Archive for April, 2009
April 30th, 2009 | 
Author: With the massive success of the iPhone app store, app development is on the upswing. I’m seeing report after report about people who’ve never written a line of code in their lives, suddenly trying to learn how to create apps for the iPhone.
Its sensible, as the relative ease with which you can sell your app combined with the potential profits make this a very appealing proposition to many.
Personally, I haven’t written any software in nearly 30 years, when I used to have a very rudimentary understanding of BASIC. Here’s a sample of what I mean:
10 Print “Fuck You”
20 Goto 10
Yes, that’s about how sophisticated I got. And wow, did that little programme make people laugh. Things have changed a lot since then.
The problem with developing apps for the iPhone is the amount you need to learn to do it. It’s the steep learning curve that is probably putting some people off trying.
What if you didn’t have to learn anything?
What if you could piece an app together the same way you’d design a website or automator action?
Enter iApp, the latest software to join the other programs in iLife.
Well, technically it hasn’t yet, but I am taking a wild guess that it will in the future.
iPhone apps are just chunks of code and APIs strung together, so why can’t Apple build an iLife style application that would allow dummies like me to design applications for the iPhone with a simple, clean and easy to use interface.
Just imagine assembling a list of simple instructions, the same way you would put together an automator script, which are then compiled and transferred to your iPhone via iTunes.
Apple have already done this for music, video, DVD authoring, ring-tone creating and website design, so why can’t they do it for iPhone applications?
The short answer is that they can and if I was to venture a guess, they are probably working on just such a product right now.
Think about it: they could completely democratise programming apps for the iPhone, allowing anyone with a good idea and some free time the chance to design their very own application with a very gentle learning curve. And if you think your app is good enough and would be of interest to others, you can register to sell it on iTunes and watch the dosh roll in.
Do I think this is coming soon? Who knows?
I do think some form of simple iPhone app creation will come. And its going to be a major game-changer when it does.
If you’re not familiar with 420 (four-twenty), click the above link. Its practically a national holiday in America and if we’re lucky, it could very well catch on here in the UK.
America is usually several steps ahead of the UK and the US’s attitude to cannabis is a great example of this fact. Its where the pointless “war on drugs” began and it just might be where it ends too.
Since Obama got hit with a “legalise cannabis question” from an overwhelming number of people online, all of America is rolling with frenzied momentum towards legalising this hippy’s favourite plant.
The O-man shouldn’t have been so dismissive of such a serious and relevant question, but he’s a popular politician so he can’t be seen to be soft on drugs.
That hasn’t prevented Senator Ron Paul, who is also a popular politician, from calling for an end to the war on drugs, but he is a hero and libertarian and not afraid to express an opinion.
American Conservative magazine can see the pace of change regarding cannabis laws in America. And the conservative right seem down with it too.
Even the mainstream press is getting in on the act, with Time Magazine asking and answering, “Why Legalising Marijuana Makes Sense”.
Not only that, Time Magazine also asks and answers, “Is Pot Good For You?” Of course it is!
Why the sudden shift in America?
Two things right now are forcing people to rethink their stance on cannabis in the states, one of which already applies here in the UK.
Its the economy, stupid.
With this whole recession/depression nonsense, can anyone disregard the effect a legalised cannabis market would have on a nation’s GDP?
Legalising weed, in an instant, would create legitimate jobs that would be taxed, not to mention a tax on the actual product itself. It would raise a lot of money and fast.
Wait, let me revise that. It would bring an already established and thriving black market economy into the mainstream. Ka-ching!
Its been said that if weed were legal and 420 were a proper holiday, it would have the same sort of effect on the economy as xmas. Ka-double-ching.
Weed smokers would willingly be taxed in return for not being criminalised, so says Salon Magazine. I sure as hell would be ready to pay tax on my dope, if I didn’t have to worry about being arrested for toking!
The other problem in America is one that hasn’t reached Europe yet, but it could in the future and that is gang related violence.
The southern border of America is where the real drug war is taking place, but not between law enforcement and criminals, but between rival drug gangs. Police on both sides of the border have been ineffectual and possibly corrupt, when they’re not getting caught in the crossfire. The death toll is sadly, quite high and its bad for business on both sides of the border.
The trouble on America’s border is forcing people to realise that the drug market should be under some sort of government control and regulation, for without that, it leaves criminal gangs running the show.
Just as the prohibition of alcohol in the states in the early part of the last century created gangsters like Al Capone, the prohibition of drugs created Pablo Escobar and those like him who control the industry today.
America’s finally grasping that legalising cannabis would solve more problems than it could ever create. By legitimising an existing industry, America will reap the rewards financially and it would help create a new stability along the Rio Grande.
Check out this report from the very respected Cato Institute, which looks at the positive effects of the decriminalisation of all drugs in Portugal. Its very enlightening and worth a quick read.
You’ll notice in all of debate and discussion in America, there hasn’t been any talk of cannabis-induced psychosis or schizophrenia, nor the demonisation of the stronger strains of cannabis known as “skunk”. That’s because its all spin and bullshit created here in the UK to allow our politicians to use weed as a political football that scores easy own-goals with the ill-informed electorate.
In the states, stronger weed is prized and celebrated for being particularly “medicinal” and is seen to be more beneficial, not less. There are no “cannabis hysteria mums” and no mention of unproven links to mental illness. Remember, a former Surgeon General in America (C. Everett Coop if memory serves), called marijuana “the most therapeutically beneficial substance known to man”.
Confusion continues to reign where cannabis policy is concerned here in the UK, with random, pointless changes in classification and penalties every couple of years whether we need them or not.
Even the government’s own drug counselling service, Ask Frank, is telling younger callers that “cannabis is safer than alcohol.” Its completely true and in line with what the experts say, but its inconsistent with the government’s own stated policy, which of course, ignores the advice of the aforementioned experts they employ.
There are already whispers in Whitehall, many politicians here can see the scrawl on the wall, but are wondering how to right all of the wrongs of the last few years. The government has used the media to paint a totally false picture of the dangers of cannabis, so how do they turn it back around?
Simple, just let the lies quietly fade away and replace them with the promise of cold hard cash.
Is it going to take open gang warfare on the streets of Britain for our leaders to deal with cannabis responsibly? I hope to god it doesn’t come to that, but I don’t see any other way for them wake up and start dealing with reality.
The Guardian published a great report last week, which states that ending the prohibition on drugs would save the UK around £14 billion pounds. That’s an amount that can’t be ignored, especially in these difficult economic times. Law enforcement, the penal system could all be overhauled and the resources could be redirected to actual crimes with victims and everything…!
They’re searching for the green shoots of recovery, perhaps cannabis is literally the cash crop greenery we’ve all been seeking.
And maybe one day, we’ll all be able to openly commemorate 420 in the manner appropriate to the event. And that’s exactly what this hippy is going to do right now, as I spark up a juicy, skunky spliff.
Were you looking for the northlondonhippy?
You’re in the right place.
Dig it, we’ve had a little redesign around here.
Welcome to my brand new site!
I’m still the same ol’ hippy you’ve learned love and maybe lust after just a little bit, only now I’ve got a brand new wrapper.
Its still the same hip, amusing and thought provoking (or mind-numbing) content, only in new and improved packaging.
Tell me you don’t love it…
What’s not to love?
Look to your right, there’s my latest tweets from Twitter. At a glance you’ll know where I am, what I’m up to and what I had for lunch.
Look just below there, underneath the Twitter action and you’ll see what I’ve been listening to recently via Last FM. Don’t you wish I was your personal DJ?
And underneath Last FM, you’ve got a list of recent posts, my RSS feed, my posts by category and my newly restored archives. Check out some vintage hippy!
I think my crack team of web designers really outdid themselves this time and as a reward, they will get an extra 15 minutes of exercise in the garden, before I lock them back in my cellar, where they survive on rats they catch and water from a leaky pipe.
You’ve got to treat your employees like you treat your slaves, at least that’s what all my bosses taught me.
Everything’s just so shiny and clean. I’m afraid to touch anything for fear of fucking it up.
I hope everyone out there in internetland digs it as much as I do. We’ve still got a few minor tweaks, but for the most part, this is it.
Enjoy!
The members of the northlondonhippy collective have decided to finally disclose the truth about this website and the internet character we’ve created, called “the northlondonhippy”.
About 5 and a half years ago, a group of writers and artists decided to band together to create a fictitious blogger that would be both convincing yet weird.
Our experiment in online fakery has been very successful as no one ever doubted “the northlondonhippy” wasn’t real. We think its down to the mix of humour, drama and pathos that we’ve used to construct “the northlondonhippy”, but we’re not really sure.
Who belongs to the northlondonhippy collective?
We are group of 30-something media types who thought it would be amusing to create a fictional online loser and make-believe hippy, mainly to for our own entertainment.
We never expected to keep it up for so many years, though if you look at the frequency of posts to this site, we haven’t really worked very hard.
We all share responsibilities for working on the website, as well as “the northlondonhippy’s” other online activities, such as “his” Twitter presence and “his” videos for YouTube. We all take turns answering “his” fan emails too.
One of us runs the actual website side of things, the rest of our group write the content that keep the narrative of “the northlondonhippy” alive.
While “the northlondonhippy” is a creation, there are aspects of him that we’ve borrowed from our own personalities. For example, I’m sure it won’t surprise anyone to find out that we’re all prolific cannabis smokers.
A few of us are journalists, a few work in tv production, several work for internet-based media firms, one is independently wealthy and yet another is currently between jobs. And one of us is a minor celebrity and yes, you would probably recognise his name. We are an eclectic collection of smug, clever and educated men (and one woman) who have built up a rather loyal following online as “the northlondonhippy”.
When we came up with the idea of a northlondonhippy branded RooR bong, we never thought anyone would be that interested, but it turns out it has sold outrageously well. So well that we’ve had to set up a limited company (the northlondonhippy collective ltd) to deal with the profits from the licensing and sales, plus VAT and now corporate tax.
Now that you are thinking about it, you’re starting to remember all the tiny little clues you’ve missed that were unintentionally left in the hippy’s writing.
If you go back and re-read a bit, you’ll soon spot that the entries were written by more than one person. Once you know the truth, its blatantly obvious that this has all been an elaborate hoax. No one could really be as cantankerous, sad and twisted as “the northlondonhippy”, yet still manage function in normal society.
The way the character is drawn, we thought it would be obvious to any semi-intelligent reader that “the northlondonhippy” is a completely fictional construct; an imaginary being.
I guess ultimately the joke is on us because we’ve had to do this for so long, but now it has grown laborious and tiresome. We hoped someone would discover and reveal the truth, but that hasn’t happened, so we decided to do the “big reveal” ourselves.
We’re still working on what to do next with “the northlondonhippy” brand. Now that we’ve built and established it, it would be a shame to just let it go.
We’re thinking either northlondonhippy tee-shirts or a northlondonhippy theme park for hedonistic adults in the Netherlands. Its still too early to say.
Thank you everyone for your support and we hope you’re not too mad at us now that we’ve finally let you in on our little joke.
With thanks for 5 fun years,
- the northlondonhippy collective (ltd)
