Karim Bakhtiar's Blog

Slap Tony Blair

Elections are a serious business. That's why the Conservative party is giving you a chance to become a slapper. In their latest online game, they've even gone to the trouble of giving John Prescott boxing gloves. How thoughtful.

The Uncredibles

Should You Be Allowed To Vote?

Are you a smart voter who is clued-up on what's really happening in Britain, or will you be voting in ignorance, deciding based on false assumptions?

Take the MySociety 2005 General Election Estimation Quiz to find out.

Interestingly, the author of the quiz posts details of how clued up the supporters of the three main parties are.

Sky News Rocks

I'm a news junkie, and for the UK news junkie there's no better channel than Sky News.

After the terrorists struck on September 11th, I would come home from work and watch Sky News's coverage for hours on end.

When Baghdad fell, Sky News Reporter David Chater was there to talk to the troops as they drove their tanks onto the square in which Saddam Hussein's statue would famously fall. Chater was the only reporter broadcasting live from the square.The pictures were simulcast on news channels worldwide.

Sky News launched the world's first interactive TV video news service. It lets viewers choose what they want to watch, from 8 video screens. These can be viewed at up to full-screen size.

On election night 2005, Sky News viewers with Sky Digital will have 16 full-size screens from which to choose.

If you want to get a feel for Sky News (but live in the US, or do not have digital TV), check out Johnnie Larkin's authoritative site, SkyNewsCentre.

It appears as though I'm not the only fan of Sky News. The SkyNewsCentre discussion forum has 850 registered members.

Interactive TV and digital satellite broadcasting offer fantastic possibilities for creating TV that's controlled by the viewer, not by the editor or producer.

Why does this matter? Because most people get their news from TV, and as long as that's the case, we're all forced to make do with what the 'average' viewer wants. Our news consists of soundbites from news-makers, not their words in context. Every story that's of interest to you is excluded if it won't interest the average viewer. The time given to stories is cut down to that which the average viewer will accept without switching channels.

Interactivity offers depth, breadth, choice, genuine viewer feedback and active participation. Plus the ability to order pizza without leaving the sofa. As all countries move towards digital TV, Sky News is offering a glimpse of how interactive TV will transform your viewing of Television news.

Is Your Web site Unreadable Gibberish?

Find out. Test it with the JuicyStudio FOG test...

 

[Via LifeHacker]

EXCLUSIVE: Gordon Brown's Plan For Labour's Third Term

WHOIS.SC

If you ever want to find out whether a domain name is available, or to whom it is registered, visit WHOIS.SC

Whois.sc can look up the registrant of .COM .ORG .NET .INFO .BIZ and .CO.UK domain names. Just type whois.sc/DOMAINNAME into your browser. For example http://www.whois.sc/test.com

To look up .ORG.UK domain names, visit http://www.nic.uk/ and enter the domain into the box on the lower left-hand side of the homepage.

WHOIS.SC can also look up which organizations have registered a given IP address, which is useful for finding out which organizations are visiting your web sites. Just enter http://www.whois.sc/IPADDRESS for example
http://www.whois.sc/195.224.195.66

Telecoms Stocks? Anyone? Please?

James Enck, a European Telecoms Analyst for Daiwa Securities SMBC, gives his view on the outlook for Telecoms stocks:

Last Friday I had a meeting with a new client, and when asked about my recommendations for the telecom sector, I said "buy oil and mining."

The BBC, Impartial As Always

Good news, Comrade! Thanks to the unique way it's funded, the BBC gives Conservative supporters the chance to fund attacks on Michael Howard. Or face jail, for license fee avoidance.

For, the BBC has admitted training hecklers, then sending them to attack Michael Howard, in front of the media, in the middle of a British General Election campaign. The hecklers shouted "Michael Howard is a liar", "You can't trust the Tories" and "You can only trust Tony Blair".

And to think that some people doubt the BBC's political impartiality!

A Guest Blogger Writes

Hello. I am Karim's rowing machine.

Why am I used as a newspaper stand?

Did I do something wrong?