About
My name is Jonathan Rothwell. I’m a student living on the cruddy end of Surrey, and studying in the slightly-less cruddy part of Surrey that’s clustered around Woking railway station.
I’ve written my blog, Crashed Pips, since 2007, and also write the odd bit of code (badly).
I like minimalism, statistics and public transport (unless it’s a bus outside London). Usually, I welcome change with open arms. I enjoy science-fiction (reading and writing – badly), but not fantasy. I have the bad habit of leaving my computer on all the time, and losing my iPod spontaneously.
Where I Stand Politically
Politically, I’m something of an independent. I sit somewhere on the left of the centre of the left of the left of the right of the left of the left of the centre of the left. The political compass puts me in the Libertarian Left quadrant (-6.12 economically, -6.05 socially), which is also occupied by the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela.
It’s worth noting that practically every political compass test on the Internet is biased in some form: this one appears to be left-biased, as conversations with people who identify as conservatives will testify that they find themselves lumped into the top corner of the lib-left quadrant.
My beliefs include:
- The separation of church and state
- The freedom and rights of the individual
- The concept of capitalism, with regulation—both communism and laissez-faire capitalism have been disasters
- The availability of healthcare and education on the state
- The abolition of tuition fees: i.e. that people should get in to college/university depending on how intelligent they are, not how rich their parents are or how much debt they are willing to get in to
- Equal rights for all, regardless of age, gender, race, religious belief (or non-belief), sexual orientation, etc.
- Freedom of speech without censorship – even if that means cretins like Nick Griffin get invited on Question Time
In short, you could probably describe me as a paradoxical socialist libertarian. If I were to vote in a general election tomorrow, it would probably be for the Liberal Democrats, as the Greens are perhaps too euro-sceptic (in my opinion, we should have joined the Euro years ago, along with France, Germany et al) and Labour are becoming far too authoritarian.
I agree with the views of various human rights organisations, such as Amnesty International and Liberty, but that’s not to say I don’t find Shami Chakrabarti annoying.
Getting in touch with me
You can e-mail me at jonathan@notspotroswell.com, providing you’ve removed the name of Data the android’s cat first to prove you’re human and not a spam harvester. If you do intend on sending me spam, or hate mail, note this:
- I don’t need drugs to increase the size of certain body parts.
- Barack Obama is not a gay Muslim terrorist who will murder all the Christians and turn America into a secular state (which it already is–or is meant to be.)
- If I did want additional traffic to my website, I most certainly wouldn’t want it from you.
I do read my e-mails, and I try to reply to them. Bear in mind, though, that I am not a computer repair man, doctor or lawyer. I don’t offer technical support over e-mail.
Other methods
Alternatively, you can leave a (relevant) comment on my blog, or contact me with one of these instant messaging protocols (I’m not online often, though, so… use e-mail, unless you absolutely must hear my voice or speak to me in real time.)
| Protocol | Name/address |
| XMPP/Jabber (Google Talk) | jrothwell97@googlemail.com |
| Skype | jrothwell97 |
| SIP (Egika Softphone) (very unreliable) | sip:04474642@ekiga.net |
I can also be found on Facebook, although I will only add you as a friend if I actually “know” you, as in, I have had significantly more contact with you than once sitting in the same maths class as you nine years ago or once popping into the same shop as you.
