So, I went to “my” bike shop – the owner knows me by now. (Don’t ask!) I explained the whole thing, showed my broken key and wow – i got the wonder-tool. Biiig pliers. So, off I went to steal my own bike in broad daylight from my university campus which is full of CCTV and security and – people. But even though it took me like ten minutes to break the wires of the lock and people stopped and looked (one lorry driver shouted something at me) – they did not approach me, nor take pictures or call the police. I was so shocked by this that I in consequence bought a very expensive, very secure number-coded lock. No key incident. No bike theft. Lucky shop owner.

Bike theft in Edinburgh ( 19/02/2008)

By Charlotte Morgenthal

Lothian and Borders Police launched a new operation to prevent further bike thefts in Edinburgh south yesterday.During the operation patrolling police officers in uniform and in plain clothes will be increased over the coming weeks.

In the past year, bikes worth over £ 100 000 have been stolen in the south of Edinburgh and the number heightens at certain peak times of the year.

Crime prevention Officer PC Stephen McGill said that especially in April and October the number of reported bike thefts would go up. “Student areas like Marchmont or Bruntsfield are hotspots where bike thieves also have a greater choice of bikes”, he said.

Police found already stolen bikes again, which were offered via the online seller Ebay. They are also checking on second-hand bike sellers. PC McGill’s advice for the prevention of bike thefts is: “To spend a bit more on a bike lock, especially considering how much money was spent on a bike”.

But even an expensive lock does not protect the bike from being stolen like Neil Robertson, a cyclist from Edinburgh had to experience last year. He attached his £ 600 bike with a “fairly substantial cable lock” to a railing before he went to the Filmhouse Cinema on Lothian Road. When he returned his bike was gone. Robertson now uses two bikes: his old bike in town and his new bike only when he can make sure that it is not left unattended.

Lewis Elephint from the Velo Ecosse Shop in Bruntsfield said that more and more customers buy the safer U-locks. Robertson bought one as well. “But if someone wants it he can still take it” he said.

“We will never be able to control bike theft”, PC McGill said. But he is hopeful that the police operation will prevent some attempts.

I just found this interesting, so thought i would post it here..

“About the Lecture

New technology may have permanently changed U.S. politics and campaigning. These panelists, who have both observed and driven this change, attest to how truly transformative the 2008 presidential election turned out to be.

Four million more 18-29 year olds voted in 2008 than in 2004, says Ian Rowe, and nearly 70% of these voted for Obama. Rowe’s convinced this enormous leap in voters, and their sharp preference for one candidate, “is due to the use of new media.” He credits the Obama campaign’s extraordinary mastery of both message and delivery, citing a “centralized and decentralized process; the idea that everyone had part-ownership of the brand.” The campaign reached young people via cellphone, Twitter, and Facebook. He notes Obama’s website, FighttheSmears.com, which battled scurrilous internet rumors. Users “became an ally to preserve and protect his brand,” says Rowe. But none of this would have been effective if Obama had not purveyed such a “phenomenal and consistent message,” which involved drawing on his audience for ideas and direction. This represents “a new kind of governance about bringing you into the process.”

Marc Ambinder believes that the 2004 and 2008 campaigns were successful because “they both managed to use tried and tested old media marketing techniques and merge them with technology.” While lagging in resources and technique four years ago, the Democrats this time round were fueled by Obama’s massive $630 million war-chest. The end result was an email database of around 10 million people, which they put to use in social networks like Facebook. Ambinder also recalls a fascinating effort using old and new media in South Carolina, where the Obama campaign worried about gaining votes among older African- American women. Campaign staff recorded some of Michelle Obama’s speeches on the subject, and sent volunteers with DVDs and VHS tapes of her talks to beauty parlors. “Volunteers spent tens of thousands of hours…loosening resistance.” Then when polls opened, data warehouses on some of these voters allowed campaigners to determine who hadn’t yet voted, and target them with phone calls and offers of a ride.

GOP technology guru Cyrus Krohn finds the amount of information his party has on voters kind of scary. He describes how third party data mining groups helped the Republican National Committee match information from a voter file with a voter’s “public profile on a social network.” This proved a “goldmine” for targeting purposes. But “technology is a commodity,” says Krohn, and “it’s the cachet and persona of a candidate that will drive the use of it.” Krohn was “daunted by the amount of user-generated content…in support of Obama.” The piece of media that created the most buzz around McCain was the video “McCain Girls,” which turned out to be the product of the liberal Huffington Post. Such is the impact of technology that Krohn has found himself helping every RNC division think about how to deploy it. Anyone looking for campaign work should be proficient in C++ and Java, recommends Krohn.”

to the webpage

Forth Road Bridge, Edinburgh

What would you do, if you were a plumber, made redundant and have a drinking problem? No, you wouldn’t guess: You could end up climbing the Forth Road Bridge by almost 400 feet. And you could end up in jail.

22-year-old plumber Ross Wilson, being made famous by the Scottish Media as ‘Spiderman’, trying to climb the North Tower of the Bridge was sentenced for seven months last week.

Wilson had been drinking and then took a taxi from his Portobello home to be dropped off at the bridge in the evening hours of 8 January 2009.

Before jumping the fence and attempting to climb the wires, Wilson told a member of the bridge staff: “I have a drink problem and no one can help me”.

Forth Road staff had to close the bridge for over an hour causing massive tailbacks. Wilson meanwhile climbed down again and ran around on the road before being arrested by police.

At Dunfermline Sheriff Court Wilson pleaded guilty – and was sentenced to jail by Sheriff Craig McSherry to avoid copycat cases.

“It was an ongoing incident where you deliberately chose to behave as you did. Given the mass inconvenience you caused, I must impose a custodial sentence of seven months”, Mc Sherry said.

Wilson had no intention of harming himself and this episode was a “cry for help”, his solicitor Chris Sneddon told the Court.

The comments on the Scotsman website reveal a mixed response of readers but mainly sympathy:

D Williams: “He should think himself lucky – if it had been the new forth bridge crossing he’s have another 163 feet to climb…..”

Roboter Park: “Da Sheriff was being a bit heavy handed. The kid’s mixed up. He doesn’t need a prison sentence to sort this out. Indeed – he may find other high-altitude thrillseekers on the inside and learn climbing tricks off them and then where will we be? He’ll be basejumping off the top of the Standard Life building.”

Hugh: “A totally disproportionate and excessive sentence compared with the frequent wrist-slapping for more serious crimes these days”.

What do you think?

Entropa

It might be the most famous influence of the Czech EU presidency: and it does not really have anything to do with politics, nor diplomacy. It is famous for being controversial and offending, even dividing the European member states. I am, of course talking about the artwork by David Cerny, a Czech artist, who has been paid £ 350 000 to create a European project, together with artists from all the 27 member states – he instead decided to do a satirical piece just by himself and some fellow artists.

Having been in the EU Council building in Brussels myself last week I can see why it still seems to be the most important contribution so far from the Czech presidency. Bulgaria, characterised as a Turkish lavatory decided that it was portrayed unfairly and a black cloth is covering now the spot – wiping it off the map of a rather stereotypical gathering of the nations.

For example the UK marks an empty space – for being the Eurosceptic.. Where I thought Scotland is portrayed as a huge playing bagpipe – It was Ireland. Some countries I just could make out with the help of – I ashamedly admit: Wikipedia.

It is sad that a simple artwork can take away the mere meaning of the EU and in contrast bring countries back to their national differences and stereotypes. For me, art becomes satisfactory when it lets my thoughts wander beyond its actual surface. But when you are puzzled to demystify the surface – I find it purely annoying.

BBC video interview with david cerny

MEP Alyn Smith

Scottish Member of the European Parliament Alyn Smith (SNP) joins in the criticism of the UK’s plan to heal the British economy.

Interview by Charlotte Morgenthal

What impact will the European Central bank intervention have on Scotland?

It will have a minimal impact and the meeting will moreover be about international coordination of the financial crisis.

Do you wish that Scotland has somebody sitting at the EU Council table? What difference would it make?

Yes, it is pretty much SNP policy that we have an independent Scotland within Europe. Yes, I do wish that we have access to all the levers. Our Ministers currently have a seat in the Council but they don’t have speaking rights. From the European Parliament perspective: Unless you have the right to participate you don’t really make the law for your country.

With all the voices criticising the Westminster tax cut approach this morning and yesterday: what do you think about it?

I do agree with them. There is a lot of sloppy decision making at the moment. Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown allowed the economy to get that far and it is a catastrophic failure of regulation. It is pretty much an Anglo-Saxon problem which doesn’t exist to that extent in say France or Germany. If you leave the market to itself it will pretty much destroy itself.

At a time of bleak economic news where the Sterling is nearly matching the value of the Euro, the pound reaching an extraordinary low today – European heads of state gather in Brussels. The atmosphere is tense.

At PMQs Gordon Brown had a Freudian slip, saying that the government “saved the world” instead of “saved the banks”. At least he is supposed to be the ‘saviour of Europe’. His suggested bail out plan was officially taken up as an economic recovery plan by the European Commission. It is supposed to be decided on for all the other European member states in the current European Council meeting in Brussels.

“It’s the best way to restore citizens’ confidence and counter fears of a long and deep recession”, Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso told the BBC in November this year.

However, some member states like Germany which alreadyhave implement national measures to save their economies oppose a joint approach.

The United Kingdom implemented a £ 12.5 bn VAT cut last month which was harshly criticised by Germany’s finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck in a Newsweek interview yesterday. Steinbrueck said that the UK measures were “crass” and “breathtaking” and also said that a great rescue plan “doesn’t exist!” He said the cut would only pull the UK into greater debt instead of helping consumers.

Germany has already spent around £ 370.4 bn on a bail out of its banks, far more than the EU bail out plan is expected to raise. It is therefore now cautious about spending even more.

Other issues expected to be discussed at the summit are the Irish “No-Vote” on the Lisbon Treaty and climate change policies.

Recycling is not always that easy

Last week, students sat in a test of the module ‘Business Skills 2′ and had exactly the same questions in front of them with exactly the same numbers to calculate. The test was already made available to them online prior to the test and one question was even discussed in a tutorial.

A student said: “This is outrageous! Do they think we are stupid? This test was more than easy and i doubt that people actually learned from it or are encouraged to learn the overall topic instead of knowing numbers from memory! “

Module leader Dr. David White pointed out that the preparation for the exam would be the actual learning process and the test would be the easiest way to assess the learning. Due to previous plagiarism the coursework assessment was changed to a test.

“Business Skills 1 and 2 are certainly challenging in terms of the number of assessments and the academic level at which they are designed and the Class Test is simply a final summary exercise that allows students to demonstrate and understanding of the main themes covered all the way through the whole module”, White said.

Clear is: It does not boost the reputation of the School which underwent a £ 30m redevelopment programm modernising the whole building into a high-tech campus site.

NUBS is also one of Scotland’s largest Business Schools with more than 5000 undergraduate and postgraduate students. The staff is said to have a high proportion of industry experience and links. However, hearing this some employers might wonder why their recently hired Napier graduates cannot count one and one together.