Friday, May 16, 2008

On this day...

Encyclopedia Britannica has made all of its content available to bloggers and other "web publishers". Which is nice. It means I can link to their "On the Day" feature, which today is about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. There was a certain resonance in this, as nestling in my inbox today was the latest "Stop the Boycott" bulletin. When academic freedom is attacked in the way that some members of the UCU propose, it is salutary to heed the warnings of history.
Update:
So, rather predictably, UCU have decided to keep the boycott as a live possibility, without even having a debate. How marvellously democratic.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Make this man the DG!


How many millions of words, what seas of verbiage, what torrents of tosh have been expended on the problem of public service broadcasting? And to what end? Into the debate steps Stephen Fry, and in a speech of forty minutes absolutely nails the problem. He was invited to make a contribution to the current inquiry into public service broadcasting. And this is some contribution. I defy you not to be impressed with this serious, but witty and incisive analysis. No fancy graphics, no sound or video clips, just that highly intelligent talking head. Go on - get a cup of coffee, and watch- and if you want a further incentive, you get to see Kirsty Wark telling people where the fire exits are.