Nuclear Dumpsite UK
It makes yer proud to be British. Here we are, a small island with not alot of space for the breeding 60 million and our government saddles us with this.

"The Lib Dems attack 'irresponsible' plans to allow foreign nuclear waste to be permanently stored in the UK." [BBC]

  3:08:53 PM    

When Newsgroups Attack
There has recently been an interesting and amusing discussion on the uk.media.tv.misc newsgroup. I couldn't resist taking the best parts of it and publishing them here. The discussion is called "Words the media uses that no-one else does" and is a refreshing romp through the sort of language you only see in tabloid newspapers and on TV news. So, with due deference to those I've quoted, let's take it in the order the messages were posted.

Shaun wrote:

I've noticed a number of words that crop up in the media esp newspapers that no-one else actually uses. For example, 'crimper', 'pooch' and 'moggy'. The other day The Daily Star reported that 1 in 4 under 16's 'romp'. A female singer is called a 'songtress' etc.

John Dean wrote:

People don't criticise things, they slam them. There is no travel disruption, only travel chaos.

Mick wrote:

People don't ask, they demand.

Nick Cooper wrote:

No, unions "demand," employers "request."

osc wrote:

Devastat(ed)(ing)(ion) | Destruction | Calamitous | Outpouring | Grieving

Thanatos wrote:

People on TV always seem to be described as "entertainers". Ironically, of lot of the people they're talking about aren't in the least bit entertaining, IMO.

Shaun wrote:

Whole roads can be "Sealed Off" by a bit of tape across them.

Richard Brooks wrote:

Critically acclaimed. Must-see.

Gateway wrote:

'Star' used to describe anyone remotely involved in football, acting, music. However good or bad they are.

cheddox-ie wrote:

People never win prizes, they "scoop" them.

JamesUK wrote:

Towns and cities are always 'rocked' by explosions.

Badabing wrote:

People don't criticise, they 'slam', apparently.

Ben wrote:

I learned civil service speak, including the three most important phrases; in due course, at the appropriate juncture, in the fullness of time.

Nick Cooper wrote:

The most overused sub-set of words in the English language. People are no longer "disappointed," "upset" or "unhappy" at the slightest inconvenience to their lives, they are "devastated."

Marcus Holden wrote:

Roads get millions invested in them. Other forms of transport are propped up with subsidies.

Gordon Davie wrote:

People involved in accidents are "fighting for their lives". If they don't survive, their family will be "comforted by relatives".

And one of my own: people who die of cancer have always lost their fight against it.

  5:31:52 AM    

Sloppy Software
Having commented about the frightening reliance on Windows by the UK armed forces we now low learn that the Benefits system has gone tits up because of a Windows 'upgrade'.

Pension and benefit payments face disruption after what is being described as the biggest computer crash in government history left as many as 80,000 civil servants staring at blank screens and reverting to writing out giro cheques by hand in the latest blow to a hi-tech Whitehall revolution. [The Guardian]

Lurking in the background is EDS, an American IT company well-known for several unfortunate mishaps in the UK. There is some talk that they might be let loose on the forthcoming ID card, or Entitlement Card, as I believe we'll have to call it. In fact, if you do a Google search for 'EDS cockups', you can get quite an insight into the fastidiousness of this company when it comes to IT.

A COMPUTER PROGRAM that was intended to speed up royalty payments to over 300,000 American Indians lost details of the payment but the US Interior Department hid facts from a judge presiding over an inquiry, it has emerged. And instead of producing accurate figures from the buggy system, the Interior Department used an alternative set of figures cooked up by giant computer firm EDS. [The Enquirer]

And also keeping their heads down are the good people of Microsoft

Some 80,000 computers at the Department for Work and Pensions went down during 'a routine software upgrade' of its Microsoft machines this week. Staff at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) were unable to use their PCs this week after a routine software upgrade knocked out 80 percent of the PC in the sprawling department, which numbers some 100,000 employees...Microsoft said that the issue has now been fully resolved, but was unable to provide any information on what caused the crash. [ZDnet UK]

If you use Windows and are getting fed up with all of this try an alternative approach to computing.

  12:26:44 AM