Cristiana Theodoli

During yesterday’s Doctor Who Twittatron (yea, I am that much of a geek..) new-found friend @nelliejean pointed this out:

Polaroid PoGo 2

yes, a digital polaroid camera. D.I.G.I.T.A.L.P.O.L.A.R.O.I.D!!!

As I love photography so very much, and my only proper camera uses film I am planning to save up for a proper digital one, but now I have to admit I might go for the Polaroid first.. It’s just too cool not to!

Number10: Opening of the Supreme Court

Guardian: Minton report: Carter-Ruck give up bid to keep Trafigura study secret

ah. one never stops studying.

Guardian: Trafigura: A few tweets and freedom of speech is restored

And this is why I <3 Twitter.

Guardian:  Murdoch and Curley to Google: pay up!

Surely google etc. are what brings traffic to their websites, so if they are so annoyed why don’t they just make them unaccessible to search engines? Because they’d loose out in the end.

BBC: Minor retinal tears in PM’s eye

“A spokesman said the details of the tests had been released in the interests of ‘transparency’.”

I wonder if this was brought on by Andrew Marr’s questioning.

While going through all the links on Martin’s post (and then some) I kept on encountering mentions of the BNP talking about loosing national identity as if that’s the greatest danger to society, and it got me thinking.

My national identity is something I cherish and think about more than most people, and here’s why:

I was born an immigrant, 20 minutes from Italy’s frontier, in Lugano, small financial hub in the south of Switzerland.
I grew up an immigrant. I took Swiss nationality when I was 17. A couple of months later I moved to Scotland, where I became an immigrant all over again. My behaviour shows all of this: I’m as punctual as any good Swiss, I have the relaxed approach of most Italians, and I can drink a few Scots under the table…

But don’t get me wrong, I am Italian.

My life is Scotland, my home Switzerland, but I am Italian. My heart is Italian. I have all the growing up experiences of a Swiss, and the cultural references of an Italian, I definitely am a proper mix of the two with 10% of Scot thrown in for good measure. Yet, I am Italian.

I consider myself Italian.

I’m just as loyal to Switzerland and Scotland, and I love both just as much as Italy, and I can assure you, both countries work better than Italy. Any of my friends will confirm that my opinions of Italian society, politics, and media are very low. Yet, I am Italian.

Contrary to what the BNP may fear, I have enriched my national identity, but not lost it or diluted it. The merging of cultures improves our societies, opens up possibilities (and minds), we don’t lose our national identities in the process, we strengthen them. We strengthen our love for our culture and traditions, we strengthen our connection with our countries, we learn how to appreciate the good things that are part of our national identity by comparing it with others, and at the same time we also learn how to lose the bad connotations of our own nationalities and enrich them.

The BNP have nothing to fear. Fusing cultures together and mixing our different backgrounds will only strenghten the connections we have with them. We will certainly not lose our national identities.

BBC: Lives ruined by rape allegation.

In cases like this I do think she should be named. As much as I find conviction rates shocking, if it has been proven that it was consensual, she should be named as well, as it is not fair for them to live with all the consequences of a rape charge when it wasn’t actually true.

Might expand on this on JIC09 blog tomorrow.

BBC: Bones discovered on M5 are human

I did a course in the archaeology of skeletal remains a couple of years ago, I’d be interested to see those bones, they seem to have enough remains to determin at least height, sex, ethnicity, age, and to notice if the person had any serious illnesses – some which might also help determine age if the skull is missing its teeth (as they are what determines age best). I’m a geek, I know.

On a lighter note, but still in topic:

BBC:Man grows new skull after decades.

Seriously, after 50 years he actually grew back part of his skull! Now that is a proper rarity!

Check this girl’s videos out on youtube very interesting, funny, opinionated, clever.

Someone linked it on Twitter.

‘Agnostic?’ (below) is well entertaining!

(and her accent is almost as cool as mine … hehe)

Glasgow-011009

After a slow outset in the first week of classes, the number of individuals now affected by the MA Multimedia Journalism curse has risen to three.

Andrew, Jennifer, and I all fell victims of The Curse within the first two weeks, and, analysing these tragic events, it is sure to reap many more victims in the months ahead.

The Curse manifests itself with the following symptoms: first a general feeling of moisture around the area you rest your bag (or backpack) against. Soon this than turns into a more ‘soaked’ sensation, and once you open your bag: surprise! The Curse has struck! Your water bottle’s cap has decided to desert its post as guardian of all things liquid.

“ARGH!” you shout desperately, watching your books, your notes, your sandwich,  and most importantly, your shorthand notebook turning into compost. It is not a pleasant sight. The consequences unspeakable.

It is said The Curse strikes idealists, their minds better occupied in world-changing thoughts. Unfortunately research has proved inconclusive due to the extensive number of variables involved, but forward steps are being made: daydreaming has been identified as a key factor in this epidemic.

MAMJs be warned – Always remember: awareness is crucial in the battle against The Curse.