No geek
is an island

Identity cards: nothing to hide, nothing to fear? (Via.)

Following an election amongst Liberal Democrat MPs, Paul Holmes, the MP for Chesterfield, has replaced Matthew Taylor as chair of the parliamentary party. Paul received 36 votes; Matthew got 23 votes.

This is an interesting outcome although it’s hard to know the reasons without being there. It could be that the MPs feel ideologically closer to Paul; or it could be backbencher’s flexing their muscles. Matthew Taylor suggests that it’s the latter:

“The Parliamentary party had a clear choice to make. They have decided to follow the route of the Conservative and Labour parties in choosing a backbench representative to chair their meetings.”

Date set for identity card debate - second reading on June 28th

‘Vote-rigging words’ Philippines’ top ringtone

The allegedly wire-tapped voice of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo discussing vote-rigging has become a hugely popular ring tone in the mobile phone-obsessed Philippines.

It was announced at the screening of The Parting of the Ways at BAFTA last night that:

• There will be a third series of Doctor Who
• There’ll be another series of Doctor Who Confidential
• There’ll be a second Christmas special
• And… (Minor casting spoiler that you will find out anyway…)

Hurrah!

Testing mini-posts with this story from the Guardian Newsblog.

The great teaser, with the Doctor’s bemused words to camera, leads into the first half of the two-part Doctor who series finale.

(Spoilers ahead…)

Boom Town, the eleventh episode of Doctor Who, was a late addition, apparently: an empty slot allowing it to be influenced by the previous episodes. We’re therefore rewarded with the return of one of the weaker villains of the series. I’m going to be nit-picky. Sorry.

(Spoilers ahead…)

Despite rumours to the contrary, eBay is not going to allow the sales of Live8 tickets on its website. According to its statement,

We are allowing the sale of tickets because we believe that people can make up their own minds about what they buy and sell. The reselling of charity concert tickets is not illegal under English law and eBay believes it is a fundamental right for someone to be able to sell something that is theirs whether they paid for it or won it in a competition.

Update
Under pressure from their customers and “Sir” Bob Geldof, eBay have u-turned. Here’s their new statement:

Today you have made it very clear to us that our previous decision to allow the sale of LIVE 8 tickets on eBay.co.uk was not one that the vast majority of you agreed with. As a result of this clear signal from the Community we have decided to prohibit the resale of LIVE 8 tickets on the site.

Although the resale of tickets is not illegal, we think that this is absolutely the right thing to do. We have listened to the views you expressed on the discussion boards and in the many emails you have sent to us. We shall be working over the next few hours to remove all LIVE 8 ticket listings from the site.

According to the Guardian:

Geldof, Midge Ure and Harvey Goldsmith yesterday called for a worldwide boycott of the internet auction site and consulted lawyers over possible high court action to ban ticket sales on the web. Trading standards officials also warned that some tickets could be fakes.

Update the second
See Chris Applegate and Mathaba (sorry, there are popups).

Highlights of last weekend include watching a trio of female singers performing a lounge jazz version (if that’s a real genre) of The Smiths’ Panic and a musical based on Morrissey songs starring puppets which had, at one point, more than a little in common with Team America: World Police.

A couple of MP3’s online:

• Jonny’s campaign to save his post office (via)
• A Green Day/Oasis/Travis/Aerosmith mix (via)

The Dalek kidnapped last week has been recovered.

A Dalek stolen from a Somerset tourist site has been found on Glastonbury Tor after thieves said it was “too hot”.
[...]
Cave owner Gerry Cottle made appeals for information. In the early hours of Tuesday, staff recieved a phone call telling them where the Dalek was.

Mr Cottle has denied that the theft of the Dalek was a publicity stunt.

Meanwhile, some excellent news from the land of the free:

Rules requiring Irish citizens to carry high-tech passports when visiting the US are to be dropped because the technology behind the scheme is seen as unreliable. The US Department of Homeland Security had previously set an October 2005 deadline for the inclusion of biometric information chips in the passports of European citizens who avail themselves of the Visa Waiver programme. This programme allows people to make short-term visits to the US without a visa. The chips would have included a variety of biological information about the passport holder, such as their fingerprints and retina scans.

But according to a report in the Sunday Times, Ireland has shelved plans to include biometric chips in passports amid expectations that the US is to abandon its biometric passport requirements.

Bang goes another justification from Big Brother.