Place of Stuff

Those of you who can see me on Facebook will be aware that I changed my status some time ago to “engaged”.  I have gone from saying “no way, not ever” to “let’s set a date”.  I am nothing, if not inconsistent.  So yeah, I’m getting married.

Because we are both practical people (and a variety of other reasons) this is going to be an extremely quick and simple wedding.  We have booked a local registrar’s office for next May, there will be space for us and 4 guests and the whole thing takes minutes apparently.  For anyone reading this and looking to get married and not wanting to go through the hassle of the full ceremony and wondering who will sit where can do what I did.

It really is very simple and pretty damn low cost.  In fact, I don’t think there is a cheaper option which still ends up with you being legally married.  Obviously, this comes with a massive caveat: make sure your intended is happy doing this.  Proudly saying you have organised a quick, simple and cheap wedding when s/he would like the full monty does not mean that you will be off to a good start….  Anyway, do this:
Continue reading ‘Married Life. Coming Soon.’ »

Another quick heads up peeps.  WordPress 2.6.2 is out and you should update ASAP - especially if you

WordPress.org

allow registrations on your blog.
Continue reading ‘WordPress 2.6.2’ »

Now that you’ve read the title, the text should be of no surprise to you.  Yesterday I gave blood again, this

National Blood Service

was my twentieth donation and it took me less than an hour.  I’m too much of a scaredy cat to donate bone marrow and I’m not nearly clever enough to be a doctor, so this is what I do to do my bit.
Continue reading ‘Give Blood Regularly’ »

Another short post!  I have begun looking for a new job.  Nothing against my current employer, I just need a change after almost 10 years.  My search is UK, US, Australia and New Zealand.

My CV is up to date and neat and tidy and my hair is combed.  Not really wanting to quit my job without a safety net really.  Now I just need someone to offer me an interview……

Anyway, wish me luck.

I have written before about the new law, Consumer Protections from Unfair Trading Regulations 2007, here. I thought it may be of interest if I explain a little about the Act and how it really affects psychics, psychic surgeons (so called), mediums and other purveyors of woo-woo. It really is a great Act and the mainstream news has picked up on it (in this country at least) and it has the purveyors very very nervous.

Firstly, let’s step back a few months. Under the previous act, the Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951, there was little recourse for anyone who felt cheated by a medium. You see, all any medium has to do is stick “for entertainment purposes only” on their flyer in small print and you have no comeback. This is because the defence simply says that “it’s all a bit of fun and not meant to be taken seriously” and you have no case in law. In fact, a supposed psychic would have to do real harm for any case to be raised against them. You would have to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you were maliciously harmed for any case to get anywhere. Fine if you’re only out of pocket a few quid, less so if it harms your mental well-being. A pretty poor state of affairs, I’m sure you’ll agree.

This new Act has far more teeth. It treats the service a medium or psychic provides as exactly that: a service. So now, being in contact with your old Aunt Aggie is treated on the same level as having your windows double-glazed. That is, you are paying someone to give you a concrete service against an agreement and if you don’t receive the service satisfactorily and don’t get a refund, you can turn to the law and say “I paid for service X and didn’t get it and the provider of the service won’t give me satisfaction when I complained“. No legalese required, it’s very very black and white. The business section of The Times Online has an article on this written by the Director of Law for the Open University, Professor Gary Slapper. So now you can see why the sellers of woo-woo are a wee bit nervous.
Continue reading ‘Who’d Claim Psychic Powers in 2008?’ »

Back in February, I discussed a book called Flat Earth News.  If you still haven’t read this book, please do so.  You will find yourself nodding your head and agreeing with so much of it; the book is all the more powerful because it is written by a journalist about journalism.  The snowball started by Nick Davies has now grown, The Churner Prize is the latest result of the book.  On the FAQ page, there is a video of an interview/discussion with Davies.

So what is The Churner Prize (apart from being a pun on “The Turner Prize”)? Well, the Why? Page has a go at answering the question.  Basically, a huge chunk of news out there isn’t news, it’s simply press releases from companies or rehashes of older stories put out simply because the story is relevant to a new program or documentary.  Sadly, few people recognise these rehashes because we are all used to the news being packaged and delivered to us and we accept that it is both news and new without question.

In Flat Earth News, Davies highlights a news story which appears in UK papers every time the World Cup is nearing.  It tells us that an average member of the public is planning to take out an insurance policy to cover the emotional trauma he will feel if England loses.  (For anyone reading along, in the hard back copy this is on page 49).  The book says:
Continue reading ‘The Churner Prize’ »