Posts made in May, 2005
Alex’s Pad Thai recipe
Serves 2 as main or 3 smaller portions if part of a larger meal
Ingredients
Chilli-infused oil to fry in
2tsp Garlic puree, or 2 crushed cloves of garlic
1 courgette, ends removed, sliced & quartered
About 1/3 medium white cabbage, some small chunks & some bigger leaves
1 carrot, peeled, quartered vertically and horizontally
4 small sprigs of broccoli, destalked and cut into 2/3 pieces each depending on size
1 mixed peppers, de-seeded & insides removed, chopped into small thin short strips
6 seafood sticks, defrosted in tepid water, chopped into 1cm cubes (or prawns)
3 large teaspoons of crunchy peanut butter
100ml coconut milk (just over half a small 165ml tin)
small sprig of chives, chopped
1 small jar Blue Dragon Pad Thai sauce
2 blocks of medium thickness egg noodles
Directions
1. Boil the kettle and put the water in the pan
2. Cook the egg noodles for 3 minutes/until soft, then turn off the heat
3. In a large wok over a strong heat, heat the oil until a speck of garlic sizzles when dropped in
4. Add the rest of the garlic and spread evenly through the oil
5. Add the courgette, cabbage, carrot, pepper, broccoli and chives
6. Keep stirring for 5-7 minutes to evenly cook all the veg.
7. Veg should still be slightly crunchy
8. Add the seafood stick cubes & stir for 30 secs
9. Add half of the coconut milk and stir in
10. Add the peanut butter, and stir through
11. Add the pad thai sauce and stir through
12. Add the rest of the coconut milk and stir through
13. Drain the egg noodles
14. Add the egg noodles to the pan and mix in thoroughly
15. Serve on warmed plates & eat with chopsticks
Vonage given stick to beat BT – Techworld.com
http://www.techworld.com/mobility/news/index.cfm?NewsID=3704
From the page: “customers will be allowed to keep their Vonage number when they move house, severing the geographical link between dialling code and area. If a customer gets a “London” number, they call and receive calls on that London number, whether their router is connected to the Net in London or Cardiff.”
Read MoreBBC NEWS | Programmes | Click Online | Architectures digital revolution
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/4564563.stm
From the page: “Tom Watson says: “This is a 144 megapixel camera. It writes a 140Mb file.
“If you compare that with the average consumer digital camera, it’s about 100 times more data.””
Read Moreall about the UK ID scheme &187; NO2ID
http://www.no2id.net/IDSchemes/faq.php
What personal information will be contained in the Register and on the Card?
The Government has continually asserted that the creation of the ID system will result in the collection of less, not more, personal information than already exists. In April, for example, the Home Secretary told BBC1’s Breakfast programme: “There will be no more information, in fact a lot less, and much less accessibility than there are for shopping cards at the moment”. The Home Secretary repeated this claim during a speech in November, resulting in a robust response from the retail sector.
The government’s claim is deceptive in that it confuses data on the identity card (as a chip embedded in a piece of plastic) with the national database, which is where almost all the personal information will be held. (The Bill does not specify what information should be contained in or on the card itself, and leaves this to regulation.)
However, Clause 1 and Schedule 1 of the Bill sets out more than fifty categories of information required for the register (subject to change by regulation):
1. Name
2. Previous names / Aliases;
3. Date and place of birth and, if the person has died, the date of death
4. Address
5. Previous addresses UK & abroad
6. Times of residency at different addresses in UK & abroad
7. Current residential status
8. Previous residential statuses
9. Information about numbers of any other ID documents
10. Who has requested access to info from this database and when
11. Information recorded in the Register on request.
12. Photograph
13. Fingerprints
14. Other biometrics e.g. iris scan
15. Signature
16. Nationality;
17. Entitlement to remain in UK
18. If temporarily in the UK, terms of stay
19. National Identity Registration No
20. ID card number
21. National Insurance number;
22. Immigration document numbers if applicable
23. UK Passport number
24. Foreign passport number
25. Number of any document that can be used instead of a passport
26. Foreign ID card number
27. Any ref number allocated by the Secretary of State in connection with an application to enter/remain in the UK
28. Work permit number (if immigrant)
29. Driving licence number
30. Any other official document numbers of the applicant
31. Validity periods/expiry dates of all the above
32. Dates of application for ID card
33. Dates of application to change the data
34. Dates of applications to check the data
35. Reasons for ommission of any blank info
36. Particulars of every ID card issued
37. Status of each ID card
38. Particulars of anyone who has countersigned the application
39. Particulars of notifications given to the holder
40. Particulars of every requirement by the Secretary of State to surrender the ID card
41. Information provided for each application or change to the data
42. Information provided for each confirmation of the data
43. Particulars of the steps taken to identify or verify the applicant for applications or checks
44. Particulars of any other steps taken to identify the applicant
45. Particulars of every notification given by the holder
46. A personal identification number
47. A password
48. Questions and answers to be used to identify the person
49. Details of every time information has been provided to a person
50. Details of every person to which information has been provided
51. Other particulars, in relation to each such occasion, of the provision of the information.
The Bill contains no provision for Parliament to decide what information will be stored in or on the card. This will be left to the discretion of the Home Office.
You really want the government to control all this information? You really think they can keep this all accurate? You think they’ll trust you over their computer system if you need to get a mistake corrected?
We all know how painful it is to deal with call centres. Imagine you have to suffer that just to prove your basic rights in our society.
Are you worried? You should be.
Read MoreTHE WORLD QUESTION CENTER 2005
http://www.edge.org/q2005/q05_5.html
From the page: “I think modern life has fundamentally and paradoxically changed our sense of time. Even as we live longer, we seem to think shorter. Is it because we cram more into each hour? Or because the next person over seems to cram more into each hour?”
Read More