How did we end up with this nonsense?

“I do intend to carry out a clear exploring exercise with the private sector … on how it is possible to use technology to prevent people from using or searching dangerous words like bomb, kill, genocide or terrorism,” (EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini) told Reuters.

This one’s for you, Frankie.

bomb
kill
genocide
terrorism
bomb+kill+genocide+terrorism

Also worth noting is that the top results for bomb are as follows

BOMB Magazine
Interviews between Artists, Writers, Musicians, Directors and Actors.
www.bombsite.com/

Bomb - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A bomb is an explosive device that generates and releases its energy very rapidly. The explosion creates a violent, destructive shock wave. …
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomb

Google bomb - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Google bomb (also referred to as a ‘link bomb’) is Internet slang for a certain kind of attempt to influence the ranking of a given page in results …
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_bomb

Bomb it by AGame.com - Fun Games from thatvideogamesite.com
www.thatvideogamesite.com/play.php?id=678

bomb visual music
Bomb is a visual musical instrument, software that produces animated organic graphics in response to the keyboard, audio music, or on its own.
draves.org/bomb/

Flickr: Photos tagged with bomb
www.flickr.com/photos/tags/bomb/

A-Bomb WWW Museum ~ June,1995
Exhibits depicting the results of the bombing of Hiroshima through photographs, survivors stories, monuments and historical objects.
www.csi.ad.jp/ABOMB/

Bomb Hip-Hop
The Bomb Hip-Hop Entertainment site. Featuring all aspects of Hip-Hop culture (graffiti, DJin’ MCin’, breakin’ and much more), with articles, interviews, …
www.bombhiphop.com/

Howstuffworks “How Nuclear Bombs Work”
Nuclear bombs are the most serious looming threat in just about any major conflict. Learn what gives nuclear bombs such immense power and what the long-term …
science.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-bomb.htm

:::DA BOMB BIKE ::
Makers of downhill, DS, XC and trials bicycles and components. Company news and contact details provided.
www.dabombbike.com/

Scary stuff indeed.

Truly random post ahead.

Passing through Newcastle (England) last week, I noticed a very distinctive font in use on the Metro (urban rail, mostly overground) - it was hard to miss when painted in huge letters on the walls of stations! A little bit of investigation turns up the information that it is called Calvert, named after its creator, the well-known designer Margaret Calvert.

Calvert was one half of the pair of designers, working for a committee, that created the British road sign system (the pictures, the colour schemes, the font (”Transport“), and more. Jock Kinneir was Calvert’s boss: there’s a good summary of their work here. Calvert and Kinneir also designed Rail Alphabet for British Rail, which replaced Gill Sans (itself popping back into view this month through the Penguin Celebrations series).

All this leads into Dublin Bus having a new identity (old and new below) that I find quite striking - it is very sans serif (like Rail Alphabet and Transport) and quite different to the existing CIE 2000 (used by buses and trains, designed as a millennium celebration of some sort, it seems).

(For non-Dubs: the odd logo is based on the initials DB and the ‘castle’ motif of the city’s crest)

Oh, Canada. Helped to write a UN declaration on aboriginal rights (it took about a decade) and then (after a change in government) was one of only four countries (in the General Assembly, as the 61st session comes to a close) to vote against it. More here. Joining with the US, Australia and New Zealand. Colonies United.

Bulletin from the General Assembly with a report of the vote. Here’s the declaration. And here’s the ambassador’s speech, if you’re able for it.

Updates: News from the CBC, sorrow from Lori at metislaw and a thoughtful Australian perspective from Nic.

Sometimes, with an eye to future job applications, it’s hard to tell the difference between law schools - especially in jurisdictions like the US and UK that seem to have more law professors than Ireland has people.

Thankfully, though, stories like this (see also this) come along and remind you that sometimes, there is a difference between right and wrong…

On a much more cheerful note, best of luck to Salford Law School near Manchester, opening its doors this month.

(rather than a storm in a teacup, of course).

Thanks to the various people who sent me links to the Whirlpool controversy in Australia. It’s a textbook set of facts, with an angry plaintiff alleging a very old-world tort (injurious falsehood, in this case), a selection of annoyed customers (who aren’t being chased) and an ISP in the middle playing the role of unwilling defendant. Would probably be open-and-shut in the US, but much less so in Australia. I’m sure it will never get to court, although if it did, it would be interesting to see how the general issues about publisher liability were dealt with - the familiar Gutnick case (defamation) doesn’t really tackle that question head-on.

More coverage from Nic Suzor’s blog, the Sydney Morning Herald and ZDNet.

Oh, and here’s the statement of claim (PDF). Just in case, y’know, anyone who hasn’t read all the allegations of shoddy software and wants to catch up with them!