Broadband and Me

Religious Education or Indoctrination?

BBC NEWS | Education | Overhaul for religious teaching

The QCA (a UK government agency which supports the English National Curriculum) has developed a new national framework for Religious Education. A key component is of course Church of England (protestant) beliefs whilst other religions such as Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism and Sikhism are covered. Interestingly and a point of contention for a number of groups are that atheism (and agnosticism and Humanism) are not covered at all and worse than that not mentioned.

I'll admit to some bias here in that I tend to lean towards atheism, however I also believe children should be given the opportunity to make up their own mind on certain things. I also belive education is about open minds and presenting options and alternatives.

I actually believe that moral or perhaps better put belief education is extremely important but why this should be done without recourse to wider views is beyond me.

This isn't a compulsory part of the National Curriculum and local areas will undoubtably put otgehter their own gudiance however I think it is quite irresponsible to ignore these views.

The article has given me a bit of education too. I didn't realise that there was such a group as the National Secular Society or what Humanism actually meant.

And to quote from a IPPR report (also on the BBC)

Senior research fellow Ben Rogers said: "Now that only seven per cent of Britons attend a weekly religious service, many are arguing for the abolition of RE as a compulsory subject - we disagree.

"RE has an important place in the curriculum - but only if it's brought up to date."

'Bias'

It was important people learned to converse with those of different faiths and think critically about their own, they said.

The institute said: "Dropping religion from the syllabus, or banning the expression of religious beliefs from schools, as in France, won't make religious strife go away - if anything it will exacerbate it.

"Religious education can play an important part in combating prejudices."

But too often it had "a pro-religious and in some cases anti-science bias".

RIP John Peel

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | TV and Radio | Legendary radio DJ John Peel dies

A sad day - John Peel has always been my favourite DJ not only because of his wonderful presentation and his committment to new music but simply because he always seem to be a really great guy.

My respect for him was huge.

Rock in Peace.

Are Credit Cards Evil?

BBC NEWS | Business | MPs to quiz UK credit card firms

I merely ask the question? I have been told that by a financial advisor, my father and a colleague at various times. MPs also seem to have a similar view (well maybe not evil but you get the idea).

Do we really need to live beyond our means? Probably not. We certainly consume more than we need to because society puts pressure on us to want so much. Keeping up with the Jones's is more about how well you can manage your debt than whether you actually need something.

Wear tatty green jumpers and sod the Jones's they're rubbish anyway. Give money to Oxfam for Xmas and buy the new Band Aid single or the Live Aid DVD(but not on credit).

(Amazon.co.uk link Amazon.com link)

Branson: The American Virgin?

Fast Company | The Gonzo Way of Branding

Talking more of branding and perhaps a little of the charge of the light brigade (although perhaps not). An article on Branson's attempt to kick start an internal American airline.

While the UK almost certainly does get Virgin and generally understand the brand (good value, excellent service) from this I am not sure the US does, particularly not the business gugurs quoted in the article. The constant references to Branson getting sued for harrassment also seem somewhat churlish. Still, interesting to see whether this foray into US domestic airlines can succeed or whether the 'Chrge of the Light Brigade' - an heroic failure - is appropriate...

The Charge of the Light Brigade

BBC NEWS | UK | Light Brigade battle remembered

The 150th Anniversary of the Charge of the Light brigade, one of the most infamous events in British Army history is today.

Here is Tennyson's Poem, The Charge of the Light Brigade:

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
'Forward the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!' he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew
Some one had blundered:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

Flashed all their sabres bare,
Flashed as they turned in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wondered:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right through the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reeled from the sabre-stroke
Shattered and sundered.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came through the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!

Is branding dead?

Is branding dead?

Hugh Macleod has been saying that Branding is Dead, and Doc Searls agrees. Robert Scoble disagrees.

Well, it all depends on what you mean by branding, and it means different things to different people. .
.. "brands" are just bits of shorthand we all get to use to describe ideas. Ideas we have about companies, churches, politicians blah blah blah.

A lot of smart-alec advertising and fancy logo designs may have been quite powerful in the past. I think they're becoming less powerful now. When brand experts issue pronouncements like "Kelloggs is synonymous with health and vitality" they may think they're doing some big branding. My hunch is that, lacking credibility, they're not doing as much as they think.

Excellent summary by Johnnie. Branding as idea only goes so far. Take ntl's relatively new mantra - "More Choice. Better Value" - its not the brand but I believe recently I was told it was. How much is the customer going to buy into that? Is it a shorthand for ntl? Well from a product perspective our triple play of TV, Telephony and Broadband might lead you to more choice. But better value? ntl certainly isn't the worse value not by a long shot but 'better'. It also screams out at an integrity to do with support i.e. value to me isn't just the products (or services) but how you support the customer through the whole engagement with the company (or the moments of truth if you will). This to me is where the brand really takes shape. Now I am focusing on a service example here not on the FMCG categories like Kellogs, nevertheless if you cannot offer customers the idea then the shorthand comes to mean something very different from the idea. What is Enron short for these days - corporate idiocy or fraud?

Branding isn't dead by a long shot but consumers are more intelligent, cynical, aware and just sprouting a short snappy mantra doesn't deliver on the promise. You actually need to engage with customers to achieve that (Church of the Customer anyone?)

Under reporting of UK Carbon output

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | UK carbon output 'under-reported'

Whether you agree with the WWF report or not the fact remains that people in the UK consume too much, but perhaps more fundamentallywhat is consumed is produced inefficiently in terms of C02 footprint.

The report says humans currently consume 20% more natural resources than the Earth can produce, and that populations of terrestrial, freshwater and marine species fell on average by 40% between 1970 and 2000.

Dr Claude Martin, director-general of WWF International, said: "We are spending Nature's capital faster than it can regenerate.

"We are running up an ecological debt which we won't be able to pay off unless governments restore the balance between our consumption of natural resources and the Earth's ability to renew them."

If we aren't doing it with credit then we are doing it with the environment. Something has got to change.

The big questions remain though how and by whom? While the ordinary bod on the Clapham Omnibus can make some difference, it really falls to Government and big corporations to change their behaviour and therby influence ours; a mutally re-inforcing circle.

Can it happen? If I am anything to go by, then it will be hard work. I believe in change. I believe in reducing my energy consumption and want more enviornmentally friendly products and services but I also have to consider financial cost and debt.

Companies like (dare I say it) BT have made a comittment to use only re-newal energy. If the government made such a comittment and other multinationals started doing the same, then a change would start to occur.

People simply don't see how this effects them. The costs, the effects must somehow be internalised so that change does occur.

I'm off to recycle my soapbox :)

Politics, Marketing and Education

Its been a while...

Lots of thoughts colliding chaotically in my head; some of which I can blog about some of which I cannot.

Items currently of interest to me:

US Presidential election - while the USA has never been of particular interest in terms of its politcal system (Europe, Asia and Africa are more interesting to me) the current election makes me feel more concerned for the world than ever. Via Johnnie's blog , a link to Neil Turner who comments on the Guardian's attempt to influence US voters. The comments on Neil's blog as well as the Guardian responses are of real interest. Most of the US voters have never been beyond their own backyard and yet their votes could well influence the course of the world - while I don't think one should overtly interfere in the politics of another country without Internetaional law behind you, that didn't stop Afghanistan or Iraq. Just an observation.

And isn't the US political system based upon that of France?

Marketing - the CIM course progresses ever onwards. Keep trying to work out who are more inept, the CIM, the BPP authors of CIM text books or me. Probably me. Johnnie (yet again) hits the nail on the head: Marketing = facilitation. So why am I having brain failure about time series analysis - tyranny of numbers again. Church of the customer talks about 'Over coming systemic company blindness' or perhaps strategic drift - in the case in point bought about by not talking to customers. It seems to me that if you don't talk to them and respond to their needs/ wants/ preferences then how are you staying in business?

Exam Overhaul - I once wrote a mini-dissertation related to changing of the exam system post 16 (rather than at all levels). Why an academic system based upon the International Baccalaureate isn't acceptable I do not know. This new diploma based system is very close to the IB why not go the whole hog? A fundamental change is necessary because much as I love A levels (they did me a lot of good) they do not give students what they actually need in the real world (at work or university) and GCSEs well, I think a review is 16 years overdue. The vocational element of course is a different matter...

And while I can see the gradual change approach, I would suggest that a decade is too long a timescale.

BTW the Conservatives latest response (or as they would have it, proposal) is quite bluntly absurd. A fixed quota i.e. a relative measure not an absolute one. In one year that could mean a student getting an A and in another a C - very equitable - good to see the reactionary element coming forth.

...and that's all.

Aurora - is this the new dawn for UK space programme?

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | UK aims to be major space player

Science minister Lord Sainsbury says the country will pay the £5m interim subscriptions needed to maintain a premier place in the Aurora programme. Aurora sets out a vision for Europe to visit the planets with robotic probes and perhaps one day even with humans. Initially, however, the aim will be to put unmanned vehicles on the Red Planet.

Lots of progress happening on the Space exploration front this week, what with Virgin Galaxy(?) and SpaceShipOne (Burt Rutan) and perhaps more important in the long term and certainly for British 'Space' academics is the news that the government will by into Aurora. First time in a while I can truely say I am pleased with a decision made by the government.

Mars, here we come, maybe, again, perhaps... oh well, fingers crossed.

Spam defence at last?

BBC NEWS | Technology | Net giants adopt anti-spam system

From October, AOL, Yahoo, Hotmail, Earthlink and Comcast want those that send lots of messages to their users to comply with new mail standards.

These technical specifications will help reveal whether a message came from the net address it claims to.

This will help identify hi-tech con artists posing as banks and net domains known to pump out junk mail messages.

Hmmm... Lots of different noises about this - some good, some bad. Note not a single UK ISP is on the list. Wonder whether they will buy into this or not?

BT to reduce Wholesale prices?

BBC NEWS | Technology | BT mulls u-turn on broadband cost

Could be good news for the consumer and obviously smaller ISPs. Fingers crossed...