In October, I moved to Harrow, north west London. This is the first time I've lived near a tube station. Years ago, I would have taken the Underground to see London's most amazing sights. Now, I take it to go to the supermarket. Oh, the glamour!

I've added mini-updates to the main page of the site, so it's a one-stop shop for news, tweets, OpenJazz updates, and sporadic Wikipedia Articles of the Day. It's like a one-man social networking site, assuming you're bad at spotting oxymorons.

In other news, I now have my very own entry on IMDB, thanks to Anne LaBarbera!

So, there's been a lot of turmoil about lately. There's been rioting throughout England. There've also been quite a few people telling whoever will listen what they think of the rioters. Consequently, there've been many rants and counter-rants about who exactly is to blame for the destruction. It goes something like this:

Alice: The looters are bad people, and they must be severely punished.
Bob: The looters are predominantly socially excluded individuals and their actions are a consequence of our society's failings.
Alice: What are you talking about? These people had a choice, and they chose to do bad things.
Bob: How can you possibly think it's that clear-cut?

And so on. It's pretty polarised, and the "Alice" characters are vicious fascists. Right?

I don't think so. I've seen some terribly harsh things written about the rioters by friends who are ordinarily fairly progressive. They've been buying into the idea that the rioters are sub-human and deserve whatever can be inflicted on them, short of corporal or capital punishment.

Meanwhile, I've seen one friend refer to these others as bigots.

Now, before anyone invokes friendship divorce proceedings, take a step back. The riots are still fresh in people's minds. There's been massive, immersive media coverage. We've all been able to see the destruction to people's property and livelihoods, and the general fear and misery that's been inflicted. It's only natural to be angry, and it's only natural to direct that anger towards the rioters. However, anger fades.

Until that happens, I'd advise everyone to be very careful about what they say.

I, however, will opt for mildly inappropriate humour. Look, this guy's looting a lute!

I have now been living in England for a whole year!

I've been taking a look at the site's stats for last year. After OpenJazz, the most popular search phrase was "Doctor Who clipart". Apparently, a non-insignificant portion of this site's visitors end up looking at some low-quality clipart I threw together when I was 13. Sorry, folks.

In the middle of August I moved to Watford, and have spent most of the intervening time without access to the internet. This has made me realise just how much I depend on it. For example, I would not normally go to a new supermarket without first finding out exactly how to get there, and what time they closed. It has been a liberating experience.

A lot has happened since my last update. I've been a teller at a polling station (in one of the safest constituencies in the country). I've run 8.1 miles (13 km) in 77 minutes. I've added rudimentary support for Jazz Jackrabbit 2 levels to OpenJazz. I've had a mole removed from the end of my nose (which is not the best place to have a scar). And finally, I've found myself some gainful employment. I now work for Imagination Technologies (LSE: IMG) - hence the move to Watford.