Category: Personal Posts

Brand new Filofax design, but still no 5/4 rings

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There’s a new design of folder from Filofax, and for a moment I got my hopes up: Instantly recognisable, but with a twist. Iconic design with a simple one-piece thick leather cover, slightly rounded corners and strap with gel popper cap. Beautiful in its simplicity, with perfectly balanced proportions. Working with extra thick leather and using traditional construction techniques, these personal organisers are made by our UK factory who piece together the components by hand, using thick thread to carefully stitch them together. Unfortunately it’s still the 25mm (7/8 inch) ring size. I’m still waiting for a new Filofax with a

A simple thought on intercepting the communications data of ‘criminals’

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“These agencies use communications date – the who, when, where and how of a communication, but not its content – to investigate and prosecute serious crime,” it says. “Communications data helps to keep the public safe – it is used by the police to investigate crimes, bring offenders to justice and to save lives. “This is not about indiscriminately accessing internet data of innocent members of the public.” The problem is this. Until someone has had their day in court and declared guilty by a jury of their peers… they are all innocent members of the public.

What if the pressure cookers had been ‘assault’ rifles?

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Some perceptive thoughts from John Cassidy at the New Yorker on the perception of the Boston Bombers, compared to a hypothetical Boston Shooter: Imagine, for a moment, that the Tsarnaev brothers, instead of packing a couple of pressure cookers loaded with nails and explosives into their backpacks a week ago Monday, had stuffed inside their coats two assault rifles—Bushmaster AR-15s, say, of the type that Adam Lanza used in Newtown. What would have been different? …The second thing that would have been different is the initial public reaction. Most Americans associate bomb attacks with terrorists. When they hear of mass

Ars gratia artis, unless you’re the Culture Mininster

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Via the BBC, Culture Minister Maria Miller on new funding for the arts. Culture Secretary Maria Miller has said the arts world must make the case for public funding by focusing on its economic, not artistic, value. She told arts executives in a speech that they must “hammer home the value of culture to our economy… When times are tough and money is tight, our focus must be on culture’s economic impact.” …Arts organisations were told they should “demonstrate the healthy dividends that our investment continues to pay”. I find this a shockingly poor idea. Yes, it’s nice to have a few