Tom Roper's Weblog

My thousandth post

This is my thousandth post. What should it be about? Some horse-racing selections, something stolen from the newspapers, a jeremiad against the state of the modern world, in particular  the press, radio and television's obsession with the trivial,  a diatribe against war-mongers, the current government and capitalism in general,  a description of some agreeable food and drink, a philippic against house-buyers, estate agents and solicitors, more about the neglected virtues of Patrick Hamilton, an account of an unusual dream I had last night, the rainbow I saw on Seaford Bay while running early this morning...?
It might be time to reinvent this blog as something completely different. For example, sex-blogging seems to guarantee of a lot of hits. I'd have to make a lot of it up, but I'm sure so do some of the more established names in the field. The closest I have ever been to an orgy is the disco at certain library conferences, but I have an imagination. Or I could write a fashion blog, especially when my suits from Old Town arrive. On to the next 1000 posts, and thank you for reading so far.

Minister joins public library

Margaret Hodge, now Minister of State for Culture Media and Sport, and therefore in charge of the nation’s libraries, joined her public library at the weekend, according to the Guardian diary.
If true, it is alarming that the Minster with responsible for libraries has not been a regular public library user. Worse, and not mentioned by the diary, is that Hodge was also leader of Islington Council for ten years for 1982-1992 yet, if the story is true, did not use her council’s public library service.
I am not surprised. I remember negotiations with the leader of a London Labour council bordering on Islington at the time of rate-capping. His council were proposing considerable cuts in the public library service. When challenged, the leader, a man who fancied himself as a firebrand of the hard left, said, “I don’t have a library ticket.  I buy all the books I want to read. Doesn’t everybody?”

Virgina Woolf 'elitist'

There's a tedious debate going on on a University of Sussex mailing list. A building is to be renamed and, perhaps unwisely, staff have been asked to comment. I was amazed that, from a shortlist that includes Tom Paine, Rudyard Kipling and Virgina Woolf, the last name was questioned on the grounds that it was 'elitist'.
What in earth does the objector mean? That her works are not always an easy read? That she was in some sense anti-democratic or anti-popular?
Someone else, demonstrating how venal academics have become,  remarks that 'names should be reserved for people donating large amounts of money to the university' which would rule out Paine., Kipling and Woolf, but would allow us to name a building after Nicholas Van Hoogstraten  if he happened to have his cheque book handy.

Panorama on wireless

I look forward to widespread panic after tonight's Panorama which will claim, misleadingly, that the use of wifi carries health risks. See here for a counterblast from the Guardian or this Pubmed search.
For myself, I wish wifi networks were stronger.  I am fed up with AirTunes cutting out when I try to play my music  and I have totally failed to get my son's laptop to see the network at all.
Wearing chain mail underpants while using wifi seems to me a small price to pay. Does anyone remember when Panorama used to be a programme of repute?

Library 2.0?

I went to my local public library, Seaford library, part of East Sussex County Council's libraries. Through their website I can renew and reserve, using my ticket number and a PIN. The PIN was set when I joined, at a distinctly unmemorable number. 
"Please could you change it to something easier to remember?", I asked.
"Oh no, we can't do that", was the answer.
"Perhaps your headquarters can?"
"No, nothing we can do."
I used the web form on the e-library to send an enquiry to  headquarters, which has gone unanswered.
I don't have a detailed knowledge of the library system they use, DS's Galaxy, if I'm not mistaken , but I do know that even ten years ago, a very long time in library automation, I installed Sirsi's Unicorn at the Royal College of Veterinary  Surgeons and library staff could easily change PINs for readers.
While I'm on the subject, why on earth does the East Sussex catalogue only allow users to request items already in stock?  No one library service can hope to satisfy the purposive reader, to use a phrase from my library school days, but to request anything not in stock obliges one to fill in a paper form. On some occasions, staff have even tried to tell me that is impossible to request items not on the catalogue.
Library 2.0 is all very well; East Sussex readers have yet to experience Library 1.0.

Update: I eat many of the  words above, for this afternoon I was contacted by Anita of East Sussex libraries. It is possible for branch library staff to change a PIN, and soon they will launch a new  version of the online catalogue which will, inter alia, allow users to change their own PINs.

Dripping

This box was in my late mother's attic. I strongly advise readers not to Google the phrase "Kylie dripping"; while Ms Minogue's rendered beef fat may have sustained the colonies in olden times, these days the phrase has a different, less wholesome resonance.

Seaford school uniform: where's the evidence?

Seaford's habitual quiet has been disturbed by the great Seaford Head school uniform controversy. See here for the proposals (pdf)
Since everyone else is saying their piece, I shall say mine too: interest declared, I have two children at the school, and I responded to the consultation, arguing that uniform should be abolished.
For me, the issue is not the poor design and shoddy quality of the proposed new uniforms, nor the silence from the governors who nodded the proposals through, but will not make public the results of the consultation with parents, nor the cost of the uniforms, nor the monopolistic position allowed to one supplier. No, the thing that worries me the most are the spurious arguments advanced for uniform-wearing. Searches of British Education Index and ERIC found no studies that demonstrated the slightest correlation between the imposition of uniform and the quality of education. The head-teacher and governors have tried to convince parents with a swathe of management buzzwords. They have tried to link the uniform to the recent award of specialist status in sports and science, (in itself an alarming development for anyone who values the arts and humanities in schools). There is simply no evidence to support their position.

Technorati Tags: schooluniform, seafordheadcommunitycollege

John Lanchester on intellectual property

I try not to blog about stories in the conventional press. It seems to me cheating. Today I shall break this rule because John Lanchester's piece in last Saturday's Guardian on intellectual property was first -rate.
I recently had to seek copyright clearance for some articles for use at work. With two, written by academics, it was easy: they both responded within hours to my e-mail, giving permission.  Oxford University Press also answered quickly and helpfully. The fourth piece was from the BBC website. There is nothing anywhere on that vast  site for copyright permission requests, though it must be a frequently asked question. I was reduced to filling in the generic feedback form, the same one used by viewers who don't like the newsreader's tie. Three weeks later, I have not had an answer. Small wonder laypeople ignore or breach copyright.

Young people today

I suppose I am too old for this caper. I use instant messaging, not very intensively, but I find it a satisfactory way to exchange quick remarks with others. From time to time people I don’t know turn up and ask who I am. I’m getting used to it. There are, after all, any number of Tom Ropers in the world: a quick Google finds a square dance caller, a lecturer at Leeds, an Australian politician and a schooner. No doubt there are many more. The other day [email protected] turned up on IM, and asked me to add them as a contact. I did and he addressed me in IM patois. I don’t have the chatlog, but the discussion went something like this:

Over-familiar young person: Yo!
Me: Hi. Do I know you?
O-FYP: LOL you know Lisa rite?
Me: I have known, indeed loved, many Lisas in my time, which one?
O-FYP: how old u?
Me: 52
O-FYP: you too old for MSN

I quickly deleted the impudent young pup, but reflected that perhaps I should stop using young people’s things, like computers.

See this discussion on Ancient Geeks on What do students use the internet for?, which confirms what we have known for some time, that “students regard email as a formal communication channel, for keeping in touch with “older people” such as tutors and parents. For communicating with each other, they use instant messaging”

Vernal equinox

It being the vernal equinox, it seems a good time to moan about a weather site I was using, Accuweather. After North America moved to summer time early this year,  apparently to save energy, Accuweather decided to move the rest of the world to summer time too, regardless of our quaint local customs. I queried this with them and had an e-mail back saying, "we do not currently compensate for Daylight Savings [sic] Time in international locations". Fie, for shame! It was a rotten site anyway, with irritating advertisements.  I shall use the BBC in future: their forecasts are less detailed and often wrong, but at least they know what time it is.