Search Terms

Posted: Tue 19 November, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: 1BEM, Advertising, Cynicism, Media, People, Thoughts | Leave a comment »

Yesterday it was announced that Google and Microsoft (by which they mean Bing) were editing/updating 100,000 search terms linked to images of child abuse. That’s all well and good, except that

  1. I’m sure there’s a lot more than 100,000 terms that could be used/created/combined in order to find those results
  2. I’m also pretty damn certain that the main perpetrators, creators and viewers of such images don’t hunt for them using run-of-the-mill search engines like Google and Bing.
    1. And yes, OK, probably there are people stupid enough to search using mainstream search, but those are the ones that are easy (well, easier) to track down and locate anyway.

So really (as far as I can see) this is more of a sop to the media and government than it is likely to be of any real use or relevance.

Lethal Injection

Posted: Sun 17 November, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Creativity, Cynicism, Legal, News, Politics, Thoughts, Weirdness | 2 Comments »

Apparently, a lot of American states are having serious problems with their methods when it comes to the death penalty. Lethal Injection in particular (used by the majority of the states that have a sentence of death) is facing problems, because the manufacturers of the drugs that are used are trying to block their use.

As a result, several of those states are using what are known as “compounding pharmacies” – effectively, places that can make small quantities of required drugs on-demand, a sort of grey-market DIY area instead of buying the necessary drugs/items from the manufacturers. This process is being done in secret, so no-one really knows what’s being used.

It amused me (I’m in that kind of mood) to see this quote though :

“There is no way to verify that what comes from a compounding pharmacy is what it purports to be, and that it is safe and effective.”

Sorry, but these drugs are being used to kill people. While I get that ‘effective’ is important, I’m less certain that ‘safe’ should be a concern.

Mind you, what I don’t understand is why they don’t just use significant quantities of seized illegal drugs. After all, a massive overdose of heroin (for example) or crystal meth is going to be just as effective when it comes to killing people…

Following the Crowd – Again

Posted: Sat 16 November, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: 1BEM, Charity, Charm School, Cynicism, Domestic, Introspective, People, Thoughts | 2 Comments »

Following on from yesterday’s post about charity, Children in Need, and doing what everyone else does, another current grouse is around Movember. It’s a great cause – raising awareness of male cancers, and raising funds for fighting them – but it’s another group thing.

In my office, every other male member of staff is doing it. And when you ask their motivations? Yep, it’s either “Well, everyone else is doing it, so I thought I would”, or “it’s for charity”. Yet when I asked them what charity it was for, at least half had no bloody clue, and aren’t even doing it to raise money.

Movember started off as a fun idea – but this year it’s got huge sponsors (including Gilette – which is kind of obvious, in fairness – and Three) but I just kind of get twitchy when it comes to charitable stuff with large corporate sponsors.

So yeah, if you’re going to do something that’s based around charity – at least support that charity, or know what the frick you’re talking about, rather than just following the damn crowd.

Following the Crowd

Posted: Fri 15 November, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: 1BEM, Charity, Charm School, Cynicism, Introspective, People, Sociable, Thoughts | Leave a comment »

For many, many reasons – none of which I can really be chuffed with going into right now – I’ve grown up to be horrifically independent, both in action, life, and thought. One facet of that is that I’m sensationally bad at group activities, at doing what ‘most people’ do.

Today’s a case in point. I know I’ve waffed on about it before, but it’s Children in Need day, which is one of my particular bugbears.

“But it’s for charity, isn’t it?” is the calling-card of the day, assuming that if you’re not taking part and dressing up (or whatever) then you’re A Bad Person, and Uncharitable to boot. “Why not dress up, everyone else is doing it”.

And that’s part of my problem with the entire thing – it’s that ‘everyone else’ is doing it. Like Groucho Marx said, I’m not interested in being part of any club that’ll have me as a member. In the same way, if everyone else is doing something, you can be pretty damn sure that I won’t be.

The other side, when it comes to these days of charity and fundraising, is that I don’t like being conspicuous about which charities I support – and I like even less being forced (or attempts to force) to support charities because of how their perceived. I don’t publicise what I do, or who with, or why – because it’s no-one’s fucking business but my own. Being pushed to take part in something popular, into some fund-raising activity or other because everyone else is doing it, that can fuck right off.

So today, I’ll be in my corner, “Bah Humbug” hat and all. If you don’t like it, sod off. Go on, everyone else is doing it.

Business Banking

Posted: Fri 8 November, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: 2013/14, Business, Customer Services, Cynicism, Five Year Plan (now Ten), Own Business, Project 42, Work-related | Leave a comment »

As part of Project 42, I’m looking at getting back to having a limited company, and as a result of that I’m doing some research (again) on company formation agents, business banking, accountants, other management services etc., and generally getting myself a bit swamped. And as always, it’s all a bit of a minefield, a crap-shoot of hoping to find a company that’s merely slightly less grim than the others.

Business banking is a major culprit on this one – all the business banking people seem to be just as shit as each other. There really are no redeeming factors – and indeed, there’s even less on offer for new accounts than there was a few years back when I did this last.

I’m still somewhat gunshy about using an account to keep track of the business again – after my last one went bankrupt just before time to do the Tax Return, having taken all the fees etc. in advance, and leaving me properly In The Shit.

There seem to be more companies doing on-line management services for limiteds now, although they’re certainly not cheap. (And in a couple of cases don’t appear to want any new business, as they haven’t bothered answering even basic questions)

There’s no real hurry for these decisions to be made, thankfully. It’s all just research, figuring out the best deals etc. before I take the leap.

In the meantime – if anyone has any recommendations on business banking accounts, I’ll be interested to know it.

Changing Qualifications

Posted: Fri 1 November, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: 1BEM, Change, Cynicism, Education, News, Thoughts | 3 Comments »

It’s been announced today that OfQual has announced the finalised changes to GCSEs from 2015, with first exams in 2017. The changes will initially be for English language, English literature, and Maths – others will be announced later.

The key changes are :

  • Grading by numbers 9-1 rather than by the current letters A*-G
  • No more modular courses, instead full exams taken at the end of two years
  • Controlled assessments (coursework done under exam conditions) will be scrapped for most subjects

I think most of these are good, but the one that makes my brain bleed is about the changes to grading. I don’t care about it being numbers or letters, but why change the order of them? Until now, for decades, A has been the highest mark. Why would it now change to 9? That’s just counter-intuitive. When you think of ‘the best’, it’s usually “Number One” to be the best, not “Number Nine”.

Employers are used to that grading system, with A being the best. Changing that round is – I suspect – likely to cause more confusion than any other part of this revamped assessment.

Widow

Posted: Thu 24 October, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: 1BEM, Cynicism, Daily Mail, Health, Media, News, People, Stupidity, Weirdness | Leave a comment »

This year’s symptom of the media Silly Season appears to be the “False Widow” spider, which is the UK’s most venomous spider, but is also nowhere near as poisonous/bad/evil as it’s been portrayed, along with the resultant hysteria.

For whatever reason though, it’s been all over the news, with hysterical coverage about people who’ve been bitten “and nearly died“. Of course, it’s hard to gauge how near-to-death anyone was when they actually survived – I could say I “nearly died” anytime I cough, sneeze, or have a particularly strenuous dump.

The latest ridiculously hysterical reaction was the closure of a school in the Forest of Dean because of ‘an infestation’ of false widows (for fuck’s sake)

Now yes, I’m quite sure the bite hurts – and that there are a tiny minority of people who react badly to said bites, in the same way that there’s a small selection of people who react badly to wasp stings, peanuts etc. But it’s a tiny minority who get bitten at all (most just introduce spider to literature anyway) and an even tinier minority therein who react in such a way. But if you read the media, they’re everywhere, and everyone’s being bitten.

I know, I know, it’s always been thus with the media – compare any hysterical theme story with people you actually know, and you’ll find that most of them are stories that only happen to a tiny minority. Supposedly it’s that fact that makes the stories “news”, but that hype then blows it all out of proportion/sanity, leaving idiots people with the impression it’s happening everywhere.

Sometimes I wish the media would just shut the fuck up about stupid hype-ridden hyperbolic stories, and (in an ideal world) allow people to get on with their lives without this hysterical bullshit constantly going on.

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