RSS - not ARSE

The need for information is more vital than ever. Not just any information, but balanced and genuine information. I have just created a Newsgator RSS feed and added, so far, about 20 sources. From current affairs to news and facts and quotes, it provides a varied and interesting view of the world. From Bangkok to New York, the news just presents itself to me in one easily accessible application. No need to search the net. The net searches for you. 

I will return, quite a few times, to the urgent requirement for our information to be genuine and accountable and this is certainly the way forward. A way to cross check and verify all the stories thrown at us day to day. And also a path to finding regular news from far flung destinations you rarely get to hear about due to the way the media presents to its audience what it believes it should hear. A form of censorship by design.

Try it, you'll probably like it.

John Martyn

Very sad news indeed. John Martyn, the voice of gilded sand over smooth glass, hellraiser and original has passed and the world is gloomier still. In times of economic woe, we need the reliable around us just to nudge our senses awake. If a man of John's stature and talent dies, where do we look to next? What is there possibly out there to take the mantle? I don't see anyone from these shores. They all seem a bit safe and bland. 

I guess we must look to Kentucky and Will Oldham. Startlingly original and saying something worth hearing.

With John gone I Can See A Darkness. Listen to it and make sense of it.