Our (UK) system does not work because it is set up to please the ill-informed masses. Before I set out my case, I want to be clear about the fact that drugs do not have to be illegal to be dangerous.

In fact, I can only imagine that the single most problematic drug used for recreational purposes is alcohol. Alcohol is legal but causes social and personal problems to a degree that most of us do not want to admit to.

As an illustration to the illogical nature of our drugs classification system, I want to make a comparison between the legal drug, alcohol and two class ‘A’ illegal drugs, magic mushrooms and heroin.

Magic Mushrooms became illegal class ‘A’ drugs in the mid 2000′s. This drug grows naturally, it does not usually cause aggression and is not known to be addictive. For possessing or dealing with this natural substance you can expect a hefty fine or even a prison sentence.

Heroin is highly addictive but the crimes associated with heroin are in the obtaining and dealing of the drug rather than the effects. However, we all gladly accept that town centres across the UK on a Friday and Saturday night become an arena for binge drinking debauchery, violence and behaviour that a sober society would simply not stand for. Our police force’s resources are soaked up by this socially accepted drug use.

So where am I going with all this. What I propose is, what may seem in this unevolved society, radical but if you read with an open mind and think about it, it is a win-win idea.

Legalise ALL drugs. Whether a drug is legal or not, people are still going to get them. The ‘war on drugs’ will never end in the current climate. However, if all drugs were legalised and distributed through the GP on the NHS, you immediately achieve the following:

• Get rid of the dealers and associated crime in obtaining illegal substances
• You could tax drugs to help get rid of some of our debt
• Because the crime element is removed, the police could put their resources into other areas
• Drug use could be monitored by the GP and rehabilitation offered
• Users would be getting pure substances and not dangerous bogus ingrediants used to increase profits

Keeping something illegal keeps it ‘underground’ and harder to control. Bring it in to the light. Again, most of the crime associated with drugs is a result of the trade and obtaining and NOT the effects of the drug. Eradicate those areas, we can monitor, control, tax and rehabilitate. To me, this is perfect sense.

If any politician reads this blog and thinks, ‘we can’t legalise drugs, it will make us unpopular’ than I say this:

• Educate people about looking at the bigger picture and bringing the problem into the light
• After a while, when the benefits of such a system are apparent, people will understand the logic behind it.

The five 'main players'.

As a web designer, I have found myself having to do numerous stylesheets for the same site and, as I am in a saturated market, I have to make my prices competitive which leaves me with a rather poor hourly rate.

I have now decided to make a stand. My sites will only render on up to date browsers and they now offer a landing page link where old browser users can update to the latest versions. This is not just the best solution for me but will push users into updating to a better browsing experience.

To set the example, my own site, Phil Ruston Website Design, is now only constructed with the latest browsers considered. I am also tempted to use WordPress in future sites to avoid layout issues. I know some great sites that are designed in WordPress and are customised so well that many users would find it difficult to tell. My e-friend Nikki Pilkington has a fantastic WordPress site for her Social Media Business, NikkiPilkington.com.

I have a solution for the browser issue but I doubt that the browser companies would ever get it together to produce such a solution: one browser. The only difference between the different companies’ browsers would be the features and add-ons but the barebones of all browsers would be the same. Also, the browser should be auto updating. I would really like to know what other people think about this so please comment, even if you have a different view. I’d also like to know what other designers think about the step of not designing for backwards compatibility. If enough people did this, do you think it might force companies into making older browsers obsolete? Would there be any negative consequences of this?

I see today that the chocolate retailer Thorntons are selling their shops and Carpetright look like following the same path.

Technology = Less Jobs
Less Jobs = Less Income
Less Income = Less products bought
Less products bought = Businesses Collapse
Businesses Collapse = Less Jobs

…and so on and so forth. This is quite a simplified illustration and, although there may be other factors involved, the fundamentals are clear. As you can see, the present system cannot sustain itself, especially today.

We need fundamental global change. A change of system, a change in how we think. The us and them patriotic mentality that our Governments make us believe we should be proud of are obsolete and only serve to preserve the real us and them: Us, the striving workers and Them, the ruling dark powers and corporations who will do anything to maintain their grip on wealth and power. We are all human beings and need resources from the same place: the Earth.

A resource based economy is not perfect but it is far better and, in theory, offers abundance for everyone.
If you’re interested, visit http://www.thezeitgeistmovementuk.com/ and http://www.thevenusproject.com/

Tom Baker - The fourth Doctor

Along with Star Trek, I would watch these cult sci-fi series and marvel at the idea of being able to speak to someone through a computer screen or, as naivity was then, a ‘telly’ screen. I watched in wonder at the characters in Star Trek requesting their lunch and, low and behold, it materialised ‘out of thin air’!

As the former technology is now mainstream and the latter is becoming a possibility (3D printers), it got me thinking about the internet while I was walking my faithfull quadriped. Do children who were born in the internet age take the technology for granted? I certainly didn’t marvel at how brilliant a colour television was. I went on to wonder what their science fiction must be.

3D Printing

Phil Ruston and his quadriped

Being a website designer, I use the internet everyday but I never take for granted at how vastly wonderful it is. It has totally revolutionised our lives in numerous ways. The thought of buying an encyclopaedia today would be proposterous. So much information at the tip of our fingers. So much entertainment. Computers in general have progressed dramatically during my lifetime. I remember waiting 10 minutes to load a game from a cassette and thinking that was great. It alarms me when I see young relatives of mine on Facebook exclaiming “I’m bored today!”

You have a computer! A piece of wonderous technology that has limitless possibilities. Learn a language, learn how to sell your old toys on eBay or build a website. You have the tools, apply some imagination.

The world is a lot smaller because of the internet, metaphorically speaking. During my childhood, other countries and cultures were worlds apart. Now, I converse with people from many countries on a daily basis and distance is no longer an issue. This is a good thing because I think it has made people realise that, fundamentally, we are all the same with the same needs, aspirations and, for the most part, goodwill.

So, parents, please don’t scorn your children for wanting to stay in instead of playing out in the fresh air, as did many parents during my childhood. A balance is needed and, remember, the world is as much inside as it is outside…….in many ways.

I still watch Doctor Who.

However, Comic Sans, to be fair to this ill-fated font, could be perfect if your site is for a Comic Book collector. I also have used it for price tags where it suited the task in hand perfectly.

As a novice with type, I tend to fall into the trap of ‘playing safe’ by using ‘safe’ fonts that are tried and tested: Arial, Verdana, Century Gothic etc..
This is not ideal but when you are on a budget and you have limited experience with fonts, it is acceptable.

The truth is, I never know how a font will look until I actually see it in context. This can be very time consuming but, if you find a font that works perfectly, it is extremely rewarding.

When using text in Photoshop, I have often found that the drop-down list of fonts is quite unhelpful in that the example text is very small. Thanks to those clever people at Lynda.com, there is a way of increasing the size of the text in the drop-down list. I had been working on Photoshop for years until I learned about this so my apologies to people who already know it.

PREFERENCES - TYPE - FONT PREVIEW SIZE

Open up PREFERENCES in Photoshop and select the TYPE tab. Ensure the FONT PREVIEW SIZE check box is ticked and change the selection to EXTRA LARGE. Now go back to your main Photoshop screen, click on the text tool and open the drop-down font list. YAY!

What are the most common mistakes businesses make with their social media strategies?

Coogan decided to take the character further with ‘I’m Alan Partridge’, two series chronicling Alan’s desperate attempts to get back on the T.V. ladder while doing the early morning radio slot on Radio Norwich.

After an 8 year absence, Steve Coogan has decided to resurrect the character for a season of online mini-episodes presented by Fosters Funny. The format is from the view of webcams in the studio where Alan and ‘Sidekick Simon’ present ‘Mid Morning Matters’ on North Norfolk Digital.

As I write, I have just watched the third installment so future readers must bare this in mind when reading.

Although these shows are still quite funny, I can’t help feeling that we are treading over old ground. The problem is that the formula has not changed enough. We are seeing Alan in the radio studio, as we did at times on ‘I’m Alan Partridge’. So this set me thinking ‘how do you keep a comedy fresh using the same character?’

The obvious way to find out would be to look at a comedy that had successfully achieved that. Although, ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ is the longest running sitcom on the BBC it started life, at best, as ‘smile’ humour and, through the years, plummeted to the level of ‘lung cancer’ on the humour scale. Not the example I was looking for.

Only Fools and Horses! Ideal example. A long running comedy featuring two main characters, Del and Rodney Trotter. So why did this series not become stagnant? It occurred to me that it was the ‘situation’ in ‘sitcom’ that was the key. Give or take initial character developments in the first series, Del and Rodney were the same throughout the lifespan of the show. However, John Sullivan managed to put the characters in such a wide variety of scenarios from hand gliding to chandelier polishing to smuggling diamonds.

For me, Coogan’s mistake is that he has failed to give Alan Partridge a new environment. We know how he behaves at the radio station. We are used to his horrendous presenting skills and inability to work with his guests.

When all said and done, the new online episodes are still funny but, struggle to find new ground. I don’t think Steve Coogan can squeeze much more out of the Alan tube unless he creates new and varied situations for the character. Here’s hoping. I’d hate to see the great Alan Partridge become unfunny and stale.

My highlight: Episode 2 – Sidekick Simon’s jingle. It’s priceless.

I have to disagree. When CDs came out in the UK in the mid 1980′s, I couldn’t believe my ears. ‘A Hard Day’s Night’, the only Beatles album my Dad didn’t have, was our first CD. As the first track ended, I remember marvelling at it fading to nothing. No clicks, no hiss. Zero. Then the following track started, pure music with no interference.

As we became more accustomed to CDs, a difference in audio quality became apparent between new releases that were digitally mastered and the re-releases that were taken from the original analogue tapes. This was before most back catalogue titles went through digital remastering. They were still better than vinyl, in my opinion.

Q. Why then, do I love vinyl after all that I’ve said?
A. The whole package.

I remember going into town on a Saturday (no school) and buying a vinyl ‘LP’. I would spend the whole of the bus journey home reading the sleeve, the inner sleeve and even the center lable on the actual disc. I would hold it with care and respect and with total appreciation of how delicate and precious an item it was. You really felt like you had got something with your money. Something tangible. The artwork was part and parcel of the whole experience. It was magical.

This was lost with CDs. Tiny booklets that failed to express the enormity of the product. Now, with the rise of downloadable music, we don’t even see the product.

So, what should I compromise, sound quality or the ‘vinyl experience’. The answer has been sent like a gift from the gods. Many manufacturers now offer a free high quality download with any vinyl album that you purchase. The only drawback is that there are only certain mainstream and re-release titles available on vinyl. I am happy to pay a little more than I would for an album download if I can have the tangible album as well. I’m sure there is a market here that the record companies seem reluctant to push. I hope this changes and we see a real vinyl revival. Young people are missing something very special.

When you nip down to the butchers (apologies to vegetarian readers for this example), you know what they offer. The butcher will gladly provide you with the cut of meat you choose, bag it up and take your payment. However, how would he or she respond if you said, “can you call up to my house and cook the meat’?

The first and foremost difficulty of being a website designer arises from most clients not understanding what a web designer does, and, more importantly, what they don’t do.

Business owners who are less savvy with computers and the internet often expect you to design a site, upload it to the internet and see their name appear at number one on Google when you type in the keyword ‘painter’. They also often think that because their website is live, the whole of the internet using world will want to visit their site.

When you have to explain that the site needs to be actively promoted by means of social media, you are left feeling as if they are wondering what they are paying you for.

Another misconception is that designers are also programmers and can make anything happen. Functionality can be an extra cost if you have to employ a third party developer and this also seems weak when you are trying to sell your trade. It is fair to say that you would expect a designer to have html and CSS ‘programming’ skills but not all will have the additional skills of Java, PHP or C programming.

The upshot of all this is that you have to be extremely specific about stating exactly what service you provide. However, it still seems like a losing battle when you are up against clients who, from the outset, believe that all should be included.

Designing a site is the easy bit. Making sure it is compatible with all the major browsers is a nightmare. Admittedly, this situation is getting better but at a very slow pace. A client will only see the finished product on their own browsers and will not know of the sweat and tears you have gone through to provide compatibility.

Finally, trying to ‘diplomatically’ convince a client that their design idea is awful is a technique more skilled than the actual designing!

So you may think we have a cool job, can work from home and earn loads of money. It’s not all glitter, I am home alone and I’m still paying my mortgage. I wanted my own business so I didn’t have to take orders from someone who had no concept of the workload, expected miracles and payed peanuts. The irony.

According to one of the afore-mentioned films, in the 24th century, there is no money. People strive (work) for the good of the planet and to better themselves.

This may seem like science fiction. The fact is that our technological advances far outdate our monetary system. How many times do you hear people say, “the rich get richer, and the poor stay poor”? Although to a certain degree, this statement has more validity on one side of the fence, it holds true. Not only do the rich protect their wealth, the powerful protect their power. Both have devised strategies leaving them ‘untouchable’.

We are sold poor products so that we need to renew, keeping the wheels of industry turning. What a bizarre state of affairs! We see adverts of the little African girl who has to walk ten miles every day to get clean water and the images tug on our heartstrings leaving the less wealthy to throw money at a problem that was originally created by money. Billions of dollars are poured into war to secure oil. How can we assume ownership of something that comes from the earth? If there were no financial gain, no power, we could put all this energy and all our human efforts into medicine, preservation of our planet, an abundance for everyone through the fruits of technology and further our understanding of our planet and our universe.

The ability to do this is here, now. The will isn’t. Especially from the privileged and powerful.

The financial system cannot succeed. It will collapse, taking many casualties and even the privileged will topple.

So where do we start as an alternative? If you wish to know about a new approach as to how we could evolve, please visit The Zeitgeist Movement. To read in depth about a system that could replace the stagnant status quo, download The Zeitgeist Movement Activist Orientation Guide.