boakes.org » Society

When re-reading the International Declaration of Human Rights the other day, I found myself mulling Article 1 repeatedly: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”

Shortly after, I found myself thinking the unthinkable. I found myself thinking Republican thoughts. More…

The British Government has never been more accessible and the DirectGov website now boasts over three million unique visitors per month, a figure that’s rising by 10% each month.

Those users are primarily discovering public service information and not having an active say in government, but something is changing in a small but significant way: you can now petition the UK Prime Minister online. The dawn of digital democracy is upon us. More…

I heard last night that David Aldridge (the teacher who shepherded me through GCSE Maths) was sacked this week following a long suspension.

If you’ll pardon the pun, it does not add up. More…

BBC news have been extensively reporting that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has been sentenced to death, following his conviction for crimes against humanity. This sentence shows that a respect for human rights is not a part of the freedom that has been offered to the Iraq people by “the coalition of the willing”. More…

Wimmerfield Crescent is a residential street located in Killay, Swansea. It feeds three small residential cul-de-sac roads, one of which is called Heol Glasnant where I used to live. Heol Glasnant has the unusual property (in Wales) of being flat, and the lack of throroughfare made it an ideal venue for street parties. More…

Having converted my Grandparents stash of cine film to a digital format earlier in the year I’ve at last found a few minutes to extract something of general interest (as opposed to the family-interest stuff), so here it is. More…

The problem with summer is not the heat. It’s the music. Patio doors are thrown open and people migrate their lives to the garden. Naturally most people in the UK don’t have garden-based speakers that might deliver music to where it’s wanted at an appropriate volume, so folk just turn their indoor stereo up. More…

Q: How many Essex girls does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: The same number as before, but the lightbulb lasts longer because its used less. More…

The possibly-too-quick-for-it’s-own-good rise of Google has set them up squarely as the new arch rival to Microsoft, and their latest advertising angle suggests more than a mild concern over the pre-installed applications in Microsoft’s looming Windows Vista, which is now in Beta testing. More…

The Sony Bravia Advert with the thousands of bouncy balls is certainly one of the most visually striking pieces of advertising art from the last few years, so it was only a matter of time before it was copied. More…