blog.kungf.eu

1 Introduction

The decline of printed news in the UK is not a recent phenomenon. Since peak circulations in the 1950s, they have fought a loosing battle with technical innovations; such as radio and television.(Thompson, 1990) In the 21^st century the new media is online, and downward trends are more marked that ever.(ABCs, 1931 – 2009) Clearly providers of quality journalism are struggling to adapt. But is the Internet just another technology to which traditional skills can be tailored? Or is there a fundamental change taking place that will redefine the profession of journalism?

This essay will explore the role of journalism and news companies in the modern consumer landscape. In particular it will focus on the newspaper of record¹ and other, largely respected, news sources. The red tops (tabloid press) will be mostly disregarded because, it is the opinion of this author that, their contribution to society is more tenuous.

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It took me over a year, but I finally got around to posting this video. It’s a presentation done for a Technical Communication Skills class. The remit was to talk for 5 minutes about anything. The catch is that you are only allowed one take, thus it is full gaffs.

Anybody that doesn’t still refer to the internet as “tubes”**, will by now have noticed that things are getting rather meta* out there. Users of Digg and StumbleUpon are finding it difficult to avoid a spate of Top 10 Top 10 Lists. Read more…

First I just want to say that I have a MacBook, and I love my MacBook. I’ve been a long time user of Windows and Linux based PCs, nowadays however I just want it to work. So I am officially a Mac convert, but…

I have this problem with my MacBook. It’s been there ever since I can remember and I have spent more hours than I care to mention trying to fix it. It’s only a tiny little problem that really isn’t worth complaining about, but it is spoiling my “Mac Toa”… Read more…

iLike.com is a new music discovery and sharing site, similar to last.fm. It’s clean and simple, with all the usual features you would expect from a service like this. The main caveat is that it only works with iTunes. Basically it allows me to:

• Share my taste in music.
• See what my friends are listening to at the moment.
• Find other music that I will like.

You can find my profile here: http://www.ilike.com/user/hamishiam.

Take it. – So said Yogi Berra, the words most uneducated philosopher.It’s all change on Hamish train, which has been re-routed to somewhere much more interesting. I have quit my job and am going to study Computer Science at the University of Sussex next week. This plan has gone from inception to realisation fruition in about 2 weeks, and despite almost everyone’s advise to the contrary I can’t help but feel extremely positive about it.To celebrate leaving my job I wrote a poem. Please try not to be offended (by the second verse) since it simply chronicles the un-empethetic hard sales mind set that infects telemarketing call floors:

I don’t want to be no corporate whore, 

Flogging insurance till my rectum is sore.

We’re not people we’re a human resource,

Cogs in a machine that has no remorse. 

Oh this woman’s has a hysterectomy,

But that’s okay – she has breast you see.

And I’m sorry your wife died yesterday,

Because now I’ll get less commission in my pay.

But now my empathy is coming back,

As my life gets back on track.

So goodbye the ‘Gen it’s been a blast,

May all of your employees get out of there fast.

Though the big-wigs treat you like toads,

I’ll miss you guys and I love you loads.

Now I’m getting myP45,

I’m really starting to feel

ALIVE.

Pre-Introduction: A friend asked me if I would  write an essay about definition and classification systems of abnormal psychology. Since I am a difficult person I decided it would be funnier if I twisted the subject around to do an essay that undermined the original question.

I have had no formal training in the psychology and know very little about it other that my own limited conclusions. I have never read a text book nor have I even discussed the topic much with my friends. It must be therefore, that what I have to say on the subject is not grounded in the common wisdom of the man kinds psychological study. It is likely that the subject which I describe as "Psychology" is not even the same one that taught in our universities. So it is that I present to you.

Why Definition and Classification Systems are Redundant.
An Abnormal Psychology

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Didn’t get the job that I was talking about previously on my journal. *sigh* oh well im sure its just as well. Their suits where very shiny and new – my suit wasn’t.

Here in Edinburgh it’s the build up for the festival, lots of busy people making venues for dance, music, theatre, comedy and film. Lots of very busy people… makes me want to hide. I had this idea for making some money – i thought I would make an on-line game that everybody wants to play. It would run in a browser so I could put google adds in it and maybe they would pay enough for me to live. Thought maybe a dopewars style game would work – I can do it, but can I be bothered?

I’m thinking of moving my website hosting from xcalibre to netfielders. A guy from netfielders offered me a full virtual host package for almost the same price but I would have to pay up-front for a year so it’s quite an investment.

 I also thinking of becoming a monk, a farmer, a ballet dancer, a fireman and an impoverished intellectual… perhaps the author of numerous unpublished works, not discovered until after my death then declared "he was before his time." Tomorrow I probably wont do anything productive. I’m hungry.

I had this job interview on Monday – and the when I got there I found that the interviewers had read my journal. Looking back on some of the err… emotions I have been expressing, I get the feeling that I won’t be getting that job. *sigh* If however I do get asked back for a second interview then it is quite likely that they will check this journal again and I would just like to say “Hi guys! Sorry for my inability to repress verbal diatribe in public places.”

In other news: I got a huge pile of old hardware from various sources. Including a dual processor Pentium Pro server with 3 RAID SCSI disks – totally oozing with geekness! Apparently it started life with the NHS so I called it “Nurse” – If only it didn’t sound like vacume cleaner all would be well in Hamishville.

The following is a rough translation of a song by a Catalan singer named Lluís Llach. You can learned all about him here www.lluisllach.cat (Catalan and Spanish) or English translation via google. Thank’s for the info Pierre

Que Tinguem Sort
(May We Have Luck)

If you say “goodbye”,
I want the day to be clean and clear,
So that nothing break the tranquil harmony of a birds song,

May we have luck,
And may you find what you are looking for In me.

If you say “I want you”,
May the sun make the day much longer,
And so stealing the time like the time of a stopped clock,

May we have luck,
And may we find all we where lacking yesterday.

And so, take all the fruit that I can give you
On the road that you slowly write
For tomorrow after tomorrow after tomorrow
Eating the fruit of each step,
Though even in the fog we must walk.

If you come with me
Don’t request a smooth path
With many silver stars
Nor a tomorrow full of promises
Only a little luck

And may life give us a longer road.