I was quite saddened to see the news recently that SAAB are likely to disappear as a major car maker. Of course, they have not been the SAAB of old since they joined the General Motors stable but I still have very fond memories of my old 99. It was one of the best second-hand cars I ever owned – a real pleasure to drive and lot of fun. When I bought it, the roof had some minor damage from some sort of chemical spillage that had eaten into the paint but I got it for a good price and took it to a specialist for a respray. The guy was a big SAAB fan. I asked if the chemical damage was likely to continue to eat away at the roof. He gave me a withering look and opened up the bonnet. “Feel that” he said, indicating the thickness of the bonnet. I put the edge between my fingers and had to agree that this was indeed a fairly solid chunk of metal. He seemed pleased and then said: “There’s more metal in that bonnet than in a whole Ford Fiesta”! And he might well have been right.

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“Microsoft has reached agreement with European Union anti-trust regulators to allow European users a choice of web browsers. The accord ends 10 years of dispute between the two sides.” That’s what it said on the BBC news website last week. Who exactly are these guys? Did we elect them? I don’t think so. But we have paid out of our taxes to fund this petty and ill-conceived war – first over the bundling of the Media Player In Windows and then later the bundling of Internet Explorer. And guess what? I am, whether I like it or not , a European – and for as long as I can remember now I have had a choice of web browser. It’s not rocket science. I really do not need some puffed up creep full of his self-imposed sense of importance to tell me that I can download Firefox any tme I want to. Or Opera. Or Chromium. Or Safari. I have never been forced to use either Microsoft’s Media Player or Internet Explorer. And nor have any other Europeans. And how come Apple are not being hounded by these idiots? Do they not bundle Quick Time and Safari in exactly the same way?

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On a personal note, I recently discovered – or perhaps a better word would be realised – that I was wasting a lot of shampoo and conditioner washing where my hair used to be but no longer is. The hairline has moved a couple of inches or so backwards but my method of hair washing had not kept up with the times.

According to MacUser, two separate Apple centres in the USA have refused to carry out repairs on a Mac because the owner is a smoker. Not because they feel that smoking has contributed to whatever has gone wrong but because their technicians consider the machines ‘contaminated’ and a ‘bio-hazard’.

Due to the computer having been used in a house where there was smoking, that has voided the warranty and they refuse to work on the machine, due to ‘health risks of second hand smoke’.

I agree that nicotine residue can be sticky and unpleasant stuff. But second-hand smoke? So much for Apple Care – the expensive, three year warranty agreement you can take out on a new Mac. I can see I wont be doing that next time around.

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When Internet Service Providers and every other organisation connected to web provision told the governments of Europe – including our own – that their ill-thought out plans for tackling music and video piracy wouldn’t and couldn’t work they were duly ignored by people with the technical understanding of a wardrobe. So it comes as no real surprise that ZDNet reports today of the first result of their idiocy. A pub – currently unidentified – has been fined £8000 for illegally downloading unspecified copyrighted material.

Only, of course, it wasn’t the pub at all. All the pub landlord did was offer a free WiFi hotspot to his customers. A nice gesture, thoughtful and generous and a good way of getting a few more customers through the door. Except that one of them abused the privilege. And the IP address used for the download belongs, of course, to the pub.

And that means that people offering hotspots all over the country will, sooner or later, be wondering if it’s really worth it.

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I’ve lost the link now sadly, but a BBC news item a few days back reported that some researchers have decided that letting your kids get dirty – or good, old-fashioned play – is actually, wait for it, good for them! Helps build up the immune systems. Of course, it’s not that long ago that we all knew this anyway and the extra benefit of a childhood not spent in antiseptic isolation was that we were not only healthy and largely allergy-free, but we had fun and learnt to socialise properly because you can only get seriously dirty outside.

Perhaps it should be a question asked of budding Apple technicians: “did you Mum let you play outside and get dirty when you were a kid?” Although, of course, they will probably regard such individuals as a bio-hazard.

There have, sadly, been two rather nasty accidents in the last two days. Yesterday – two light aircraft collided near Coventry killing all on board and today a coach left the road near Alton, tumbled down an embankment and ended up in someones garden. One man has died as a result and many are injured.

I happened to be watching a BBC TV news broadcast not long after each of these tragedies. Following the air collision in which, I believe, 5 died, the newsreader was apologising for not being able to interview the paramedics on the spot. Tonight, following the coach crash, they were apologising for not being able to get live TV pictures from the actual scene.

When did this happen? This is the kind of journalism that belongs in the Rupert Murdoch arena. It’s tabloid or it’s Fox News (OK I know that’s the USA but they thrive on this sort of thing). We are being apologised to by the BBC News team for what? Not showing us the bodies? For not seeing the blood? Because they were unable to show us injured and deeply traumatised people struggling to crawl out from the wreckage of a coach?

There is a promotional ‘ad’ seen often on BBC News 24 where the Vatican correspondent makes the statement that the Vatican ‘works in centuries not in years’ and if that is indeed the case, then the current papal incumbent will not have been at all surprised to have just been served with a lawsuit pertaining to events 700 years ago. Must seem like only yesterday in fact.

I have to admit the news that The Association of the Sovereign Order of the Temple of Christ have filed a lawsuit to have their good name reinstated by the Vatican is one of those news items that gave me enormous pleasure. The Association’s members are, they claim, the rightful heirs to the famed Knights Templar.

In 1307, the King of France – Philip IV – had bankrupted his treasury waging wars and had borrowed heavily from the Templars. Following unsubstantiated rumours of heresy and ‘ungodly’ practices within the order, he saw having it outlawed a way out of his financial difficulties and persuaded the Pope – Clement V – to do just that. On Friday 13th October, in a well organised Europe-wide operation, Templars were rounded up, arrested and their lands and wealth confiscated. Hundreds were tortured to force admission of heresy and many were executed – most usually by burning at the stake. The Vatican always did have a thirst for blood-letting in imaginative and inhuman ways but of course, I am sure God instructed them to do this so it’s all right then.

The lawsuit, while claiming that it is the good name and reputation of the Templars that must be exonerated, also calculates that the value of land, money and possessions that were seized by the Vatican 700 years ago is, today, worth some 79 Billion UK Pounds (100 Billion Euros). I like that bit!

Bearing in mind I am just talking about the leadership here and not the millions of Catholics across the world who practice this cursed religion – but I’d like to see the modern day Templars storm the Vatican and burn everyone within out in St. Peters Square. The world would have been a better place over the last 2000 years without this evil spreading it’s hatred, intolerance and vile doctrines.

Good luck to them I say. But I would still go after the money – they have an excellent case.

I feel sure that if you can remember the TV series ‘Blake’s 7′ then you most probably have fond memories of it. It was, on balance, an interesting mix of adventurous television making on a very low budget. In fact, I well recall a comment made, I believe, by the producers that a single episode of ‘Blake’ had about the same budget as a ‘Star Trek’ coffee break.

So let’s see. What do I remember. I recall flimsy sets and even flimsier acting; grandiose title music; perhaps one of the first series where the writers felt free to kill off main characters; at least one whole series of ‘Blake’s 7′ with no Blake, or, for that matter, only 6 of them (I believe); the irascible ORAC; Servalan (who could forget her or her haircut?) and, of course, Avon – to mention just a few.

I remember being struck at the time that this disparate group of so-called ‘freedom fighters’ throwing stones at the evil ‘Federation’ seemed far more interested in treachery and deceit towards their fellow travellers than they did about liberating the galaxy. But it was good fun even if it seemed to totally lose it’s way after the first series.

But Blake fans everywhere will either be thrilled or appalled at the news that Sky television is planning to remake them. To quote:

The satellite channel has given the green light for the development of two 60-minute scripts for a “potential event series”.

Yes – that really does say “potential event series”. Sounds like ‘Federation Speak’ to me.

(If you happen to be a true ‘Blake’s 7′ fan then you must check out this site from Steven Locke where he appears to have re-created just about every Blake aspect in Lego. Some people really ought to get out more).