Tag Archives: Politics

World Leaders In Their Underpants



North Korea's Kim Jong-un

I’m generally not a big fan of politicians. There’s too many of them, they’re overpaid and they get their job through a blind popularity contest. At least with X-Factor and Pop Idol, the contestants have to show what they’re skilled at before we vote for them.

So it was with much glee that I came across World Leaders in their Underpants which literally strips politicians, dictators and royalty to their underwear. Created by cartoonist Nick Hilditch, he’s drawing his way through the world’s countries and now has over 120 of the world’s most powerful people in their smalls. All in the best possible taste of course. Regrettably, he’s not yet disrobed either the USA’s President or the UK’s Prime Minister so you’ll have to sign up to Nick’s RSS feed, follow @understates or like on Facebook to await their arrival. I’m told by Nick that Iraq is next.

The perfect antidote to Newsweek, Time and The Economist!

Picture courtesy of Nick Hilditch.


TEDxBelfast 2012



TEDxBelfastAt TEDxBelfast last night I was inspired by the stories of individuals who passionately believed in an idea and then made that idea a reality. From working with autistic children to building a new arts centre, these people all made a difference. Presented in Titanic Belfast in front of the replica of the famous staircase, it was an unforgettable evening.

Titanic Staircase

As with all TED conferences, the presentations will be posted on-line but that will take a week or two before they are ready. In  the meantime, these are the speakers, their stories and how they made a difference.

David Maxwell of Tyrone Timberframes presented his work with Habitat for Humanity in building highly energy-efficient homes that have no central heating. The significant cost of fossil fuel-based energy can be a big factor in poverty and these homes can save the inhabitants over £1000 per year.

Maureen Murphy, Director of Aurion Learning, grabbed attention with the headline that 70% of training was wasted and proposed an innovative way of providing effective training using the acronym ASSAULT. One of the best bits was that of story-based approach that hooked the learner and got them more emotionally involved.

Fransuer Makula grew up in the slums of Kenya but is now a teacher in a prestigious school in Northern Ireland. Describing the harsh reality of existence as a street child, where death is commonplace, he related how the children dared to dream big. In the midst of utter poverty, these children wanted to grow up as doctors, nurses and lawyers. Fransuer established “Jengana” to help orphans, street children and schools in West Kenya.

Colleen Hardwick, billed as an urban geographer and serial entrepreneur from Vancouver, laid out the loss of personal engagement in democracy. The statistics she presented on the fall of voter turnout over the past few decades were shocking. To counteract the anonymous global nature of the web, she’s developed PlaceSpeak, a community-based website that lets local people be authenticated as stakeholders in local issues without necessarily giving up that anonymity.

Next was an absolute gem…acoustic guitar duo Declan McKerr and Andy Toman, aka Gypsy’s Wish, serenaded TEDxBelfast, equipped with a brand-new George Lowden guitar. His guitars are world-famous with owners such as Eric Clapton and Mike Oldfield. Sublime.

Following a musical theme, Chris Blake, Principal Horn with the Ulster Orchestra, talked about the work he’d done with autistic children and the therapeutic value of music. The results were truly ground-breaking, increasing the evidence between autism and musicality.

Dr Nigel Hart took us all on a trip to the peaks and Mt Everest in particular in his talk on Mountains, Medicine and Mantras. Clearly a keen mountaineer, he combined his medical training with his passion to investigate the effects of hypoxia on humans at altitude. During his climb to the top of the world, he had to rescue another climber who had collapsed. Apt for many shared endeavours, his response to the famous climbing question was not, “Because it’s there” but rather, “It’s not the height or the distance, it’s the people you travel with.”

Anne McReynolds, CEO of the Belfast Metropolitan Arts Centre, had TEDxBelfast captivated by her struggle to get a world-class arts centre built in Belfast. Starting in 1996 and finally opening in 2012, it’s an amazing story of architects and artists (“good clients get good buildings”), buildings and space. If you want to build an arts centre, Anne should be the first person you talk to.

Colin Williams of Sixteen South tackled the “Can’t Do” attitude that has often afflicted Northern Ireland with a great story of “Can Do” success. It’s likely that you’ll never have heard of Sixteen South, a children’s TV production company but if you have kids under five you’ll have heard of Sesame Tree, Big City Park, Pajanimals, and Big & Small. Working with the BBC and The Jim Henson Company, Sixteen South produces these great TV programmes here in Northern Ireland. Fantastic.
Colin’s business plan was pretty clever too. “Do some good, make some money, have some fun.” Good advice for anyone.

Chris Horn completed the speaker line-up with his inspiration for Dublin’s Science Gallery, an exhibition space that takes a creative and artistic approach to the presentation of science and related issues. By taking the traditional remit of a science museum and combining it with the changing presentation of an art gallery, the Science Gallery is an innovation in itself that has proved tremendously successful. So much so that Google recently awarded the Science Gallery $1m to setup other Galleries around the world.

Overall, it was a great evening, with inspirational speakers in a fantastic setting. Thanks also to Davy Sims and Gary Burnett and Mark Finlay for organising #TEDxBelfast.


GNC-2011-09-26 #708 The Facebook Menace



I talk about the Gaf in show 707, and then spend some time on my soapbox talking about Facebook and the implications of recent revelations. I talk very seriously about the ramifications of allowing Facebook to track your every move and how it could impact your life, relationships with a spouse and ruin your reputation.

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Listener Links:
Amazing planet View.
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Credits: Jack Ellis – Executive Producer


GNC #691 Dialed In



Congrats to our Roku or Google TV winner Steve Novak. Next GNC will be from the heartland of Texas. Will be out their for a week. Looking forward to testing some of my new road setups should be a lot of fun. I carry on for quite a bit tonight over the Sonos cannot say enough on how great a system they have. Thanks for all the new followers on Google+ and again congrats to Steve.

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Listener Links:
Sink it in 2020?
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Show Links:
Happy B-Day DOS!
Twitter to Flag NSFW.
Fox hates Cord Cutters.
Wii + Netflix =25% @ 480P?
$99.00 Google TV!
Ads and Mobile Apps.
Senate wants NASA Answers.
21 Private Flights to ISS!
Google to Speed you up!
Is your Gmail forwarded?
MPEG LA versus Google?
Find a Virtual Assistant.
ISP Snooping Bill.
Warrantless Wiretapping goes unanswered.
Oslo CCTV.
Ads in Twitter Stream.
Click a Link go to Jail.
Canadian Censorship?
New Nasa Data debunks some Global Warming Models.
Destination Jupiter.
Bad Apples.
Blacklisting Usenet Search Site.
Office on Lion.
Correct Address?
Hacking you Car.
AngelMed for heart patients.
Spotify Sued.
Airbnb sellers beware.
AT&T to Throttle Users big Time.
TaskRabbit Awesome!
Sprint Mobile Holding its Own?
Amazon gets aggressive on Media.
Google Hotel Finder.
Bio Gel to help in Face reconstruction.
F35 1st Catapult Launch.
Two Women find Cameras everywhere in rented apartment.
Toyota knows when you are having Heart Attack.
Facebook + Most Wanted = Idiot.
Circuit Bss
Sonos.com


GNC-2010-07-02 #589 Chrome Takes a Dive!



The Lenova A63 Giveaway is happening now Listen to Win. The only way to Win is to Listen and act before the show on July 6th! I talk in depth about the July Fund Raiser. I understand some of you will have reservations but if you have thought about supporting the show. This will be the month to do it. I would like to raise $10,000 between now and the end of the month. Big number I know but I have some incentives for those that donate. Thank you in advance your contribution will go toward a major upgrade in the studio!

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Fake Jobs / Customer Exchange gets a ton of sites!
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Hulu $10.00 and more Ads!
Flip Video Camera with Wi-Fi.
Droid Revenge.
UK Really getting Online!
eReaders = Unaccessible!
Spies need Tech Support too.
Movie + Camera + Jail + Reward – MPAA = Lawsuit
See the New $100.00 Bill.
Onstar calls to give you Directions?
Google Airlines.
Google News.
Google Rolls Over on Red Chinese?
Is your site Slow?
Video + Viral – iPhone + EVO – Best Buy = Fired
Google Me?
ISS Gets Resupplied.
ISS Parking Problem.
Does whats in your PC mater anymore?
iMovie for iPhone 4
EFF + ACLU + Time Warner – Judge = Major Loss!
The Math on iPhone 4 Antenna Loss!
Tweet do and don’ts.
Trillian 5!
Good Genes in your Family?
Instaload Batteries.
Tracking your Movements by your Hair!
Shuttle Launch Schedule.
Plagiarism Cheating Guide to College.
TwitPics looses their minds!
No Fly List what would you do?
Flying Car a Go!

Send in your stories to geeknews@gmail.com and be sure to provide a link to your websites!


John Edwards talk at Gnomedex



I am not surprised that most of the conversation were democrats standing up and asking what they can do to beat the republicans. There were a few good questions on net neutrality, but I am sure that the republicans in room felt pretty uncomfortable. But the session was in some people’s in the room opinion almost content free.