Calls To Dry Up The Wikileaks!

If you put water into a leaky bucket, you get wet.

Similarly, if you do not secure confidential transmissions between diplomats around the world you get leaks.

That one basic fact is what the USA is finding out today as a staggering 251,000 of its confidential memos have been published on the whistleblower website Wikileaks

Of course, the publication of the documents on the web and their subsequent revelations being reported in the media is being met with outrage by the US authorities, with one Senator demanding that Wiklileaks should be proscribed as a terrorist organisation.

We have heard the usual cries of an attack on the Freedom of Speech and a blow for democracy etc. etc.

Surely, though, it is more an embarrassment over their lack of security that has the American politicians riled.

In reality, it is the ultimate demonstration of freedom of information.

Personally, I have not been bowled over by the quality of the revelations so far and I am not the slightest bit surprised by the underhand, devious shenanigans of the American authorities which have been revealed within their private communications. I am certain they are no different from those of any other country around the globe.

If there is one thing I have learnt in my life, it is to be wary of the 'friend' who appears to smile too much!

Why Are Political Candidates So Crap With Social Media?

There seems a certain irony when our politicians have been pushing for a faster internet and Gordon Brown is claiming "in five years time we can be the digital leader of the world" that very few of them seem to know how to make use of it.

This election is the first when all the possibilities of social networking could have been used to great advantage, but it seems they haven't because few of the campaigning candidates know how to use it properly.

Oh sure, many have the necessary Facebook page or a blog, or a Twitter account but they seem to be tokenistic and set up with no understanding of how they can and should be leveraged to gain maximum advantage.

Of my three main local candidates, the Conservative has a website with links to a blog which has not been updated since April 4th, a link to his campaign trail information which has not been updated since April 16th and a news page which was last updated April 4th. He does not appear to have Facebook. He has, however, had two leaflet drops so far.

My Lib Dem candidate has Twitter (last update yesterday) does not seem to have a webpage and has a blog which was last updated today (but four days before that).

As for Labour, I think there is a support group on Facebook but I have no idea about any other methods - which I find very surprising as her retiring predecessor, Derek Wyatt, was way ahead of many politicians in his use of the internet and distributing information. (I have already written about my difficulty in getting any information about her though)

We are living in a communication age where attention spans are becoming very short. If the message is not continually fired out to people, they forget and move somewhere else.

It is not difficult to keep your name in the forefront of people's minds nowadays. A simple Twitter posting does not take much time and gives an insight into the type of person you are. However, while it may be tempting to use it to attack the opposition it is far better to put a more positive, alternative view and let the reader make their own mind up.

Communication on the internet is cheap, so the time taken to maintain contact with your intended audience is just that - time.

How may candidates are gathering email addresses while campaigning so they can follow up with an email newsletter to keep people updated on their progress and views?

Communicating using social networking is the classic snowball scenario - you start with a small handful, roll it down a hill and as the momentum picks up, the snowball becomes huge.

Time for our would be MPs to start rolling the ball.....or get someone to do it for them.

It's a no loss, small cost, gigantic advantage!

Computer Virus? - Electrocute Their Genitals!

Beware, there is a new virus attacking computers. It starts with an email along the lines of:

We are contacting you in regards to an unusual activity that was identified in your mailbox. As a result, your mailbox has been deactivated. To restore your mailbox, you are required to extract and run the attached mailbox utility. Best regards, xxxxx technical support.

The file is normally opened before any antivirus software has spotted it. Of course, once open, it runs riot in your computer and stops you from even performing a system restore.

I know of two people who have already fallen foul of it and I have received the email at least six times at my work.

I hope the authors of the virus are quickly caught, so I can attach their genitalia to 240v electrodes until they shrivel up and drop off.

However, this is unlikely to make any difference; not because they are unlikely to be caught and not because I would not attach their genitalia to the electrodes.

It is because their genitals are probably already very small and shrivelled. That is why they have nothing better to do with their pathetic lives than create malicious viruses that cause people such inconvenience and distress.

Get a life you cretins!