2008 #50 - Giraffes

Or Drafts, really. Drafts seemed too dull a title.

Over the last almost year there have been several occasions on which I almost wrote a post, then decided I was too busy doing something else, that I wasn't informed enough on the topic, or just couldn't really be bothered. I'd like to revist them and try to turn them into something.

Bailouts fail. Banks can't be forced to loan people money. The very prospect is laughable. They'll spend it how they want, and do more of the same.

So, why would interest rate cuts succeed when the same principle applies. It's a holding pattern. It's a wait and see.

This seems accurate enough to me. Just wasn't quite sure. Since writing that I can't say anything has happened to change my mind. In fact, I see no evidence whatsoever that any bailout package here in the UK or in any other country has had any real impact. Of course, there's a standby of claiming that the bailee was on the brink of collapse, but didn't collapse. That often won't be true, and if they eventually collapse anyway, never will it have been worth it.

Restrictive Revenue Models: I like the Weekly Lost Podcast from gspn.tv.

And I still do. What I never got around to here was to explain how the hell the title related to the post. I felt that a the time that It's probably a little unfair to bitch about having to pay for something that you previously got for free for some time. The issue I had was that the producer created a subscription service to cover his entire network, and every other show on that network aligns in no way to my interests. The fee is too high for me to justify spending to obtain the individual show. Every second episode was to be for subscribers only. Right now I'm unsure whether this is still the case as the feed has been quiet for a few weeks, so this could be out of date, but probably isn't.

I have the same issue with the BBC. We don't live in a world where everything needs to be bundled. Technology exists to sell people exactly the content they want. The BBC licence fee continues to exist because to countless people like me, a large proportion of what they produce is of no interest, however the money from those that are interested in particular content might not cover costs to produce such things. The BBC seems to have no confidence that it can sell it's content on an individual basis. Ridiculous really given how successful their commericial arm is. The licence fee is a TV tax in every sense of the word. Would I lock out the entire BBC in favour of my Sky channels? Yes. Pretty much. Based on typical usage I'd save my 140 quid a year and watch a different news channel, because that's the only BBC channel I watch with any regularity. If they won't sell it individually, I'll buy a competitor that will. Slightly over-simplified, but I think I've made the point.

I don't view gspn or all their other shows negatively, but the fact is I cannot listen to any more podcasts. I don't have the time. Having already reluctantly shed a few shows I already enjoyed, I'm not looking for shows that I don't expect to capture my interest, even if were I to give them a chance I may well enjoy them. At the time of the above one-liner, there was no realistic way for me to continue enjoying all episodes of the Weekly Lost Podcast. Would I pay individually for the show? Perhaps. Were it possible I'd at least consider it.

I'm noticing a lot of Obama supporters seems to be throwing around libetarian leanings.

LOOMIS

Grants?

Not sure where I was seeing this going. I guess I was talking about the people very emphatic about freedom in the lefty liberal sense. Hopefully by now these people are a little more uneasy about the "Office of the President Elect". None of my business anyway. I have the UK political futility to not care about.

LOOMIS - fantastic little "everything" shop in Leicester. I could not find a garlic crusher at ASDA anywhere. Same for a sieve. Both of these I found at LOOMIS. Bags for my 10 year old vacumn cleaner - LOOMIS. XLR wires - LOOMIS. Okay I wouldn't buy them there but it's good to know they have them in a balanced audio emergency. Cheap Umbrelllas - LOOMIS. Shops like this seem to be getting rarer. I hope they don't go away completely.

Grants? Yeah. One afternoon I woke up and noticed that students grants pretty much disappeared just before I went to uni and came back shortly after. Difference is, back then I might have felt hard done by. Now I find the prospect of encouraging every single person to seek higher education ridiculous, and given how a large proportion of my loan was spent I'd much rather not see anybody getting that money in grant form. No point getting too far into this. There's entrenched hypocracy of an ex-student whining about the current students who are doing essentially the same thing. I wouldn't change much if I could go back... Okay i'd change a lot of things, but who knows how anything would have turned out. Let it be. I like where I am overall.

2008 #40 - 700 billion $: It's an interesting week.

I think I did post this one. Must have started over. Maybe I changed the title. I can't be bothered to go back to check. No mystery in this one.

Right, this was a fine idea but apparently I have more to say on these than I had expected. I'll do the rest next time perhaps. Now for the shortest most vague recap on my six things list ever.

1. Work gave us a tin of quality street. Failed. (i'm not saying FAIL. That's played, as 0f months ago)

2. Extremely entertained and artistic. Seem to have slipped into regularly watching a soap for the first time in about six years though. Might try to stop that soon.

3. New faces, old faces, hanging round old places. All good.

4. Covering for the boss. Seems about the same. Good and busy, goals untouched.

5. No time to reconsider anything this week. Christmas will give me some thinking time.

6. Lots of weekend walking. I'll always want to walk places. Otherwise, no.

Two to go, don't ya know!