I was using Facebook before most people in the UK, while everyone was still relying on MSN Messenger / MySpace – so in a way I helped contribute (in a miniscule way) towards Facebook’s success. Unfortunately it entered pop-culture and went down rapidly, most notably in the form of the Facebook Apps Platform.

I knew Facebook had now turned into something that I knew I would regret staying a part of. Judging by this article it turns out I was right…

http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/how-your-facebook-is-their-fortune/2009/02/01/1233423045622.html

I immediately went to the Canon website thinking I’d be able to download the drivers etc from there… and I was right. Almost. I gleefully found here the software I needed (or thought I needed) and proceeded to download it by clicking on the ‘English’ link towards the top right. Then I was presented with this…

Now you might be able to imagine how damned annoyed I was at this. For a respectable company such as Canon to not have working download links to software / drivers which are imperative to have in order to make the product work with a PC is quite frankly laughable.

Thankfully I’m wily in the ways of the internets and was able to find a copy of my missing CD (or one very similar to it) by searching on TPB and downloaded it. Now I’m just waiting for it to complete, unfortunately I’ve already missed one beautiful sunset this evening. Hopefully I won’t miss tomorrow’s!

My first question was… does it have sat nav built-in? Which my Orbit does. Answer: Nope, the iPhone does not. Let down.

My second question was… will it run third party apps? Which my Orbit does. Answer: Nope, the iPhone will not. It’s a closed API, just like the iPod. How…. shit.

My third question was… the name, and what will Cisco do? You see Cisco already own the trademark to “iPhone”. Turns out they’re suing Apple for blatantly and knowingly infringing on Cisco’s trademark. As they [Cisco] mention in that blog, Apple don’t like other people using their trademarks, what makes Apple think other companies won’t mind them using theirs? G’wan Cisco mai san!

My fourth question was… ok, it’s got push mail courtesy of Ya[spit]hoo, but will it sync contacts / appointments OTA [over-the-air] or will it have to be physically plugged in? Answer: It has to be plugged in. No OTA sync what-so-ever. How insanely retardedly fucking idiotic!? *cough* my Orbit will sync with my Exchange server the moment i add / edit a contact / appointment or receive / send a mail over the air, where-ever I am, without so much as a glimmer of a cable. That’s what a real connected smartphone does.

My fifth question was… how much will it cost? Answer: Turns out it’ll be $599 [approx £300] for the 8Gb version and $499 [approx £249] for the 4Gb version PLUS a minimum two year contract. HA! My Orbit cost just £89 with a 12month contract. Methinks I won’t be willingly and blindly ripped off thanks.

iPhone? It just doesn’t deserve the title. And no, I will not be buying one.

End result… I wish people would try… just TRY to break free of the social conditioning which is constricting them from seeing things the way they really are.

That website then sell that person’s email list to spammers and get a tidy profit. “But they said they wouldn’t spam me when I signed up”. If you think that then you’re special, absolutely immensely special. Because the rest of humanity has evolved from apes, then to cavemen right through to modern day, space exploring humans and you’re special because you got left behind at the ape stage. They might not spam you (yet), but they sure as hell can (and WILL) spam every person’s email address that you just gave them, after a while your address will get added to the list they’re selling and sure enough, you’ll get spammed.

The prime example is sms dot ac. If you’ve registered at that site then you’re a dickhead and shouldn’t own a PC, let alone be allowed near one. They should be flogged. To within an inch of their lives, in fact… make that a millimetre.

I just can’t wait for the karma to slap some common sense into these people.

The first video is a commentary (while on the phone) about the “breaking news” that Air France Flight AF050 destined for Chigago, USA was instructed to return to France for no stated reason. Just want to pick up on this. WHY is there still “heightened” tension around air flights FOUR years after 9/11? Because planes were flown into the Twin Towers? Bull shit. America wants control of global travel, they want to know who’s going where and when and why, and it sure as hell isn’t because of a fear of terrorism. The method of attack (aircraft) FOUR years ago was (and still is) subjected to scrutiny, yet the method of attack on Thursday (train and bus) wasn’t scrutinised at all, NORMAL SERVICE RESUMED less than 24 HOURS after these “bombs” went off. Yet air travel was grounded for weeks after the WTC attack. Go and figure that one out. IT DOESN’T STAND UP TO RATIONAL THOUGHT. Think about the number of people who go through Heathrow every day, and then think of the number of people who use the underground every day.
To watch the video [link=http://www.robbiejobbie.co.uk/media/BBC_propaganda.wmv]click here[/link]

The second video is my comments (also while on the phone) on a “staged” interview with a victim of one of the underground attacks, who was TEN metres away from the explosion but wasn’t visibly injured, there were no cuts or scratches on his face, no bandages around his head. Think about it… he’s 10 metres away from the blast but he looks like he hasn’t done anything more than fall off a two foot high ladder. After-all he might have a twisted ankle under that blanket, but seeing as how it’s covered with an NHS bed sheet, we don’t know. And his psychological attitude doesn’t reflect the medical condition of shock, or of experiencing a traumatic event. This guy would have seen dismembered people, blown apart bodies, mangled and disfigured bodies if he’d been in that carriage, yet he looks and sounds like he might have done nothing more than fall from a very short ladder.

Also covered is the staged bus (notice it’s on a side street). I could have a field day with this one. An eyewitness on the news today said that the police evacuated the bus PRIOR to the explosion and that he’d been in the vicinty of the bus since it happened and had seen everything unfold, but before he got the chance to go into further detail the interview was cut short and reporting was transferred back to the newsroom to avoid people lingering on this fact for too long. Then ten minutes later, after various thought diluting stories and weather bulletins they spent five minutes explaining how they’d just received a statement from the Metropitan Police, Scotland Yard and Jack Straw all saying they had no prior knowledge about the attacks. That’s a load of bullshit which requires it’s own in-depth explantion which I’ll do tomorrow. The official media cover-story was blown, so they needed to patch it. Later this evening there was a special tried-and-tested microcosm story focussing on one man who had been on the underground, was told to evacuate and was forced to leave the tube station and get a bus to continue his journey. He changed buses and caught the number 30 (the one that “exploded”). Now, this is where the patch of the offical story kicks in. And you might really want to pay attention to this bit because it will come out in a few days, the media can’t cover this one up any more. The man being interviewed told the reporter of the program that the bus stopped because the road ahead was blocked (he neglected to specify HOW it was blocked). Then the bus driver apparently said that everyone should probably get off because “this bus is going nowhere”. “Seconds later” it exploded. Now that’s a tad co-incidental, don’t you think? When you’re watching the video, notice the seat which is lying on the side of the road. There’s NO damage to it. I’ve seen vandalised seats that look worse than that one, and vandals don’t use explosives on bus seats all too often.

Next in this video is the way the mass media is being told how and what to think. It’s pretty self-explanatory in the video. Pay attention to what he says. “The public MUST be patient”… we have to get our story straight before we make any more mistakes.
To watch this video [link=http://www.robbiejobbie.co.uk/media/Bus_examination_and_subliminal_control.wmv]click here[/link]

These [b]weren’t[/b] “terror” attacks, they were mild panic attacks.

what has REALLY flamed my fury is what the BBC have just reported that Jack Straw has said the attacks (the BBC neglected to actually specifically say the London attacks) had the “hallmarks of an al-Qaeda related attack”. LOOK! WAKE UP PEOPLE AND SMELL THE BULLSHIT wafting from your nearest media outlet, [b]don’t[/b] just blindly accept this. Look at what the “hallmarks of an al-Qaeda attack” are…

* 1980′s Embassy bombings in the US: HIGH visibility, HIGHLY explosive, HIGH fatalities
* 2001 WTC attack: HIGH visibility (understatement), HIGHLY explosive, HIGH fatalities (understatement again)
* 2004 Madrid bombings: HIGH visibility, HIGHLY explosive, HIGH fatalities
now… 2005 London bombings: LOW visibility, LOW explosive (mostly incidiary explosives), LOW fatalities

How in ANY way can this be related to the MO (modus operandi) of alCIAda ahem i mean al-Qaeda? Because it ISNT.

After 9/11 the powers that be knew that they went “too big”, too many people (especially outside America) began to realise that it was a set-up. They achieved their goal though, to go to war and harvest oil and oh so conveniently control the minds of a nation in the process, they killed two birds with one stone. They managed to do this because they knew the mind of the average American is easily suceptible to propaganda and they’d blindly support their government over a cliff (which ironically isn’t far from what has actually happened).

The British mind-set is entirely different, we’re a population far more aware of the global situation (albeit the one that’s reported in the mass media), far more tolerant of that situation and less suceptible to having the wool pulled over our eyes by the government. Just look at what the public think of the 45 minute dossier the UK government produced as a case for the Iraq war, look at the mass anti-war demonstrations before the conflict started etc. We’ve lived with IRA attacks in the 70′s, 80′s and 90′s. Our soil is no stranger to terrorist attacks.

As a result the powers that be (the world government trying to seize control of global power (people in our government are involved too)) needed a dramatically different style of “terrorist attack” for the UK. They knew they couldn’t pull another 9/11 style attack… that would be FAR too suspicious, and they definately couldn’t pull a 9/11 style attack in the UK because the British people would be a helluva lot more suspicious of that.

A small attack would be just about right. Low loss of life means less possibility of a full scale, in depth investigation (which was the downfall for the planners of the 9/11 attacks, it was too big, too much attention). If the fatalaties had been high the British people would start stirring in their sleep (the Americans, by contrast are in a comatose state). Don’t be surprised to see the number of fatalaties rise, they’ll probably steadily incease until the media feels the nation has reached a delicate balance between outrage and disbelief. I wouldn’t be surprised to wake in the morning to hear “overnight developments” have occurred which has resulted in the number of fatalities increasing.

Let’s have a look at the timing… because with the New World Order timing is everything. The British people (who are president and host of the G8 summit this year, lest we forget) have been focusing too much on Live8, reducing poverty and 3rd world debt. We’ve been concentrating on doing too many positive things and not on “terrorism” like we’re [i]supposed[/i] to be doing. Dur. We needed our concentration re-directing back onto the “war on terrorism”, so America and co can justify possible further action in the middle eastern countries holding the last of the world’s petroleum supplies. Afghanistan and Iraq are ticked off, the American’s have their fingers in those pies already. Saudi Arabia is propping up Bush’s economy through generous donations to his family and business interests, so that’s another finger in another oil producing pie. But the NWO want to get their little finger into more oil fields. Don’t be surprised if all this staged hoo ha in London leads to “justified” (in quotes for a damn good reason) military action in say… i don’t know, Iran, or quite possibly Syria.

Ok, but why? Striking off 3rd world debt… now that’s gonna be expensive. More aid to Africa…. yup, expensive again. Why risk losing money at the G8 summit by agreeing to these ideas when you can MAKE money out of the summit by focussing on terrorism again and getting a hold of more oil to secure future interests. But how can you do that? How about an impromptu terrorist attack to revive the old “conquer and divide” spirit. And that is EXACTLY what has happened today. Dont blame al-Qaeda, they don’t exist. Instead, look deeper.

I’ve just written this in about an hour, it’s not fully researched but I’m confident the majority is sound. Addendums will be made to this entry to reflect changes in the soon to transpire events.

[b]Added: 08/07/05 12:35[/b]
Have a look [link=http://www.flickr.com/photos/nika7k/24267508/in/pool-londonexplosions/]here[/link] to see comments from some people who are starting to realise (if only on a surface level) that what they see on the news isn’t what it seems.

[b]Added: 08/07/05 14:32[/b]
Oh look, I was right. Quote from the BBC News 24 main news page: “The toll from the London bombs will be at least 50, police say as they launch a massive hunt for the bombers.” That’s quite a jump from 2 (reported yesterday morning at 11am, to 33 (quite a leap) yesterday at 2pm, and now 50! Ask yourself why, in this world of such up-close reporting, there is no steady count, there’s no footage of rescuers pulling critically injured people from underground stations etc. No footage of people in critical condition, and there’s sure as hell no footage of body bags. And no names of the people who died. Why? Because that would be inflammatory, too brazen and would draw too much attention to a human impact. A human impact that would leave the British people asking too many questions. Nothing apart from the very vague, shadowy details are being reported.

REALLY think about this people. Rush hour London Underground, thousands upon thousands of people using that Underground EVERY day at that time. “7″ explosions (a number which also steadily increased throughout the day and stopped at 7… OH LOOK HOW CONVENIENT! 7 explosions on the 7th day of the seventh month. Co-incidence? I think not…
So, these tens of thousands of people using the London Underground at rush hour. A tempting target for a terrorist attack, and potentially a very harmful one. al-Qaeda’s MO is lots of fatalities, as many as possible, while delivering a clear message. THINK about it SEVEN bombs go off but only “50 people die”. Don’t you think that’s an AWFULLY low number? You may think I’m insensitive to the people who died, or are alleged to have died, but it’s clear as day that this wasn’t a terrorist attack, and it definately wasn’t an al-Qaeda one. People are getting caught up in the microcosms of what happened and not looking at the bigger picture.
So look, 7 bombs, on the 7th day of the 7th month, that’ll be something for the media to drill into the general population easily. Don’t be that foolish.

[b]Added: 08/07/05 19:10[/b]
I have created a forum to let people discuss their views on not only my blog post but any other ideas they have. [link=http://www.robbiejobbie.co.uk/stuff/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?1.last]Click here to go to the fourm[/link]

The cheeky bastards thought I’d just happily cash the cheque and be on my merry way without compensation for my whiplash (which I very nearly did, if I hadn’t shown it to my dad). So let this be a warning to all people who get a cheque from an insurance company… read it!

Dirty bastards.

I was behind the first car at a set of traffic lights leading from a side road onto a dual carriageway. There are two side roads opposite each other leading onto the same carriageway, both with traffic lights on them. The lights turn green and the cars start to move forward. The car on the opposite side to us leaps forward and cuts off the car in front of me (a Landrover). This meant that he (the Landrover) had to brake hard to avoid hitting him. I saw what was about to happen and broke in time to avoid going into the back of the Landrover (with about a metre to spare).

Unfortunately the car behind me (a Golf) wasn’t paying attention, failed to see the mass of red brake lights and slammed right into the back of my car which shunted me forward into the back of the Landrover (into his tow bar which luckily meant no damage to the Landrover). As a result I got rather bad whiplash which could’ve been a lot worse if I wasn’t wearing my seat belt.

As soon as it happened we all drove over to the other side of the road where there was ample pavement / slip road to park on. I got out and went over and spoke to the Landrover driver and passenger first, who were both male I might add, to see if they were alright (which they were). They thought I had just gone into the back of them and they didnt realise that I was shunted into them. They even said “we thought it was a bit odd because you didnt hit us for a few seconds after we stopped”. So then I went over to the Golf driver (a woman) to see if she was injured. She wasn’t. She hadn’t bothered to get out of her car to see if anyone else was alright and she was the cause of the accident. She was just sat there behind the wheel crying. Now this may sound insensitive, but I don’t care. She was the cause of the accident which could’ve easily been avoided if she kept her distance and had been paying attention. To be perfectly honest when I saw her just sat there crying feeling sorry for herself I really did feel like opening the door, dragging her out and slapping the crap out of her for A) being such a shit driver and B) for not seeing if everyone was alright after it happened and C) for being so selfish because the first words out of her mouth were “he’s going to kill me” (meaning her husband) and not “I’m so sorry”. That ROYALLY fucked me off. I don’t give a shit about what you’re husband’s going to do to you because it can’t be worse than what I want to do to you right now. I held back though. I didn’t even swear. As it turned out her husband (who arrived about 30 mins afterwards) was an alright guy, rather calm and apparently caring.

So after I exerted my immense self control by not allowing myself to give the woman a thrashing I went to my car and started taking down all the details. Now at this point I turned into Mr Notepad! I wrote down EVERYTHING, it was like I was in automatic mode, the time, the conditions, number plates, names, addresses, phone numbers, insurance companies, policy numbers everything! Then I stopped and realised I was shaking. Wierd stuff, I had just been in autopilot for 5 minutes and now my body and mind were synching up and it was odd to say the least.

Then I ring my Dad and tell him that I’ve been in an accident and could he come out to the location. I told him where it was and I should’ve told him that no-one was injured but it was one of those “See you in a min” calls and I wasn’t really thinking.

Then I realised I should call the police (it would seem that I was the only person actually taking control of the situation) so I rang 999 because it seemed to me to be one of those times where ringing 999 seems appropriate. By the way, what constitutes a “999″ call?? There seems to be a void between incidents like mine and blatantly obvious “999″ calls such as muggings / theft. I’ve only ever had to call 999 on three occasions in my life (including this time) and every time I’ve wondered if it warrants a 999 call or a call to the nearest police station.

Anyway, I get through to the “What service do you require” bod and then get put on hold for 20 seconds only to have the phone answered by some dozy sounding woman who sounds like she’s a cleaner in a police station who happened to be walking past the phone when it rang. She asked what was “wrong” (WTF?!) so I informed her of the situation (three vehicles in a road traffic accident on a major junction intersecting a bypass) I wait a second or two and she says “Well what do you want to do about it?” WHAT THE FUCK???! I shit you not. Those were her exact words and I will never forget them until my dying day. No “Is anyone injured?” or “Is there a threat of further incident?”. Is there fuck. SO ERRRM, let me see, I’d like a nice big ice cream with a cherry on top oh and maybe a FUCKING POLICE CAR!! I held back again. “Erm, I’d like police attendance please…”

“I see. Well, is anyone injured?”… “No.” … “Oh well… the police don’t attend damage only car accidents only ones with injuries.” Thanks a lot. Goodbye!

So after some milling about and me lighting a well needed cig the woman’s husband arrives and my dad arrives at the same time. The husband has all her insurance details and I write it all down etc and discuss exactly what happened in thorough detail. I just want to get home and chill out man. So my dad follows me home after I clip my rear license plate onto a random protruding screw. Then began the insurance shizzle which to be honest hasn’t been all that bad. It’s just been inconvenient and a headache.

My car wouldn’t start on the Monday when I needed to get to work (an electrical connection was loose or something because the battery had drained over night (dad had given me a jump start on sunday when i tried it)). So I rang up their insurance company (she had accepted full liability for the incident which was good because by god would she have a lot to deal with if she hadn’t) and they arranged for a hire car the next day and for my car to be taken to a garage for assessment of the repairs. Now the only thing was that the car hire company didn’t have any cars. They only had a van which I had to drive for three days until they arrived last Thursday with (a rather nice I have to admit) brand new Corsa for me to drive around in. I just heard today from the garage that my car is officially “uneconomical to repair” which means it’s a write off and I get a cheque from their insurance company for the value of the car. I’m due to start negotiations for the value of the car tomorrow which should be fun!

I’m alright though, my whiplash is still pretty sore at times, I can’t turn my head quickly without it hurting. But my lawyer is on to that
So tomorrow I have to collect my car from the garage and the salvage is mine (which means I get the value of the parts etc). I’ll miss that car though, it was my “uni car” and it did me well for all those trips up and down the M6 between home and Glasgow as well as driving around Glasgow listening to Baywatch and Christmas music really loud. And Steve leaning over and tooting the car horn! I had such fond memories in that car and I really will miss it. But… all good things must come to an end and so must this entry.

Ta ta!

P.S. The next time anyone tries to tell me women are better drivers than men they’re getting a beating