interloper:weblog

Blair praises 'magnificent' Heath

Mon, 18 Jul 2005 16:12:29 GMT

"Mr Blair, who was leading House of Commons tributes to Sir Edward, said: 'He was magnificent... a prime minister our country can be proud of.'" [BBC]

I noticed the House of Commons took some time off to pass around the valedictory hot air. If a retired ex-member of staff dies in my office we just pass around a memo and have a collection for a wreath.

Get over yourselves

Sat, 16 Jul 2005 10:11:50 GMT

In the otherwise entertaining Rixstep newsletter there is a small piece on the London bombings of 7 July and the two minutes silence observed on 14 July.

Both Radsoft and Rixstep suspended web operations for these two minutes and had for this purpose - and as an explanation - specially inserted home pages. Ed.

I'm sure the world feels better for that.

Avoid London - Area Closed

Thu, 07 Jul 2005 19:37:10 GMT

Avoid London - Area Closed was the message displayed on motorway signs today as I headed south from Stoke On Trent, over 100 miles from London.

And the helpful Mr Bush tells us:

[CNN] U.S. President George W. Bush was among the somber leaders who stood behind Blair as he spoke.'We will not yield to these people, will not yield to the terrorists,' he said in a short statement after Blair departed. 'We will find them, we will bring them to justice, and at the same time we will spread an ideology of hope and compassion that will overwhelm their ideology of hate.'

Police Faked Emergency Calls To Improve Stats

Wed, 06 Jul 2005 22:04:45 GMT

"Sometimes when you rely too much on stats, it can lead to some pretty ridiculous unintended consequences, as people focus on 'fixing' the stats, rather than actually dealing with the issue. That appears to be the case with a police emergency call center in Scotland. After a 'busy night' in which the center's 'call response targets' were not met, one of the dispatchers was sent outside to dial 999 repeatedly (999 being the equivalent of 911 in the US) on his mobile phone. Those calls were, of course, answered immediately, until the center's stats were at an acceptable rate. [From Techdirt]

You Must Be Joking - Part 2

Sun, 19 Jun 2005 08:36:04 GMT

This article by Robert Fisk will cost you £1 if you read it at the Independent's site. It will cost you nothing if you read it here.

You must be joking

Sat, 18 Jun 2005 11:40:57 GMT

"It's a white Mitsubishi Canter FH truck - 1995-96 model - a tarpaulin over the back to conceal the thousand kilograms of explosives that killed the Lebanese ex-prime minister Rafik Hariri and 20 others on 14 February." [Independent]

That's all you get (37 words) unless you pay the Independent £1 (around $2). The total length of the article is 338 words. Do people pay this? Robert Fisk may be good, but he's not worth £1/338 words. Not just for a news report.

Sometimes you can find the same reports published elsewhere, after a discreet interval. I make that 380 words for £nil (around $nil).

Away in the Maganer

Fri, 17 Jun 2005 06:51:21 GMT

I bet they proof-read the site layout a dozen times before they uploaded it.