Andy Oakley

"We’re going to leave this live broadcast from Geoff Hoon, British Defense Secretary, and focus on the crash of two British Sea King helicopters because there was an American on board"

It’s certainly interesting to see how news is priortized during this campaign.

Meanwhile, depending how much you believe the propaganda, it looks as though things are going well. I’ve seen the Iraqi’s dancing in the streets as promised, only it’s just three people, and the cable channels are running the same tape over and over again.

Live feeds from say Al Jazeera and Iraqi state TV the would certainly help to create a more balanced believable set of reports of what is going on.

The full-scale war in Iraq has commenced. Despite my somewhat anti-war stance, I was somewhat impressed with the ‘decapitation attempt’, sending cruise missiles into a specific target in Baghdad before declaring war. Although it seems the ultimate goal wasn’t reached, it would have been interesting to see how things panned out had events been different.

CNN is certainly changing the face of war. Before going out this evening, I have the TV on for about forty minutes, and two things struck me. Firstly, the webcam quality images from fast vehicles moving through the Iraqi dessert in real time conveys both how real this situation is, as well as how uneventful periods of combat can be. Secondly, I was absolutely amazed how all news channels seemed to fill 24 hours of constant coverage with about 8 minutes of real content, while constantly claiming ‘we’re not quite sure what’s going on’. So, technology isn’t quite there yet; when news agencies have their own imaging satellites, this will be a totally different story.

Seattle traffic downtown has been completely disrupted during rush hour for the last two nights, with protests and marches happening on busy city streets. While these protests are undoubtedly frustrating other drivers, it’ll be interesting to see whether anyone takes notice.

Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours.
Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict commenced at a time of our choosing.

So it’s going to happen and I’m still not a believer. As expected, the markets rallied today, which makes no sense to me: war – happy investors, no war – happy investors, uncertainty – cautious investors, bad for the stock market. Since both outcomes seem to make them happy, how should uncertainty matter?

Meanwhile, regular TV programming was mostly scrapped this evening, giving way to shows like ‘When democracy fails’. The news people all seem very excited to finally be using their prepared maps, animations and mini-reports that have clearly been sitting in waiting for a while.

It will be very interesting to see how journalism comes across live and uncensored from the front lines (as the US armed forces policy now supports). Technology now opens up a very new experience, being placed in the middle of the action while in the comfort of home. It’s bound to have an effect on public opinion, but I’m not sure which way just yet.

In other news, Natalie Maines of Dixie Chicks fame makes a supreme misjudgment over peoples sensitivity to remarks about their president. Who’s being silly here? The jury’s still out. And as if that wasn’t enough the puzzling illness currently vexing scientists would normally be huge news, but has been made insignificant by other happenings. Let’s hope it stays that way.

Tomorrow is the day that we will determine whether or not diplomacy can work

It looks like this is it. The threat of war has been on the sidelines for some time now, but as citizens are advised to leave Israel, Syria and Kuwait, along with Iraq, St Patricks Day may take on a different meaning tomorrow.

Tax returns suck, although they’re not nearly as hard as H & R Block would have you believe. The 60 page ‘easy version’ volume is rather daunting at first, but a cup of java and a little patience seemed to be enough.

I’m not convinced it’s fair that as an employee one has to pay tax on relocation expenses paid by the employer. A place to live, a rental car, flights, all free, seemed like a great deal at the time; I guess I’ll just have to keep looking for my free lunch.

Busy with work again, so not as much opportunity to post as much as I’d like.

I’ve just received a letter informing me I’m pre-approved for a platinum credit card; my ‘individual’ pre-approval code turns out to be 98765-5432. Either a strange coincidence, or a dismal failure of a marketing department in an attempt to make me feel special.

The freedom fries movement seems to be gaining momentum, with the US House now serving the stuff. While France may be using their veto to protect their own financial or political interests in Iraq, it’s amusing to see how they’ve driven the house into this self-demeaning ’symbolic gesture’.

Besides, everybody know that French Fries come from Belgium. I think I’ll stick with fish and chips thanks, even though the wrapped-in-newspaper delivery seems to be a source of delightful novelty to Americans.

There are plenty of tales about how to make a person believe they’re going insane. Filing a millimetre of wood off of the bottom of their chair legs every day, switching the regular and decaf, moving furniture around ever so slightly, shrinking clothes a little bit each week. In fact, there must be a list on the internet somewhere, but I’ve not looked.

My own personal experience in this field is my commute. In moving to Seattle from Redmond (which was undoubtedly one of my best decisions of late), I now spent anywhere between a thirty minutes to an hour getting to and from work, each way, every day. That time, relaxing as it sometimes may be, is not what I consider to be my own. At first a novelty, then a habit, now a chore, I’m now wondering how much of my mental wellbeing is left behind while sitting in traffic of Lake Washington.

I’m fairly convinced teleworking is never quite going to cut it. Depending on day-to-day responsibilities, it may work for some, but not nearly the majority. I have all the prerequesites in place, and may very well be ‘productive’ working in isolation in a selfish sense, but it’ll be a long time before it fills the need for face-to-face communication.

Why haven’t they invented a teleporter yet?

RIP Roger Needham 1935-2003.

An inspiration at Cambridge and of recent days a distant colleague. I’m sure his influence will be remembered around cl.cam for many years to come.

I’ve just seen an ad for the US Navy on TV which depicts the action on an aircraft carrier with a rather interesting voiceover.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of all who threaten it

For good or bad, it fairly accurately sums up the current foreign policy at the moment.

The phrase "jump the shark", originally referring to Happy Days, but now more generally, refers to that single instant when things really can’t get any better. And they don’t. The inevitable demise from that moment of greatness is sometimes well documented and painfully evident, other times there’s a faint wimper and no-one notices the gap left behind.

After a long winter of series like Joe Millionaire, American Idol, Survivor and The Bachelorette but to name just a few, I can’t help but think the moment of reckoning for reality TV is near.

Married by America is a perfect demonstration of how you can take a fair idea with a decent amount of potential way too far. "Marriage is a sacred union between two people who have grown together over time – FOX says %#@! that", says it all really. I don’t really hold any particular religious objection to the notion of a nation picking who should spend the rest of their lives wholly devoted to each other, but I mean come on, what are they thinking?