• Amnesty unveils shock ‘waterboarding’ film – This video makes it pretty clear why waterboarding is torture and not just an “enhanced interrogation” technique as George Bush would have us believe. Very nasty. (Don’t watch over dinner.)
• DRM: The Gift that Keeps on Taking – “Now, people, aren’t you really glad you bought DRM’d music”
• Free your mind – How can a writer make money when distribution is free…

It’s funny how it’s the places nearest you that you never quite get around to visiting. It was only a couple of years ago that I first went to Paris (and a couple of years before that when I went to France). This time the unvisited destination is only an hour away from home; so close that I have colleagues that commute from nearby. Brighton. Happening south-coast destination, home of a famous pier and Norman Cook. But was it worth the wait?

This weeks PhotoFriday theme is “Cold.” Here is my entry. Having spent nearly ten months working and living in Norway I had a number of good options here, but I think this image of Tromsø is a good indication of the cold, dark winters they get 400km north of the Arctic Circle. This picture was taken at about 3pm.

Please also vote for my entry in last weeks challenge, “Fragile.” I’m entry number 222.

In a previous post about Internet Service Providers I hinted that their current business model — where it’s possible to download as much as you like when you like — was unsustainable. Since I’ve had a few people asking me about that I thought I’d dig into the subject.

The first question that we need to ask before we get any further is, What does your ISP do? This may look like a silly question at first glance but exactly what data they pass where is the key to understanding how they make (and lose) money.

This young tea leaf looks pretty fragile and hence makes a good candidate for this weeks PhotoFriday challenge. I took this picture in Sri Lanka.

Please also vote for my entry in last weeks challenge, “Far From Home.” I’m entry number 143.

• London teen orders ‘cab, innit’ – Barely believable but very funny!
• Billy Bragg: Why should songwriters starve so others get rich? – “I never bought that Home Taping Is Killing Music shit in the 1980s that the record companies tried to lay on us. In fact I printed on the front of my fourth album that Capitalism is Killing Music. And that’s what’s happening now. The powerful start-ups a
• What Idiot Wrote These Ten Commandments? – “Where’s the stuff we can use? Where’s ‘No pushing’? Or ‘Bag your leaves so they don’t blow around in your neighbor’s yard?’ And don’t even get me started on right-of-way. Didn’t they have real problems back in Bible days?”

I hesitate to say that it happens often, but people do sometimes talk about special abilities or super-powers, even if it’s phrased as a “party trick.” Today I realised that I have what might best be described as a special inability.

I took a quick wander into Wimbledon, the nearest town to where I live. It looked gloomy outside and the weather the previous day had been windy and a little chilly. I decided to wear a jumper and my jacket. It didn’t take me long to realise that I had misjudged the weather and that I was very warm.

• The Cost of E-Voting – One of the many reasons that I am against e-voting machines: the cost. “The cost … increased 179 percent per voter on average.” All that money for a less reliable system. Bargain!
• Change we can believe in – I didn’t realise that we were in line for some new coins. They look surprisingly good, certainly much better than the new US notes. (Originally from daringfireball.net)
• Bali bombings: A sister’s search for justice – I’ve always said that it’s much easier to be against capital punishment when it’s just an abstract idea. Here the sister of one of the Bali bombing’s victims argues why she’s still against it.

[](http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephendarlington/10817487986/ ““No Camels & Horses” sign, Dahab, Egypt by stephendarlington, on Flickr”)

When you first step foot abroad everything seems fascinating and new. After a while you manage to acclimatise to most of the sights, sounds and smells, yet occasionally something still makes you feel “Far from home.” (Which is this weeks PhotoFriday theme.) In this case, a seemingly normal sign on a beach in Egypt stands out when you note that camels are banned from enjoying the surf.

• Spam blights e-mail 15 years on – The thing that I’ll never understand is that some people must read spam otherwise it wouldn’t be a profitable business. Why?! My domain received over 40000 spam messages last month, none of which I’ve read so please stop sending them!
• WordPress 2.5 – I just upgraded to the latest version of WordPress. I don’t think I’ve managed to break anything but please do let me know if you know differently.
• Adobe Photoshop Express Now Live – A neat, on-line mini-Photoshop is now available in beta at least. Clearly some way short even of Elements but it’s probably sophisticated enough for a lot of people.