Shane Greer

I wrote a piece for the Sky.com/news blog earlier about YouTube’s decision to enable some of those who upload content to the site to make money from it. The piece can be viewed here.

Today is the last day for filing your tax assessment (joy of joys). But whilst tax isn’t meant to be taxing it would appear that on this particular day it is; as Burning Our Money points out.

Yup, if you go to file your assessment online today you’ll be greated with a message telling you the service is ‘temporarily unavailable’.

You couldn’t make it up.

Hat Tip = Greg Tibbs on Facebook

I’ll be on Sky News tonight between 7.30 and 8 reviewing some of the more unusual stories to hit the web today. So if you’re near a TV and fancy playing a game of ‘will Shane be wearing a powder blue tie or sky blue tie’ then by all means tune in!

Guido has drawn attention to another innovative piece of campaigning by the Boris campaign, namely, Back Boris taxi receipts:

It’s stuff like this that sets a campaign apart, and gives it a real grassroots feel. From Back Boris Oyster Card holders to taxi receipts is setting a gold-standard in inovative campaigning.

Incidentally you can order your own Back Boris Oyster Card holder by emailing info@backboris.com.

I remember sitting in the living room with my parents as a child glued to the television as Jeremy Beadle would launch his latest prank on an unsuspecting victim. It was all great fun, and at its heart great family entertainment - something parents and children could laugh at together.

He brought richness into the lives of all who watched him, and he will be missed a great deal.

Quite a while ago I wrote a piece (not on this blog) about sexism on the blogosphere. In it I highlighted the willingness of male blog readers to attack a female blogger for her sex rather than what she’s actually said. Essentially attacking the person rather than the substance.

Anyway, there’s another related phenomenon on the blogosphere that I’ve been pondering recently; psycho readers.

Well, basically they’re readers who, well, hate the blogger, for no real reason. I for example have a Pastor who, well, doesn’t love me as his neighbour. Iain Dale and Guido Fawkes have the obviously unbalanced Tim Ireland. Rachael North has the utterly crazy Felicity Lowde. And there are more like them sprinkled across the blogosphere.

But why does this happen? What is it that provokes some people to such hatred? I don’t know, but it certainly makes the blogosphere an interesting place. It takes all sorts I guess.

Derek Conway has done the honourable thing and declared that he will not stand at the next election. The difference between the Labour Party and the Conservative Party is now clear; the Conservative Party is about personal responsibility, Labour isn’t. Simple.

The eyes of everyone should now be on Hain.

Derek Conway has had the Whip withdrawn. Now he should do the decent thing and withdraw himself from parliament, and if he doesn’t his local association should de-select him.

Now is the time to show both honour and Party loyalty.

If one was to put together a list of places in the UK that one might expect to be very secure, it’s probably a fair bet that parliament would be on that list (near the top). But how secure is parliament really?

I go in and out a fair amount, and as I don’t have a pass I go in with friends who do. But here’s the thing. People with passes don’t get searched going into parliament (even their bags don’t get searched). Moreover when taking guests into parliament, those with passes will often take their guest’s bag from them so as to avoid any search and reduce the time it takes to get in.

How difficult would it be to put a nail bomb or indeed gun into parliament? Not as difficult as it should be.