In England one of our basic rights has always been freespeech an ability to do ad you wish or at least within the law.

Who has the right to say what we can and can’t say?

I feel that much of this censorship is being caused by fear of being repremanded for your actions. We shouldn’t have to think about and censor everything we say.

In today’s England fear of retribution is high on the agenda but should it be? Should we be able to say what we want to who we want when we want as long we don’t offend.

This of course is a contentious issue and one which is continually discussed.

Snowing again… Maybe I won’t be able to get to work… I doubt it.

It would seem that the snow is here for the long-term.  Last night the snow here has started to clear and melt away but a heavy snowfall during the night has brought back the icy and slippery roads this morning.  The worry is that, there might not be enough grit to cover the ensuing drama and that we’re going to end up in a bad situation whereby we get stuck in our homes and cannot move around.

It’s interesting that both BRMB and National Rail are running cut down websites this morning to cover access issues.  The latest news from the Government is to not go anywhere unless its absolutely necessary… as if we’re going to listen and keep to that…

For the next few days we’ll keep you posted on the latest news.

I’m currently sitting in Starbucks, Birmingham, which one you may ask and I’ll tell you, at this present second, I’m plonked in front of my laptop typing this very blog post. However, I’m not writing it in the usual manner which would be to log directly onto WordPress and tip-tap away there and then and it would be uploaded immediately. I am, at the moment typing this into Microsoft Word. The reason behind this is that the T-Mobile cloud I usually use has gone down and I’m not able to connect to it or the BT OpenZone cloud. Both Services or maybe its my laptop but both don’t seem to want to work. It may have something to do with my Windows 7 antics and that Windows 7 is inherently security conscious and doesn’t let you connect to any kind of open WiFi network. At present, how to fix this issue eludes me.

So I’m being forced to blog the old fashioned way that a journalist would, and then I’ll upload it when I’m home which is a bit of an arse as you can imagine. I like to be able to check my emails and make sure I’m up to date with whatever is going on in the world at this very second; it would seem that the Digital age which is so vastly complex sometimes it just can’t cope. Maybe it’s to do with the snow, you never know. It makes me realise how much I rely upon the infrastructure that is in place in so many places these days which allows a remote connection to the internet, and conversely a connection through to my house via my desktop pc which is acting as a server for network access. The very same pc is providing the host for the webcam, and periodically uploading an image to this website for you all to enjoy. It’s a complex web of cables at home right now as the server whirrs away attempting to provide me with a WAN connection. If I had an active internet connection right now I could connect and drop a copy of this file directly on to my pc.

I’ve just remembered that I do have an active internet connection hence how you’re reading this before I’m back home.

As a test for the next few months The Rantastic will have it’s very own webcam.

Please note that currently we’re working on updating the way the webcam works.

To view it please use this link: The Webcam.

Has decided to stay at home and enjoy the warmth of a lovely fire and a nice cup of tea.  Seriously, no-one can believe the amount of snow we’ve had over night in Birmingham, about 2 inches where I am this morning.

Information about school closures can be found at: http://www.brmb.co.uk/Article.asp?id=349317