Henceforth, I shall be posting everything previously posted here, on tumblr & on posterous to my posterous blog only.

Until I change my mind again.

And start faffing again. ;)

Hasta luego…….!

Yesterday, browsing Flickr, I was reminded of this attempt at attaching an SLR lens to an iPhone: the Phone-O-Scope. Fun, groovy and cooed over on t’interwebs, but hardly something I was going to attempt due to lack of time & energy. The poor results don’t really inspire, either. Re-reading through that blog post did, however, alert me to the idea of using DVD/CD laser lenses to do summat. So I thought I’d just try making a little macro lens with the three lenses I could get out of our broken (well, I think it was broken. I’m sure it was. I forgot to test it. Oh well, it’s broken now!) DVD player.

So, I eagerly ripped it open, dragged out the 3 lenses, dropped them all on the floor, hunted about for them for ages, dusted them down & tried each one individually held over the iPhone camera lens with tweezers (I’m really crap at messing with this kind of stuff!). Turns out only one of the lenses was of any magnification use, but as my iPhone is already sporting a Griffin Clarify with a slightly magnifying lens, I decided to add it on to that to get a little better result.

DVD lens stuck inside Griffin Clarify. Badly.

Ten minutes later, I’d stuck it on the inside of the case’s existing lens using a bit of a white sticky address label. This prevents the lens being slid open to take normal shots, due to the curve of the iPhone, so I’ll have to remove the top section of the case to do that. It’s safer inside though, as it’s not very well stuck on at the moment – not sure how long it’ll last, to be honest, as everytime I take the case off it slides all over the place! I may superglue it to the outside at some point, as it’s slightly bigger than the existing lens so could be glued to the plastic frame it sits in – but this would be a delicate task and I’m not known for my subtlety!

So. Here are the first few pictures I took, without and with the lens mod, to test the results, with which I am quite pleased *jump jump squeeeeee* ;)

And a few other random images, all unedited, straight off the iPhone:

This is going to be so much fun! ;D

Sorry! ;D

Posted via email from karmadillo’s gubbins

Posted via email from karmadillo’s gubbins

Be aware how easily a misclick can skew perceptions!

I’ve just received an email reply from the lady in question:

Dear Sas,

I have no idea how you have been blocked, I thought I had clicked to follow you, I will try to work out how to unblock when I next log on. Nothing personal I assure you.

Best wishes,

Keely

So, just a minor diversion. A bit like #bigotgate!

Apologies to Keely for thinking the worst, but please be careful how you click!

And I’m still voting for Mr Burden ;)

Industry spokesman, Bob ‘Pork’ Chop said in a statement, “We are forever in debt of this great politician, and vow to continue to supply him with only the best quality pork based produce indefinitely.”

Councillor Cheetham was unavailable to comment as he had to run to the bathroom to wash the HP Sauce off his chin.

Dear Mrs Huxtable,

I am a resident of the Hollymoor area of Northfield. I am a Labour voter, generally, but am a fair minded person and like to hear the opinions of others. I endeavour to keep abreast of important issues in the news and in politics.

Last week I was having a little browse around the internet and looking at information available online about yourself and the other local candidates. I was pleased to see you on twitter, of which I am an avid user, so I followed you. I followed you, because I am genuinely interested in what candidates are doing and saying.

Yesterday I noticed that I hadn’t spotted any of your tweets in my twitter stream so I went to your profile to check. It appears you have blocked me from following you on twitter! I must say, that since we have had no exchanges previously and by the very fact that you use the internet, twitter and facebook you appear to be willing to digitally engage with your potential constituents, I was rather shocked that you should have blocked me from following you. You didn’t have to follow me back or read my every rambling tweet.

I have tweeted about this and have written a blog post about it at www.karmadillo.co.uk/blog

I wondered if you would mind telling me why you felt it necessary to cut off this link to you for me in particular, as I notice there are other obvious Labour supporters also following you?

I hope that you will respond and clarify this issue. Social media and networking can be a powerful tool in communicating your message. The message you have given to me and my followers is, thus far, a rather negative one.

Please note that I have copied this email to my blog and will also copy your response in full. Please reply via email or in the comments of my blog.

Thank you for reading and eagerly anticipating your reply.

Best regards

Sas Taylor

I try to keep up with news & general politics. We have BBC News on for a few hours a day, if I’m in the car I stick Radio 4 on, I check the BBC News website throughout the day for new stories, I at least try to read The Guardian website every day & I spend way too much time on social media and social networking sites, catching stories and articles from all directions! We almost always sit and watch BBC evening national & local news with our children at dinner time and talk about what’s going on in the world. Our 9 & 10 year olds understand the basics of how the country is run, can name the major political parties & their leaders and are beginning to grasp a little about what each stands for. They watch the news and they listen, they question, they contemplate & they learn.

I have always voted Labour. Except once. In a local election. When I was eighteen & determined to be different. I voted Green Party! I don’t vote for Labour because I’m a dyed in the wool party supporter. I vote for Labour because their general principles are closest to my own & because, during the run up to each election I’ve been entitled to vote in, no other party has proved to me to be a viable option to receive my vote. Technically, my political compass is that of an idealistic fool closest to that of the Green Party and, of the major parties, The Liberal Democrats but I don’t consider that either of these would be competent in government. That’s my more realistic side taking over ;) Plus, I can’t help but consider that my Labour vote will help in keeping the tories out of Number 10.

So, I am voting Labour. One thing is more certain than my Labour vote: the fact that I would never vote Conservative. Ever.

Even though there’s very little chance of my opinion or vote changing, I do try and keep an eye on what’s going on and what’s being said in the run up to Thursday’s General Election, locally and nationally. I’m already following the websites of our local candidates and subscribed to the newsletter and facebook page of our Labour candidate. I’m interested to see what the other candidates have to say, even though in all probability this voter’s not for turning. I’ve scooted around some of the web sites which tell you more about your vote, your constituency, your candidates and so on. (Incidentally, the lovely Jaki Booth provided a smashing blog post with some advice on where to look if you want information and are pushed for time to go trudging around looking yourself.)

Soooooooo, anyway, I’m rambling a bit. There’s a surprise. Our local Tory candidate is a young lady called Keely Huxtable. The wife of a Conservative councillor she  seems young, enthusiastic and willing to get stuck in. The seat is a pretty safe bet for Labour, Richard Burden having held it convincingly since 1992. Since twitter is my preferred medium, I would love our local candidates to be engaging constituents with it but the only one actively using twitter at present is @keelyhuxtable. Brilliant. I followed her last week, just to see how she’s campaigning, what she has to say and so on.

Yesterday I suddenly thought, ‘Hmmm that tory candidate really is quiet on twitter, not caught any of her tweets since I followed her’. So I opened Tweetie on my iPhone and clicked through to her profile and timeline.

“Not authorized”

(Yes, I *can* spell ‘authorised’, the app is American. Back off!;) ) Hmmmm. Clicked again.

“Not authorized”

A little bit weird, I thought, I’ll check this out on my pc. So, I went to my computer and went directly to her profile on twitter.com. I could see her (rather sparse) tweets but the ‘follow’ button at the top of the page said ‘follow’ rather than ‘following’. Idiot. Did I forget to follow her?! So, I clicked follow.

“This user has blocked you from following them.”

Ehhhh is twitter broken or something?! Clicked again, repeatedly in disbelief:

“This user has blocked you from following them.”

“This user has blocked you from following them.”

Whoa! Say bliddy WHAT??!!!

Honestly, I am still shocked and astounded. Digital engagement is clearly not our Keely’s thang, hip cats. This has raised an enormous list of questions in my addled little brain, some of which are:

• WHY did she block me, without even a return follow?! I hadn’t spoken to her, our only interaction was: me> follow, her >block.
• Did she look at my tweets and dislike my views?
• Was it my flippant, slightly judgemental comment about the terrifying Philippa Stroud and my subsequent retweets of two tweets by Nadine Dorries in her support with a stunned “OMFG” attached?! Or perhaps she had already blocked me before this as I followed her several days earlier.
• Did she dislike the Labour rose on my profile picture?! She allows a follow from @politicalhackuk a vocal local Labour voting blogger and activist. Has she just not realised yet?! I notice another Labour supporter @thedancingflea has also followed her since I mentioned this on twitter – let’s see if she gets to stay aboard the Keelybus!
• She doesn’t have to agree with me, I never intended to start arguments with her and she needn’t even bother following me back if she’s not keen on my twitter ramblings, but really, honestly, why BLOCK me?!
• Is it safe for people in public positions who clearly underestimate social networking and social media to be allowed near it?! A few other names spring to mind here, but I’ll keep them to myself *cough* :)
• Should I really be so bothered? In some ways, no. I follow people if I want to see what they have to share. I never expect them to want to read what I have to say and respect that they may not wish to follow me back. In the same way, I don’t feel guilty if someone follows me but I don’t find them interesting so I don’t follow them back. However, I wouldn’t block them!
• If, by some very bliddy enormous miracle, Mrs Huxtable were to actually win this seat, would she be as inaccessible to her constituents as our Member of Parliament?!

One of her canvassers has a daughter in the same class as ours. I shall be trying to catch a word in her ear at some point. I shall be emailing Keely, to ask her why she doesn’t want me to follow her tweets and I’ll let you know if I get a reply. Don’t hold your breath!

And oh, how I would love for Keely to knock on my door today………!

UPDATE: Keely has kindly replied to my email and explained. I’m still blocked at time of writing, though! Keely’s reply

If you’ve blogged your own personal reasons for voting or why you think voting is important, please could you let me know? Thanks!

I’m not a believer in compulsory voting.

However, personally I feel that neglecting to vote is an insult to the struggle and suffering of the many who have fought for universal suffrage over the years. They did, of course, also further our right to choose NOT to vote and not voting as a conscious decision is just as important for some.

In last year’s local election, I neglected to vote. I was busy / tired / tied up etc. Or lazy / complacent / ignorant if you prefer!

When I collected the kidlets from primary school, the secondary school on the same campus was serving as a polling station. I’d been somewhere in the car and was a bit early, so sat in the car park waiting. As I sat there, an elderly lady came out of the part of the building where the polls were being conducted. I saw her, then carried on messing with my mobile phone: tweeting or somesuch nonesense! Five minutes later, I looked up and this lady had advanced no further than 15 metres or so towards me, her mobility was so much of an effort. (*NB. All distances are estimated and I’m rubbish at estimating distance! Just take it as read that she was very, very slow!)

I went to her and asked if she was okay or would she like any help? She was trying to the exit the car park: 30 metres up a steep slope across the busy entrance. She said she was all right but it would be nice if I would lend her an arm. It took us 15 minutes to walk that 30 metres. I was beginning to think I was going to be late collecting my kidlets. Her next pitstop was the supermarket 200 metres away! She wouldn’t let me help her any further and insisted on slowly, independently making her way off to do her shopping.

Whilst walking with this lovely lady, we chatted. She was proud to have used her vote. She would have done anything to make sure it wasn’t wasted. She felt it was the single most important thing she had done for months.

So, in future, in respect for this anonymous stranger & the thousands of other people, both reknowned & unknown, who have struggled for my right to vote in democratic elections, I will never neglect to use my vote again.

Having been in an agitated & pensive mood for a while due to recent events and my impending 40th birthday, the death of Boyzone star Stephen Gately at the young age of 33 has made me even more so.

I’ve always disliked Boyzone with a passion, but the death of anyone at a young age (particularly, younger than yourself!) is always a reminder of our own fragile mortality.

Live life, enjoy what you have, however little it may seem, and do what you enjoy. Be who you want to be. And don’t write dreary blog posts at this hour on a Sunday morning. Especially pre-coffee.

Maybe it’s time to start taking my own advice……