For the record, here's the current state of play for digital radio in the Birmingham area. All stations broadcast 24 hours a day on 128 Kbps joint stereo unless indicated.

Multiplex 11B - NOW Wolverhampton (GWR). Apparently they can get this up in Northfield, but not down here in the dip at Longbridge. Curses.

Multiplex 11C - CE Birmingham (Capital / Emap).
BBC WM - local news and comment
BRMB - simulcast of 96.4 FM
Capital Gold - simulcast of 1152 AM
Century - simulcast of national digital satellite. No obvious link to the 106.0FM frequency to the East Midlands. Launched Nov 2003 - this space had been earmarked for EMAP's Smash Hits station, but evidently not.
Kiss - simulcast of 100.0 FM in London. Launched Jan 2002.
Magic - simulcast of 105.4 FM in London
Radio XL - simulcast of 1296 AM. Launched Nov 2001.
Sunrise - simulcast of 1458 AM in London. 64Kbps mono.
Xfm - simulcast of 104.9 FM in London

Multiplex 11D - Digital One
Classic FM (GWR) - simulcast of 100-102 FM. 160Kbps joint stereo.
Core (GWR) - as also heard on digital satellite and cable.
D1 Temp - the remnants of ITN and Bloomberg news channels. Now broadcasting birdsong at 64Kbps mono. All too often, the most interesting thing on the wireless.
Life (Capital) - also on dsat and cable.
Oneword - broadcast books and readings. 64Kbps mono.
Planet Rock (NTL) - also on dsat and cable.
Prime Time Radio (Saga) - also on dsat.
Talk Sport - Simulcast of 1053/1089 AM England. 80 Kbps mono.
Virgin Radio - Simulcast of 1215 AM. 160 Kbps joint stereo.
Digizone - Broadcast data service. Appears not to work at all.
ntl_data - Broadcast data. Appears equally broken.

Multiplex 12B - MXR West Midlands (Chrysalis / UBC). Launched September 2001.
Capital Disney - also on digisat. Renamed from CUBE in October 2002.
DNN - News and events from Chrysalis in Birmingham. 48Kbps mono, 0700-1900 only.
Galaxy - Simulcast of 102.2 FM.
Heart - Simulcast of 100.7 FM.
Jazz fm - Simulcast of 102.2 FM in London.
Saga fm - Simulcast of 105.7 FM. Launched October 2001, in parallel with FM frequency.
Smooth - sometimes simulcasts Real Radio Cardiff.
The Arrow - as on digisat. No relation to Arrow Classic Rock.
UBC Digital - broadcast data. Has been testing since February 2002.
DAB Guide - broadcast data, schedules for some stations on this multiplex.

Multiplex 12C - BBC. All simulcast on digital satellite, cable, and DTTV.
1Xtra - launched August 2002.
6Music - launched February 2002.
BBC7 - launched December 2002. Off air 0300-0700.
Radio 1 - simulcast of 97-99 FM.
Radio 2 - simulcast of 88-91 FM.
Radio 3 - simulcast of 91-93 FM. 192 Kbps discrete stereo.
Radio 4 - simulcast of 92-95 FM. Off air 0100-0530.
Radio 5 - simulcast of 693 and 909 AM. 80 Kbps mono.
Asian Network - simulcast of 828 and 1458 AM. 64 Kbps mono.
World Service - also on short wave. 64 Kbps mono.
BBC Guide - broadcast data, schedules for stations here.
BBC Vision Radio - broadcast data, news and information repackaged from Ceefax.
Radio 4 has opt out programmes between 0830 and 1000. These air at 64 Kbps mono, and the main station drops to 80 Kbps mono.
Radio 5 Live Sports Extra broadcasts on occasions at 64 Kbps mono: during its broadcasts, either Radio 4 drops to 80 Kbps mono, or Radio 3 drops to 128 Kbps joint stereo.

Available in one Trashy Tabloid tomorrow: a CD of Simon Cowell's Greatest Hits. Hit afters Hit afters Hit afters Hit from the likes of Westside! Robson and Jerome! Gagagagagagagareth! Er... that's hit!

Let's be blunt. I already have a dozen CDs that play the greatest of Cowell's hits. Then I put them into my CD burner and make them something worth listening to.

On Tuesday, the fascist interior minister David "Just Resign" Plunkett claimed the EU required identity cards. On Thursday, the Irish minister for justice, Michael McDowell, has called Just Resign's bluff.

At stake is the history of free movement between the UK and Ireland, enshrined in law since 1949. There's also the unusual status of Northern Ireland, as residents of the province are entitled to declare they are Irish citizens.

Unstated in the report is whether it is possible to treat UK residents (who, Just Resign claims, won't have to have the expensive wastes of plastic) differently from other EU nationals (who will.) At the end of the day, the EU divides the world into EU citizens and Others. Is it possible that one of Just Resign's claimed drivers will actually force him to scupper his illiberal plan?

"This was Liquid News and these were tonight's headlining stories." Well, it's been coming, I suppose. The BBC will be ending Liquid News next Easter. The show began as Zero 30 on News 24 in 1999, before transferring to BBC Choice in 2000. It was the must-see entertainment news round-up, but never recovered from losing the charismatic and ascerbic anchorman Christopher Price in April last year. Relaunched last October with Claudia Winkleman and Paddy O'Connell, it just wasn't as good.

From Metafilter: Bible Apologists 101.

What's probably the final word on Charles and Mike and George. At least for now.
CNN: "Fawcett, 40, was the "indispensable" royal aide said to have regularly squeezed the Prince of Wales's toothpaste."
ITN: "Prince Charles has been caught in a very compromising position."
het Graun: "Fawcett has been keeping his head down"
ITN: "He's really taking a pounding over this one."

Bush remains committed to transfer power to Iraqis. "They'll have a working democracibbily before we know it, one where the personitude who winnifies the electionification gets to be the presidentiary. Oh curses."

Washington challenges the UN nuclear watchdog's finding that Iran has not been trying to develop nuclear weapons. "They're developing nuclear weapons. Our highly trained soothsayers, led by Harris Pecks, have been inspecting the insides of sacrificed chickens, and they've got concrete evidence that Iran has been developing nuclear weapons, that Iraq still harbours weapons of mass destruction, and that the Oakland Raiders will win the AFC West this season."
The Oakland Raiders are 2-7, seven games behind the Kansas City Chiefs with seven to play, and will lose the tie breakers.

Britain may become more like Iceland, say scientists. They're warning about a dip in the North Atlantic Drift, a weak current of warmer water that comes up from the Caribbean and bathes the British Isles and the coast of Norway in coasts warmer than their latitude suggests. If global warming leads to a reduction in the strength of the Drift, temperatures in the UK could fall by as much as 5 degrees C, causing longer and colder winters, and cooler summers.
The corresponding current returns via Greenland and Newfoundland, and chills the eastern seaboard of Canada. If the NAD were to fail in this way, then vines could again be grown in Vinland, and icebergs would be less of a tourist attraction in St John's than the balmy August beaches. And they do a lot of balmy in St John's...

And also via Metafilter: Together Forever! Yes! It's the Rick Astley website!!

Well, this should come as no surprise to anyone, really. Tuesday Morning Quarterback resumes as an amateur publication, through the Football Outsiders website. Come for TMQ, stay for the first intelligent football discussion.

So, the fascist interior minister wants everyone to have an identity card, does he? My response is very simple. Very simple indeed. It doesn't translate too well to print, so consider yourselves lucky that I don't have a webcam.

My word is my bond. That is a very simple concept. Even a bunch of seven year olds can figure it out. If the government claims it can't trust me, then why on earth should I have any trust in that body? If the government wants to call me a liar, then I will be offended. This is a personal slur on my character, and I will not take it lying down.

But it gets worse. These cards will be mandatory for anyone wishing to use the services for which they've paid in tax: seeing an NHS doctor, claiming any sort of social security benefit, leaving or entering the country. The government's shadowy arm will creep further into the labour market, as these documents will be required of all new employees.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the whole kit and caboodle will contain biometric information, probably including fingerprints or retinas, and stored on one massive central computer. The government hasn't given a thought to the screamingly obvious risks of someone gaining unauthorised access to that database, and isn't observing the maxim that if data is in electronic form, it will leak, and it will be misused. Suppose someone steals my retina information and is able to spoof it: how will I be able to correct that? I can't change my eyeballs...

Why are the British subjects being required to pay GBP35 (Eur 52)? David Plunkett, the minister even further to the right than Norman Tebbit, claims "An ID card scheme will help tackle the crime and serious issues facing the UK, particularly illegal working, immigration abuse, ID fraud, terrorism and organised crime." Er, how, exactly? Are criminals - especially terrorists and gangsters - in the habit of leaving incriminating documents at the scene of the offence? Who is hurt by people working outside of the tax code, other than Gordon Brown? Who is hurt by the entry of decent, hardworking people who are prepared to do something to make a life of their own in the UK? Claiming that identity fraud will be reduced by introducing a new card to forge is a blatant absurdity.

Plunkett prats on: "What we know the public want, which is what we are now proposing, is a scheme that can provide them with a secure and convenient way of confirming their identity, to protect it from theft, tackle terrorism and organised crime and ensure free public services only go to those entitled to them." Again, this is bullshit of the highest order. The public does not want these identity cards. In a consultation last year, negative submissions outweighed positive ones by almost 6:1. Only by the government discarding 5000 contributions collected via a website was there any claim to parity. And if these public services really are free, then please stop collecting my taxes. Now.

A more liberal Home Office minister, Bev Hughes, claimed "Biometrics will have to be introduced in passports because they are being demanded by the EU and by the US." Again, this is bullshit of the highest order. There is no EU requirement for biometric data to be contained in passports. And the US will still accept paper passports, they simply won't be entitled to participate in the Visa Waiver Program [sic] after a date to be specified.

So, the only actual benefit is, er, easier entry to the US. That is not worth the deliberate, personal, insults hurled at 60 million respectable people by the Government. This is a resignation issue. Blunkett, you cannot read the writing on the wall, so go. Now.

The perils of not setting alarms correctly. I've got two alarms to wake me up, one that will quietly churn out Arrow Classic Rock from 0700, and a backup that will play whatever CD is in it from 0705. This morning, we had strange atmospheric conditions, and it's around dawn, and Arrow on 675 AM wasn't reaching my radio, so that was just quietly hissing. And I'd not flicked the CD to play, so that didn't wake me up either.

How would I get past this one? Rely on Birmingham council's inefficiency. We're meant to have our road swept at about 8am Sunday, when there's least traffic. However, Birmingham's inability to hold a party in a brewery means they usually miss that window, and often come round over Sunday lunchtime. Or, as today, at 7 on a Monday morning.

It all works. It wakes me up.

Elsewhere, someone said The system just lends you money to buy dreams with

And that, I suggest, is most of the problem. Lending money to buy dreams. Indeed, lending money to buy anything. People wanting things now is the scourge of modern times.

It always has to be now, doesn't it. Gone is the ethos of waiting for some time, of researching all the options, before making a significant purchase.

Why scrimp and save for months when you could leave in a car today, ask the television commercials. Perhaps it's because getting this sort of quick fix will cost you far, far more in the long run than the automobile is actually worth. Perhaps it's because saving up a deposit, or purchasing the vehicle outright, isn't going to profit them in the long run. Perhaps it's because saving doesn't encourage people to buy as much.

In a completely ideal world, we would all put as much or as little as we felt appropriate into a communal pot, and take from that pot as and when we needed to. There would be no element of legal compulsion, merely a strong moral case to improve the lot of others.

In the real world, however, helping our fellow man can be a lot more difficult. Those who have will tend to guard their position jealously; those who have not will aspire endlessly and often fruitlessly. Well-meaning attempts to help are all too often stigmatised, or ignored, or get bogged down in the inefficiency of a central bureaucracy. And the bureaucracy that gives on one hand (minimum income for pensioners, all well and good) takes away on the other (massive loans for students.)

It'll all come crashing to a halt when people start living within their means again. If that means the removal of car credit commercials and cheap home loan adverts, I'm all for it. If that promotes a less centralised, more quietly anarchist world, I'm really all for it.

The revolution will not be televised: indeed, you'll notice it by what's not televised any more.

Some newspaper news. The Express (no website) has fallen behind the Star for the first time ever. The Express, riding low on a quasi-populist agenda of thinly-disguised racism, outmoded reactionary comment, and sporting news we read elsewhere two weeks ago, now sells fewer full-price copies than its stablemate. The Star's offering - celebrity tat, pictures of surgically-enhanced bimbettes, and sports news you'll read in the Express two weeks hence - is more popular. Indeed, the Express has also fallen behind the venerable Telegraph, with conservative tat, pictures of Liz Hurley, and sports news not gossip. Next: the Express sells fewer copies than the Indescribablysmallerthisweek.

"You don’t put ‘Mariah Carey, American straight singer,’ do you?" No, we put "Mariah Cantsing, complete and utter fuckwad waste of space." It's accurate, you see.

The week in Britain in two articles. One, the trial of an alleged child murderer. And two, the skinny on Charles and Fawcett.

This encourages me for many, many reasons. Promoting the destruction of Big Government by the conscious actions of a small group is one thing, but promoting the destruction of Big Government by stealth and soberness is another entirely. Better a bad revolution, or change by increments, than no revolution at all?