New kit, old lie

The government are ready to announce that the new kit for troops in Afghanistan is ready to use.
Can we really believe this when so many lies have been told before?
This smacks of the worst kind of political expediency.

Why should we pay when news is free?

After years of free news one of the UK's biggest regional newspaper firms is to start charging for content.
Of course, they should have done this from the outset but now the move is doomed to failure.
A whole generation has been brought up to expect this content for nothing and pereceptions cannot be reverse-engineered. Blogging will rise in the area and community news sites will thrive.
I'm sure Rupert Murdoch will be watching the Whitby Gazette with interest in the coming weeks.

Hari on the money

Excellent piece by Johann Hari about the moral bankruptcy of Dubai in today's Inde.
Spot on.
Shame on us for allowing it to get this far.

Raise a glass to world's strongest beer

What is the point of a 32 per cent alcohol beer?
Other than as a publicity stunt of course. Where it fits the bill perfectly.
Hats off to Edinburgh-based BrewDog who boast that their 'beers are in no way commercial or mainstream.'
They say Tactical Nuclear Penguin is: 'about pushing the boundaries, it is about taking innovation in beer to a whole new level. It is about achieving something which has never before been done and putting Scotland firmly on the map for progressive, craft beers.
'This beer is bold, irreverent and uncompromising. A beer with a soul and a purpose. A statement of intent. A modern day rebellion for the craft beer proletariat in our struggle to over throw the faceless bourgeoisie oppression of corporate, soulless beer.’
Priceless stuff.
But here's the rub.
'Of the 500 330ml bottles released, 250 will be available for £30 with a further 250 available for £250 – the latter will include a  share in the BrewDog company as part of its ‘Equity for Punks’ campaign which is aiming to raise £2.3m to build a new eco-friendly, carbon-neutral brewery in Aberdeen.'
Good luck BrewDog, no one can accuse you of not having a go. Just don't ask me to taste it.

Greatest guitar riffs lack idiocy

Jimi Hendrix's Voodo Chile has been voted greatest guitar riff of all time by musicradar.com. Fair play.
But Day Tripper's at No8 which destroys the list's credibility for me.
And how any rating system can ignore the talent's of Billie Joe Armstrong's rip-snorting attack in American Idiot is beyond me. What do you think?

Staffs hoard valued at £3.2m

The Staffordshire Hoard has been valued at £3.2m. That cash will be split between the landowner and the finder.
There is 5kg of Anglo-Saxon gold in the find and 1.5kg of silver.
The Guardian reports: Professor Norman Palmer, chair of the Treasure Valuation Committee, whose members pored over 1800 gold, silver and jewelled objects in a session at British Museum said: "It was breathtaking – we all agreed that it was not only a challenge but a privilege to be dealing with material of such quantity, quality and beauty. It was hard to stop our imaginations running away with us."
Can't wait to see it, wherever it goes.

Free logo please

There's a great e-mail exchange here that will ring true to a lot of graphic designers and creatives of my acquaintance.
The same principle applies to creative writing as well. Enjoy.