Monthly Archives: March 2015

  • Document Freedom Day: why open standards matter

    Steve WoodsOpen Source, Open Standards, Social Media, Tech

    Document Freedom Day dove posterToday is Document Freedom Day, an annual international celebration of open formats and open standards and an opportunity to promote their use.

    The use of open standards is definitely gaining ground, particularly where it matters, such as in dealings with government bodies. This was amply illustrated last year by the UK Cabinet Office’s announcement of the adoption of open standards for collaborating on government documents.

    Why do open standards matter?

    Open standards are vital for interoperability and freedom of choice. They provide freedom from data lock-in and the accompanying vendor lock-in. This makes open standards essential for governments, companies, organisations and individual users of information technology.

    What is an open standard?

    An open standard refers to a format or protocol that is:

    • Subject to full public assessment and use without constraints in a manner equally available to all parties;
    • Without any components or extensions that have dependencies on formats or protocols that do not meet the definition of an open standard themselves;
    • Free from legal or technical clauses that limit its use by any party or in any business model;
    • Managed and further developed independently of any single supplier in a process open to the equal participation of competitors and third parties;
    • Available in multiple complete implementations by competing suppliers, or as a complete implementation equally available to all parties.

    How do open standards affect you?

    April, the French open source advocacy organisation, has produced a handy graphic in English to illustrate the difference between open and closed formats. Click on the image below for the full-sized version.

    April leaflet showing difference between open and closed formats

    Examples of open standards

    Many open standards are in wide use. Here are 3 examples:

    • Plain text (.txt);
    • HTML, the language of the web;
    • ODF, the default file format of free and open source office suites such as LibreOffice and OpenOffice. ODF can also be handled by Microsoft Office versions from Office 2007 onwards.

    Document Freedom Day is being promoted on social media by the use of the #DFD2015 hashtag.

  • GNU nano 2.4.0 text editor released

    Steve WoodsLinux, Open Source, Tech

    Four years after the last major update to version 2.3.0, the developers of the GNU nano text editor have now announced the release of version 2.4.0. In his email Chris Allegretta nano now has a fully functional undo system which is now enabled by default, vim-compatible file locking, linter support, formatter support, syntax highlighting flexibility and many fixes for bugs reported since version 2.2.

    nano screenshot

    Besides the source code package (in tar.gz), the new version of nano is available from the GNU nano website for various Linux distributions and Windows. The latest unstable release of the 2.3 branch is also available for download.

  • Sign of spring – blackthorn

    Steve WoodsBristol, Language

    This morning on my walk from home in Easton to the Bristol Wireless lab in Bedminster, my eye was caught by blackthorn blossom standing out white against the blue sky.

    blackthorn blossom
    Blackthorn blossom in Lawford’s Gate, Bristol

    Blackthorn (prunus spinosa) derives its name from its thorny nature and its very dark bark.

    As its Latin name denotes, it is a member of the plum family. Its fruits – sloes – are well known for their bitterness, unless picked after they’ve been bletted, i.e. attacked by autumn frosts. Their best-known use is for making sloe gin.

    photo of sloes
    Sloes. Note the thorns. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

    The modern English word sloe comes from the Old English slāh. The same word is noted in Middle Low German, historically spoken in Lower Saxony. Similar words are found in other languages with Teutonic roots.

    With its savage thorns, blackthorn has traditionally been used for making a hedge against cattle or a “cattle-proof” hedge.

  • Getting wrecked – the story of East Bristol’s heritage

    Steve WoodsBristol, Politics

    Bristol has a long and proud history stretching back beyond Saxon times.

    However, it also has a slightly shorter and not so proud history of allowing important heritage and buildings of historical interest to disappear under the demolition contractor’s wrecking ball, particularly in East Bristol, long treated with contempt by the city fathers.

    This contempt for the heritage of East Bristol has been eloquently illustrated in recent times.

    First there was the loss some 10 months ago of the fine Victorian school in Avonvale Road (posts passim). With the connivance of Bristol City Council, this was sacrificed on the altar of bland modern architecture sponsored by the academy schools programme.

    The loss of Avonvale Road school was followed just one month later by the demolition of Ebenezer Chapel in Midland Road, the last non-conformist chapel in that part of the city and a rare example of a Romanesque style chapel (posts passim) in contrast to the more usual Gothic style. The site of the Ebenezer Chapel is now occupied by a bland, modern block of flats.

    A third important building in East Bristol is now under threat of demolition by its owners, the Homes & Communities Agency, who in my opinion don’t know what a treasure they’ve got in their property portfolio. It’s on the left in the photo below.

    photo of Marybush Lane School. Unlike Bristol24/7 I at least asked the permission of the photographer to use it and credited it accordingly
    The old ambulance station site in Tower Hill. Photo used by kind permission of Chris Brown

    What the picture shows is the site of Bristol’s old ambulance station in Tower Hill. The tracked vehicle on the right is sitting atop the remains of the uninspiring 1960s building forming part of the station complex. The most interesting part of the site is the stone building on the left.

    That building dates from circa 1860 and was originally the parish school in Marybush Lane built for St. Philip and St. Jacob Church. It was designed by eminent Victorian architect and designer E.W. Godwin, a local boy whose best-known building is Northampton’s Guildhall. Godwin was born Old Market Street in 1833 and is believed to have attended St. Philip and St. Jacob as a worshipper. Locally Godwin also designed the grade II*-listed Carriageworks building on Stokes Croft, an early example of the Bristol Byzantine style.

    The Victorian Society is calling on the Mayor of Bristol, George Ferguson, to step in to save the former school, which has been refused spot listing, despite its local historical importance. The Victorian Society’s Conservation Adviser, Sarah Caradec, said: “Bristol should take this last minute opportunity to save this early example of Godwin’s work in the area he was born and brought up in. Far too many examples of Godwin’s work have already been lost. Although English Heritage rejected an application to spot list the building, it recognised its strong local interest as an early Godwin building, as well as its group value with the associated Grade II*-listed Church of St Philip and St Jacob, which were restored by Godwin in the 1860s. We urge the Mayor of Bristol to recognise the building’s value and act now to ensure that the HCA build around it.”

    It’s not just the connection with Godwin that makes the old school valuable. If it disappears beneath the wrecking ball, an important part of Bristol’s working class history will also be lost.

    During the harsh economic times of the 1930s when millions were out of work, the Bristol branch of the National Unemployed Workers Movement (NUWM) held its meetings at the school. Bristol Radical History Group has material related to the activities of NUWM in Bristol, whilst the excellent BRH publication Bread or Batons?, written by Dave Backwith and Roger Ball, can be purchased from Hydra Books in Old Market Street.

    Will the HCA see sense?

    Will George Ferguson intervene?

    Only the next couple of weeks will tell.

  • The return of the spiv

    Steve WoodsLanguage, Media, Politics

    Grant ShappsOne consequence of the current media focus (which continues today, with the Mirror describing his tactics as “sleazy”. Ed.) on the business activities of Conservative Party Chairman Grant Shapps (right) has been a linguistic one.

    Many people have rediscovered a word which came to prominence during World War 2 – spiv.

    This word has often been used by those commenting on online articles on Shapps’ dubious business activities to describe the man himself.

    Oxford Dictionaries defines a spiv as:

    A man, typically a flashy dresser, who makes a living by disreputable dealings.

    During World War 2 those disreputable dealings usually meant that spivs circumvented the strict rationing regulations and/or could procure commodities or items that were hard to get.

    image of James Beck playing Pte Joe WalkerThe spiv was personified during my younger years by Private Joe Walker (left) in the TV comedy Dad’s Army. Walker was played by actor James Beck, who died suddenly at the age of 44 during production of the programme’s sixth series in 1973. In the series, Walker is a valuable asset to the platoon, due to his many “business” connections and his uncanny ability to conjure up almost anything that is rationed or no longer in the shops due to the war – and he will also have it in vast supply (for a price).

    Arthur English in character as a spivFor a generation older than mine, the spiv was perhaps characterised by comedians such as Arthur English (right), whose usual persona in the early days of his career was a stereotypical wartime “spiv”. As a consequence of this persona, Arthur English became known as “The Prince of the Wide Boys” (meaning in this context a man who lives by his wits, wheeling and dealing. Ed.). Wide boy is also a term that could possibly be applied to Shapps as an alternative to spiv.

    As regards the origins of spiv, there are several possibilities.

    Oxford dictionaries reckons it originates in the 1930s and is perhaps related to “spiffy“, meaning “smart in appearance”, which dates back to 19th century slang in this context.

    Another possibility is that it’s related to “spiff“, a bonus for salespeople (especially for drapers but later for car salesmen, etc.) for managing to sell excess or out of fashion stock. The seller might offer a discount, by splitting his commission with the customer. A seller of stolen goods could give this explanation for a bargain price.

    Yet another suggested origin is that it comes from the nickname of Henry “Spiv” Bagster, a small-time London crook in the early 1900s who was frequently arrested for illegal street trading and confidence tricks. National newspapers reported his court appearances in 1903-06.

    Furthermore, it has been speculated that it is VIPs backwards. In addition, further speculation has it that the word was also a police acronym for Suspected Persons and Itinerant Vagrants.

    Finally, there are also hints that it could have been borrowed from Romany. In that tongue, spiv is a word for sparrow, implying the person is a petty criminal rather than a serious “villain”.

  • TidyBS5 news

    Steve WoodsBristol, Politics

    A week ago yesterday, there was a meeting of the TidyBS5 task force with council officers and Councillor Marg Hickman at the offices of Up Our Street.

    It was a good opportunity for the officers to update community volunteers on what the council has done, is and will be doing.

    fly-tipping in Jane Street Redfield
    Jane Street in Redfield earlier today

    For Stapleton Road a deep clean is planned for this year; this will mean giving the footways a thoroughly good scrub and removing chewing gum from their surfaces. In addition, hanging baskets will be provided on approx. 30 lamp posts to help make the street a bit more colourful and attractive.

    The city council’s streetscene enforcement team has now moved into the area and has already had some success: 5 traders have been issued with £300 fixed penalty notices for abusing the communal bins intended for household waste only. In addition, some minor offenders have been fined smaller amounts.

    Turning to communal bins, task force members have been invited to assist in devising the communal bins consultation that the council is organising for the Stapleton Road corridor. Two task force members, Hannah and myself, informed officers that we were monitoring clearance times after fly-tipping had been reported. From my own monitoring since then, communal bins seem to be implicated in some 60% of sites notified to the council.

    After the update from the offices, it was pointed out to them that, while all this attention being lavished on the Stapleton Road area was appreciated, it should not detract from equally bad problems along the Lawrence Hill/Church Road corridor, home to the infamous Jane Street (see above).

    During my discussion on social media with BCC’s Chief Enterprise Architect Gavin Beckett about open standards (posts passim), he invited me to submit feedback on using the council website; this will be done from the aspect of reporting street cleaning matters, where the website still has a couple of interesting foibles.

    Up Our Street is organising a community litter pick on Saturday 28th March from 11 am to 1 pm. Volunteers are asked to assemble at Lawrence Hill roundabout (map). For more details, contact Lorena on 0117 954 2835.

    Big Clean publicity poster

    Finally, don’t forget to sign the TidyBS5 e-petition!

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