Surveillance Britain 2014

Today the Conservative led government introduced the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 after just seven days of discussion and debate in Parliament by rushing through the new law using it's emergency powers. Just the whole speed of the process makes you wonder what the Government are really up to that they need to rush through such an important piece of legislation. 

The Government has decided to fast-track the legislation due to concerns that communications service providers, such as fixed line and mobile telephone network operators and internet service providers, would start deleting communications data that they are obliged to retain under the Data Retention Regulations of 2009. This followed a ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union that keeping data on individuals was unlawful and invalid on the basis that it was a disproportionate interference with the fundamental rights of individuals to a private life and to protection of their personal data. Other counties have accepted Court of Justice of the European Union judgement while the UK have taken moves to oppose it.

Basically, communications data can provide a very intimate picture of a  your life – who they communicated with; by what means; the time and length of the communication; where the communication took place; and the frequency of the communications. The Court of Justice of the European Union ruling said: “those data, taken as a whole, may allow very precise conclusions to be drawn concerning the private lives of the persons whose data has been retained, such as the habits of everyday life, permanent or temporary places of residence, daily or other movements, the activities carried out, the social relationships of those persons and the social environments frequented by them”. It is this sort of data the Government wants to fixed line and mobile telephone network operators and internet service providers to keep on us.

The new act requires companies in the UK to keep and provide the authorities the following data upon request for an official body:

• data necessary to trace and identify a source of communication such as user IDs and IP addresses; 
• data necessary to identify the destination of a communication such as the user ID or telephone number of the intended recipient of a call through the internet; 
• data necessary to identify the date, time and duration of a communication, such as the date and time of log-on and log-off from the internet or an email service; 
• data necessary to identify the type of communication, such as the email service provider or internet telephony provider used; 
• data necessary to identify users’ communication equipment, such as the calling telephone number for dial-up internet.

Currently it doesn't allow for content of data to be stored, but this can be requested to be provided in real time if a warrant is issued, much in the same way that allows telephones to be tapped. As we know from past reports in the press this data has also been given to other government bodies, including local governments and not just used by the police and the security agencies.

The new act is meant to maintain the powers the Government had Data Retention Regulations and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, however it goes much further. Under the old regulations and act data could only be requested from companies within the UK. However the new act  will allow the government to request data from companies and service providers outside the boarders of the UK. Those companies that fail to compile with such requests from the UK Government will face civil sanctions or criminal prosecution under the new act, which would result in directors facing up to two years in prison for non-compliance. This change will allow the Government to monitor offshore communications and give them access to data stored on overseas servers, such as Twitter, Facebook and forms of social media and email accounts such as Googlemail etc. 

Like the previous act it would seem any public authority will be able to request data under the new act.  Given the extra powers that have been added to the new act they local authorities will now be able to request access to content on social media sites. Given some of the court cases brought by councils against individuals who disagree with council policies this could be seen as a worrying development that could affect free speech in the UK, since it could be used to bully individuals by sometimes less than trustworthy local politicians or government officials.

Clearly with something as important as this and how it affects our civil liberties and human rights it is imperative that there should be an open public debate on the issue both in the nation and within parliament. However a deal was done between the three major political parties that effectively meant that the whole bill was done and dusted even before it came to parliament to be rushed through, which made a complete shambles of the idea of democracy. Even looking at the debate on the issue on the BBC website about purposed act when it was announced the majority of people seemed against it and the process of rushing it through.

The Governments on MP's are questioning the rush though of the act with Conservative MP for David Davis saying:  “This Act of Parliament was driven through the House of Commons with ridiculous and unnecessary haste to meet a completely artificial emergency. As a result Members of Parliament had no opportunity to either research it, consider it or debate it properly and the aim of this legal action is to make the Government give the House the opportunity to do what it should have been allowed in the first place. Proper, considered and effective law making. The overall aim is to create law which both protects the security of our citizens without unnecessarily invading their privacy.”

Currently there are plans to oppose the introduction with a number of organisations objecting to the way the new act has been introduced. Personally I wish them success in their endeavours and hope that the Act has to be overturned and a proper public can take without the spin doctoring of the Prime Minister and his supporters getting in the way. 

Linux Mint 17

Every summer for the last few years I have been ditching Microsoft Windows and attempting to live without the Microsoft Dream. Thankfully as long as you don't mind ditching some of the programs that only run on Windows it isn't such a hard thing to do as you would imagine. This summer I have selected I have selected the newly released Linux Mint 17 which comes complete with all the multimedia extensions you are likely to need and more.

Linux Mint 17 Desktop and Start Menu 

Linux Mint 17 Update Screen

Linux Mint 17 Software Manager

 Linux Mint 17 OpenOffice 4 Word processor 

Linux Mint 17 OpenOffice 4 Spreadsheet 

Linux Mint 17 Media Player 

Installation is a breeze compared to Microsoft Windows. All you have to do is download the software flavor you want and boot the machine off a pen drive or a DVD. Once up and running it starts in a live version of the operating system where you can test all is well before you install. The installation process from a pen drive takes about 20 minutes and your up and running complete with drivers for your hardware. In fact the only system I have had, in recent years, that didn't have the specialist driver for a piece hardware was an Intel Atom N2600 based system that lacks the graphics card driver because Intel refuse to release the code of the chip despite petitions by users.

Once up and running like any new operating system you will need to update it with security patches and fixes. This is as simple as simple can be. The update manager is available in the task bar and tells you when you need to update. You just click on it and enter your password and off you go. Updates occur at top speed and within 30 minutes of you starting your install you will have an updated working system. Future updates are then indicated in the task bar as and when they are required and this includes updates to the packages you have on the system.

Unlike Microsoft Windows the first thing you will notice is that the operating system comes complete with many of the applications you will need to use the computer straight out of the box. This includes a word processor, a spreadsheet, a database and various graphics packages. However if you want something that you can't find already installed there is a Software Manager that lets you search for the package you want by keyword or select from the most commonly installed packages. There are simply thousands to chose from Games to Educational software. Even if you are missing your favourite windows package you can always install a Microsoft Windows emulator such the WINE package or set up a virtual machine to run windows within Linux.

First impressions of Linux Mint 17 are more than favourable in fact it is easier to use than Microsoft Windows yet does all the same things but much much faster and without wasting the system resources such as memory. It boot in less than a minute so you don't have to wait around and once your on the desktop everything is ready straight away. As for looks it ticks all the boxes there too and it does the job required and you can customise it to be the way you want it and even add features like the launcher from Apples OS.X, which is in fact the only major operating system still using UNIX on which Linux is based. Multi tasking is fast and the multimedia support excellent with a choice of inbuilt media players. The only thing missing it that hated, by many, program iTunes which seems to get so much flack on the Internet in its Microsoft Windows form. 

And finally the best it is that it is all free and doesn't cost a penny to use. All the packages you need can be downloaded from the Internet and that the only cost is the subscription you pay to your ISP.  If more people used it in business and well as at home it would be the end of bloated and slow Microsoft Windows for good. May be when time permits I will do a side by comparison post and added it to the blog.

Sony PSP

It is to forget in these days of instant entertainment on your smart phone the games and machine of the past that gave us so much pleasure. Games like Gottlieb Pinball Classics on the PSP, Everybody's Golf, Medievil Resurrection and even the Grand Theft Auto series of PSP games.

Of all the games I love Gottlieb Pinball Classics, it  has to be one of my favourite games because it something you can pick up and play and put down agin when something else comes along. I can remember in the past being taken with the game and playing it on holiday in the quieter moments during the evenings to unwind and relax from the day. Back then I use to have competitions playing the game with other people, both of us trying to get the high score on the "Big Shot" table. 

I never forget the first time I saw Medievil Resurrection which was one of the early games released for the PSP with games like the incredible Wipe Out and I was amazed at what such a tiny machine could do. Of course things have moved on from there with the games you can play on your phone being incredible, but then your phone won't let you play form between four to six hours without running out of battery which in my view is still an important feature of being able to play portable games.

Having charged my PSP I'm looking forward to playing those old games again. In all I have around 50 games and with games second hand from £2 to £5 there still lots of fun to be had from the old machine.

Retro Gaming

Even in the days of HD television and retina displays there is still a lot to be said of the old games of the past. They might seem so complete as the games of today but the game play can be just as good if not better at times.

Yes the graphics of GTA San Andreas on the original XBox are not even close to those of GTA5, which I have recently been playing on the XBox 360, but then the game play isn't that much different. The later is just more polished and less crude. 

For me the summer holidays are coming up and as a break I going to do some old style retro gaming to make me smile, given it is the cheapest way to get some entertainment and it will be a real blast to the past. 

After all what else can you do when you have loads of old games you haven't played in ages just sitting around and you can't do the tings you really want to do for whatever reason.

BBC Radio Northen Bloke

BBC Radio 5 live once had the nickname "BBC Radio Bloke" because it concentrated on News and Sport and the nature of it presenters mainly being from the male members of society. This was addressed by the BBC by the introduction of more female presenters, but it seems we are going to see a return to the past and it once again "BBC Radio Bloke" but with a slight change in name to "Radio Northern Bloke" if the management get their way.

The BBC have announced that both Victoria Derbyshire and Shelagh Fogarty the result of which will mean the station it will have only one weekly programme fronted solely by a woman, on Friday afternoon single one hour show presented by Eleanor Oldroyd. The changes will be taking part later this year but a date hasn't been given yet, but such a move will upset the female listeners of the show and is likely to cause a bit of a stir in the national press. The also seems be talk that the 5 live management are trying ensure that all new talent joining the station must live in the north-west of England, something that not all members of the broadcasting team do since the station moved from London three years ago.

Victoria Derbyshire leaving as she put it herself has had “brilliant opportunity too good to turn down.” and insisted she had left 5 Live of her own accord. At first it was thought that she could be replacing Jeremy Paxman on BBC2 late evening news programme Newsnight which has been looking for new faces for the show to bring new life into the old BBC workhorse. Later this was denied by the BBC and since then she has been linked with a  to ITV, She described her departure as “huge wrench to leave 5 Live where listeners and I have shared so many experiences, and I would like to thank them enormously for trusting me”. Not if sure the mornings will be the same without her on the show.

Shelagh Fogarty is leaving her afternoon show at the end of the year. She said that “At 5 Live I’ve had some of the happiest times and richest experiences of my working life, covering the fundamentals of life in Britain and presenting programmes from amazing places around the world. I’m very sad to be leaving but it’s definitely time to do so.”. Before going to say that she is going to spend the summer "exploring a number of opportunities, before deciding what’s next’. The radio rumour mill suggests one of the reasons for Shelagh leaving the show is the commute due to the move to Salford three years ago, and that might more to do with the move than being pushed of the station.

Also leaving the show is the popular figure of Richard Bacon whose style of broadcasting the station is sure to miss. He has been a corner stone of the afternoon schedule for quite a while and before he started appearing on the television. He said the following when the news was announced “5 Live has been a spectacular place to work, I’ve got nothing but good things to say about it. It’s been a hugely important part of my career and life, and I’ll always be grateful, and a listener, to 5 Live. After seven years, it’s time to have different adventures, many of which will still be at the BBC.”. According to reports we will thankfully be seeing more of him the television as a result of the change.

It is expected 5 Live will unveil a new daytime schedule with two three-hour shows, running between 10am and 1pm, and 1pm and 4pm. Tony Livesey has been tipped for a prominent new role on the station, as has Dan Walker, presenter of BBC1’s Football Focus, a familiar voice as the presenter of 5 Live Sport. Finally Adrian Chiles is to have an expanded BBC Radio 5 Live presenting role as part of the talk station’s biggest schedule shakeup for years.

I know I will miss all three presenters after the leave the station that I have listened to on and off years when driving or just doing stuff around the house. Personally I think the move from London was a bad one, but this is even worse. We need more women on stations like Radio 5 live not less and replacing them with men is just a bad move all-round and one that it appears the BBC trust agrees with.