Archive for the ‘1BEM’ Category

20
May '11

Ticket Insanity

   Posted by: lyle

At the moment I’m commuting between Bury St Edmunds and Cambridge by train. It works out for the best for me – the times work out OK, I’m really catching up on reading, and it’s cheaper than driving.

Currently, a weekly ticket costs me £45 , and parking at Bury Station is £12 for the week (or £3.50 per day…), so my weekly costs are £57.

Having looked around, the next station along, Thurston, is much the same distance from home, and the parking is free. So I thought I’d have a look at the cost of the ticket.

A weekly ticket from Thurston to Cambridge is – wait for it – £77. Yes, £32 more expensive for one station more. It’s not even that much of a distance…


View Larger Map

The actual route is the dead-straight run between the two, not the highlighted route.

Even more bizarrely, a weekly ticket from Thurston to Bury is – um – £14. Still more expensive than parking at Bury station, but less than half the price of the extended weekly ticket from Thurston->Cambridge.

I’m sure there’s some logic there somewhere. But damn if I can find it.

6
Apr '11

Shock, Horror

   Posted by: lyle

At least two different media sites are today carrying the story about the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) telling clothing company Jack Wills (ever heard of them? I hadn’t) to not continue publishing their current catalogue until certain images are changed.

The story’s on the BBC here – and on the scumrag Daily Mail here.

Only one of the two stories manages to also show the image in it’s full “offensive” version.  Guess which one?

Yep, you got it – good old Daily Fail, making sure its readers know precisely what they should be offended by.

[Oh, and if you do want to know what the image is, look below the 'More' link]

Read the rest of this entry »

7
Feb '11

Yes / No

   Posted by: lyle

Via the linguistic/literacy genius known as Sevitz (or Svetzi) comes this gem

Oh. My. God.

I’ve worked with some spectacular options for Yes/No, but this one is way up there.

3
Feb '11

Raise the Double Standard

   Posted by: lyle

You’ve got to love the Daily Mail, haven’t you? Much as it’s a bigoted vicious racist hate-mongering shit-rag, it’s also the most hypocritical, two-faced piece of crap outside of politics.

And then they do double standards as portrayed here…

Two stories in the same day, both about Kelly Osborne

10
Dec '10

Which Deal ?

   Posted by: lyle

Being a tad addicted (still) to that Tropicana Orange and Lime juice at the moment, I’m aware of which supermarkets have it on special offer at the moment. It’s odd, it always seems to be on some kind of “deal”.

Anyway, at the moment

  • Supermarket One has it at 2 for £3
  • Supermarket Two has it on 3 for £5.

I found it interesting, because Supermarket Two’s offer instinctively looks like a better deal. And I don’t know why.

Logically, Supermarket One is actually the better deal. But I had to think about it to be sure.

What do you think? Which one looks the better offer?  (I know which one is the better one, obviously – I’m interested in perceptions rather than fact)

9
Dec '10

Detection, not Prevention

   Posted by: lyle

In Birmingham, the police are installing microphones/sensors to detect the sound of gunshots. It’s being marketed as a way of reducing/preventing gun crime. And I don’t quite get that.

As an overview in the BBC story says,

West Midlands Police seem sure this initiative will help cut gun crime and give officers more confidence heading into unpredictable situations.

Despite this being a pilot there is a belief that if successful this will be rolled out to other UK cities.

But it’s not going to cut gun crime.

These sensors work on the sound of a gunshot. So they’re maybe – maybe - going to detect that a gun’s been fired, and roughly where. (A 25m (80-odd feet) radius in a city is a pretty big location) But the gun’s got to be fired before it can be detected.   It has issues (obviously) detecting gunshots from inside a building, or where a silencer is used.

And the detection method? Again from the BBC story,

The £150,000 system records an audio clip and sends police a GPS location.

A police officer trained to listen to the clips then makes a judgement on what they have heard before deploying officers.

So the sound has to be detected/recorded, then sent to the control room, then listened to by a trained officer, then the police get deployed.

Not really preventative at all then, is it?

19
Nov '10

Spelling

   Posted by: lyle

How to wind up someone in the office…

On receiving the nicely printed invites to the company Christmas Dinner, ask

So, it’s a do at the company’s Christmas Diner ?

The look of horror is pure comedy.