Baa Baa

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2073043,00.html

http://www.rhymes.org.uk/baa_baa_black_sheep.htm

You have white sheep and you have black sheep. It's a natural fact.
Nothing racist. Nothing offensive. This political correctness is
becoming a disease.

Rainbows? What have they been smoking.

Business continuity after Bird Flu pandemic

We got a memo at work a couple of years ago after the SARS and bird flu scares. It´s all gone a bit quiet now but the danger is still there and with another winter season approaching I wonder how long it will be before bird flu is back in the headlines.

A tongue in cheek article about how you company should prepare for the long term effects of a bird flu pandemic. They say it´s just a matter of time before a mutated strain infects humans and spreads across the globe. But at least with this guide, your servers will still be up and running after it´s over.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/18/bird_flu_pandemic/

Fugitive rat sets distance record

The swimming ability of a rat which crossed open sea to find new territory has impressed New Zealand scientists.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4356980.stm

Backlog:Article:Blog: Hatfield rail crash

The cost of privatisation. The Hatfield rail crash resulted in the firms responsible being fined 7 million pounds, 4 deaths and 102 injured. All of this because management would rather see profits than use the money to invest in infrastructure, which is what Railtrack, the privatised service arm of British Rail) should have been doing.

I could go on about this for hours, but my basic point is that critical infrastructure needs to be reliable and available for everybody. Privatisation results in a quick cash injection for the government and a the newly born company whose first priority is not managing the thing that´s been privatised but profits. Profits means cutting back costs and services to a minimum. We see it in telecom, electricity even cleaning services which is why British hospitals are filled with MRSA. Privatising public services results in poor services in the long term to maximise shareholder profits in the short term. It doesn work. What annoys me the most is that it takes loss of life as in the case of Hatfield before something get´s done about it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4318994.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4216830.stm