04.02.2009 - 4:58 p.m.

The happy period of consequence free surfing at work are over (boo hoo) last week we had an IE update imposed on us by our IT department, with this update the iron curtain of interweb denial once again fell over us and we are reduced to making our own entertainment, like in the olden days but without the TB and workhouses. Luckily for me they don't see Dland as some kind of pervy site so i still have plenty of timewasting in between the periods of actual work.

A new game that has come around, is to see what we can get past the filter, being as we can't disable the safesearch on any search engines i thought the list would be short and the short answer is not there's not much of any interest, although i've since discovered 'interesting' vids at blinkx.com which are still viewable. I'm not going to go as far as lording this over the IT thus prompting some kind of arms race, but it's nice to know they're not infallible, if you are trapped at work and bored, take a peek.

From the UK press over the last week you'd have thought that we'd all been transported to Siberia with all the doom laden predictions of feet of snow, and in true character the whole fabric of this country fell apart under the relentless, nay, apocalyptic fall of several, SEVERAL PEOPLE, inches of white stuff (in some areas there was 12 inches, but for the most part not) i made it work, my colleague travelled on major motorways for 30 miles and also made it to work, several staff were told not to come in by their immediate managers, we derided those managers for their decisions, we managed to load tankers, trailers and TNT and then left at 3pm once the work had been done.

It's at times like this i'm truly ashamed of living in this dog-basket of a country, on monday not one bus ran in london, not one icon of mass-transit could make it out of the depot, the circle underground line didn't run either, this would be the famous racetrack of central london underground rail, of which no part comes closer than 100 feet to the surface. I can only assume that they weren't able to get trains from overground depots to the correct places underground to make it work, but as everyone had plenty of time to make provisions for this it degenerates into a massive cop-out by TFL. But lucky for us we had Boris on the tv news saying how terrible the weather was and we can't pin the blame on anyone (even if they deserve it) so that's ok then.

I made my own fun by making handbrake turns into parking spaces in the company carpark, with the small amount of practice i get i must say i'm getting better with every passing snowfall, i decided not to go into the main yard around the back and keep on practicing in case the wheels fell off my car, i'd look like bit of a twat and i'd ruin the only reliable car i've ever owned.

I wouldn't mind living somewhere where it gets really snowy, like canadia, but as J hates the cold she'd never go and i wouldn't force her, so it's off to warmland for us. I just hope that wherever we end up the government has balls and is not afraid to wield them to shout down whinging pussies. As we're heading to Osteraylia at the first opportunity, there's not a lot of snow (except on mountains) and hopefully the pervading 'hard-as-nails-yet-strangely-chipper' convict attitude means people will just get on in the face of adversity and make the best of it.

On the downside the australian government is coming over all neocon and right wing, while this isn't necessarily a bad thing, being a drug-addled liberal myself it may conflict with some of my personal choices, but i'm happy to make the best of the situation like we all should, instead of hiding behind health-and-safety (waa waaa waaaa) and religious freedom and other pissy bullshit that people quote when they want to get out of going to work or facing up to reality.

But like the wisest of philosophers says

"happiness is a warm pussy"

and so it is.

With the official impetus behind RFid still unabating, the video below care of engadget and Youtube highlights just how stupid, short-sighted and damn creepy the whole idea is. They would have you believe that RFid will usher in a whole new world of contactless, swish and upwardly mobile transactions, as you breezely wave your passport, barclaycard or drivers licence at a reader to be granted access to airports, banana's etc. What the video proves is that you can now be tracked, ripped off and fucked over from a greater distance than ever before.

Its clear why governments are pushing for this technology as it allows near invisible surveillance of anyone carrying an RFid'd object, and by using access to bank details or immigration databases a person carrying a passport or credit card can be identified as they travel around a city. For paranoid governments with a network of RF antenna's they can follow your every move, if you have any concerns at all about privicy and your personal rights do not get an RF enabled object, in the UK all new passports have an RF chip in them so you have no choice, but don't carry it around with you unless you're actually travelling.

Of course it'll only take one criminal with a suitcase containing laptop and antennae sat at the entrance to an airport and he can scan, clone and sell every passport ID that walks past, if this isn't a good reason not to roll out the technology i can't think of a better one, but clearly the government's need to spy on us trumps any collateral downside that may follow so it's on with the circus.

God help you if you willingly apply for a new (and decidedly crappy) biometric ID card because then they can copy every pertinent detail on that card, and you've been cloned good and proper, it won't be until the police kick your door in at 4am that you'll even know about it, and the police being the even-handed and delicate bunch they are will obviously treat you with respect what with the whole 'innocent until proven guilty' thing and you'll have to argue your innocence while they wave a list of naughty things at you done in your name and do their utmost to secure a conviction, but i'm sure it'll be ok because miscarriages of justice rarely happen these days....