I am not a Luddite.

Ok, I may have to take that stupid Feedburner ticker off my page. It lies! Seriously, no ego there – I know for a fact that my number of readers is greater than (okay, fine, maybe equal to) my shoe size.

My UK shoe size.

I think the issue is that it tracks who accesses the Feedburner feed rather than the Blogger/Atom or whatever feed. Blogger recently posted some information on how to integrate the two, but I think it does so by redirecting Blogger traffic to Feedburner. But I don’t want to do that, because the Feedburner page is ugly! Hmmph.

Apparently Microsoft offers something similar, but Feedburner is owned by Google and Google >>> Microsoft.

I don’t know where I’m going with this, except maybe to suggest that maybe Sho and RSS don’t mix… “Really Simple” my left foot.

Oxymorons

I’m constantly surprised at people’s disbelief when they find out I’m American, accent notwithstanding. A year ago I would’ve jumped up and down with glee at that fact. Now I just find it mildly interesting.

The thing is, I’ve drawn an important conclusion after living in London for nearly a year. I used to think I had more in common with the average Brit than the average American– reserved, slightly passive-aggressive, with a sense of humour that needs to be washed down with a pint (dry, in case that wasn’t clear). Actually, those things are still largely true of me. But the conclusion I’ve made is this: being around people so similar to myself kind of, well, sucks.

There’s something to be said for friendliness, and I noticed the difference in cultures even when I travelled up to Edinburgh. As annoyed as I can get by people, I’m finding that it’s far more pleasant to be around a gregarious crowd. I met more interesting people during a weekend in Scotland than the entire month of May in London. I would’ve chalked it up to the novelty factor, but even seasoned Londoners will largely agree (while still looking down their noses).

That said, get a Brit drunk and he/she will likely be sloppier than an Irish or Scottish counterpart. And the impropriety of the English workplace – be it dress code, language, or flirtations – continues to confound me. Interesting.

Flummoxed.

Two and a half months since Madeleine McCann went missing.

A few co-workers of mine were discussing how tragic the situation is just a couple of days ago. And of course it is tragic. No parent should have to go through that kind of torture, and I sincerely hope, futile as it may be, that no harm has come to her.

Now J.K. Rowling is using the launch of Harry Potter VII to raise awareness about the plight of missing children worldwide, with Madeleine as the poster child. It’s admirable that she felt moved to the point where she’s using her considerable influence to promote a worthy cause.

What’s incomprehensible, though, is the mass outpouring of sorrow for the Madeleines and the Natalees of the world, and the indifference towards Darfur, Congo, or Iraq. Nicholas Kristof actually wrote a column on this strange phenomenon entitled “Save the Darfur Puppy,” which you can find here. It reminds me of a story a friend of mine once told me – how one man, in an incident of particularly destructive road rage, threw another driver’s dog into traffic. People went absolutely mental over the incident. I probably would too, as I adore dogs. But what kind of sense does it make that people are so moved by Fido, and not at all by scores of civilian deaths – oh, sorry, “collateral damage” – in a single instance in Iraq? Why does no one care that no one is keeping a bona fide count of civilian casualties Iraq, or that the means to do so does not even exist?

I guess the only explanation, as stated in the column above, is that our capacity to feel and empathize is severely limited. And that will probably serve as our best evolutionary advantage, given the state of the world we live in.

Not all 5-year plans are stifling.

I need to tell you how much I love Marks & Spencer.

How many high street retailers do you see massively promoting initiatives such as this?

“Because there is no Plan B.” I absolutely love it.

Any prepared meal you buy from M&S carries a label detailing how to dispose of each part of the product: Film recycled through plastics, sleeve recycled through papers, tray recycled through plastics. Common sense? Sure. But the extra effort is commendable.

Factoring in environmental concerns invariably raises the price of products. The most impressive part is that M&S has undertaken this scheme while it’s still in a relatively delicate situation following recent financial woes. Its profits have increased measurably over the past couple of years, but it’s still in no position to compete with the Evil Empire. Nor should it try. M&S has been so successful at pushing its green campaign that it’s forced Tesco to commit to its own line of fair trade products. In doing so, they’ve helped to change the rules of the game. It’s quite possible to argue, somewhat cynically, that the green initiative was conceived solely to establish a trendy campaign with universal appeal. But it’s raising awareness regardless, and that counts for something.

Not all liberals hate corporations. Many would simply like to see a greater amount of corporate accountability accepted by a greater number of successful firms. Thanks, M&S, for being a pacesetter.