2004 July | Keys Corner

Lacking a sense of humour

By John, on July 29th, 2004

The British government is not amused. Linguistics student Tom Scott has set up a parody of their web site with instructions to the public on how to prepare for a terrorist attack.

Top ten brands

By John, on July 26th, 2004

Business Week has just published its assessment of the world’s most valuable 100 brands (pdf file). The top ten are: Coca-Cola Microsoft IBM GE Intel Disney McDonald’s Nokia Toyota Marlboro

Making only two non-Amercian corporations in the first ten positions and in fact, only 9 German firms in the top 100. New entries in . . . → Read More: Top ten brands

We had an invitation to visit Ingrid, an old friend of ours, who came back from a 9 year stint in London last year. She was holding a housewarming party in Korschenbroich, which is where she grew up and where her family still lives. It gave us an opportunity to try out our . . . → Read More: Weekend in NRW

UK is worth 211 Bill Gates

By John, on July 24th, 2004

It’s an interesting comparision, that the Guardian makes today:

After putting a price tag on all our buildings, equipment and other assets, the Office for National Statistics said the country was worth �5.3 trillion at the end of 2003. Or to be more precise: �5,344bn or �5,344,000m. Of course the mind boggles. For . . . → Read More: UK is worth 211 Bill Gates

A Frank Gehry website

By John, on July 21st, 2004

You may find it strange that a practice so famous for pushing CAD technology to its limits has not developed its own website – James Avery in the UK certainly did and has set up his own site paying homage to Gehry. It is not regularly updated but there are a lot of good . . . → Read More: A Frank Gehry website

Which is more deterrent?

By John, on July 16th, 2004

DRUNKEN David Walker has been jailed after downing 15 pints and accidentally blasting himself in the testicles with a sawn-off shotgun.

reports Sheffield Today. The 28 year-old has to undergo tests to determine whether he has become infertile due to the damage.

During the hearing, Judge Robert Moore said: “The gun . . . → Read More: Which is more deterrent?

Would you like some meat with your water?

By John, on July 16th, 2004

The Trading Standards Institute highlights an increasing problem in the UK (and it wouldn’t surprise me, if the practice is common in other countries too): Supermarkets are injecting raw pork with water and additives to ensure the water is retained by the meat.

Tesco, who has already been fined for the practice, but . . . → Read More: Would you like some meat with your water?

Police apprehend roaming McDonalds paper cup

By John, on July 14th, 2004

So the Germans don’t have a sense of humour? Think again – this report was filed yesterday in the news-feed of our local police force based in Bad Homburg. -Sorry, I’ve no time to translate it into English at the moment, but maybe tonight…-

Eine Objektschutzstreife bemerkte zur o.a. Zeit einen �ber die Fahrbahn laufenden �McFlury-Becher� (Papp-Eisbecher von McDonalds).
Da man sich diesen Umstand zun�chst nicht erkl�ren konnte und die Aufforderung: �Halt Polizei � stehen bleiben� schlichtweg ignoriert wurde, sollte der Becher � nat�rlich unter Ber�cksichtigung aller Grunds�tze der Eigensicherung � in kontrolliert genommen werden. Aus Gr�nden der Verh�ltnism��igkeit war jedoch auf die Androhung von Zwangsmitteln verzichtet worden.
Nachdem man den Becher dann vorsichtig hochgehoben hatte, wurde festgestellt, dass sich darin ein Igel und zwei Nacktschnecken befanden. Der Igel hatte offensichtlich bei einem Jagdausflug zwei Schnecken gesichtet, die sich in dem achtlos weggeworfenen Pappbecher aufhielten. In seinem Jagdeifer d�rfte der Igel aber wohl seinen eigenen K�rperumfang untersch�tzt haben, denn als er sich kopf�ber in den Becher st�rzte, blieb stecken und lediglich seine kurzen Beine schauten noch heraus. So lernte der Becher dann das Laufen � wie soll ein Igel auch r�ckw�rts aus einem Becher krabbeln, wenn sich dabei sofort die Stacheln hochstellen und verhaken. Die beiden Beamten befreiten den Igel aus seiner misslichen Lage und setzten ihn im �rechten� Stra�engraben wieder aus, die beiden Schnecken wurden ebenfalls aus dem Becher befreit und im �linken� Stra�engraben ausgesetzt. Anschlie�end wurde der Pappbecher ordnungsgem�� entsorgt und die Streifenbesatzung konnte mit dem Gef�hl �eine gute Tat vollbracht zu haben� die Objektschutzstreife fortsetzen.

Update: Translation follows. Continue reading Police apprehend roaming McDonalds paper cup

Myopia (short-sightedness) caused by too much reading

By John, on July 12th, 2004

The New Scientist reports, quoting a new study in Progress in Retinal and Eye Research, that myopia is often caused by too much reading and looking at computer screens. There has been quite a bit of theorising about the causes of myopia in the past, with both diet and genetic defects being seen as . . . → Read More: Myopia (short-sightedness) caused by too much reading

Holiday pictures finally posted

By John, on July 11th, 2004

Well, we have finally got round to posting some photos we took last month in Spain. You can see them here.

(As usual, clicking on the thumbnails does not work in Safari under Mac OS X and also has some problems under Microsoft Internet Explorer on Macs. The culprit is justsowindows, which is an . . . → Read More: Holiday pictures finally posted