"It is a common sight to see recently knocked-out athletes gorging on Magnums and McDonald's, swilling alcohol and, of course, shagging like crazy. Sometimes all three at the same time."

Matthew Syed's column, Sex in the Olympic City is not just funny - its fascinating. Well worth a read.

I won an iPod Touch a few months ago. It is a wonderful device, and it is attached to me in some way for most of the day. I have it fill in background noise when I need to think at work. I use it as an ebook reader, and view the wide range of PDFs and documents I want to read on the train.

I track my expenses on it, listen to Podcast lectures, read the news, keep my todos, make shopping lists, play games on it when I need to unwind. I'm going to start taking it on runs - using it as a pedometer. Sometimes I even use it to listen to music - streaming from my music collection over my house network.

What the iPod does is very simple: it allows instant access.

That's why I'm completely besotted with the little Eee PC. The cheap little Linux laptops are built for the same reason - instant access to what you need.

The problem with using conventional computers is they require a "session". When I use my computer, I think about it as Something To Do - it will take time to load the system, the program, the internet page. Often its in the wrong room. Even if its a laptop, one must sit in a certain way to use a laptop - because they are usually so heavy.

Not that this is a major problem, but computing and the internet as Something To Do is how the iPod Touch/iPhone and Eee PC (and other "netbooks" or internet tablets) are a step forward. They remove the "session" thought process and allow immediate connectivity. What about mobile phones? Yes, they can also do it - but that isn't what they are for, and the frustration of interface means that the "session" mentality is still there.

The Eee PC is much different from the iPhone/iPod Touch as it allows a full internet and computing experience. With its small, light footprint, long battery life and quick boot time, it is highly portable and does not require a time commitment to use.

Its going to get better too. Open projects like Google's Android and OpenMoko will allow this new always connected internet to be disconnected from iTunes. The blurring between online and offline apps and widgets mean that the layer between the local and cloud gets more and more removed, while services fit closer around users needs and interests. I think its very exciting.

We've been hearing a lot from the Tories lately. Its been an impressive offensive, thundering the same message formula, time and time again: Labour sucks, Labour sucks, Pie in the Sky idea. For all the rhetoric, there has been little of substance. David Cameron speaks of social revolutions like that of Thatcher's economic one, George Osborne calls the Tories the Party of Fairness. What do these things even mean? Probably not much as its not about platforms, its about the narrative.

Love or hate Tony Blair, and most forget how much they hated him, he held the narrative. Thats how Britain came to be in a war that the electorate didn't want. That is how he stayed three terms, and required a party insurrection to remove him. He controlled the narrative of his government, and no matter what you thought of him - at least you felt you understood what was going on.

Gordon Brown's government is not rudderless. Just nobody knows where the rudder is, let alone where it is taking us. There is no narrative at all, and that means there is little guidance to the public of what the future of Brown's Britain looks like. The only voice on the matter are the nit-pickings of shrill public school accents that form the opposition - who are not required to qualify their statements. The Brown government is a political punch-bag.

That's not to say the Brown government hasn't made any mistakes. They have made several policy errors. However, their biggest mistake has been a strategic one. Every internal crisis has taken them to their back foot, they don't have an opportunity to explain themselves, and they never take the chance to promote themselves. The narrative is owned by the opposition - and that is why they will lose the next election.

Carsons Post was originally a wordpress.com blog focused on politics and current events. I was joined for much of it's life by my father who wrote rather prolifically. The blog ended when we both ran out of steam and each became cynical of political blog.

I've decided to start this new project for several reasons. First of all, typing out a regular blog really helped my writing skills. It didn't make me a better writer, but did make writing easier and more fluid. It reduced the time it took to present an idea in draft form.

The same could be said of ideas. Scanning the news for things to post a blog about made me deconstruct an idea and assemble a response to it. Again, not necessarily a great response, but the process became more fluid.

The third reason is to keep up my skills at the Drupal Content Management System. I've developed an understanding of how Drupal operates. I like the software and the community, and want to "keep my hand in". Drupal is wonderfully tweakable, so its nice to have a site with content to play with.

I think group blogs or blog partnerships are a good thing, the extra content drives up Google ranking, and the discussion attracts readers. So, if you are interested in participating, please contact me - preferably with some sample content.

I hope you enjoy.