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

F1 with rockets - the sport of the future!

Now this looks really cool! As an incentive for developing rocket powered passenger flight, they want to set up a league competition of rocket powered planes that compete over aerial obstacle courses. I suppose it's a bit like that Red Bull sponsored stunt plane thing thay have now - only with rockets...and hopefully without the politics of F1 ;)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4307538.stm

Mother's care is best

Research shows that kids brought up under the care of their own mothers develop better than those in nurseries.
I'm glad that research is proving this. Maybe it'll show potential parents that having a kid because it's the done thing is not the right attitude, especially if you care more about your career.

Today in the news there was story about a 12 year old girl slahsed in face during a a lesson. Now I'm not saying that every kid who grows up without the proper maternal care is doomed to criminal behavior. However it most certainly does nothing to help us out of the degenerative spiral of every young generation somehow showing ever more horrifying behavioural problems than the last lot.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4304528.stm

Farewell Arctic Ice

The polar ice caps are shrinking. For four consecutive years the amount of sea ice in the artic has been receeding. Arctic ice is sensitive to warming because a thaw generates a feedback loop - even less ice means it's even more prone to thaw.

Does this mean the polar bear will be reduced to nothing more than a memory through a Coca Cola adverstisement?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/29/polar_ice_thaw/

US military shops for Anthrax

I love the hypocrisy of the US army. Saddam got his butt kicked for chem and bio weps, now the US army are asking companies to bid on the production of Anthrax for threat assessment purposes.

Mmm. Considering the number of terrorist cells that are apparently in operation at the moment, how easy would it be for this stuff to fall into the wrong hands. Let alone that the US might consider using it themselves. Would they viloate a biological weapons treaty by disguising it as threat assessment? Would they invade a sovereign country for oil...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/26/anthrax_shopping_spree/print.html

Coochie coochie coo!

In the latest development in improving human rights, the Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax has decided that cooing at new born babies is a breach of privacy and has been banned.

Don't kids get little enough attention and love these days with both thier parents having to work and being stuffed in a creche all day, before dumping them in school for the teachers to look after? Cooing is a natural reaction so how can it be bad for the child's development? From a hygiene perspective I can understand, but this privacy rights issue is another case of political correctness run amoc.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_yorkshire/4284522.stm

Terrorist incident at Manchester Airport

On the 23 September some guy with a briefcase got through airport security at Manchester and was seen acting suspiciously under the wing of a parked plane. After a short chase police nabbed the guy with a taser gun.

Now what is an asian guy who doesn't speak much english doing under the wing of a plane? Maybe he was trying to get a free lift or maybe he was considering something more sinister. Hat's off again to the police and security forces for nipping this one in the bud.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/4274516.stm

Happy 50th Fish Fingers!

Fish fingers are 50 years old! Launched by Clarence Birdseye in 1955, they have become a popular meal at teatime. The television adverts featuring Cap'n Birdseye have been running since 1967 and a poll said that he was the most recognised captain after Captain Cook. He's been running longer than the Milky Bar Kid and Ronald McDonald and 15 billion fingers have been sold since their launch. Shiver me timbers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4282290.stm

I hate that frog!

What kids see in that Crazy Frog I have no idea. People pay money to have the irritating sh-it on their mobiles. It's irritating the regulators too who apparently banned the television advertisments for the motorcycle riding amphibian before 9PM. The Register also reports that in Germany the little blue b'stard is under invesigation into dodgy media practices against children. Well at least these watchdogs and commisions appear to be useful for something after all ;)

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/06/crazy_euro_regs/

Amphibian decline

Apparently the sensitivity of amphibian populations to the environment makes them great barometers for measuring ecological decline. It looks like apparently one third of amphibian species are facing extinction as a result of loss of habitat, pollution, yet another demonstration of mankind's destructive powers. The BBC have an article about a scientific meeting in Washington DC to address the situation.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4244554.stm

Let's be honest. Do you really think we'll be able to make a difference?

Windows Vista - So what's new?

Just my opinion on this whole Windows Vista thing. After lookgin at their website, it looks like playing catch-up with the rest of the OS vendors.

All the interesting stuff that was supposed to be in Longhorn (database as file system, the Paladin security stuff) except for Avalon UI and Indog (.NET 2.0) has all been removed. At the same time Apple is demonstrating ease of connection to portable devices and the internet with its iPod/iTunes, something which Bill Gates only talked about parrot fashion six months after iTunes launch. The best that Vista can be is nothing more than a copycat of what is already available elsewhere. You only have to look at the web site: every item on there is already available elsewhere. Desktop search, desktop widgets, integration with portable devices, different admin and user accounts, digital media hub functions are all already available, most notable in Mac OS X. More evidence of the lack of innovation at Bill's farm.

Microsoft have another problem. They would like .NET to be a global infrastrusture they can control. Unfortunately the web itself is overtaking them, particularly with the kinds of services already provided and being expanded on by Google, which are themselves creating their own platform. This makes writing for the web and web services rather than writing for .NET more attractive.

My conclusion is that although there will be little new functionality of value. However it would seem they have insufficient resources to be able to bring out monthly security updates and develop a new OS, resulting in more frequent but smaller scale OS releases. The risk is that we end up with a release hell. You might have the scenario where a PC purchased at the beginning of a project already has version of the operating system that is no longer available by the time the project is delivered. The question is then what version of the OS have you tested your software on and will it work with the new one.

One positive thing that a colleague of mine noticed is that it looks like they've finally discovered "modular" software design…

Time to move to Linux guys ;)

Somebody screwed up?

Oh dear.
Looks like Blogger somehow knows my account but doesn't know my blog anymore.
Good job there wasn't much on it. Anyway, my first post was so important to me I'm going to include it again here:

Thursday, July 07, 2005

A day to remember

I was considering starting a blog anyway, such a shame that I have to open it on such a sad day.


So the b'stards finally attacked the London Underground. No real surprise there. An ideal target for a terrorist organisation, spreading panic on a transport network. All credit to the heroic men and women of London Underground, the emergency services and police for doing such a great job by responding so quickly and accurately.


You see, unlike the US, our green and pleasant mainland has for years been attacked with bombs by terror organisations. Not to say that we're used to it, but we have been hardened by it and keep our guard up. The various organisations responsible for the security and well-being of our proud capital have seen this one coming from miles away. Yes we will mourn the lives of the commuters and tourists who have so brutally been taken away from us. But after the dust and soot has settled we will stand up, brush it off and move on. Blair will go back to Gleneagles and the G8 summit will continue.


So what have they - I'm not going to even give them the credit of naming them - achieved? Nothing, that's what. Furthermore, they are an embarrasment to the religion that they supposedly represent. And if that's the case then what do they stand for? Nothing. So what do I have to fear? Absolutely NOTHING.

posted by The Editor at 7/07/2005 08:08:00 PM