Thursday, 19 January 2012

Moral capitalism: If you want to know the time: Big video game controller: Balls on a train: DIY beer pump: and Squirrel-tree-tree-squirrel?


Gale has returned to the Castle this morn and is howling at All And Sundry, Dawn’s crack is obscured by vast cloudy things, his Maj has decided that a warm, dry radiator is the better part of valour and the study is void of computing vehicles for the last time. 

Just returned from the stale bread, gruel and pussy food run at Tesco, strangely all went well, they had everything I wanted on the shelves, the one open checkout was clear and I managed to park close to the entrance. 

Just waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

The interweb thingy is popping in and out with more frequency than Big Bleedin Brother appears on the box. 

And:


Today is my first day of “retirement”, I have managed to acquire enough loot to see me through to “proper giving up of work” and even keep the butler on.

Which means sadly, that I may well be blogging more and even visiting my fave blogs with the chance of leaving comments.

That’ll teach you.




According to the Prime Monster a new “popular capitalism” is needed to improve the bonus culture of banking.
Dave will set out his vision in a speech that is due to call for reforms to make capitalism more responsible.
He will argue that the Conservative agenda is well-placed to usher in a new era of moral capitalism.
And will say that the Tories are naturally opposed to monopolies and favour transparency in business as the best way to root out unacceptable practices.
Though he will promise to act to ensure excessive pay is tackled, he will insist on the benefits of free markets.
His address in London will come after Goldman Sachs disclosed that its staff pay and bonuses for 2011 totalled almost £8 billion.


How stupid does he think we are? Old scraggy Thatcher came up with the same thing back in the eighties, and look how well that went....




The Metropolitan Police spent more than £35,000 on 115,000 calls to the speaking clock in the past two years.
Staff also spent more than £200,000 calling directory inquiries, figures released under the Freedom of Information Act showed.
A spokesman said “evidential and operational reasons” meant that officers and staff, many of whom had no internet access, required the exact time and contact details.
Staff spent a total of £16,879 calling the speaking clock in 2010-11, down from £18,402 the previous year. At 31p per call, that amounts to almost 55,000 calls to find out the time last year, down from almost 60,000 in 2009-10.
Despite a Scotland Yard spokesman saying that the force was “committed to reducing such costs wherever possible”, staff also spent £95,313 on directory inquiries in 2010-11, although that was down from £121,501 the previous year.
“A huge number of our officers and staff will not have direct access to the internet as they are not office-based,” said the spokesman. “There are evidential and operational reasons for them requiring the exact time and contact details.


Bollocks-so none of them have watches or smart phones then?



The World's largest video-game controller has been unveiled -- gamers jump on buttons.
The record-breaking device -- revealed at London’s Liverpool St station to launch the Guinness World Records 2012 Gamers’ Edition -- measures 30 times the size of a standard NES controller.

It was created by British Engineering student Ben Allen (23), who studies at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and took five months to make at an estimated cost of £4,000

Commuters even got to have a go on the 366 cm x 159 cm x 51 cm joypad which weighs 18 stone, but it took more than their thumbs… it requires at least two gamers to press the buttons by jumping on them.


At least it will give the couch potatoes a bit of exercise.....



The Indonesian state railway company is taking drastic action to stop passengers trying to catch a free ride -- by installing hanging concrete balls along domestic tracks that will knock off anyone sitting on train roofs.
PT Kereta Api Indonesia official Akhmad Suyadi said the preventative devices, known as Goal Bola-bola (Goal Balls), consist of heavy concrete spheres suspended from a frame like a soccer goal, the Jakarta Post reported.
Akhmad said the balls would initially be set up at random intervals on the railway between Bekasi and Tambun on West Java, adding that they would be installed by Wednesday morning.
Despite the obvious potential for injuries, Akhmad said the devices were being used to improve safety and passenger comfort -- not to harm people.


Jakarta think they are Numptys?




A pub landlord in Barnsley has come up with a novel solution to help customers avoid big queues at the bar.
Dave Barron has installed a customer operated beer dispenser.
A swipe-card machine that can be used to dispense beer during busy periods has been installed at a South Yorkshire pub.
The machine enables customers to pre-pay for four pints at a time in the Queen's Head pub, Hoyland.
Landlord Dave Barron said customers must go to the bar to buy the pre-paid card so staff can control its use.


Sort of defeats the object.....


And finally:
 


Two Austin women were taken to Mayo Clinic Health System in Austin early Saturday morning after their car crashed into a tree.
The driver told police she was travelling west on Sixth Avenue near the intersection of Seventh Street Northwest when she swerved to miss a squirrel. She lost control of the 1998 Chevy Blazer, and it hit a tree in someone's yard, according to Police Chief Brian Krueger.
The driver, 35, complained of stomach and abdominal pain after the crash. She was cited for violating an instruction permit before being taken to the hospital, Krueger said. The passenger, 31, was also taken to the medical centre because her mouth was bleeding.
The women's names were not released.

The squirrel was charged with jayhopping.




And today’s thought:




Angus  

1 comment:

Stretch marks treatment said...

Mark Cameron is due to describe his thoughts about "moral capitalism" in a language on the economic climate. The pm is predicted to need increased visibility.