I read a prediction somewhere that cheating in public exams would increase with the introduction of mobile services that would allow people to text questions and receive answers. Well, that’s not quite true. I didn’t read the prediction. I wrote it.

Being a relatively cruel person, I do love stories like this that take Firefox users off their ‘it’s SO much more secure’ pedestal.

Multiple vulnerabilities that could allow an attacker to install malicious code or steal personal data have been discovered in the Mozilla Suite and the Firefox open source browser.

Yes, the Mozilla browsers are inherently more secure than IE, but they also have their own flaws (both within and outside of security issues), and there is a degree of security through obscurity which will become a useless defence as the browser becomes more popular.

Mozilla is undoubtedly more secure. But it’s not necessarily ‘better’.

The President has kindly recorded a tour of the Oval Office for the White House website. I don’t think it was intentional, but it had me in stitches inside thirty seconds: “The windows… er… ah… are magnificent… er… er… they… ah… erm… let in the sunlight”.

Priceless.

In order to at least make a passing attempt at fairness, I’ve been and deliberately signed up for the Lib Dem and Conservative email lists, so that I can deconstruct their emails as I have done in the past with Labour’s spam messages. Of course, they don’t really deserve it since their emails weren’t unsolicited, but I’m a little concerned that my election posts are turning into Labour-bashing central. So through this, I’m hopefully saving some for the other parties too.

The only problem now is if I actually agree with what the parties have to say. But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Piers Morgan may have been sacked for printing some dodgy photographs in The Mirror, but it would seem that the problem hasn’t been solved just yet:

A Sunday Mirror article claimed to show Hoare “on the loose” on a UK seafront, but used pictures of the wrong man.

That’s a bit of an oopsie. I just wish the wrong guy had been someone like Tony Blair. Then this funny but distressing and distubing story would just become hilarious.

Today’s swing figure:

» 2.87% swing to the Conservatives «

Somewhat ironically, after all of their campaigning, the Torygraph have done the biggest damage to the Conservatives’ projected swing today. The Sunday Times/YouGov poll has the parties virtually tied at 36/35, whereas the Telegraph/ICM has Labour with a commanding lead, at 40/30. The Sindie/Communicate poll (the formula has now been adjusted to take account of Communicate polls) has them on 40/34. Of course last time YouGov were most accurate, and it is unusual for these polls to be so different, especially when all three have been published on the same day.

The magic swing formula, as it should really become known, has them on 38/33 at the moment, which is somewhere in between all three (you know, just in case you’re no good at mental arithmetic), so it’s pretty difficult to call where the ball lies today. Obviously, I’m duty-bound to believe my formula above all else. But you can make up your own mind.

A couple of weeks ago, I provided you with a reason for Americans to feel smug. By which I meant citizens of the USA, not everyone from the North and South American continents, but I’m not going to stop using that shorthand, so please don’t complain.

Now, however, I’ve found definitive proof that being an American isn’t so good, simply because you have to put up with sickening patriotism. There are so many things ideologically wrong with that video that I don’t even want to start down that path. But what amused me was the statement on the website:

America We Stand As One and Dennis Madalone did not authorize or assist in the production, creation, or concept behind alternative “spoof” videos of America We Stand As One.

The whole thing looks like one big spoof. It’s embarrassing to watch. And, more than that, it’s just bad. It almost makes me feel sorry for them. Almost.

Not content with lying and being corrected, John Reid has now been caught by FactCheck telling lies that’s he’s already been told are lies:

Mr Reid devoted a sizeable part of Labour’s morning press conference on Saturday to explain how he thinks the Tories’ scheme of paying money towards private operations works and in the process repeated two claims already rejected by FactCheck.

And yet he has the audacity to attack the Conservatives over a single set of adverts placed in local papers which they have now admitted were misleading, apologised for, and promised not to publish again. And, actually, I didn’t find the Conservative ad so misleading, since it said quite clearly at the bottom of the page the hospital trusts which were included in the figures, but that’s another argument altogether.

The story here is that Mr Reid has told some lies repeatedly, then been corrected, and now has gone ahead and told them all over again, learning nothing from the fact that he’s lied in the first place. Or perhaps he was too lazy to bother coming up with any new lies, and so just recycled the same old untruths. Who could possibly want him to head up the health service?

Jon Ronson has a fascinating article in today’s Guardian about the time he’s spent behind the scenes with Richard and Judy, seeing how they ‘really are’, behind the on-screen fluffiness. Only, as it turns out, they pretty much are exactly as they are on TV. I guess I’ve kind of spoiled the ending for you there, but it’s still worth a read.

Today’s swing figure:

» 2.76% swing to the Conservatives «

A tiny change today which is well within the margin of error… so there’s nothing in particular to read in to it!