BBC Blog Network

User Profile

Julian

Listed below are comments made by Julian between Monday, 22nd December 2008 and Tuesday, 15th December 2009.

«Newer
Older»

COP15: Climate 'scepticism' and questions about sex 9:15pm on 15 Dec 2009 It's obvious. Everyone is talking about MAN-made global warming and we men are fed up with being blamed for it.
Map of the Week: Floods of Tears 10:48pm on 22 Nov 2009 This has been a disaster that affects all of the community not just those whose homes were flooded because it has ripped the heart out of the town centre.

But no flood defences that anyone could have proposed without being laughed at would have stopped a flood like this. It is nothing to do with building on flood plains - many of the properties affected are hundreds of years old. And it is nothing to do with climate change - floods have occurred here for centuries. It is what will inevitably happen when you have exceptional rainfall in the mountains that drains into two different rivers which meet at one point: the centre of Cockermouth.
24 hours with Ubuntu 10:10am on 27 Oct 2009 Ubuntu is quite a nice OS, but one thing its advocates consistently ignore is that most people use computers to run applications, not to use a particular OS. Windows has by far the richest array of polished and professionally supported applications available for it. That is the main reason why having tried Linux I've gone back to Windows. (Though this is being typed on a laptop running Linux - if you need little more than a web browser and an office suite, Linux is great.)

I think the free software movement's insistence on freedom is becoming the Achilles heel of Linux. If there was a market for commercial software on Linux then you might get more, better quality applications, and it would become a more practical choice of OS. Most Linux apps are written by people in their spare time. Development proceeds as and when they have time available, and sometimes stops when the developer loses interest or has no time any more and no-one wants to take over. I'm happier using software that someone makes a living from - it gives them an interest in keeping their customers happy.
Chrome - living in a Google world? 6:02pm on 08 Jul 2009 I don't care about operating systems, I just want to run apps. I actually do run Linux on systems that mostly just need to run Firefox, but for my home needs its Windows all the way because Linux doesn't have the same rich choice of professional, polished, high quality applications.

I think one of the reasons for the lack of compelling Linux applications is the free software ethos, which means that developers can't make money selling applications the way they can for Windows or Mac OS. If Chrome OS offers a way for third party application vendors to make money developing products that run on it, then it could become a serious challenge to Microsoft. If it's just going to be a platform that allows a web browser to run, then it's of not very much interest.
I could operate trains 3:12pm on 01 Jul 2009 The essential problem with railways is that they are an outmoded technology that requires this expensive infrastructure that requires constant labour-intensive maintenance and which causes annoying delays when something breaks down or goes wrong. Perhaps the reason it's cheaper and more reliable to fly or drive than go by train is that flying or driving is actually a more efficient way of travelling (forgetting all the carbon emissions nonsense which is just a conspiracy by tree-hugging hippies anyway.)

So none of this matters. Just tear up the tracks and tarmac them over.
Can we afford the carriers? 10:47am on 30 Jun 2009 "If we remove our conventional forces and do not replace our nuclear deterrent, no one, none of our potential alliances or any country we may wish to influence through diplomacy will listen to us!" I personally have no wish to influence anybody. I'm more interested getting a decent pension and health care. That's what I want my taxes spent on, not battleships and nuclear warheads.

The only beneficiaries of defence spending are our politicians who can strut about feeling important. Britain hasn't been a major power since it lost its Empire. It has long been time we stopped pretending we still are.
Fewer votes for BNP 2:31pm on 08 Jun 2009 I'm one of the people who didn't vote. It seemed the only way to express how I feel about UK politics at the moment. That feeling is entirely brought about by the media, which has made the Westminster expenses scandal into a long-running saga and devoted the rest of the time to re-raising the issue of Gordon Brown's leadership. I can recall NO coverage in recent weeks of policies or European issues. So what exactly was I supposed to vote for?

The media and especially the BBC is to blame for the current state of affairs due to its constantly treating politics as a soap opera. Please can we have a return to serious political journalism?
Ministerial post 'dehumanising' for Digby Jones 3:55pm on 17 Jan 2009 I've been a civil servant, did a couple of years in local government, worked in the private sector and now run my own business. Like boggym1999 I thought when I worked in the public sector that I worked hard and gave value for money. When I moved to the real world ... what an eye opener!

I'm sure there are people in the civil service who could hold down a real job if they had to. But so much "work" in the public sector comes down to attending meetings and writing reports designed to ensure no-one is individually responsible for anything. And if someone screws up they are just moved to another post, not fired. Not to mention the 9 to 5 culture.

I'm sure Digby is right, but no government of any colour has the guts to really tackle the civil service because the bureaucrats have the power to make or break any government - or minister.
Why blogs matter to the BBC 9:43pm on 02 Jan 2009 Bias is in the eyes of the beholder. If someone complains of bias, it's always because they don't agree with what's been said.

Anyone who is interested enough in something to become a journalist is going to have an opinion. Personally, I'm interested to read what BBC journalists really think. The only defence against bias is to use your own critical faculties and don't just accept what you are told, whatever the source.
How our banks were rescued 9:59pm on 22 Dec 2008 I watched Panorama and I was horrified at the suggestion that Robert should have kept quiet about some of his scoops so as not to have made worse the situations he was reporting.

As someone who, like many, has lost a lot of his investments by not bailing out of stock market funds earlier because I didn't understand the seriousness of what was going on, I totally disagree that this kind of information should be restricted to insiders.

Thanks to Robert's reports, I now have a much clearer understanding of what is going on in the financial world, which I think all ordinary small savers and investors will need to do if they are not to lose even more before we hit the bottom of this economic cycle.

More power to you, Robert, and a Merry Christmas!

«Newer
Older»

^ Back to top

BBC MMVI

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

BBC.co.uk

BBC Blog Network

Find and talk to the BBC's bloggers.

User Profile

Julian