As a racing cyclist, I'm pretty aware of the equipment restrictions put in place by the sport's governing body, the UCI.  While many of these restrictions are really aimed at safety (such as prohibiting the use of aero bars on road race bikes), many seem to be just a reaction to increased technological developments.

Thus, we are faced with regulations that among other things aim to

The morning dawned and it was a bright and sunny morning, and ideal for tandeming over to Ivinghoe for a cream tea.  It also meant a chance to try out the new GPS data logger.

I thought it would be nice to ride the Longstaff tandem, as it's a bit more sprightly than the Dawes touring tandem.  We set off via the Brickhills and out to Stewkley.  I think this tandem is quicker because the gear ratios are a bit closer - the downside of course is that we don't have quite such a range of gears, so climbing can be a bit of a trial.  The ride out was pretty uneventful, and we saw quite a few cyclists out enjoying the spring sunshine.  There was another tandem at the cafe when we got there, with a Dawes Galaxy Twin.  From the rear window of the cafe, we could see a pin windmill in the distance. Apparently it is Britains oldest mill (it looks to be in a bit better nick than a similar one at Brill), though it hasn't worked since a storm in 1904!

White Cloud; Temp: 9°C; Wind: W 16mph; Hum: 83%; Press: 1011mB; Vis: Very good

 I have to confess to having had another poor week's training - I had intended to force evening turbo sessions, but frankly working 8am to 6.30pm, cycling home, then cooking and eating dinner means that by the time I've let dinner begin the digestive process it's rather late to blast myself on the turbo.  Still, since last week's event, I cycled every day (even if some of those days were merely the 12 mile commute to work), and I managed one level 2-3 session and a set of 1' intervals.  With the usual excuses now out of the way, on to the event, billed as a two-up team time trial.

Hot on the heels of news that Psion seeks to enforce ownership of the word "netbook",  The Register(So, what's the f**king difference between a Netbook and an ultrathin?) presents a useful flowchart which will you whether you are the proud owner of a netbook...or a plain old laptop...or a handheld....or an ultraportable PC...or an ultrathin...

 Now, as a proud owner of a (rather venerable) Sony Vaio nini notebook, an OQO UMPC, a Pocket PC, and a rather large IBM ThinkPad, what I really need is a princely purple PC formerly known as a Netbook..

There is a meeting at the House of Lords this morning about

The Internet Threat: Who needs privacy when we can have relevant ads?
Online Privacy and the Interception of Internet Communications

You can read more on it at NoDPI (Press Release: House of Lords - A Round Table Event).  Participants will include:

The Register has a report on the House of Lords privacy meeting (Phorm CEO clashes with Berners-Lee at Parliament), and it sounds as though sparks were flying.

It would seem that comparisons have been made between the pathetic response of the UK government to the far more robust attitute of the US government:

Google have announced they will be launching behaviourally targeted advertising (The Guardian: Google introduces targeted display ads on sites including YouTube).  However, as a poster on the nodpi forum points out, there are significant differences between the Google strategy and that of Phorm:

Phorm uses intercepted ISP traffic - Google collects its OWN data and is easy to block.
Google is just a website - Phorm infiltrates an entire ISP network

 The Register - Phorm CEO clashes with Berners-Lee at Parliament

The Times - Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee wants ban on snooping on internet users

The Guardian reports (Straw bows to pressure over data sharing) that the Government's controversial plans to permit government agencies to correlate and combine data held on citizens have been withdrawn.  I previously reported on clause 152 in the otherwise innocuous sounding Coroners and Justice Bill Part 8 - Data Protection Act 1998 (c. 29) (The UK database state comes a step closer...).  Now it seems that privacy campaigners have had an effect:

Jack Straw last night scrapped controversial government proposals that could have allowed patients' medical and DNA records to be shared with police, foreign governments and other bodies.