Saturday 13 November 2021

The House On The Borderland


I am now re reading "The House on The Borderland" by William Hope Hodgson , and only thirty pages in to a 170 page book and I think that he must have indulged in some mind altering substances. This is probably what drew me to the book in the first place.

I wrote a short piece on him on Vocal here.

The protagonists have just delved into the found manuscript and  something strange has happened to the author , scaring his dog and sending him far out of the solar system and with a worrying encounter with horrific swinefolk.

The book wont take me long to finish but his whole canon is available on Amazon Kindle for 99p although there are annotated and illustrated versions available for a little extra.

Music i have gone for Beautiful and Brave by the excellent Dead Eyes Opened who don't seem to be available on Amazon but are on Bandcamp where they will get more of your money if you buy here.

I am not sure if you are aware of my writing on Vocal but these are a few of my stories if you would like to sample them:

  1. The Never Ending Story - My Directory
  2. The Never Ending Music - My Music Directory
  3. The Never Ending Poetry - My Poetry Directory
  4. An Owl In A Towel - A Beautiful Book by Lesley and Cheryl
  5. Three Reasons Why I Love Settle - Scaleber Force, The Hoffman Kiln and Castlebergh Crag

Wednesday 10 November 2021

DeepFake - Bellingcat Move Forward


 I have now finished  "We Are Bellingcat" by Elliot Higgins and in the final chapter it brings up the actuality of Deepfake . This is how video can be amended to show and prove that something happened when it didn't. Apparently there is video of Barrack Obama insulting Donald Trump aggressively and vehemently whish he never did. There are shallower versions in which speech can be altered to make it seem as though the subjects were drunk or maybe had some illness.

We are in a world where anything can be altered to suit the narrative of who has the technology, but luckily organisations like Bellingcat are countering this with lots of forward thinking initiatives but it requires commitment and dedication. You can check out their interesting resource page here but if any of this interests you get yourself a copy of the book.

Music is Midnight Oil's latest "Rising Seas" and my next read is "The House On The Borderland" (Once More) by William Hope Hodgson.

I am not sure if you are aware of my writing on Vocal but these are a few of my stories if you would like to sample them:

  1. The Never Ending Story - My Directory
  2. The Never Ending Music - My Music Directory
  3. The Never Ending Poetry - My Poetry Directory
  4. An Owl In A Towel - A Beautiful Book by Lesley and Cheryl
  5. Three Reasons Why I Love Settle - Scaleber Force, The Hoffman Kiln and Castlebergh Crag

 

Sunday 7 November 2021

The Problem With Attention To Detail: Bellingcat


On the final chapter of  "We Are Bellingcat" by Elliot Higgins and it has just been dealing with the pressures on the organisation and individual members in investigating crimes using their open source method. The nature of the work is incredibly intense , and because it involves war crimes, images and videos on social media and a lot more this can result in PTDS for some investigators.

I wont go into the details and would suggest you read the book to see what this incredible team are doing.

The final sentence in the "Mice Catch Cat" is very pertinent , not just to Bellingcat  , but to other organisations and teams that I know are developing.

"While it's true I could do little to stop an attack, our opponents can do nothing to stop what we are becoming"

Bellingcat are a force for good as are the people that I speak of, and I have just found there is a film here

Appropriate music is Midnight Oil's "Beds Are Burning" , Peter Garrett being an active ecological politician as well as still fronting the band.

I am not sure if you are aware of my writing on Vocal but these are a few of my stories if you would like to sample them:


  1. Three Reasons Why I Love Settle
  2. Keep Me In Your Heart For A While - Warren Zevon
  3. Five Funny Facebook Friends - Stalwarts of The Stand In Newcastle
  4. Become A Vocal Facebook Group Member And Bathe In The Positivity
  5. A True Folk Hero - Nic Jones