-and-its-impact-on-the-internet/ The animal rights protest group [tag]Speak[/tag] is still protesting although it is becoming increasingly obvious that the organisation is not much beyond one man's bitter fury. Speak leader Mel [tag]Broughton[/tag], who writes emotive and heavily biased accounts of the organisation's various actions for its website, has been banned from entering Oxford ... http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2006/09/11/speak-go-unheard/ I've just been reminded, by one of the main speakers, that the [tag]Oxford[/tag] Internet Institute is holding an evening discussion over the [tag]IGF[/tag] tomorrow evening, followed by an all-day invite-only event on the Friday. In fact, I wasn't even reminded. I had a vague notion of there being an [tag]OII[/tag] event ... http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2006/08/30/sniffy-oxford-internet-institute-holds-igf-meeting/ This morning, at the ungodly hour of 6am, I finally embarked on my first hot air balloon trip, flying directly over Historic Oxford™, and landing in a field next to an army dump 10 miles west, just over the M40 near Brill. The trip was a pressie for my birthday (12 ... http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2006/08/23/hot-air-balloon-trip/ I have an article in The Guardian today that I've been wanting to write for nearly a year: free Net [tag]wireless[/tag] access in coffee shops. For the life of me I haven't been able to figure out why more businesses don't offer free Net access. It really is a low overhead ... http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2006/08/17/oxford-wi-fi-article-in-guardian/ Animal rights group Speak's behaviour is becoming increasingly bizarre. Actually, to be accurate, the pieces written on its website - almost certainly written by leader Mel Broughton - are becoming increasingly bizarre. There is a report on the Oxford Encaenia ceremony where five protestors were arrested that reads as if there ... http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2006/07/06/speak-beginning-to-lose-the-plot/ The [tag]animal rights[/tag] group [tag]Speak[/tag] has just been censured by the Advertising Standards Authority for a "misleading and inaccurate" quote it attributed to the chairman of the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE), Sir Michael Rawlins. The [tag]ASA[/tag] received a complaint from [tag]NICE[/tag] saying that the quote - which appears on ... http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2006/06/21/speak-slammed-for-misleading-quote/