Archive for October, 2006

LOCOG Technology Master Schedule

Monday, October 30th, 2006

I am currently in Lausanne for a 2 day seminar to review the LOCOG technology master schedule. 1500 tasks in a relatively high level view of the work before us. Lots of lessons to absorb.

Freedom’s Fury

Monday, October 23rd, 2006

The 1956 uprising had repercussions at the Melbourne Olympics when Hungary played the Soviet Union at Water Polo – the so-called ‘blood in the water‘ match. Although I wasn’t even born then, I’d have to say this match rates as one of my favourite Olympic moments having heard so much about it over the years. Definitely part of the folklore and legend of the Olympics. Now they have made a documentary about this match called Freedom’s Fury. I hope a UK channel I can see buys it – if anyone spots this in the listings, let me know please!

I think Water Polo is my favourite Olympic sport, requiring “the over-arm accuracy of a basebsall pitcher, the vertical of a volleyball player, the toughness of a rugby player, the endurance of a cross-country runner and the strategy of a chess player”. Having played the sport quite a bit a long time ago I’d of course have to agree 🙂

Friendly outdoor places indoors on t’Internet

Sunday, October 22nd, 2006

Been getting into two forums recently that seem to be very friendly and highly informative. Song of the Paddle and Bushcraft UK. So here’s a plug – try these places if you like the outdoors.

An end-of-course ode

Saturday, October 21st, 2006

Finished my OU course for this year and wrote a small poem to celebrate…

Thank goodness I’ve finished, it’s all over now

No studies, no writing, no more furrowed brow

‘Twas a really long slog, but no time for a bow

I’ve lots to catch up on. Oh, holy cow!

The plan needs revising, the register’s lame

The project review, now that’s a crap game

I’d rather be playing with my PC game

But no rest is allowed, and that’s a big shame

Technology beckons, it’s massive you know —

I need to keep working or end up on skid row

The week’s booked up solid, Outlook is aglow

I’m dreaming of drinking some nice red Bordeaux

But has it been worth it, this Open crusade?

We’ll find out at Christmas if results aren’t delayed

At least I’ve more time for a nice promenade,

Spend time with the family and make lemonade

More time for my work

Head down for a perk

Clear up the knee jerks

And avoid all the shirks

Thanks for your patience, it makes it worthwhile

To know that my friends are so versatile!

They send me their mail with a big happy smile

And hope I’ll respond, with a shiny new file

Just one more small task

And then I can bask —

Send the marker my task

And open the flask!

But wait, what’s that sound?

Sounds like something profound,

All grating and grinding, enough to astound —

I’ve a disk in my drive that’s the wrong way around!

The disk drive has crashed and the C drive is trashed

My face is all red and I’m really abashed

My work has all gone, it’s clearly all dashed —

I’d better go out and get totally lashed!

The end.

Sports DRM again, English football this time

Saturday, October 21st, 2006

The Premier League are enforcing DRM. Another example of legal means to try to stop people sharing data. Amateurs are not going to stop remixing and reusing content as Cory has pointed out on this Blog. If YouTube pull the content, it will re-appear somewhere else quickly. The legal stuff is all a bit Canute like.

The cost of social networking

Monday, October 16th, 2006

Pretty conclusive proof that social networking (interesting New Scientist article) has a sinister side. Not that it will be easy to consistently catch such abuse.

Full list of so-called OGGI indicators

Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006

For a project I am working on

Annex 1: list of OGGI indicators

Legend

  • Environmental = En
  • Socio-Cultural = So
  • Economic = Enoc

The list

Environmental

En1 Water reserves and consumption

En2 Water consumption per inhabitant

En3 Water quality

En4 Greenhouse gas emissions

En5 Atmospheric pollutants

En6 Land use

En7 Listed sites

En8 Buffer zones

En9 Endangered species and biodiversity

En10 Fertilisers, pesticides and agricultural production

En11 Hazardous substances in foodstuffs

En12 Energy used by agriculture

En13 Irrigation rate

En14 Deforestation

En15 Raw material consumption

En16 Open-air leisure areas

En17 Housing areas

En18 Ozone

En19 Indoor air quality

En20 Transport networks

En21 Daily travelling distance

En22 Road congestion

En23 Solid waste

En24 Waste and waste water treatment capacity

En25 Waste treatment

En26 Water treatment

En27 Area listed compared with area disturbed

En28 Developed area of Olympic sites

En29 Primary ecological assessment of developed areas

En30 User capacity of developed areas

En31 Operating flows of developed areas

En32 Food production consumed during the Olympic Games

En33 Reassignment of developed areas

En34 Primary ecological assessment of facilities

En35 Construction and surface floor areas of Olympic buildings

En36 User capacity of facilities

En37 Operating flows of facilities

En38 Average journey times between Olympic sites

En39 Reassignment of facilities

En40 Prospective impact studies

En41 Per capita energy consumption

En42 Energy consumption broken down by source

En43 Breakdown of energy consumption by use

En44 Energy self-sufficiency

Socio-cultural

So1 Distribution of political power

So2 Public consultation and participation

So3 Fundamental rights in the constitution

So4 Classification in international ratings

So5 Global agreements

So6 Laws and amendments

So7 Pressure groups

So8 Human Poverty

So9 Educational level

So10 Crime rate

So11 Health services

So12 Nutrition

So13 Sanitation facilities

So14 Information media

So15 Telephone lines and Internet connections

So16 Community centres and associations

So17 Cultural venues

So18 Participation rates in sport

So19 Sports played

So20 School sports

So21 Available sports facilities

So22 Top-level sportsmen and women

So23 Professional Leagues

So24 Results at the Olympic Games and world championships

So25 Media specialising in sport

So26 Sports broadcasting

So27 World and continental championships

So28 Cases of illegal drug use and drug tests

So29 Political involvement in the organisation of the games

So30 States officially represented during the Olympic Games

So31 Security agents

So32 Parliamentary votes connected with the Olympic Games

So33 Public referendums connected with the Olympic Games

So34 Deferment and abandonment of public policies

So35 Consultation with specific groups

So36 Arts and architecture

So37 Volunteers

So38 Ceremony participants

So39 Spectators at the ceremonies

So40 Recognition of logos and mascots

So41 Cultural programme

So42 Educational activities

So43 Media accreditation

So44 Visitors to the Olympic Games website

So45 NOC delegations

So46 Officials

So47 Administrative and technical staff

So48 Guests

So49 Spectators

So50 Official sports

So51 Judges and referees

So52 Drug testing

So53 Complaints and appeals

So54 Medals and national records

So55 Olympic records and world records

So56 TV and radio audiences and broadcasting time

So57 Opinion polls

So58 Media image

Economic

Enoc1 Structure of the productive sector

Enoc2 Concentration of the productive system

Enoc3 Quality of the productive system

Enoc4 Socio-economic indicators

Enoc5 Breakdown of building stock

Enoc6 Structure of motor vehicle population

Enoc7 Structure of the transport system

Enoc8 Hotel infrastructure

Enoc9 Hotel occupancy rate

Enoc10 Registered passengers at airports

Enoc11 Tourist nights

Enoc12 Number of foreign organisations established

Enoc13 Hosting of international events

Enoc14 Structure of the economic product

Enoc15 Gross domestic product

Enoc16 Dependence of the economy

Enoc17 Wages

Enoc18 Low wage proportion

Enoc19 GINI income distribution index

Enoc20 Consumer price index

Enoc21 Price index

Enoc22 Economic balance (import/export)

Enoc23 Dynamics of service activities

Enoc24 Exchange rates

Enoc25 Investment risks

Enoc26 Economic role of the state

Enoc27 Structure of public spending

Enoc28 Structure of fiscal revenue

Enoc29 Public debt

Enoc30 Composition of committees by sector

Enoc31 Breakdown of origin and sector (Olympic activities)

Enoc32 Breakdown of origin and sector (context activities)

Enoc33 Size and quality (Olympic activities)

Enoc34 Size and quality (context activities)

Enoc35 Jobs created in Olympic and context activities

Enoc36 Overnight stays by category and origin

Enoc37 Olympic family vehicles

Enoc38 Structure of OCOG revenue

Enoc39 Structure of OCOG spending

Enoc40 Catalyst effect of the Games

Enoc41 Ratios specific to Olympic activities

Enoc42 Breakdown of operating expenditure (Olympic activities)

Enoc43 Breakdown of capital expenditure (Olympic activities)

Enoc44 Breakdown of operating expenditure (context activities)

Enoc45 Breakdown of capital expenditure (context activities)

Enoc46 Directly induced earnings (Olympic activities)

Enoc47 Directly induced earnings (context activities)

Enoc48 Breakdown of visitor spending

Enoc49 Public share of expenditure (Olympic activities)

Enoc50 Public share of expenditure (context activities)

Enoc51 Revenue from Olympic activities

Enoc52 Revenue from context activities