Interesting Links for 12-5-2011

[andrewducker]

• The History of Pretty Much Everything
  (tags: science history physics)
• Train firm offers phone-based ticketing across UK
  (tags: trains uk mobile_phones)
• English and Welsh rather keener on Scottish Independence than the Scots are.
  (tags: scotland independence funny)
• Plans to reform House of Lords could include a lottery to cull peers
  (tags: politics uk democracy)
• The Final Answer For What To Do To Prevent Piracy
  (tags: games programming copyright piracy)
• 'In any other job you'd call the police...' - the abuse female comedians face
  (tags: abuse comedy women feminism)
• Angry Birds on the web. Not actually as much fun with a mouse. But still...
  (tags: games angrybirds)
• Marriage Counselling for the Lib-Dems. What they need to do next.
  (tags: libdem coalition relationships)
• Best teachers _ever_.
  (tags: teaching scotland EpicWin video)
• Princes Street closes to buses for Edinburgh tram works (July until Spring)
  (tags: trams edinburgh)
• Government reviewing TUPE, 90 day redundancy consultation and discrimination compensation
  (tags: government redundancy discrimination uk)
• Turns out Botox is good for migraines.
  (tags: migraine botox)
• 'Legal highs' outstrip attempts at regulation. Shocked! I'm shocked, I say!
  (tags: drugs law uk)
• Channel 4 to air live drug-taking
  (tags: drugs channel4 tv)
• Cambridgeshire schoolboy wears skirt in protest
  (tags: clothing gender school uk)
• The contract that the magazine "Nature" makes contributor's sign.
  (tags: law research journalism nature)
• What programmers actually do with their time (very true).
  (tags: programming business)
• Things Fat People Are Told
  (tags: politics fat bodies twitter)

Comments

[matgb]

Want to see the question on the YouGov poll--ask E&W "should Scotland be independent" and most don't care or don't think about hte consequences, so a lot will say yes meaning "if they want to be".

But if you ask "should Great Britain be dissolved" then you might get a different answer. Definitely a question set where hos you word it will give a strongly different result.

I suspect the same is true in Scotland, but to a much lesser extent as it's something people think about at election time anyway, and it's been talked about a lot. Even then "Independence" is slightly different than "stopping being British" (and I'd actually be curious about the differences there, but it'd need a pollster that isn't shit to do the research).

[bohemiancoast.livejournal.com]

I was so angry about the BBC's report on the dancing teachers that I have written to them to say "the word impromptu does not mean what you think it means, and in particular it cannot be used to mean 'a carefully rehearsed, structured performance involving hundreds of people'. Perhaps you meant 'unannounced'?"

[andrewducker]

Hah! I entirely agree.

Good

[lsanderson.livejournal.com]

Links!

Re: Good

[andrewducker]

Thank you!

[del-c.livejournal.com]

Culling them would cost money. If you issue hunting licences instead, that's a revenue stream.

[simont]

But who would you issue the licences to? You'd ideally want to find a large group of foxes big enough to ride horses. And silly red coats to fit them all.

[a-pawson.livejournal.com]

Can we not get evil scientists to genetically cross-breed foxes with elephants and then arm them with lasers?

Princes Street Trams

[anef.livejournal.com]

..and here's one we did earlier!

http://kingshedgesfocus.blogspot.com/2011/04/cambridgeshire-guided-busway-2-years.html

Re: Princes Street Trams

[andrewducker]

That sounds about right - there are _always_ unexpected things that happen, and councils seem to be incapable of writing contracts that deal with them.