Malice

things you didn’t know about yourself

dgs — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:43:27 +0000

Do you know what people know about you?

Worse still… do you know what people think they know about you?

Beacon Dodsworth are a seller of geographical demographics. Sound harmless. Only they gather data from various sources, and then package it in ways which companies can use to market their ways most effectively to the people who match their target audience.

One of their tools categorises people by their P² type: a broad demographic brush swept across society, which makes me one of 4.42% of the UK who are members of “Contented Families”, a sub group of the 8.30% of the population which are part of the UK’s “Blossoming Families”.

What’s your P² type?

What does that tell me about myself? I am not entirely sure. What does it tell anyone else? Apparently that I have a mortgage on my (semi-)detached house, own two or three powerful-engined or family cars, like to shop in Sainsbury’s, and am a reader of such newspapers as the Mail and the Express. Well, I feel vaguely offended by that. How does yours match?

Punter Southall are actuaries with a similar interest in numbers and selling their opinions on how to interpret them… and they are keen to estimate my time of death. Based on where I live rather than how I live!

Postcode Life Expectancy Tool

Apparently I can expect to live 0.8 years less than the national average for a male. Which would be worrying if it was made at all clear what the national average life expectancy was.

The more data available to you, the harder it seems to be glean useful information from it.

Castle Campbell

dgs — Fri, 30 May 2008 20:06:16 +0000

Unfit. Well probably… and walking through the Ochil Hills for around 15 km was just a way of drawing my own attention to it…

But at least on the way through drizzle and a vague attempt at sunshine, I managed to see the quaint Castle Campbell, a medieval keep now managed by Historic Scotland.

Oh, and it also gave a chance to see how poor the 2 megapixel camera on the iPhone really is. I guess I have little to do about that… Here’s hoping iPhone 2.0 is buffed somewhat. Otherwise that digital SLR is looking all the more likely… eventually.

hello, world

dgs — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:07:55 +0000

All hail Kernighan & Ritchie, and the inspiration they have brought to first programs and web pages, the world over. And hello, indeed, world. This is likely to be an irregular blog of web development progress, rants, and reports about this, that, and the other.

I can say no more, for there is no more.

The site exists in order to exist, which is the most dubious of reasons. But let’s not make excuses before there is anything to excuse.

Welcome to Malice.