Tory benefit skiving rhetoric

Already? As elinor just commented, this is so soon. Labour ran slick adverts on shopping benefit fraudsters, but there was something particularly distasteful about the Conservative politician on radio 4 a few minutes ago saying MPs know there are lots of people out there who don't deserve their benefits - because they found them at home while they were out campaigning. I mean I agree you can't possibly be a contributing member of society if you have the time to open the door and talk to candidates, but suppose it was a courier delivering your next piece of work - you'd have to answer the door bell and then you could hardly slam the door in their face... Are these people completely out of touch with modern working habits? Freelancers, contracters, the self-employed, remote workers, workers from home: if you're not in the office like a good little wage slave, you're obviously some kind of benefit fraud. What's next - cracking down on those who aren't visibly disabled? But we still have Chateau Lafitte aging in the cellar of the House for foreign dignitaries (and when I heard that one, I had to wonder why we don't serve them a good English wine like Nyetimber? Or would that be champagne socialism?)

IT Pro: Toshiba's Android netbook

If any Android netbook is going to succeed, it will be the AC100 but there’s still a question of whether Android is ready for the netbook form factor or whether Windows 7 will hold its own the way Windows XP did against the original Linux netbooks.
Read my first take at IT Pro whether I think Android is going to oust Windows 7 from ultraportables

How can I watch it if you're talking

Why I want to engage about what I watch after I watch it; I'm with Matt Weiner, the producer of Mad Men. A long way into this semi-verbatim report of the Bing entertainment news, (so far in that I'm going to quote it) he's discussing audience engagement and real-time audience reaction with Biz Stone of Twitter. And I agree with with Weiner completely; I pick the shows I want to watch crefully and I treat them like a film, not like background music. If I put a show on I want to watch it, I want to be immersed. If I miss a line, I'll rewind to catch it. I want the nuances, but I don't want to talk about them while I'm enjoying them. With a book, I'll often quote the snarky lines that make me laugh to Simon - he had to start rading Jennifer Crusie books because I was quoting so many lines from them - but I don't want to stop halfway through the big buildup to the final scene to discuss the book (or dinner or the news or anything less immediate than the house being on fire). I'm an immersive reader and an immersive watcher; I'm caught up in the experience. Anything else is a distraction. Matt is exactly the kind of person I'd want to watch TV with!

Danny Sullivan reporting
Biz says notice many TV shows before about to air start to trend. More people enjoying watching a show togetehr and twittering about it in the back channel. Not just sports. Lets watch the show together.

Matt, that bugs the crap out of me. Turn off the lights, pay attention to what you’re doing. Give the artist the attention for what they’re doing. Just watch it and talk to people after.

Todd but when people talk in a theater….

Matt … and you hate it….

Todd but the reason these experiences you have is the shared experience, the laughing or screaming together. That’s something television doesn’t have.

Matt, oooh ahhh is one thing.

Ryan, doesn’t it make you a little happy to know the audience is engaged.

Matt, it sounds really ugly but part of being a writer is that you do want to speak uninterrupted for a period of time … then when it’s over, then maybe you could talk to people.

Ryan, you have kids? Matt, yes. Ryan, how do they watch TV with those rules. Matt, they hate watching it with me.