Stuff Michael Meeks is doing

More mail thrash, back to some analytics.
Pleased that after two years of persecution under a 'hate speech' statute Paul Chambers has been vindicated for telling a joke. The substantial public cost, stress etc. apparently caused because of a poorly drafted law and it's enforcement by the lower court. In their ruling the justices noted that:
The 2003 Act did not create some newly minted interference with the first of President Roosevelt's essential freedoms - freedom of speech and expression. Satirical, or iconoclastic, or rude comment, the expression of unpopular or unfashionable opinion about serious or trivial matters, banter or humour, even if distasteful to some or painful to those subjected to it should and no doubt will continue at their customary level, quite undiminished by this legislation. Given the submissions by Mr Cooper, we should perhaps add that for those who have the inclination to use "Twitter" for the purpose, Shakespeare can be quoted unbowdlerised, and with Edgar, at the end of King Lear, they are free to speak not what they ought to say, but what they feel.
Perhaps interesting for people who like to defend the continuation of much more poorly drafted rules on the basis that they are enforced by reasonable people. It is a great shame such freedoms are widely under threat in private conversation at free-software conferences.
Lunch, Vicki & family over. Team meeting, ESC meeting. Had a go at editing the geekfeminism wiki. Put babes to bed, read stories. Dinner with Lydia, back to half work, half watch the Olympic opening ceremony - some pleasing hymnody and choreography on display.
Is it just me or are Captchas getting more clever than I am ? I routinely fail to identify them first time for some reason.

My content in this blog and associated images / data under images/ and data/ directories are (usually) created by me and (unless obviously labelled otherwise) are licensed under the public domain, and/or if that doesn't float your boat a CC0 license. I encourage linking back (of course) to help people decide for themselves, in context, in the battle for ideas, and I love fixes / improvements / corrections by private mail.

In case it's not painfully obvious: the reflections reflected here are my own; mine, all mine ! and don't reflect the views of Collabora, SUSE, Novell, The Document Foundation, Spaghetti Hurlers (International), or anyone else. It's also important to realise that I'm not in on the Swedish Conspiracy. Occasionally people ask for formal photos for conferences or fun.

Stuff Michael Meeks is doing

2012-08-02: Thursday.