Truth must be not only discovered, but perennially
rediscovered and redefined.

Recently, I had a good discussion about online campaigning with Graham at Mendip Media. It was an excellent cross-check for what we have been planning in Wycombe.

Anyone who underestimates the significance of the web in the campaign for 2010 is missing a trick. Since 2005, the Internet has evolved into something more than a series of brochures for companies and products. It is now a valuable mine of information for voters and would-be-voters. For example, through this site, you can find out about my political views and the literature which has informed them.

The Internet doesn’t replace meeting people face-to-face — thank goodness! — but it does allow candidates like me engage more fully than traditional doorstep canvassing and literature will allow. For one thing, it is ‘pull’ rather than ‘push’. If a certain issue is troubling you, you can look it up instantly, anywhere, without having to wait for my leaflet to drop through the letterbox. If you have a burning question, you can discuss it with me online.

Millions of younger voters now expect this – they’re regularly active on websites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. These are the platforms where peer groups are forming, discussing what matters to them and influencing each other’s decisions. And it’s not limited to the young – indeed, according to Graham, the fastest growing sector on Facebook is 55- to 65-year-old females.

I am looking forward to the full-blooded campaign, online and on the streets of Wycombe, and I am delighted to reveal that fellow Wycombe Conservative Tim Hewish, a Policy Exchange veteran, will be helping online.

You can find my campaign in these locations:  Facebook,  Twitter and myconservatives.com.

Via Google Analytics, a map of August’s visitor locations:

Google Analytics - visitor locations, Aug 09

Read more

Via Skype under threat from eBay licence row | Technology | The Guardian :

The internet auction company paid a total of $3.1bn for the telephone service between 2005 and 2007 and is now locked in a legal battle with the technology’s owner, Joltid, a company owned by Skype’s founders. That may make it impossible for eBay to follow its plan to float Skype on the stock market next year – and give one of Skype’s creators, Niklas Zennström, the upper hand in any negotiations. Zennström has been angling to buy the company back.

In other words, eBay bought the company at great expense, but not the critical technology that makes it possible.

At least no one is asking for a bail-out…

Via A pipedream of six turbines a day until 2020 – Telegraph:

Last Wednesday, two days before our Climate Change Secretary, Ed Miliband, told us that motorists could help save the planet by changing more quickly to a lower gear, his underling Lord Hunt made one of the most absurd claims that can ever have been uttered by a British minister. Solemnly reported by the media, he said that by 2020 he hopes to see thousands more wind turbines round Britain’s coasts, capable of producing ‘25 gigawatts (GW)” of electricity, enough to meet “more than a quarter of the UK’s electricity needs”.

Booker goes on to explain three important points:

• The plan is not cost-effective: these turbines could only provide half what is claimed thanks to the variability of the wind and cost was not mentioned.
• There is no way the stated number of turbines can be built.
• Lord Hunt’s absurd claims were dutifully reported without asking any of these questions.

As has been pointed out elsewhere, if we really care about the environment and energy security, we need some clearer thinking.

Discovered while researching designers for a new project:

World Builder from Bruce Branit on Vimeo.

Today, I discovered and I am delighted to recommend Pitstop-Racing of Brize Norton.

This is a proper workshop, where you can not only get your suspension set expertly for your own style, you can meet the mechanic and have a conversation about camber, toe-in and understeer. This may not matter to you, but if you are a driver, it will.

The inside shoulders of my winter tyres were chamfered when they came off, suggesting too much toe-out or camber. It’s now set to the maximum toe-in within manufacturer’s limits and the whole is set to my preference. And all for £57.

I got the impression that this is an owner-managed business, which may go some way to explaining why I got exactly what I wanted at a reasonable price from a person obviously interested in engaging with his customer.

A terrible idea: agreeing to be fined $2000 for every spam email that might be spoofed in your name:

You represent and warrant to Spam Arrest and the Recipient that any e-mail you desire to send to the Recipient is not “unsolicited commercial e-mail” i.e., the e-mail does not primarily contain an advertisement or promotion of a commercial product, service or Web site; unless the Recipient expressly consented to receive the message, either in response to a clear and conspicuous request for such consent or at the Recipient’s own initiative. Further, you represent and warrant that your transmission of any e-mail does not violate any local, state or federal law governing the transmission of unsolicited commercial e-mail, including, but not limited to, RCW § 19.190.020 or the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. You understand and acknowledge that it is fair and reasonable that you agree to abide by the restrictions set forth in this agreement. You acknowledge and agree that this agreement is central to Spam Arrest’s decision to forward your e-mails to the Recipient. Accordingly, if you violate this agreement, Spam Arrest and the Recipient shall be entitled to (1) temporary and/or permanent injunctive relief to restrain any further breaches or violations of this agreement; and (2) damages in the amount of two thousand dollars ($2,000.00) for each violation of this agreement. You acknowledge that such remedies are appropriate and reasonable in light of the costs and expenses Spam Arrest incurs as a result of eradicating and filtering unsolicited commercial e-mail. You acknowledge that the $2000.00 remedy is a reasonable estimate of Spam Arrest’s and the Recipient’s actual damages. This agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Washington and the exclusive venue for any action related to this agreement shall be held in the state and federal courts located in Washington. You hereby waive any right to object to venue or jurisdiction based on inconvenient forum, lack of personal jurisdiction or for any other reason.

via Spam Arrest – Sender Verification.

Unfortunately, spoofing email addresses is trivial and spammers do it commonly, so signing up to this agreement would be ill-informed. If you would like me to respond to your email, please don’t ask me to agree to this. Unenforceable it may be, but no thanks: presumably pursuing these “damages” is part of the firm’s business model.

Via BBC NEWS | Technology | Net firms start storing user data:

Details of user e-mails and net phone calls will be stored by internet service providers (ISPs) from Monday under an EU directive.

Feel safer?

From a team including ex-Google staff, an alternative search engine:

Rather than rely on superficial popularity metrics, Cuil searches for and ranks pages based on their content and relevance. When we find a page with your keywords, we stay on that page and analyze the rest of its content, its concepts, their inter-relationships and the page’s coherency.

via Cuil – The World’s Biggest Search Engine.

Cuil seems to update less frequently than Google, and we all tend to like what we know, but you may find Cuil worth a look. Try this for example.