So maybe you noticed this website looks a bit different. Sure you did. Where it says 'Soutpiel'? That used to be in a different font, and in a kind of blue-green rather than an olive green.

But the more significant change is that I've changed blog services altogether, from Wordpress to Posterous.

"Who cares?" I hear you ask. Well I'll tell you why.

It's not that I've gone off Wordpress. It's still the world's number 1 blogging platform (I'm guessing here, but it pretty much has to be, right?). No, it's because, while Wordpress is stupendously packed with features and plugins, Posterous, although relatively new, is packed with one killer feature: simplicity. For a quick and dirty comparison, think Windows vs. Apple.

Geekery aside, this means that posting new entries is now ridiculously simple (via email, as well as 'traditional methods') and it's easy to grab web snippets while browsing and post them on the fly. Previously my blog was a rattle bag of web snippets as well longer items written by myself, sometimes about myself. Now, since it's easy to do so on Posterous, I've split these two strands into two blogs: this one, the good old Soutpiel.net flagship blog you've come to know and love, packed with personal news, observation, pics and the occasional video, all 100% original premium content; and then then there's Crapbucket (if you need a way to remember it, think of a bucket full of crap) which comprises the other strand, the bits that were usually labeled "Life feed" or "Fresh from Twitter" etc., the re-hashed web snippets and quotes, bits cannibalised from all the RSS feeds and websites I trawl through, all 100% recycled content, and hopefully 100% fascinating and amusing.

Anyway, that's enough for now. I'll come back to this again later. I don't want this post to become so long that you have to keep scrolling down and down and down and you end up thinking, 'Christ, I'd rather be watching a YouTube clip called "Dog farts a symphony" or some such'.

Oh, one last thing, though. About the use of the word 'rattlebag' two paragraphs ago. It's the title of a poetry anthology, I've no idea the origins of the word, or whether its use here was appropriate. Feel free to enlighten me. I've had another sleepless night and, as I said elsewhere, my judgement may be impeded. (See what I did there? Totally maximised my click-thru potential with hyperlink cross-pollination. Dude, blogging rocks.)

Copyright and piracy are such hugely difficult issues. Does piracy deprive artists of a living, or does it actually promote their work? What is an acceptable copy, what is an illegal copy? Round and round and round it goes.

In the recent kerfuffle over Lily Allen's anti-piracy outburst, the backlash revealed that she breached copyright herself on her website in numerous places. More significantly, though, she just doesn't seem to be getting to grips with the issues involved, as pointed out by Cory Doctorow in a recent post on Boing Boing

Doctorow has written extensively on this subject, and has always come out strongly in favour of copying. I remember reading his angry outbursts against DRM and the like. In this article he is unusually reserved. He makes a good point: on both sides of the debate we struggle to understand what copying means, when it's acceptable or not, and the law is pretty fuzzy about it, too.

A law that no one understands and no one abides by is no law at all.

And in the confusion, it's easy for each party or individual to take the side that best suits them. My own feeling is that the file-sharers and the "copyfighters" make the best point. But I might be coming down on their side because sometimes I copy a CD from a friend, download a TV programme, etc. Some of the people producing the content oppose copying, as Lily Allen does, as it seems to deprive artists of revenue, harms the music biz, etc. Other artists support copying and sharing as they maintain this means widespread publicity which in turn leads to more sales. This is lovely and generous and forward-thinking of them, but it also ultimately hinges on their own best (financial) interests.

Perhaps if I strain my brain just a little more the whole blurry mess will swim into focus.

Oh, and on the subject of Lily Allen. I know her lyrics can be a bit ropy, with some cringe-worthy rhymes. But her recent song, 'Fuck You', a surprisingly perky anti-bigotry number, takes the freaking biscuit with the line 'You're just some racist, who can't tie my laces'. What does that even mean?

There have been a few examples of ridiculous, insensitive or just plain stupid online advertising targeting by the likes of Google and Facebook. For example, I read something recently by a woman who changed her Facebook relationship status to single and was immediately assaulted by adverts trying to sell her “psychological secrets” and “mind games” to help her win back her man.

Here’s my addition to the canon. I just finished reading an article on the Guardian website in which Misha Glenny takes issue with Chris Grayling’s references to “Baltimore upon Thames”. The gist being the reprehensible way the politician is playing up to public perceptions of violent crime through TV series (in this case, The Wire) in order to fear-monger and score political points. The truth is that UK violent crime figures don’t warrant this kind of hysteria, and in fact are not even on the increase. Add to this the inappropriate use of The Wire to illustrate the point. According to Glenny the “unambiguous” message of The Wire is that “the war on drugs is what fosters violence and gangs in west Baltimore”. So it’s precisely the hysteria about crime, and the inept and opportunistic way this is used by politicians and law enforcement, that end up encouraging and building on the problem.

And at the end of the article, the cack-handed Google ad placement engine saw fit to place these three adverts:

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