Google News versus Apple News

My ten-year-old laptop died some eight weeks ago. I replaced my Macbook with an Apple tablet. (I hopefully will review the product at a later date - but I am exasperated at how bad so many apps are! Thankfully one can still use sites via a browser.)

Over nigh on a decade, due to the politicisation and propaganda out-put of the once-highly-trusted BBC, I have had to find alternative sources of news (I am non-partisan: examples can be found elsewhere on this blog of some of Auntie Beeb’s failings). For myself these other sources have included facebook, twitter, UK newspaper sites, foreign newspaper sites (the only way to find out about some news items on occasion due to blanket silence in the UK), blogs, and specific websites (such as Reuters and medical ones). However, I was never privy to Google News nor Apple News until the purchase of the tablet: the latter was already downloaded and so I sourced the former.

After two months of usage I cannot say I am impressed with either app. Neither gives access to foreign-language media, and often no access to their English-language versions. If it is not in English, you have had it. This surprises me, for as I understand around half of US Americans speak Spanish. I can read the news in Spanish, German and French without too much difficulty, and to some extent Dutch and Italian news where I have sufficient context. I already keep track of some European media, such as Wiener Zeitung from Vienna, Austria and El País from Spain. Even trying to opt in to publications & websites proved impossible (an explanation follows later). It had been my hope and expectation that I might be able to use either or both Google News and Apple News as a central hub for the news stories in which I am particularly interested. This has transpired to be impossible.

Both news sites give one the option to select topics of interest, but neither gives you the ready ability to opt out of subjects at the inset. Apple News is the better here, for at least one can opt out of subject matters if &/or when such appears in one’s personalised news-feed. For example I was able to opt out of American Football fairly early on. Google News however, fails to let one opt out of football/soccer news and, despite clicking every time such has appeared in my feed on the “show fewer news items like this”, it is still putting soccer in my top five news items each & every day. I have read criticisms elsewhere about this issue, so Google are more than aware of it, but for some reason do not wish to alter their algorithms or prefer to annoy users out of intransigence or pertinacity. Perhaps interestingly, it appears I have had more success in opting out of so-called celebrity news or, alternatively, there has been a dearth of such stories.

When one obtains a weekend newspaper, the first thing one does is separate the different sections. At this point the sports news goes straight into my recycling bin. In a similar fashion, one ought to be able to opt in and out of various news sections prior to reading either news service. This is a personalisation service that then avoids time-wastage and irritation. I personally, as just one example, would want to opt out of royalty news but opt in to constitutional affairs and UK politics, so mention of the royal family would only appear in my news-feed if it was in connection with one of these other related areas. The UK newspapers The Independent and The i already act likewise in their actual reporting.

Both services permit one to choose the media from which one would like to receive news, but in both cases the media sources are extremely limited. As stated above, foreign-language and indeed the European English-language versions of such sources are excluded. Both sites exclude left-wing (European political terminology not US definition here and henceforth) media, although Apple News does share stories from the left-of-centre The Spectator. Indeed, the vast majority of sources appear to be centre-right. This automatically restricts the perspectives one receives in the news-feed. Whilst much but by no means all of my personal politics is left-of-centre, I still wish to know what others are thinking and suggesting. This assists in challenging one’s own beliefs and thoughts and either strengthens them or causes one to alter one’s opinions. This I believe is the nub of liberalism. (For US readers, in Europe this means open-mindedness and a willingness to listen and learn, and the term should not be confused with Liberalism - with a capital - as this latter is a political/philosophical/economic stand-point.)

It should also be pointed out that neither site gives access to news from medical websites. Google News does not permit one to opt for feeds on specific conditions, Apple News on the contrary does do so. However, in all the instances I have seen, and I covered a variety of conditions, news is at best high-level and at worst uninformative and in some cases merely an excuse to advertise a specific product or service without overtly stating that it is some kind of product-placement. My advice is to stick with the sources one already follows for up-to-date information on research, treatments and possible medications for illnesses & specific impairments.

Similarly to the lack of medical website access, there is no entry to blogs, no matter how big or influential.

Whilst Apple News does permit one to opt for news about certain subjects, it is only from a pre-determined list. I was surprised that even then, there were zero items listed under some of these topics. It certainly is not due to there being no news on such matters, simply a failing by Apple to seek out &/or provide such news. I find this deeply disappointing and slightly troubling. It certainly has reduced my trust in brand Apple.

Both news sites only give abbreviated headlines, and in the vast majority of instances this renders them meaningless and thus useless in aiding one identify whether a story will or will not be of interest to the reader. One either has to take a chance that an article will actually be of interest or just decide to move on. This situation is absurd from apps which are supposed to be guiding one to the news one wants!

In the UK approximately 1:5 individuals have some kind of impairment or disability. In the USA this figure stands at 1:4. Thus we are discussing vast numbers of people. As an advocate - and previously an activist - for disability rights issues, I am fairly aware of the situations disabled folk find themselves in both in the UK and the USA, as well as many other places around the Globe. Additionally, I keep abreast of current happenings and issues. I can honestly state that both news sources totally fail to convey the reality of disability in our respective countries. For example under the topic “Disability and Poverty” there is only one item from nearly a year ago.

Just a few screenshots of the many I have taken to back up my assertions.

So, perhaps you may be interested in my final evaluation: my advice is to ignore both of them and continue to obtain news from wherever one already does so; neither Apple News nor Google News is likely to add to the sum of one’s knowledge nor expand one’s horizons. Given that both are huge international businesses, these pathetic offerings shame them, in my opinion of course. However, you do not have to take my word: please do try them. I should love to hear your experiences and view-points. For example, the reader is at liberty to use the comments section below or email me privately if you should so prefer.

Happy news-gathering!

Crippled, Queer, Anglo-European Ranter's Second Birthday

[Image description: fairy cake with two candles;

courtesy & © Eric Lacavalerie]

Another year has passed and my blog is still going and even appears to be flourishing now thanks mainly to my June 2012 article on the computer pioneer & mathematician, Alan Turing: a Queer Hero. This post alone has garnered nearly thirty thousand views.

The second most viewed item is from October 2013, Bloom Brasserie @ Bloom Live, which has reached nearly eleven thousand hits. The venue unfortunately closed two months later - hopefully not due to my review!

In third place is my second report, from June 2013, on a favourite musician of mine, Matt Alber in Birmingham (not Alabama!), which has been visited on some seven-and-a-half thousand occasions.

[Image description: map and chart indicating the top ten countries by views]

Unsurprisingly perhaps, my blog is most visited by UK residents - approximately 30,000. Then the USA with circa 20,000. And the tertiary spot is taken by France with about 10,000. These three countries plus Germany & Sweden make up two-thirds of my visitors. Other countries in my top ten are Spain, Indonesia, Netherlands, Russia and Poland. I attract regular visits now from Canada, Oceania, India and China and a continuing increase in hits from South America and (oddly?) the Middle East. The latter area mainly views my article on Penis Problems: Crooked Cocks, Curved Cocks, which from all countries has had viewings totalling some 2,700. Rather suggests that there is a lack of good sexual education perhaps?

My labels list is growing. It now takes up about a quarter of any open page of the blog. Due to the eclectic subject matter of my postings, there are many words that appear only once or twice. However, there is now a hierarchy of labels which have attained double figures of references:

1.  Disabled 44
2.  Disability 24
3.  Review 20
4.  WoWPetition 19
5.  DWP 17
     Manchester 17
7.  Blog 16
     Wheelchair 16
9.  Queer 15
10.  Poetry 14
     Spain 14
12. Facebook 13
     Gay 13
     UK 13
15. Twitter 12
16. Benalmádena 11
     ConDem 11

Looking at the list, it is likely that all will continue to feature in my writing over the next twelve months at least; but it appears that my disability and issues around being disabled are way out in the lead, followed by food, travel, writing, gender issues, social media and politics. Well, I suppose that means my writing fits with the name with which I christened by blog.

In the pipeline, is my Blogging Against Disablism Day 2014 (#badd2014) submission for 1st May, which is entitled "Product Packaging Problems (and solutions?)". Additionally, I still have several eateries to write up and a travelogue of my mini cruise from Santander to Plymouth. WoWPetition is transmogrifying into WoWCampaign, so no doubt I shall be apprising you of developments there.

For those of you with an interest in "Artworks, Books & Erotica", who ADDITIONALLY are not offended by nakedness / nudity / pornography / sexual imagery, I have just started a tumblr blog called criquaer: uncensored. It is my intention to publish any really risqué tales on tumblr. Please feel free to take a look if this piques your curiosity - however, you must be aged over 18 in the UK and whatever legal age is required if living elsewhere. You can find other images by Eric there too, or, if you prefer, the censored versions on the more prudish facebook. Either way, you'll probably adore or swoon over Ludo!

Oh, and by the by, I am still awaiting my first visit from Antarctica… %D

WoWPetition Plea

For good or ill, I have just posted the following letter on my facebook status. Some 35% of my facebook friends have confirmed they have signed the petition; but I really don't think that is good enough - do you? Maybe you might be willing to write something similar yourselves. We have to do something to increase the signature count. That means ALL of us. Please take action!

[Image description: the writer in wheelchair signing a huge card

to celebrate the 65th birthday of the NHS]

Dear friends & followers,



I am severely disabled under NICE criteria and more often than not sick; house-bound the majority of the time; bed-ridden some two-thirds of the time.

I am doing something to fight for Our NHS so it does not become fragmented and expensive and unaffordable to the majority as in the USA, including the middle-class.

I am doing something to help ensure social security protections, the national insurance scheme that nearly all have paid into or contributed to in other ways (e.g. by caring for others, saving the State a fortune), is not downgraded to a USA welfare system that does not even protect children.

I am doing something to raise awareness of inequalities, unfairness, discrimination, bureaucratic bullying & intransigence; and thus standing up (metaphorically - obviously!!!) for traditional British values.

I am grateful for those of you who have already signed the WoWPetition; but many of you still have not done so (unless you're hiding your light under a bushel!). I spend much of my limited awake time and expend much of my very limited energy fighting. I have caused myself increased pain and made myself ill by attending demonstrations. Surely you can spare a couple of minutes to sign a petition, verify the email and share the petition with your followers. I am willing to listen to justifiable excuses for not doing so; but I do expect you folks to rouse yourselves and take action with me.

If you cannot even sign a petition to protect your way of life, your health, your social protections and those of your kith & kin, what does that say about you?

If it really is too much to ask, please defriend me now...

Many thanks once again to those of you who have already signed and shared WoWPetition. Together we are stronger, united, one community. My gratitude. %D

Here's the link folks:

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154

I hope you'll sign. Please.

[Image description: the writer in wheelchair (itself adorned in WoWPetition paraphenalia) wearing a wowpetition.com T-shirt, holding WoWPetition flyers

Alan Turing: a Queer Hero

[Image description: statue of Alan Turing draped in rainbow flag and bedecked with cards, flowers and candles next to which is the writer in his wheelchair.]

Last weekend was the 100th birthday of Alan Turing (see Wikipedia for a good, full, in-depth article). Perhaps many will never have heard of him. However, if it had not been for him, we Brits might now have been under the rule of a NAZI régime and you the reader and I might not have been reading this blog on a computer right now.

[Image description: mosaic of rainbow flag situated on the ground in front of Alan Turing statue]

If the reader has not heard of this great man, it may be due to the fact that he was a homosexual and he was hounded by the state he served and helped save, the fascistic Britain of the 1950's. Some would argue that the witch-hunt initiated in the UK was at the behest of the USA. We none of us come out well in this sorry tale.

Who knows what insights we might have gained had he not died of cyanide poisoning. This is generally believed to have been an act of suicide; but the BBC recently released an article (Gay codebreaker's defiance keeps memory alive) that suggests it could have been suicide or an accident or even murder. His untimely demise was so badly mishandled and investigated that we shall probably never know why he died nor the background to his death.

As a resident of Manchester for much of my life, I consider myself an honorary Mancunian and as such take pride in our recognition of this great fellow:

"Turing has been honoured in various ways in Manchester, the city where he worked towards the end of his life. In 1994, a stretch of the A6010 road (the Manchester city intermediate ring road) was named "Alan Turing Way". A bridge carrying this road was widened, and carries the name Alan Turing Bridge. A statue of Turing was unveiled in Manchester on 23 June 2001 in Sackville Park, between the University of Manchester building on Whitworth Street and the Canal Street gay village." (Wikipedia, op. cit.)

[Image description: commemoration plaque which reads:

Alan Mathison Turing

1912-1954

Father of Computer Science

Mathematician, Logician

Wartime Codebreaker

Victim of Prejudice

______

"Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth

but supreme beauty, a beauty cold and austere

like that of sculpture." - Bertrand Russell ]

It also pleases me that city councillors, such as Kevin Peel, and local MP's, such as John Leech, paid tribute to him, both in their Twitter feeds and by attending a commemoration ceremony. However, the fact that ordinary citizens did so, is a mark of the esteem in which Mancunians hold Turing.

[Image description: Mancunians paying their respects at the Alan Turing statue.]

I actually went on the anniversary of his birth to pay my respects. I was hoping to see the Olympic flame arrive for reasons I shall explain below. Unfortunately, the torch-bearing was delayed, and I was too ill to remain. Nonetheless, the torch did indeed detour through Sackville Park, the location of the Turing statue, and made obeisance to Alan Turing (see photo below). This included war-veteran Capt. Martin Hewitt kissing the statue. What better than a military man seeking forgiveness for the way one of theirs was treated and simultaneously paying respect to our long-fallen hero.

©LOCOG/Getty Images

Above all, the most important symbolism for me, is that of the NAZI creation of the Olympic torch relay (Olympic Flame) having to pay respect to the man who helped bring them down. Exquisite!

Perhaps the fate of Alan Turing is a modern morality tale. In our rush to condemn and destroy, we may actually be harming ourselves and our futures. (See also my article on Genetic Discrimination.)

[Image description: the decorated statue of Alan Turing sitting on a bench holding his nightly apple.]

Genetic Discrimination

As a queer man, I have been subject to bullying, abuse and discrimination on the basis of my sexual orientation or perhaps my honesty and openness about same.

As a disabled person, I have been, and still am, subject to abuse and discrimination on the basis of my disabilities and ill-health.

But have I been discriminated against on the basis of my genetic heritage?

(Image description: model of DNA by Zephyris)

Arguably, the answer is yes, insofar as genes are at least partially responsible for some of my disability and probably mainly responsible for my sexual proclivities. For example: all four of my grandparents suffer/ed from arthritis, as do both parents, all my aunts and my uncle, and one of my two siblings. It was therefore highly likely I too would develop arthritis at some point. However, in my case, it was a viral form of the condition that set off my genetic propensity. So environment had some influence. Nonetheless, my genes are responsible for that predisposition and ultimate development of arthritis. The condition is sufficiently serious to mean I am disabled by it. I am discriminated against because of my disability. And thus I have been discriminated against due to my genes. One could use a similar train of thought to argue genetic discrimination via sexual orientation prejudice.

Accepting that 'genetic discrimination' has effectively occurred, what does the term actually mean from a legal perspective? Well, ah, this is where matters become thorny. There is no legal definition in the UK; although the USA has the 2008 Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). This latter addresses bias in the areas of health insurance and employment, but not life assurance (insurance). Over here in Blighty many disabled folk have difficulties obtaining health or travel insurance. However, it is possible to obtain, with some forensic hunting and the willingness to pay a hefty premium, or, alternatively, excluding all conditions from which one suffered heretofore. In fact, there is no legal definition in the UK. An interesting article on the UK Human Rights Blog (Should we outlaw genetic discrimination?) concludes that:

"A separate prohibition on genetic discrimination

… [their bold type and ellipsis] is probably never going to be viable. The potential for genetic discrimination is impossibly wide. It is relevant to every  commercial transaction where one party has an economic interest in the future health of the other party, such as the granting of mortgages or commercial loans. But it also extends to non-economic relationships wherever there is an interest in explaining or predicting an individual’s current or future health, such as adoption, child custody, personal injury law, or where future behaviour is important, such as in the fields of education or criminal law."

The 1997 film Gattaca (Gattaca) showcased a world where one's DNA decided one's place in society and what future, if any, one might have. Parents had embryos screened for genetic abnormalities. One's proclivities or interests were irrelevant in this world. If Beethoven, Einstein or Hawkings (all of whom had/have a disability of one kind or another) had been born into such a world, they would not have been permitted to pursue the careers they did, but condemned to a life of drudgery in dead-end jobs - and that is only if their parents were not to have had their embryos destroyed due to the potential for disability.

Embryonic screening is a whole other incipient nightmare obviously very closely interrelated to genetic discrimination. At the moment the UK's Human Fertilisation & Embryo Authority (HFEA) (HFEA) bans most screening; but gradually, its regulation of exceptions has been extending. In the future, will screening and thus embryonic destruction be permitted for: skin colour; eye-colour; gender; any potential disability; sexual orientation; criminal potential;...?

The present situation in Britain is an admixture of ad hoc rules and regulations and limited laws. As the technology develops and genetic knowledge expands, a thorough investigation and public debate of the ethical issues and legal implications needs to be undertaken.

Sooner rather than later, before the Gattacan dystopian future is upon us.