01 Feb 09 The Rock ‘n’ Roll Years
Nostalgia ain’t wot it used to be is it?
It’s probably not good to live in the past, and most of the time I’m forward looking. However it’s nice to take a look back every so often, and reminisce about byg0ne days, news, and events.
So, this afternoon, I sat back and watched again, the first four episodes of ‘The Rock ‘n’ Roll Years‘ which was was a BBC television show broadcast between 1985 and 1994.
Each thirty minute show focused on a different year each week, starting with the year 1956 and ending with 1989.
Although many folk bemoan the state of the world at the present time, when one watches these shows, one is reminded that as well as happy times, death and destruction, war and violence, are ongoing themes through history.
One is reminded of how unhealthy we were back then, with factories belching black smoke, and the majority of the population smoking.
Civil rights, in many parts of the world were, at the start of this series, almost non-existent, including the American South of course.
The Cold War was at its height, the United States, USSR, and the UK were conducting atmospheric H-Bomb Tests, and there was a real fear that the button would be pushed by either side.
The Rock ‘n’ Roll Years, being from the BBC, takes a look at the world from a British perspective, but takes in world affairs from each year.
Some notable happenings in the first four episodes (1956 – 1959) included The Hungarian uprising in 1956; Sputnik’s launch in 1957; The tragedy of the Manchester United Airplane crash of 1958; and Castro’s Revolution in Cuba in 1959.
If you get the opportunity, and you like the music from the 50′s, 60′s 70′s and 80′s, and also the news from those years, it’s a series worth seeing.
Tags: airplan, bbc television, bomb tests, british perspective, days news, death and destruction, destruction war, h bomb, happy times, hungarian uprising, launch, look at the world, manchester united, present time, rock n roll, rock n roll years, s 70, sputnik, world affairs, wot
20 Sep 08 Software Freedom Day
Many folks think of Free and/or Open Source Software (FOSS) as simply being cost-free. While this is usually the case, the more important aspect of FOSS is that it is free to update, revise, improve, re-write. Open Source means that the source code is open for perusal to anyone that is interested.
Open source leads to open formats too. Think of some well-known closed source word processing software for example. Cast your mind back a few years if you can, and think about some of the earlier releases of word processing software. If you or someone you know had written documents using that software back then, are you able to open them, read them, and edit them at the present time? Perhaps you can, perhaps not. This is another reason for Open Source.
You can find out much more about FOSS and the aims of Software Freedom Day, but checking out this website: http://softwarefreedomday.org/
Tags: aims, foss, freedom day, open source software, perusal, present time, software freedom, Software Freedom Day, source code, source word, word processing software
