This is fasinating reading. I found myself having to make conscious efforts to stay calm and not shout at my computer at times. It really is quite something though.

It's easy to be judgemental about such things, and indeed about the US Presidential candidate it's all there for. He tells us that the earth is not running out of oil and various other things besides. No doubt comforting words to many.

I wonder why people would choose not to learn things though (even things that are well argued and described rationally). That's the thing I understand the least about "these people".

I've just been investigating a little function I need for something I'm writing. The code's prefixed with this:

/* CSV input/output library. Free for any use and/or updates, as long as you keep this short notice.
Jesus Christ is giving away his Holy Mercy, free for those who seek.
http://www.festadelladivinamisericordia.com/

Oh my... bibleware/godware/godbothererware/crusadeware/convertware/!@#%!

Stone me, I've won on the Euro Millions lottery (that's the one with such unbelievably impossible odds that it rolls over almost every other week). I'm now £12 richer. Not exactly life changing, but should pay for a CD and a celebratory beer ;-)

Sorry Cat Fans, we've had a bit of sleepy time here. First of all, a 6 hour Internet connection problem on Friday afternoon (starting about 1pm), and just now, a couple of hours of power cut (about 20:20 - 22:40). Anyway we seem to be back up, so you can get your cat-fix once again ;-)

Update 10am 14th May: Spoke too soon. Power went at 4am until 10.15. EDF Energy tell me it's due to be properly sorted by 3-4pm today.

Visa and Mastercard (no obvious link) have launched contactless low value payments (ie. payments below £10). You won't have to sign or type in a PIN for these transactions - you just wave your card over the reader (a little like Oyster cards).

This is doubtless a very quick and convenient way to pay for things. As a consumer, you're protected against fraud in the same ways as you ever were (protection is performed by your bank, so it depends on how friendly your bank is as to how easily you get your money back). In principle, everyone wins.

My only concern: Why make this RFID? Just because Chip and Pin is horribly slow doesn't mean that contact based payments need to take as long. By forcing a contact, you avoid any "drive by" fraud or any other type of RFID tomfoolery. Is this yet more blind faith in RFID technology?

Well Cat Fans, I'm doing it again: The BHF Tower Jog. It's a 1 to 10K event, there's no obligation to run, it's flat as a pancake and on grass. You can even start any time between 3 and 7pm on the 9th May.

You can still register or else just visit my sponsorship page. If you can help me out for some sponsorship, I'd really appreciate it. You'll be helping the BHF save lives too, so it's well worth it.

Update 9th May: Done it. 35 + 54 + 30 minutes, although a bit of standing about and recovery time meant the whole thing took me 2 hours 25 minutes. It's not too late to sponsor me though ;-)

Scott Mills has been going on about the Canadian Pillow Fight League (PFL). He rightly points out that we would be more than happy to watch such things on TV. Radio 1 could just be spearheading the sport here in the UK. Of course, we Brits have been doing it for ages, although we seem to do it outdoors.

Incidentally, the PFL site has videos, audio and a competition to name a new pillow fighter - Shauna. The mind boggles...

Streetcar sent me a letter about their service. It's not often I get these things and think anything more than "ooh, something to shred". This one actually looks like a really good idea for us city dwelling types.

Basically, they've got a load of parking spaces around London. They stick a car in each one, and that's your local pick up point. You wander along, get into the car with a special card and then you're away. They've got an in-car hotline to them, and you pay for all your fuel and cleaning with a fuel card. They then charge you via your credit card after sending you a monthly statement. It looks incredibly convenient, pretty cheap and it's an interesting use of technology too. Nifty stuff...

Publishing this number is illegal in the USA, because it's something of a commercial secret used to protect copyrights:

09:F9:11:02:9D:74:E3:5B:D8:41:56:C5:63:56:88:C0
or, decimal if you prefer:
13,256,278,887,989,457,651,018,865,901,401,704,640
or get it on a t-shirt (from the USA).

This number is the HD-DVD encryption key. If you know how to do it, it's possible to decrypt HD-DVD disks with this key, making them copyable, downloadable or whatever. As you might expect, there are lawsuits abound over the pond at the moment.