Spouting: March 2005 Archives

Well, that's what Tamzin said after noticing I'd added my watercooled PC entry.

So this week we get the news that the law means Camilla will be Queen if Charles makes it to the throne. Despite all previous pretences about "Princess Consort", this was clearly a smokescreen. Some experienced court reporters saw straight through it at the time, clued in by use of the word "intention", a traditional codeword used to give some wiggle-room later.

If Charles really did want to claim that this was a private affair, and that Camilla really didn't want the title, why doesn't he request that the law be changed ?

So, from this, we can read that the gameplan is to get the marriage over asap, and then hope that, by the time Charles ascends, everybody has got "used" to Camilla and won't mind her being Queen.

I think it's the continued deception that bugs me. There's enough spin coming out of the politicians, once the Royals descend to this level they are eliminating the very differences that make them worth keeping. Or, if they are going to do it, they need to get some far better spin-doctors than they've got at the moment.

hmmm.

Some complete scum company has released my telephone number onto a cold calling list. This must have been an American company I have done business with, since, unless the telephone spammers are trolling old UK telephone directories, there is no other way they could have obtained it. So now I keep getting those stupid recorded calls that must think I'm completely stupid to fall for the old "you've won a ... crap". Having said that, I was stupid enough to business with an unscrupulous company.

It seems that the UK telephone preferences list won't help me here, since it covers call originating in the UK only. I wonder if this is an international crime. Should Interpol be involved ?

But seriously, the only response I have is to leave the call running as long as possible in the hope of inflating their call charges. Do they know they are ringing an international number, do they care, or do they get such a cheap bulk rate that it doesn't matter ?

I heard Brian Eno mention this on a radio interview the other day, but had forgotten about it until the wonderful Ottmar Liebert blogged it.

Here is Brian Eno & Peter Schmidt's Oblique Strategies card deck, and a Palm OS version.

And that's one more point on the Treo side of the smartphone upgrade scale.

One of the smartest people I know has started blogging again. He's an expert on mobile phone technology, a sort of Russell Beattie without the swearing and with fewer pictures. Although I have a suspicion that he'd hate the comparison.

So, if by some strange anomalous wormhole in the blogosphere you have found your way here, get yourself over there for some serious mental stimulation.

Despite being fundementally libertarian and thinking people should have the freedom to pursue happiness,