Technology develops so fast. I doubt that in 200 years time, we could relate to their technology. Whilst it would probably be easy enough to explain and describe a CD to someone in 1950 (a type of record which uses light to convert the stored music into sound?), how about describing that to a 1750s farmer?

So, some challenges for commenters:

1. A computer
2. An iPod
3. A camera
4. A TV
5. A Nintendo Wii
6. A Nintendo DS
7. Twitter
8. SMS

Some, obviously, are easier than others. I would guess the game consoles are probably the hardest.

Do excuse how random this post is; I will have a review of a phone online tomorrow!

If you, like me, often find yourself with a few dollars in your PayPal you may consider donating them to charity. There are so many good causes to support but a few may touch the heart of a nerd.

1. The Electronic Frontier Foundation are an organisation who aim to protect people’s civil liberties online. They’re against censorship, the DMCA, DRM, RFID and attempts to stop file-sharing. Whilst you may not agree with all of these, you will agree with some. The EFF mobilise nerds to lobby against such legislation as well as providing, or funding, legal defence in court. Donate here.
2. Wikimedia provide sites such as Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons and Wiktionary which are invaluable resources. However, there is a cost on keeping and sharing all that data (whether it be open-source sound, film or music) and by donating you’re aiding this non-profit organisation in staying online and educating humanity. 57% of donations (which is $2,573,000) will go to technology, such as bandwidth, hardware and paying technicians, and the rest will be used for such things as the legal protection of Wikipedia as well as causes such as providing text books, based on Wikipedia content, to poor Argentinean school pupils. Donate here.
3. OpenOffice is a free office suite which Microsoft would charge you hundreds for. They use donations to hire independent developers and promote themselves. Donate here.
4. Have an old PC? Why not donate it to Computer Aid International who will give them to schools, hospitals or charities?
5. Ubuntu, the Linux distro, use donations to hire developers, promote Ubuntu and provide bounties. Well worth support a Windows competitor! Donate here.

But there are hundreds of other causes. You could always click the ‘donate’ button on that blog or software you like!

Tags: donate, charity

I thought it was time for a recap on last year’s April Fools so you won’t be caught out and become a laughing stock.

• First of all, don’t believe the rumours of an Apple TiVo!
• BBC Sniff-Screen!
• Albino Blacksheep was acquired by Google
• Sewage internet and Gmail Paper!
• Wii Helmets!
• The North Korean Pirate Bay
• A new RCA MP3 player?
• eBay sell electoral votes?! Figures.

To be honest, my posting schedule is poor at the moment (but it’ll hopefully get better) because:

1. It was my birthday yesterday
2. Too much work
3. I have been going out more
4. I’m getting a bit lazy!

Just thought you deserved an explanation! I have 3 good ideas of posts to do so hopefully I’ll write those this week.

We Brits find it greatly amusing when foreigners, and indeed fellow Britons, mix up the words ‘England’, ‘Britain’, ‘Great Britain’ and ‘United Kingdom’ up believing they’re synonymous. A couple of days ago, I myself was guilty of not knowing what ‘Britain’ is and I am no closer to discovering it.

If you don’t know, the United Kingdom is located in the British Isles (which contains about 6000 islands) and comprises four constituent countries (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). In addition to the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland (Southern Ireland) is an independent sovereign state within the British Isles.

There are also 3 Crown Dependencies (the Isle of Man and the bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey) which are not part of the United Kingdom but are held by the Crown in Right of the United Kingdom. On some matters, such as tax, post (to a degree!) and housing, these dependencies are independent from the UK but in others (such as defence) they are not.

Pretty confusing, eh? So how many countries are in the British Isles? It really depends whom you ask… some will say 2, some will say 5, some will say 5 plus the Crown Dependencies (well they won’t… but you get the idea!).

But what precisely is Britain? Great Britain is an island which contains the vast majority of England, Scotland and Wales (there are outlying islands). Great Britain, however, is not Britain because it is deemed necessary to prefix it with ‘Great’. In terms of international relations, and nationality law, the word British generally means belonging to the United Kingdom (British Embassy, British Citizen, British Empire) as opposed to belonging to the Republic of Ireland. So, Britain is used synonymously for the United Kingdom but is this appropriate (is Northern Ireland part of Britain?).

I’m even confused now so let’s do some nice bullet points:

1. The British Isles consist of several thousand islands. The largest are Great Britain, which contains the bulk of Scotland, England and Wales, and Ireland, which contains Northern Ireland and the sovereign Republic of Ireland.
2. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Irelands are constituent countries of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. All of these constituent countries, with the exception of England, have devolved parliaments.
3. The Republic of Ireland is a sovereign state following it leaving the Union in the earlier part of the 20th century.
4. Both the UK and Republic of Ireland are member of the European Union.
5. In addition to the countries mentioned above, the UK have Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man as Crown Dependencies which are not part of the UK or the EU (making them tax havens).

Tags: britain, uk, ireland