Quit Facebook!

A real charge of the light brigade here, today is quit facebook day.

http://www.quitfacebookday.com/

22000 users (globally?) signed up with their pledge. Well intentioned and all that by I don't think that the ill of social networking is going to be rocked by this.

Might make them sort out their privacy and usage of user data? Probably not.

Microsoft Robbie Bach "Quits"

The only reason I know this guy is from the CES keynotes each year. Head of the entertainments (Xbox, Zune, Windows Mobile, probably TV as well) part of MS, he is apparently retiring.

So is J Allard, not someone I know so much of, who headed up the original Xbox and 360. I do remember seeing one absurd "Money programme" where they featured the then loss making Xbox, Allard had a scooter to get between bits of the office - crazy over indulging of employees!

So Xbox has been loss making, and is now making money just it seems. Windows Mobile has never impressed in terms of he figures they quote at CES. Zune - probably great but a "me too" product that has never got the mind share.

I don't blame Bach for wanting to play some more golf after 22 years. Preferably the real thing and not some Project Natal inspired game.

Walk: Shortened Extended Run Route

Did this walk twice this weekend, cutting the route slightly shorter by going down Catisfield Road. Ran a small part of this road, and a longer stretch of the road home after the garage.

First Government Casualty

Maybe I spoke too soon, David Mills kind of out first ball. Shame really the loss of a serious Lib Dem will make the coalition weaker.

He probably had to go, he should take heart from the serial resignation man Mandelson - a comeback from this is possible.

The government probably also need him, apparently someone with experience outside of politics and successful in the city. It sounds like he didn't overly need to make a £40k expense claim as he was independently wealthy.

I can't help thinking that there was some foul play here, last week he was maybe breaking an unwritten rule by going public with the "there's no money left" note left in jest by his predecessor. Makes me think if that encouraged someone to let some little known facts into the public domain.

Government early signs

So far so good, if we can ignore the treasury secretary David Mills with an expense claim that didn't seem to have been dealt with the tidal wave of the last parliament.

I watched the Cameron speech in Yorkshire. He mentions local stars Pace, and that he used to be involved with OnDigital trying to flog their freeview platform. Ok you cannot win them all.

Good points, 1 in 1 out for tax legislation. Bad points they could really mess up on Capital Gains Tax. Although I can see the point in wanting to address the imbalance of 40/50% on income and 18% on capital gains - a lot of people have structured themselves around this being the status quo, and it is unfair to suddenly hit them with this.

On the other hand this is hard times, as long as the public see enough of the banks getting pushed harder in our interests maybe we'll buy it.

Economically Inactive

This is a term that has been getting some coverage in recent years. Something like 8 million UK citizens of working age are "economically inactive" - presumably that just means not working.

That's a pretty large number, and for hugely different reasons the government is looking to tackle the welfare bill.

But there's a few problems:

1. You can't have people take jobs that don't exist. Jobs that they could take tend to be transient and just end up in cycles of benefit reclaiming.
   
2. Many people would need schemes and other expensive measures to get them back working.
3. Although these people might be portrayed as work shy, I genuinely believe the majority would want to work if they could find the right conditions.

So a sad state of affairs and one the new government must come at from the point of view of needing to safe money fast. I do also hate the rubbish talked about "tapping all our talents", it's not as simple as tapping some great unused resource of talent - but somehow our leaders delude themselves that it is.

Walk: Extended Run Route

Getting repetitive maybe, but I did the route again. Ran at four points, twice before and after the main traffic lights, bus stop back to road crossing, and at the home stretch past the petrol station.