The Subrosa Blog is now complete
Please be aware that this incarnation of the 'Subrosa Blog' has now ended - why not visit the new Stuart Homfray weblog?.
Of course, that's not to say that the Subrosa blog will never return... I may decide to reincarnate it as a sort of sideblog or something!
If you've arrived here via a search engine results page, you may also wish to consider entering the site via the main entrance, as Subrosa itself has now outlived it's usefulness...
posted by Stuart NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT POSTED VIA BLOGGER!
Friday, November 29, 2002
The next Prestige event..
Don't know about anyone else (in fact, don't know IF anyone else looks at this page!!) but a particularly stupid idea seems to be to transport huge quantities of oil in knackered old flag of convenience (or possibly try other Google results) - registered tankers - it's a horrific environmental disaster waiting to happen!
Here's a news release from Greenpeace highlighting another tanker from the same folks who brought you the Prestige:
Tallinn, Estonia, 29 November 2002Greenpeace activists today blocked the oil tanker Byzantio in the port of Tallinn, Estonia, preventing it from leaving with its cargo of 50,000 tonnes of oil. The Byzantio is chartered by the same company that contracted the ill-fated oil tanker Prestige that sank off the north-western coast of Spain earlier this monthGreenpeace activists are chained to the mooring lines of the ship and inflatable boats are displaying banners with the word "Hazard!" stamped across them."The world has been able to see the unimaginable amount of damage to the environment that oil tankers such as this cause to the environment. It would be direct governmental negligence to allow one more hazardous ship to leave port," said Pernilla Svenberg of Greenpeace. "The Prestige catastrophe is clear proof of the threat ships like the Byzantio are for the environment. With the experience of the Prestige behind us, European governments must ban these ships from our seas. We can’t afford to wait 13 more years."According to UN shipping regulations, single hulled oil tankers are still allowed to sail on all of the world’s oceans until 2015 when a total ban on these ships goes into effect.The Maltese flagged Byzantio was set to sail across the Baltic and the North Seas following the same route as the Prestige on its way to Singapore. Recently, the Paris Memorandum of Understanding, one of the world’s leading port inspection authorities, placed Malta on safety "black list" for its failure to fulfil basic safety measures.European ministers responsible for transportation, energy and telecommunications are scheduled to meet in Brussels on December 6 and maritime safety and environmental issues are expected to be high on the agenda. Denmark, the current seat of the EU Presidency, is expected to present several initiatives to tackle the issue of dangerous shipments. "This is a chance for European governments to stop these hazardous shipments," concluded Svenberg. "They shouldn’t waste it."So, what can you (yes, that means YOU) do?? Well, for starters you can write to the Estonian transport minister Liina T?nisson asking her to stop the Byzantio from leaving port, and you can send a letter to Crown Resources asking it to cancel its plans to ship oil using the Byzantio, and finally, you can send a letter to the International Maritime Organization asking it to reform shipping regulations to end the shoddy "flag of convenience" system and make the shipping industry more accountable.
posted by Stuart 9:00 PM
Wednesday, November 20, 2002
Western Aussie Rules
An article in The West Australian [if this link is down, try the Google cache] newspaper tells of the the new Criminal Investigation (Identifying People) Act 2002, enabling police to "...forcibly take a DNA sample when a person refuses to give one." It ALSO enables police to take samples of DNA from witnesses.
Now I don't know about you, but this seems a little EXTREME when looked at in terms of civil liberties and human rights. Mind you, at least we know the samples will be safe and the evidence not mistakenly used or abused, because the police forces around the globe NEVER make mistakes, do they?!?! Actually, why not go the whole hog and place video cameras outside our houses (or even inside them!), just to make people feel REALLY safe - after all, as Police Minister Michelle Roberts says in the report (and she's not the only person in the world to use this line): "If people had not committed crimes they would have nothing to worry about." It's a nice line, really, because it makes those who believe it feel good, and those who oppose it sound guilty. Declan McCullagh makes a rather nice point about this too:
"Perhaps Michelle will volunteer for forcible DNA testing herself? I hope she will have no objections when concerned citizens forcibly extract DNA from her children, parents, and relatives -- just in case. After all, if they committed no crimes, they should have nothing to worry about. Right? Not to mention the unintended consequences: People witnessing a crime may be more reluctant to call the cops or stick around to provide vital information, knowing they may be handing over their DNA by doing so."Bang on, mate! I'd be happy to know that (another quote from Michelle): "...when a person had been cleared of a crime or was no longer a suspect they could apply to have their sample destroyed and their DNA information removed." (hope she doesn't mind my little emphasis on the word apply. As long as we can always apply to have it removed, everything's going to be alright. Phew, thought the coppers might just hang on to the samples for a minute, there.
UPDATE 9th June 2003: The above links to the West Australian site no longer connect to the intended documents - it would appear that there is a problem providing free access to archived news in Australia. The only other relevent link that I can find is at vigilant.tv: WA begins DNA testing of witnesses, victims
posted by Stuart 1:43 PM
Friday, November 15, 2002
Welcome to the Real-World Cookie
The browser cookie is now making the leap into real world with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. The idea is to produce a very cheap device that can be embedded within ANY consumer product allowing the product to be tracked throughout it's life. RFID readers can work up to a distance of 5ft with very little special effort required for the tags to be read. Soon, shops will be able to recognise returning customers, or be able to offer complementary items to those that you've bought from other shops, a la DoubleClick and our other targeted ad friends.
Richard M. Smith of Computer Bytes Man points out some diagrams of how RFID readers will use the internet to connect to a centralized tracking database at the Auto-ID Center of Cambridge, Mass. He also mentions a couple of RFID tag at the RFID Journal:
- Gillette to Purchase 500 Million EPC Tags
An interesting quote from this article is:The news is stunning because of the sheer size of the order. To date, the largest order of RFID tags was 30 million for use in Star Wars toys produced for Hasbro.- New Direct-To-Textile Washable RFID Tag
Call me Mr. Naive from Naivesville, but I didn't know that:In Europe and Australia, RFID tagging of uniforms is fairly common.So, basically, all a company with uniformed employees has to do, is tie up the uniform id with the name of the wearer, and there you have it: a nice little tracking device that knows where you are at ALL times, including when you have a break, go to the toilet/WC/restroom (delete as appropriate)...I'll bet Borg drone Kevin Warwick didn't have THIS in mind when he set out on his 'augmentation' quest...
posted by Stuart 8:29 PM
Sunday, November 03, 2002
Update to Barclaycard terms & conditions
Even onanists can get more from Barclaycard. Credit, where it's due....
If Barclaycard have changed the opening page graphic (and, if they haven't yet, then they probably should), why not take a look at this screengrab...
posted by Stuart 5:28 PM
