PHP URL Rewriting
Okay, so I've mentioned the fact that I need a script to handle all requests to old links to URLs that include /A55692/store.nsf/. Now, to take it one step further (too far?) I've added a script that logs the address of the request and, more importantly, where the link was found. Here they are. Follow this link and your IP address should make it to the top of the list...
Note to self: Get out more!
The BBC have just finished a poll to find out who we (the Britons) think are the Top 100 Great Britons of all time. Obviously, when you leave something like this up to the public, there are going to be some shock results. One, U2's lead singer, Bono. Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought he was Irish! Two, David Beckham! I kid you not. Sandwiched between Charles Babbage ("inventor" of the computer) and Tim Berners Lee (inventor of the World Wide Web) is a moron whose only apparent skill is the accuracy with which he's learnt to kick a football. The man can hardly string a sentence together. Three, JK Rowling. Unheard of until a few years ago and all she had to do was write a few kid's books. What is the world coming to? I feel like I'm taking crazy-pills!
However, as somebody who didn't bother to vote (only 30,000 people did) I have no right to complain I guess...
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Now you're storing our IP addresses, how about building a "Hall of Shame" which lets all of us look at the nasty people who have tried $DefaultNav and the like on the site :-)
I've been storing them all over the place for a while now. Not just me either I suspect... not much to lose sleep over though.
Its seems to me that the BBC themselves did a poor job of publicizing that it is putting this list together. I never heard of it until the programme was shown yesterday.
This is another typical example of the BBC's shortcoming.
"BBC's shortcoming"?
I didn't know they had any. They seem to do a pretty good job to me. Some of their scheduling may be a bit poor but their website is probably one of the best in the world!
BTW: They've been banging on about the "top 100" for ages now (the trailer with the people arguing in the curry-house)...
I agree with the suggesting that David Beckham's inclusion for merely his footballing skills and celebrity is probably unjustified, but I diagree with the suggestion that the fact that he can barely string a sentence together should count against him. Stephen Hawkins can only string a sentence together with the aid of electronic gadgetery (hence his above-average concern for the potential effects of the millenuim bug), and some disabled / special needs / learning difficulties 'Britons' cannot speak at all. I don't think this should prevent them from being hailed as 'great', should they achieve something of real importance or whatever. If a person with a debilitating stamma/stutter had fought a successful battle for human rights, then we'd not think twice about applauding his or her inclusion.
It's very easy to dismiss those with low levels of 'communicative competence'.
My main concern was the fact that every single member of the 100 was white. OK so Freddie Mercury has mixed ethnicity, but I wouldn't be suprised if most of his nominators didn't even know this fact. It was news to me!
On the subject of a hall of shame for users of $DefaultNav, I would be in there! Not because I'm a wannabe hacker, but just because I'm interested in codestore's design and hosting setup. I've never really understood the fuss about $DefaultNav, because if the developer implements reader-field document level security for any document that should not be in the public domain, then it wil not be displayed in any views browsed with "Anonymous" access anyway???
Beckham can barely string a sentence together because he is thick, not because he's disabled.
You seem to be suggesting that people conciously voted for white people and that if they realised Freddie was mixed-race they wouldn't have voted for him!. The simple fact is a huge majority of the British people throughout this country's history have been white, so it's not surprising that this poll reflects that.
Winston Churchill had a speech impediment, that did not deter him from greatness, and being listed in the top ten.
When only 30,000 people respond out of a population of 58 million, that does not suggest BBC did a good job. You can have the best website in the world, to the extent that it could solve all your algebra problems and cook you a good dinner, if it does not communicate effectively what it is trying to achieve, its like having a 650BHP supercar and just admiring it while it rusts in the garage. 30,000 respondents is dismal.
Something tells me it's more about the lethargic nature of us Brits than it is about the abilities of the BBC. I knew ages ago that there was a vote and how/where to do it. Did I bother? No. Did I complain when the results came out? Hell, yeah! What does that say about me? Shall leave that up to you.
Thanks to Dave for pointing out that I'm not getting at people with disabilities.
I can see your point, and all the points made about not many people voting is true, but consider the following.
JK Rowling has done more for children reading than most.
And while our 'footballing hero' may not be the most intelligent person in the world he's not that bad an ambassador for the UK since he is a family man, etc.
Good point Ian, well presented.
I do have a certain amount of respect for Beckham and the way he manages to handle/use his fame a lot better than most. But, come on, Greatest Briton?
Being misquoted misquoting someone else is a new and interesting experience.
But I still believe that the fact that there was only one conceivable non-white person in the 100 was a sad refelction on the voters, particularly when you bear in mind that Enoch Powell made it in.
I agree entirely that the BBC is not at fault for this.
OK, OK. But what about the "People's Princess". Jeez. I saw this list in a paper over the weekend, and she was in the top ten. Please don't tell me she still is!
My fault if she is: I didn't vote either. Tsk.
(And Jake, no you're not alone in storing a "Hall of Shame" re people hitting your site in naughty ways ;-)
Ben, I haven't got a "Hall of shame".
"The definition of a 'Great Briton' for the purposes of the nominations was: anyone who was born in the British Isles, including Ireland; or anyone who lived in the British Isles, including Ireland, and who has played a significant part in the life of the British Isles. "
So Bono counts...