• Pope adviser calls UK a Third World Country, deploys racism, then says atheists are aggressive – “The Vatican said the cardinal had not intended ‘any kind of slight’, and was referring to the UK’s multicultural society.” Well that’s okay, then. (Not.)
• Why parents can’t do maths today – Article on how they teach arithmetic in British schools. I think the interesting thing is that approaches to both long division and multiplication are now more heuristics than algorithms.

• Catholics, it’s you this Pope has abused – Why even Catholics should Protest The Pope.
• There’s more to colour than meets the eye – Nice discussion of colours and what they “mean.”
• Compromising Twitter’s OAuth security system – " What it comes down to is that OAuth 1.0a is a horrible solution to a very difficult problem. It works acceptably well for server-to-server authentication, but there are far too many unresolved issues in the current specification for it to be used as-is on a widespread basis for desktop applications. It’s simply not mature enough yet." This is pretty much what I found implementing OAuth for Yahoo! in Yummy.

This weeks PhotoFriday theme is “Sky-High.” My first thought was a picture from a plane but then I thought it was likely to be a bit of a cliché. Bizarrely I didn’t see many other entrants with the same idea so I went with the above image, taken on my iPhone landing back in London.

Please also vote for my entry in last weeks challenge, “Summer Fun.” I’m entry number 279.

The phrase “Summer Fun,” which is this weeks PhotoFriday theme, conjures up images of children splashing in brightly coloured paddling pools, beach volley ball and barbecues lasting well into the late, twilight hours. Unfortunately I don’t have pictures of any of those things. So here is a picture of a summer sunset over Brighton beach. I think walking on the beach, late in the evening while it’s still light is considered fun.

Another late entry for PhotoFriday (this is becoming a theme in and of itself). This weeks image is around the theme “Bloom” which I felt pretty much had to be about flowers. These were in Bath, UK.

Please also vote for my entry in last weeks challenge, “Motionless.” I’m entry number 167.

We see symbols pretty much everywhere, both graphic symbols and metaphorical ones. Lots of other entries to this weeks PhotoFriday went for the metaphorical option — indeed my first thoughts were crosses, minarets, the pyramids, stone henge — so I decided to head in the opposite direction with this instruction painted on the pavement of the Brompton Cemetery.

Please also vote for my entry in last weeks challenge, “The Coast.” I’m entry number 223.

One common refrain after the BNP made an appearance on Question Time last year was that if only more people went out and voted then right-wing extremists would not get elected. Of course that’s not the whole story but there’s some truth in that. Since we will have a General Election this time next week this becomes a very important point.

This got me thinking about my experience with the British electoral system. As far as I can remember, I’ve voted in every election that I have been eligible except for those when I have not been at home. In fact I was in California in this last election when Griffin was elected to the European parliament.

As I write this I should have just returned from a trip to Istanbul. Unfortunately the now infamous Ash Cloud put a stop to that before it even started. I spent a Friday evening going through cancelling my flights, hotels and tour.

Dispiriting doesn’t begin to cover it.

But I wasn’t going to let something like that completely ruin my week. Limited to the UK, I decided to go to Salisbury and the near by Stone Henge, two places that I’ve not been to for a long time.

I’ve not been to Oxford for… um… since I was seventeen and applying to various universities around the UK. I remember having a fun trip last time but I have zero recollection of where we went and have no photos.

At first I thought that might happen again. Not because I’m suffering from amnesia but because when I arrived it was raining pretty heavily and, for a while, it seemed that the hotel might be a better option than trudging around in the rain.

As ever I had trouble with this weeks PhotoFriday theme, “Blurred.” I have plenty of blurry pictures but this implies something a little more deliberate. So, this image of a speeding car in Wimbledon.

Please also vote for my entry in last weeks challenge, Pleasure.” I’m entry number 212.