Collision regulations – a thrilling guide from #BadSkipper

Exams in a few weeks and luckily collision regulations are something that I can actually sit down and write some sense into. Unlike plotting, vectors, and distance over time, rules I can get my head around and memorise. Well, apart from the lights which are still driving me nuts and make me question why the hell I'm doing this. Remind me, why?!

Some skippers talk of having a ‘right of way’ in a potential collision situation. However the rules do not use this wording but in most cases one craft is the give way craft and the other should stand on. All skippers are required to avoid collisions and cannot claim they had right of way.

The River Effra’s Vanishing Act

 

"Yes," said Mr. Fawnhope. "There will be verdure, and that, I think, is what my soul craves. I, with my fair Cecilia, to Merton now will go, Where softly flows the Wandle, and daffodils that blow--What an ugly word is Wandlel How displeasing to the ear!"

Whenever anyone mentions vanished London rivers to me, I can't help thinking of Georgette Heyer's 'Grand Sophie' where I first read about the Wandle. So when there was an opportunity to find out about another of South London's rivers, I decided to make like Mr Fawnhope and jump unbidden into a carriage, in search of verdure, watery pleasure and poetry. Even the musical name 'Effra' conjures images of bucolic enjoyment, and according to Mr Ackroyd, 'is named from the celtic word yfrid, or torrent'.

Should the law be used to stop 'Uberification'?

This is the fourth and final debate in this Thomson Reuters series. Having attended two of the others, they have offered an entertaining yet expert view into wide ranging topics such as Right to Be Forgotten, Corporate Crime, and Human Rights. All of these debates can be seen on YouTube and this one will no doubt go up soon. Whether the law should be used to stop 'uberification' was the final motion to be debated and promised to be controversial from the outset.

'Law Librarians! I want to make your role more interesting’ - #MmIT2015 Conference

Me looking professional

This is the full text of the talk I gave at the MmIT 2015 Conference 'With Power Comes Great Responsibility - How librarians can Harness the Power of Social Media for the Benefit of their Users'. This is a subject very close to my professional heart and I hope you will forgive me the length of this post.

Introduction

‘I want to make your role more interesting’ was one of the more unusual things that a lawyer has said to me in my twenty year career as a law librarian.

It was September 2013 and inspired by a talk given by commentator Helen Lewis, I had just written an article about internet trolls for my own wide ranging blog. I mentioned this in passing to the lawyer heading up a newly formed Collyer Bristow team – the official sounding ‘Cyber Investigations Unit’. This concentrates on assisting victims of cyber stalking, online harassment and abuse. After a read of my article,  he decided to make ‘trolling’ the topic of the next firm’s Cyber Matters newsletter.