Posts by Russell Brown
-
The Guardian's story is useful:
In the UK, BT reiterated its confidence in Huawei, and said that it was able to examine source code for products to check for "back doors" or eavesdropping functions.
It said in a statement: "BT's relationship with Huawei and other suppliers is managed strictly in accordance with UK laws and security best practice. BT's network is underpinned by robust security controls and built-in resilience. We continue to work closely with all our suppliers and the government, where appropriate, to ensure that the security of the network is not compromised."
Australia's former foreign minister Alexander Downer, who is an independent director on the board of Huawei's Australian unit, rejected the government's security concerns. "This sort of whole concept of Huawei being involved in cyberwarfare, presumably that would just be based on the fact that the company comes from China. This is just completely absurd," he told ABC Radio.
But even if it is, there are those in the west who are reluctant to put aside their mistrust for now.
But Huawei is likely to have the last laugh. While Ericsson sold its half-share in the loss-making Sony Ericsson mobile phone business in October 2011, Huawei has just ventured into the handheld business – and analysts already expect it to undercut rivals such as Taiwan's HTC. This week's setbacks for Huawei may not be its last, but the company is by no means finished with its ambition.
The more I read and think about this story, the less I'm able to believe that Huawei is really a bad actor as alleged. The companies with which it forms partnerships, and the role it plays in standards bodies, just don't tally with that view.
-
Hard News: One man’s Meat Puppets is…, in reply to Jackie Clark,
I think he's referring to the pull up to the bumper thing - which may be overanalysing it somewhat, since Jones herself says that wasn't what it was about.
Ahem. She's saying it wasn't necessarily arse sex, but I think there can be no possible debate what that song is about.
-
Hard News: One man’s Meat Puppets is…, in reply to Jackie Clark,
See, I love hymns and I'm a nonbeliever.
But you said you didn't like Christian music!
But I expect you meant the sub-genre we know as "Christian rock", and I honestly can't say why almost none of it seems to be any good. Prefacing any genre with the world "Christian" just seems to not work out.
On the other hand, I'll swoon for the Staples Singers.
Speaking of which, Mavis Staples' collaboration with Jeff Tweedie from Wilco made a nonsense of the boundaries of genre:
Jackie you do actually have to look at that one.
-
This thread is making me think. I know little or nothing of classical musical music -- I'm sure if I put in the time I'd discover what I liked.
But apart from that I don't dislike any of the topline genres per se. Love Sun Ra and Coltrane. The Saints and Street Chant. Sonia Pottinger and Damian Marley. Public Enemy and @Peace. Johnny Cash and Lucinda Williams. Donna Summer and Daft Punk. Madonna and Lilly Allen. Aretha Franklin and Amy Winehouse.
There's truth and beauty in all of those.
-
Hard News: One man’s Meat Puppets is…, in reply to Jackie Clark,
Can we talk about Nick Cave? Can we? I am aware that many find him brilliant. I just find his music dirgey. In the extreme. And yet, I love Tom Waits.
I don’t quite get Tom Waits, although I accept that he is a great musical renegade.
But Nick Cave … hearing the Bad Seeds play ‘The Ship Song’ in all its billowing glory at the Brixton Academy is one of my most treasured musical memories.
-
Hard News: One man’s Meat Puppets is…, in reply to Danielle,
John Lennon was often really pretentious or just plain addled ('hey George Martin, I want you to make my voice sound LIKE AN ORANGE'), but luckily he didn't really have the chops to get all musically proggy. He was a rock and roll essentialist by the 70s, anyway.
Hell yes. Plastic Ono Band is probably the most famously frill-free record released by a major recording artist.
-
Hard News: One man’s Meat Puppets is…, in reply to Scott Chris,
Well I do I guess. I’m sick of people misrepresenting the history of popular music by describing it in absolutist terms.
Like when you dismissed the entire early Flying Nun canon as people who could barely play their instruments? ;-)
So when people criticize music for being ‘progressive’, I’m inclined to leap to its defence because when you challenge someone to say exactly what it is about, say, Hotel California that they really don’t like, all they can say is “eww prog rock” which has as much analytical merit as saying “eww flared trousers”. It’s essentially a conditioned response.
But 'Hotel California' is inseparable from its cultural context, surely? It's not prog rock though: it's part of a California country-rock lineage that began with the Byrds I guess. Anyway, don't own it, but never mind hearing it.
Can I ask whether punk rock changed your life? It did mine. I wonder if that's the difference in the way we hear music.
-
Hard News: One man’s Meat Puppets is…, in reply to James Butler,
I have something just for you, Danielle
That something being 'Sound Chaser' by Yes.
All I got from this was a vague sense of amusement. Apart from that, I found it pointless and irritating, perhaps because there's not even a pretense of the economy and emotional directness of rock 'n' roll. I would find being made to listen to this music for an extended period very challenging indeed.
-
Hard News: One man’s Meat Puppets is…, in reply to TracyMac,
Also, for those of us mostly on mobile devices right now, could any further submissions include artist/song description?
Yeah, sorry. Next time I have some money for the developers, the first job is to upgrade the built-in player here.
-
Hard News: One man’s Meat Puppets is…, in reply to Scott Chris,
Sorry, most of the anti-prog sentiment basically boils down to jealousy imo. And as for switching time signature, well, was John Lennon pretentious? Or Radiohead?
I assure you, it's not jealousy. Prog rock just has none of what I look for in popular music. I mean, who cares?
John Lennon, on the other hand, poured out out the kind of truth and beauty that I am actually looking for.