Microsoft (2012) , The Parisian Police (1917) and A Nude: Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

Having only just begun to enjoy the many features of Microsoft's SkyDrive has over Google Docs I was shocked, confused and latterly angry to find Microsoft  had unilaterally and without notice closed my SkyDrive account.

I was invited to re-apply to have my  SkyDrive  reactivated, which I did immediately. There followed an anxious wait for their response which came 24 hours later from  “Kyla” at Windows Live SkyDrive Customer Support.

Kyla gave me 48hours to remove all images which violate Microsoft’s SkyDrive Code of Conduct ,  Helpfully telling me:

Here’s an example of what needs to be removed :
LiveFolders/Trip2London/From the iPhone/IMG_0311.JPG

Reclining Nude, 1917, Amedeo Modigliani , Oil on canvas

On My SkyDrive as LiveFolders/Trip2London/From the iPhone/IMG_0311.JPG

My shock  turned to  confusion  as this reply was of no help at all in understanding exactly what images Kyla wanted me to remove. It was an 'example' indicating there were others that violated the Code of Conduct.

The Code of Conduct is so openly worded I was left to consider each and every picture of myself, partner  and friends on a Greek beach in swimming costumes –  were they partial nudity as defined in Microsoft's Code of Conduct?

You will not upload, post, transmit, transfer, distribute or facilitate distribution of any content (including text, images, sound, video, data, information or software) or otherwise use the service in a way that:

• depicts nudity of any sort including full or partial human nudity or nudity in non-human forms such as cartoons, fantasy art or manga.

Confusion moved onto anger as the image right next to Reclining Nude was Mattise’s demonic-like naked Dance :

Dance,1910, Henri Matisse, Oil On Canvas

Had Kayla missed this image ? Was this image  approved by The Code of Conduct ? I looked a little harder at the other 400 plus pictures in the same folder – friends, family, art work, net images and so on - to my surprise one image that of the Warren Cup introduced to me by Neil McGregor  as object no 36  in A History of the World in 100 Objects was also not singled out for removal - the Warren Cup depicts two pairs of male lovers in a coital like embrace.

It seems ironic what Kayla and Microsoft have done, today, in 2012 was a almost an exact repetition of what happened when Amedeo Modigliani first exhibited his now acclaimed nudes in 1917, according to  Modigliani's  Wikipedia entry

Then:

On December 3, 1917, Modigliani's first one-man exhibition opened at the Berthe Weill Gallery. The chief of the Paris police was scandalized by Modigliani's nudes and forced him to close the exhibition within a few hours after its opening.

Now,to paraphrase Wikipedia

On January 8, 2012  Modigliani's Reclining Nude, 1917 was uploaded by me to my  SkyDrive. Microsoft was scandalized by Modigliani's nude  and forced me to delete the file within 48  hours.

Microsoft’s Code of Conduct policy confuses naked with nude.  The word nude came into art critic vocabulary in the early 18th Century to differentiate artistic images of the human body from other types of images. Kenneth Clark in the opening of The Nude described the naked as ‘huddled and defenseless’ in contrast to the nude which is ‘balanced, prosperous and confident’. This consideration moved some images of the naked human body into becoming nudes - images of artistic merit and integrity - not to be confused with the exploitation that can be found in many naked images. Microsoft’s Code of Conduct needs to reflect that difference. So rather than prohibiting images which:

Depicts nudity of any sort including full or partial human nudity or nudity in non-human forms such as cartoons, fantasy art or manga.

The Code of Conduct should be more explicit,  prohibiting images which:

Depicts nakedness of any sort including full or partial human nakedness or nakedness in non-human forms as cartoons, fantasy art or manga

 I was torn as to what to do next? Leave the image there and be denied access to SkyDrive ,delete it and continue albeit prudently to use SkyDrive.

I capitulated, gave in and  reluctantly deleted that one image but left all my  other 2,300 plus  images in folders on SkyDrive intact including the Warren Cup and Matisse Dance images . I replaced  Modigliani 's Nude with this image:

Replacement image for LiveFolders/Trip2London/From the iPhone/IMG_0311.JPG

(Reclining Nude, 1917, Amedeo Modigliani , Oil on canvas)

To conclude, I can fully understand Microsoft desire to control what images are uploaded but the image was benign, this was a nude image not a naked image,  it is an acknowledged work of art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the file was private shared only with people I allowed. In 2012 Microsoft behaving just like the Parisian police almost a century earlier is totally outrageous on one hand but on the other plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

BTW all the images for this post are to be found in my Google Docs folder until Google becomes as paranoid aka as Philistine as Microsoft........

No to increasing the speed motorway limit to 80mph

I am gob-smacked that the government wants to raise the speed limit on motorways to 80 miles an hour after years of telling we motorists  speed kills.

This is the most misguided, foolish piece of motoring legislation  I have heard of. The reason for its introduction is so  fickle – most drivers exceed the limit so the 70mph  is unenforceable.  So if enough of us break an law for long enough then the law can be changed – tell that to the recent rioters. Further there is talk of this higher speed limit boosting the economy as we will  reach place  quicker – have they ever  driven on the M25 , M3, M1, M4 at any time. There measures are in place to reduce the speed to increase traffic flow.

No mention is made of the savings that can made for travelling slower – real money being saved. The US limit of 55mph is no arbitrary limit , that speed was chosen as it was on the average  the most fuel efficient speed for most engines. Engine efficiency falls off rapidly after 55 mph falling by a staggering 28%  at 80mph when compared to consumption at 55 mph.

This change does not make sense at any measure – legally: we simply do not change laws when sufficient  people break a law; safety; speed kills: Germany has over twice as many deaths per year on motorways; economically: at 80 mph we are throwing away one third of the money, when compared to 55pmh, we spend on petrol to reach the next traffic jam... faster.


If the Government was really serious about climate change and reducing the nations's carbon footprint transport as it is the second highest,, after industry producer of carbon would seem a sensible place to try to cut back.

The UK has some of the safest  roads in Europe let us keep it that way; keep the speed limit at 70mph – you and your pocket know it makes sense. 

The BBC Presenter as Celebrity ?

The BBC news has been reduced to casual conversation between mates comparing experiences: what it meant to them then and what it means to them now often with trivial speculation. ‘It ‘ is everything from the Monkees threatened revival to the reactions of Egypt’s rioters . I find it ‘toe curling’. I have absolutely no interest in their likes or dislikes; similarly their personal or family histories. I want to hear the news, the story, without the fog of the presenters personality.

Nor have a desire to see him or her take part , along with other D list celebrities, in one of the many gratuitous, embarrassing , ‘reality’ TV programs. Reality ? Another word for playing to camera, dubious cutting and scene selection.

The presenters need to have dignity , dear I say, gravitas many of the BBC news presenters have none. The BBC has come a long way from the days from when newsreaders were told to wear dinner jackets in the evenings and who could forget Alvar Lidell’s BBC English
when reading the news. I am not arguing for a return to that archaic BBC approach to news but one that reflects the zeitgeist while remaining dignified.

The BBC could learn much from Channel 4’s News Team who remain a respectful distance from their interviewees both on the spot reporters and the eye witness are questioned intelligently. This is in stark contrast to the BBC presenter who always seem to want to put the interviewee at ease or bond with them by sharing a common concern or interest.

Enough , I say to these BBC presenters, yes ask the questions in friendly, informed manner but please do not reduce the news interview to a casual chat between mates in a pub!

My Top Ten Netcasts*

1 This Week In Tech (TWIT)

Leo Laporte brings industry gurus together - different ones each week drawn from all sides and sexes of the Internet : VCs, Bloggers, CEOs, geeks, politicians, developers, lawyers, journalists......any and all (including the odd Brit) who are impacting the Net and how it develops. Although there is inevitably a strong US bias - net neutrality, the poor ATT network , the high cost of Internet access- nevertheless this is not to be missed as it without fail puts the weeks tech news into considered , informed focus.

2 The Fonecast

A review of the week 's mobile news in the UK , not as dynamic as TWIT as it has the same two (well informed and witty) commentators each week but it has British focus so is always relevant. Always down to earth, practical and on the (mobile) money.

3 Windows Weekly

Another Netcast from Leo Laporte , the format is Leo talking to Windows expert, guru, most knowledgeable Windows guy in the world (!) Paul Thurott. A really good listen if only for the rapport between the two but also the deep insight that Paul has as to what 's going on in the world of Microsoft , for nothing else his Tip of The Week is worth listening to this excellent Netcast.

4This Week In Google (TWig)

Leo Laporte talks to a Gina Tripani (developer) and Jeff Jarvis (prof of journalism and commentator) with the odd expert brought in from time to time about not just Google but the Cloud wants going on what going on , what's changing and why in the world of Cloud computing and and in the Googlesphere - listen out for the app and tip of the week always useful.

5 The Pod Delusion

Hard to describe what this show is all about so, can only use it's own description - A podcast of interesting things - never fails to delight and entertain with odd , interesting , revealing views on life, times , science and politics in the UK.

6 Buzz Out Loud (BOL) - Molly Wood

Tech News Today (TNT) - Tom Merritt

If you want to know the hot issues right now on the web and have an informed view on them these are two great podcasts. Hard to pick them apart. Both great shows with informed, knowledgeable, engaging, witty presenters.

8 Out Law Radio

The Law and how it impacts the Web covers things like who owns your email, how to use a brand's name , copyright, privacy......always topical, very relevant.

9 CNET UK

A UK blending of TWIT and BOL formats which works well witty informed entertaining could do with being a bit more controversial and heavyweight.

10 Money Talk From The Motely Fool

If you have any spare money this show tells you how to use it to make more, informed, straight talking with a bit of wit.

*All available for free subscription from iTunes. I call them Netcasts not Podcasts as most are in dual format voice or video format. Podcast is too restrictive as soon many of these shows will be broadcast TV channels in their own right which are accessed via an app 24 by 7. - narrow casting to a specialist audience rather than the broadcasting to the masses. Have a look at the TWIT app on the iStore to see what's possible.

Presentation's Fun Combo - iPad and Keynote

I ‘ve done a number of presentations - personal and business - with iPad using Apple’s £5.99 app Keynote and without hesitation or reservation I can say after almost twenty years of using Microsoft’s PowerPoint on the PC – iPad/Keynote is the future of presentation.

Why? – iPad’s user interface and Keynote’s features and functions .

iPad’s user interface.

Much has been said and written about the iPad good and bad - a big iPod touch , a new computing device , a pointless device which I’m sending back. I understand all of these comments , for me the most apposite comment was from the Steve Woznaik – the technical genius that created the revolutionary Apple’s I and II – he said the iPad takes us back to computing year zero – “a restart” .

Gone are the key board and the mouse: your fingers are actually ,literally and physically in control – Tap, Touch, Touch and Hold, Drag, Flick, Pinch – start, stop programs; move, expand, decrease rotate, cut, paste, copy, text and images.

The keyboard and mice mediate between the user and information doing away with them creates a whole new way of viewing, exploring and reacting to information. The iPad disintermediates as the Internet did for example to travel agents and book sellers, putting users in charge of purchasing holidays for themselves – Lastminute.com and buying books at better prices books – Amazon.com.

Just as the Internet’s disinmtermedatison changed fundamentally the way holidays are organised and purchased equally the way a reader chooses and pays for books so, the iPad changes how we interact with information, giving new ways of accessing and in turn new insights to information by doing away with the keyboard and presenting the information –literally - at your fingertips.

Keynote

Keynote for the iPad has a modern contemporary feel none of the bloated , overburdened feel of PowerPoint. Like Prezi - the online presentation tool - iPad’s Keynote goes for a much reduced set of everything – tools, fonts, actions – so one is not intimidated or overwhelmed by the range of options. Being an Apple product the UI is totally consistent and coherent: sticking rigidly to the iPAD’s UI feel. This makes learning the Keynote a joy as there’s nothing to learn, well almost nothing, as you know how to use it already from using the iPad/iPhone UI.

Keynote does have its draw backs which it shares with other iPad apps - file sharing. The absence of a visible file system leads to other way of sharing files such –via iTunes or iWorks or email for example. There is also no SAVE or SAVE AS command instead there is an auto save function which saves the file every 45s this can lead to files inadvertently being over written. Also the imported PowerPoint presentation are not one hundred percent replicas of the original, imported files still need adjustment

Conclusion

The file handling and sharing issues aside the iPad/Keynote combination is a powerful, flexible and entertaining way to create, present and share information – putting fun into creating and giving a presentation.

Apps v Mobile Web ?

I've been to a number of conferences in the past few weeks in which there has been a recurrent question – Should I create an App or use the mobile Web site ?

I believe the question is totally pointless as they are one and the same. It’s all about content and presentation. Which you use – App or Web - depends on what you want to say and who you to want to say it to. They are your mediators between you , your user and the Internet.

The Internet’s like a city it has its pleasant side : secure air conditioned shopping malls like Amazon.com or Tesco.com equally it has its seedy side with crime ridden streets found in its porn sites or its email scams.

Allowing users to access the Web unmediated is leaving them open to that seedy side while an App can guide the customer to the pleasant side, your side.

Is it the Web or is it an App ?

At its most basic an App can be nothing more than a Web link, a URL. For example the option on the iPhone’s Safari browser to Add to Home Screen creates an icon on the home screen that looks for all intents and purposes no different from any other App yet its sole function is to direct the user to the Web site. See for example the BBC’s mobile home page bookmarked and accessed as an App like icon below....

Many so called Apps on the download sites like Getjar are no more than a book marked URL behind a branded icon for example the Yahoo! News Icon - Get One Click Access to Yahoo! News on your phone, Download here Yahoo! News

That icon App metaphor allows appropriately coded and presented Web pages to appear like Smartphone Home screens ready for touch screen navigation.

For example MIT Mobile Web - coded in HTML5 - has the look and feel of smart phone screen and when booked marked as an icon it can be accessed by an App like icon which gives access to a page that looks like the Apps on the desktop behind each ‘App’ are web pages. Making it hard to tell is it the mobile Web or an App.

Is it an App or is it the Web ?

The mobile web site can be coded to be an App. For example miniapps.co.uk Card Flip -a memory test game - is a HTML5 coded applications that will run on iPhone, iPod Touch, Android, Firefox Mobile, Nokia Maemo. It has all the look and feel of a local application but needs the Web’s connectivity to run as the logic is held on the server not on the phone.

Card Flip App is a mobile site , the BBC Home App icon is also a mobile site thus to differentiate between an App and mobile Web is pointless as they can be one and the same.

The One Million Congregation in Lagos

I’ve just finished watching the last ina series of three programs on BBC 2 about life in Lagos, Nigeria – Welcome to Lagos

The strap line was It’ll defy your expectations. It certainly did as my memories of Lagos come from the 1980’s, seen from the back of an air condition car travelling around Victoria Island – Lagos’s Chelsea - immune from Lagos’s Dickensian poverty and hardship. So I expected to be confronted by that poverty, hardship, deprivation in Welcome to Lagos but I was totally surprised. I found the programs totally spell binding, uplifting and touched me deeply how people can triumph in what seemed the most desperate circumstances.

The last episode particularly moved me. It told the story of Esther , she lived both physically and economically on the edge of Lagos and its society. Living in a beach shanty hut under the constant threat of either demolition by the authorities or being swept away by the sea, scratching out a living selling mobile phone cards. Her knowledge and use of phone cards helped her discover her husband was cheating on her , this led to her marriage breaking down leaving her alone and seemingly destitute.

Not a bit of it she kicked him out the hut and found comfort in her Bible.

Watching it I recalled a Thinking Aloud episode which discussed how religion flourished most in those countries where their inhabitants experienced the most personal insecurity – where there the greatest inequalities of income and equality.

Esther puts on her finest and goes to Church but not just any church a huge sprawling church on the outskirts of Lagos with a congregation over one million.. One million souls seeking the Lord wanting to be born again, sprit filled . The queue to be touch by the sprit seemed to go on for ever. The church was truly biblical – vast!

This I believe was where those in Lagos living on the edge of society economically and politically, deprived and alienated turned to religion for comfort. Answering the question Dr Tom Ress discussed with Laurie Taylor in Thinking Aloud:

Is Personal Insecurity a Cause of Cross-National Differences in the Intensity of Religious Belief?

He produced a chart which correlates the frequency of prayer against income inequality. African countries dominate the large income inequality and high frequency of praying end of his chart will modern western countries UK, Germany are found at the opposite end low income inequality and low frequency of prayer.


Below is a simplified version of the chart with Nigeria speculatively added based on Esther and her church with its congregation of one million.

So for religion to succeed drivers appear to be income inequality and personal insecurity. And I can see how important it is for Esther and that million congregation living life on the edge of modern city like Lagos, without relgion they would have no hope.