Will every kid growing up in every developing country have access to every book ever made, as soon as they get a smartphone? Or will the books cost $12, an impossible expense for a poor kid?

When an argument is poorly presented how many people not only stop supporting but in fact go the other way? This particular one annoyed me enough to end up posting here!

The statement suggests it’s fine for a society to expect children to afford a smartphone (together with their associated running costs) but not that they should be able to afford a selection of $12 books! Should the same argument be applied to “I own a PC but I can’t afford to buy music so I expect to be able to download it all”? The ability to perform a task should not be used to argue that it’s the right thing to do. Unless we get to the 24th century Star Trek TNG ideology and have a society without a reliance on money, we are obliged to compensate others for their services and/or products!

I’m “old school” in that I still buy items that are now readily available in digital form – such as CDs, DVDs, books and games. Perhaps the younger generation trade items digitally without any regard as there’s nothing physical involved?!

I’m not suggesting the overall message isn’t appropriate more that this particular argument [from my perspective] didn’t win them any support.

My good friend David was part of the small team who were organising the fireworks. He asked if I was able to help with setup and I ended up with a few tasks assigned – create a piece rope art, sort out the PA system and music and to record the event. Together with other volunteers all tasks were complete in time.

It felt strange being on the other side of the crowd control tape whilst the crowds started to gather. Cue the music and the night sky was lit up with an intense display lasting 10 minutes or so. I don’t have the details of what was used but from from a spectator perspective, it was a fantastic display.

Here are the videos I recorded:

It was great to help out but even better to watch the show! I absolutely recommend those from surrounding villages and towns to attend next year.

Visual effects will not be upconverted from videotape, but instead will be recompositioned.

Quite simply that is astounding! No idea what it’s going to cost but it’s going to be expensive – the sampler disk to be released in January has an RRP of $22 for 3 episodes. I don’t want to guess at the cost of having all 178 episodes in HD will be!

I really hope they bring out an equivalent to the Borg Cube DVD version we own! Perhaps I should eBay that one while someone still wants DVDs If released it will really be time to get a HD TV!

This has almost recovered (well, it’s out of wrappings though this is actually down to it falling off rather than a health professional advising me) and I hope to be returning to the saddle once again.

I have decided that I need to write a better plugin for the cycling progress. It was never my intention to have post after post recording the progress but that was the best plug-in I could find. I don’t have a lot of energy at the moment so I’ll record offline then revamp the entries once I’ve sorted the plugin.

I’m a Sky subscriber and have been for many years but I’m not a sports subscriber as I’m not interested in anything bar motorsports: MotoGP, WRC, WSB, BSB and of course F1. The additional costs are quite high – especially the subscription is only for 19 or 20 races.

So,  subscribe if you want to watch all the races live or give up on the greedy world of F1 and accept the BBC’s half service. Who’s to blame? F1 (Bernie), the teams and of course the BBC. It’s set in stone now and Sky have deep pockets so I can imagine the BBC bailing out altogether within a few short years. Myself, I can only imagine being annoyed and angry for the first few races (highlights aren’t my thing) then perhaps giving up and having some time back on the weekend.

F1′s delayed started to the 2011 season campaign started off in Australia with Bahrain now likely to be removed from the calendar altogether. Nothing much to report as far as the racing goes – usual suspects in the the usual cars with the usual finishing positions. The commentary team did a good job in what was a significant improvement on last year with Coultard replacing Legard. The magic ‘overtake’ button was a complete and utter waste of time. KERS proved equally as dull. Tyres, well they were black and round and lasted pretty much as long as predicted. In summary the changes didn’t change anything much at all. For the 1st time in many many years I decided to not watch it live and honestly I’m glad I didn’t.

Most recently World Superbike returned to Donnigton after last year’s enforced break. Seems being ranked #1 has gotten to Max Biaggi who was a complete £$%^&. Thankfully Melandri did his talking on the track and came home with his 1st WSB win in Race 1. Race 2 went to Checa who was strangely absent from the 1st podium. Race 2 also saw Biaggi get black  flagged – all well that ends well then The Brits were there or there abouts although surprisingly it was only Camier who got a podium place in Race 2.

MotoGP was at Qatar last week where Stoner showed everyone just how much of a target he will be this year. Pedrosa didn’t last the distance [as usual] and a good, though sometimes harsh, ride from Simoncelli. Being a huge Rossi fan I can only hope both he and the machine find some form by mid season.

The feed is here

All races uses local time with a timezone adjustment. Whilst  all entries should be accurate to the data available, please drop me a line if you spot any mistakes.

Also, don’t forget that track action restarts on Tuesday 1st Feb with a 3 day test at the Sepang circuit. Let’s hope 2011 is a good season!

It has shown up how bad a rear wheel drive car can be. All my previous cars have been front wheel drive and whilst somewhat difficult at times it doesn’t compare with the ease at which the back end now steps out!  Will just have to get used to it I suppose  or take up

F1 – well, it came down to 1 race and 4 contenders… unfortunately the spectacle was all F1 – in that there rarely is one. Webber, my preferred champion, didn’t qualify well but any chance of the title was removed once he and Alonso had to follow a slow[er] Petrvo. A dull race that promised lots but delivered little.

The final WRC round added to Loeb’s tally. Rallying coverage in the UK really needs attention but I doubt that’ll happen.