To tell or not to tell? That is the question…

I’ve been blogging for about nine months now; long enough to feel like I know what I’m doing, and to have developed a certain way of writing, and even to have built up a bit of an audience (thank you) but in certain other ways I’m still very much a newbie.

One of the things that I’m still unsure about, and which I’d like your input on if you feel moved to give it, is the issue of censorship. Not so much traditional censorship of bad language, or “adult content” but more internal censorship of what you write. Do you have that barrier that sometimes descends as you start to write, which goes “You know, maybe it would be better if you didn’t write that.”

You may have noticed that, while I have mentioned the company I work for and the products we sell, I don’t write about my experiences at work. The main reason for this is that nothing really happens that is worth writing about, but another reason is that I know that one of my friends from work occasionally reads The Wolf’s Howl; the situation might arise where I write something about the job that he doesn’t agree with, which might cause problems in our working relationship. Unlikely, but it could happen.

Another area that I don’t write about is my personal relationships. I’ve been toying with the idea of writing about a couple of incidents from the past, which every now and again re-surface for a few weeks just to torment me. The thought of writing them down often occurs at these times, to try and exorcise the demons as it were. But, apart from not really being able to find the words, I haven’t written them because that internal barrier comes down.

It’s strange; I think the thing that bothers me about it is that these are things I haven’t told to the people that I’m closest to - yet I’m thinking of writing a blog post that has the potential to be read by millions of complete strangers. I wouldn’t care about them reading the posts, but if someone I knew read them I’d be… embarrassed is probably the best word.

So maybe it’s not censorship. Maybe it’s this conflicted feeling that stops me writing about things; the stupid git at work who can’t even put a damn label on the right way round, the night I was 17 and made a choice that I wouldn’t make now or the night I was 19 and made a choice I really wish I hadn’t made.

But maybe it’s just that I can’t find the right words to really get across what I mean.

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All opinions in this blog are either my own or else they’re made up just to get a rise out of you and make you angry. Either way, they’re probably not very well thought out or expressed so do yourself a favour and don’t take the world so seriously.

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Tags: Censorship

B Complex made simple(r)

Part of Wolfie’s Nutrition Guide : An occasional series

I’m not really attacking the alphabet in order, at least as far as vitamins go, so apologies for back-tracking to B after having already covered C and E. (I’ll complete the confusion in the next instalment by jumping to D!).

You’ve probably heard the term B complex vitamins, or vitamin B complex. What you may not be aware of is what this actually means, and how it relates to vitamins B1, B2, etc. The B vitamins are a family; they generally occur together naturally and they have what is known as a synergistic realtionship - the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. They tend to work together in the body, and a shortage of one often indicates a shortage of the others.

As with many nutrients, B vitamins have many roles to play in our health including:

• A healthy nervous system
• The release of energy from food
• Proper digestion
• Healthy skin, hair and nails
• Proper production of red blood cells
• Maintaining emotional balance
• Relaxing

They are all water-soluble, so are easily passed from the body - this means that a regular supply is needed to help maintain good health. Some of the B vitamins - particularly B12 (cobalamin) - are mainly found in red meat, so if you follow a vegetarian or vegan diet you should make sure you have a good alternative source. Menstruating women should ensure they have an adequate supply of B6 (pyriodoxine) as this helps to produce haemoglobin.

B vitamins are commonly available as a complex in supplements (ie all of them together) but they can also be available separately; the major ones you will see are:

• B1 - Thiamin
• B2 - Riboflavin
• B3 - Niacin
• B5 - Pantothenic Acid
• B6 - Pyridoxine
• B12 - Cobalamin
• Folic Acid - Folacin
• Biotin
• Choline
• Inositol

There is some debate as to whether those last two are B vitamins, but there is a consensus that classes them as such.

So how much do I need?
As always, opinion is divided on this issue. The EU things you only need a few milligrams (a spread from 1mg to 6mg) but nutritional practitioners reckon that for optimal health you should be looking for a supplement that gives you 50mg of B1 to B6, Choline and Inositol and around 100µg to 400µg for B12, Folic and Biotin. In times of particular stress (poor health, lots of physical activity) you can double those amounts.
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All opinions in this blog are either my own or else they’re made up just to get a rise out of you and make you angry. Either way, they’re probably not very well thought out or expressed so do yourself a favour and don’t take the world so seriously.

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Subscribe by email : : Read more Howling at The Wolf’s Howl @ BlogSpot : : Copyright © 2007. All rights reserved. No reproduction without prior permission.

Tags: NutritionGuide, Vitamins, B Complex

Minority group alert!

Currently, HM Government and the various agencies associated with it are trying to introduce a nationwide, compulsory identity card scheme. They’ve promised the country that, while each person will have to pay for their compulsory card to be issued (anywhere between £95 and £300 depending on who you think is right), their data - including biometrics like iris-scans and fingerprints - will be 100% secure and unauthorised access will be impossible.

Unfortunately, HM Government has proved quite conclusively over the last few weeks that it cannot look after people’s data very well at all. We’ve had around 15 million people with Standard Life pensions have their data lost, then 25 million people who claim child benefit or tax credits (followed by another revelation that HMRC “mislaid” a further six discs of information), up to the latest news that millions of learner drivers have had their data lost - when a hard drive used by a Government contractor was “mislaid” in Iowa. Of course, that one happened back in May but they’ve only just owned up to it.

Which is why I’m declaring myself a Minority Group. As far as I can work out, the recent data losses could theoretically effect almost every household in the UK, possibly more than once. But not me; I’m not learning to drive, I don’t claim child benefit or tax credits and I don’t have a pension with Standard Life. There’s probably about half a dozen of us in the country, so I’m thinking that we should get together and have a New Year Party.

All joking aside, I’ve been against the ID card scheme from the start - mainly because they want to make you pay a huge fee for a card that you don’t have any choice about carrying, but also because I was concerned about the centralisation of so much data. What I was worried about was the data being used by unauthorised agencies to keep tabs on British residents; I realise what I should be worried about is that all of that data will end up being sold on the Internet because HMG have lost it again.

Update: in the comments, Robin has raised an issue about the ID card that I completely failed to touch on - that of security. The big hook that HMG have been hanging this ID card scheme on is that it will stop terrorism; only legitimate, legal citizens will be able to have the cards, so terrorism will stop overnight. What no-one from the Government seems to have noticed is that terrorists can be home-grown - the Madrid bombers were all card-carrying Spainish citizens. How does an ID card stop them? As Robin asks will the Government “make it compulsory to show the card whilst committing an offence?”

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All opinions in this blog are either my own or else they’re made up just to get a rise out of you and make you angry. Either way, they’re probably not very well thought out or expressed so do yourself a favour and don’t take the world so seriously.

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Subscribe by email : : Read more Howling at The Wolf’s Howl @ BlogSpot : : Copyright © 2007. All rights reserved. No reproduction without prior permission.

Tags: Dataloss, Incompetent, ID card, Government

Brief notes

Another quick round up of bits and pieces that don’t warrant a whole post on their own:

1. The advice to always read the small print is something that Piotr Staniaszek should have heeded. He’s just been hit with a mobile phone bill for $85,000 after thinking that his $10 a month plan would cover him for using his mobile phone as a modem and downloading HD movies and other large files. Come on, really? $10 a month is gonna cover you for that? Even if you haven’t read the small print, you probably wouldn’t expect that sort of use to be covered.

2. This delightful thing is what now adorns the Rowan Tree pub in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh. In case you can’t tell, it’s a flatulent cow that emits a burst of dry ice at 11am, noon and 1pm to tell all the locals what the time is.

Apparently it’s becoming as popular a tourist attraction as the nearby Greyfriars Bobby, and as much of a time keeper as the One O’Clock Gun. I’d be worried about some Council Jobsworth trying to do them for allowing smoking!

3. Just been looking at the TV schedules for Christmas. With my wide choice of four TV channels, I really am being offered some spectacular fare: on the Sunday before the big day I can watch the very Christmassy “The Great Escape”. Yep, that movie that’s on every Christmas (except it isn’t, it hasn’t been on at Christmas for years) is on once again. Christmas Eve isn’t too bad - there are some movies related to Christmas, and “Pirates of the Caribbean” which is always fun - but Christmas Day itself is awful; “Gone with the Wind” (yawn) or lots and lots of EastEnders (depressing) and ‘dragged out of the rubbish pile’ To The Manor Born. Bah humbug!

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All opinions in this blog are either my own or else they’re made up just to get a rise out of you and make you angry. Either way, they’re probably not very well thought out or expressed so do yourself a favour and don’t take the world so seriously.

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Subscribe by email : : Read more Howling at The Wolf’s Howl @ BlogSpot : : Copyright © 2007. All rights reserved. No reproduction without prior permission.

Tags: Christmas, TV, Flatulent, Cow, Mobile, Bill

If it seems too good to be true…

You know the old saying and so you’d think most people would be on the look-out. You’d further think that someone described as “internet aware” wouldn’t fall for an email scam. But it seems you’d be wrong on both counts.

This story is about an 80 year old woman who’s fallen victim, to the tune of £16,000, to an email scam that promised to net her $30 million, supposedly left to her by some relatives she didn’t know she had. Maybe I’m too cynical for my own good, but wouldn’t alarm bells be ringing with you if someone said “You’ve inherited $30 million, but we need £16,000 in fees”? Take it out of the estate and give me what’s left! I don’t need to pay you anything up front.

It’s sad that someone - whether they’re 18 or 80 - should fall victim to a scam like this, but let’s be honest - there have been enough of these things going round over the last ten years for someone who is “internet aware” to be able to spot them. Greed got in the way of good sense.

Like it did in this case, when an elderly man lost his £70,000 life savings when he was taken in a telephone lottery scam. He hadn’t entered any lottery, but because he was told he’d won a million euros he thought he was quids in. Again, it’s sad that anyone should be taken for their life-savings but it’s not like there hasn’t been plenty of publicity about these things.

Anyway, once my friend in Nigeria (he’s a crown prince, you know) has taken his $23.5 million out of the country with my help, I’ll be able to give both these people some help. How much, Mustafa? £10,000? I’ll write you a cheque now…

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All opinions in this blog are either my own or else they’re made up just to get a rise out of you and make you angry. Either way, they’re probably not very well thought out or expressed so do yourself a favour and don’t take the world so seriously.

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Subscribe by email : : Read more Howling at The Wolf’s Howl @ BlogSpot : : Copyright © 2007. All rights reserved. No reproduction without prior permission.

Tags: Scam, Life-Savings, Pensioners, Rip-off