Kian Ryan (.NET, Android, Geekery)

The Vote Now Show has been doing a sterling job of reporting on the events of the election campaigning for the past few weeks.

In return, they’ve only asked for one thing which has been denied of them – to be hated. So far, they’ve not received a single complaint. They’ve even gone so far as to shoot a clanger (artist’s rendering above) in an attempt to generate complaints.

So if you’ve been enjoying the broadcasts, please show your support for The Vote Now Show by registering a complaint with dear aunty.

For added humour, why not treat it as the traditional audience question? If you complain, leave your “complaint” in the comments section below. Mine is…

Summary of Complaint: Shooting of Clanger – Contravention of Hunting Act 2004 Full Complaint: I had tuned in to the nightly Vote Now Show expecting pleasant and perfectly middle class humour. I was disgusted to hear the live shooting of a wild clanger, which had been outlawed since the passing of the Hunting Act 2004. The vile and insensitive performers of the show should be made to issue an immediate apology – as THIS white, middle-class worker is shocked and distressed. Yours, Kian Ryan

Dear Tory and Labour politicians,

Over the past few weeks, you’ve been a little bit shocked in the rise in popularity of Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats. Clearly you feel threatened since the Torys briefed the Murdoch papers on smearing the Lib Dems (which backfired) and Labour clearly have it in their mind that a Lib Dem vote is a protest vote (I’m looking at you Mr Milliband). For a long time power has bounced between red and blue, changing sides like a game of cricket. A major influence in this has been the media who tended to pick the winner and then smear all other opponents; but its not worked this time. Often discussion has been how it is the turn of “the other side”.

A Lib Dem vote is not a protest vote, we are not voting against something – we are voting for something. A Lib Dem vote is not a wasted vote, enough people vote and constituencies change – even “safe” ones. We are not the naughty children, nor are we “anti-politics”; in fact – this campaign has been the most attentive, pro-politics we’ve seen, with leaders debates on TV and open discussion on free new media. We are the people who didn’t really have a say, since we are not in traditional occupations to influence voters. Scientists, engineers, geeks, bloggers and more, we’ve always been here and been a significant number of people, but we are no longer the group of people who just keep quiet and accept the given situation.

We want change. We want our politics to keep up with the changing pace of technology. We want our freedom of speech, we want to be who we are (goth, gay, punk – whatever), and we want our vote to matter. We think the idea of a hung parliament is possibly a good thing, since it means MPs will have to work to pass their policies, and we are intelligent enough to see the potential impact it may have (economic and otherwise). We want open debate every year, not just every five years. We are intelligent and educated – not by Eton or Westminster, but a lot of us are educated to at least the same level as you – smear and fear campaigns just irritate us. We want electoral reform so that we know every vote really does count in the most important way possible. In many ways we don’t care what colour your policies are, just that they work for us. Tom Watson, despite being Labour, became a hero to many during the recent DEB farce.

There’s a couple of weeks left to this campaign. Your traditional tactics have failed to work. What can you do to rescue yourselves in our eyes in this campaign?

1) Engage in honest debate on policies. Stop the fear mongering – its just getting ripped apart and parodied online (and the beeb are going a good job on picking it up as well). 2) Talk about your own policies. It’s almost shocking how much time is being spent talking down the policies of other parties rather than talking up the policies of your own. Tell us why we should vote for you, not why we shouldn’t vote for the other parties. 2) Talk to the people you want to represent – a good proportionate sample of them. Get out of your comfort zone and see what the entire field is like. 3) Accept this is a three way race. Stop trying to marginalise the third party – its not working. The numbers are indeed nuts. So start fighting for those voters.

That’s it! Fight an honest fight and we will respect you for it. And an MP without respect might as well have a duck-house.

Yours,

A Voter

There’s a fault with the HTC Desire in that it’s not showing copy protected paid apps in the Android Market. This is apparently due to HTC failing to the get the ROM signed by Google (or some similar such). If you’ve already got apps you’ve paid for on a previous device, then it’s a little frustrating.

I e-mailed HTC and T-Mobile asking when the situation is going to be rectified. I got the following response from HTC (none from T-Mobile).

Dear Kian, Thank you for contacting us. We are aware of this issue and will be pushing out an update to rectify this issue. Please check your phone for updates, As these will be made available via an Over The Air update once they become available. Kind Regards, HTC Europe

I think that’s a reasonable enough response. Admittedly, it’s a cock-up that shouldn’t have happened, but they’ve responded with a reasonable answer. Now can we have some accessories please?