1,163 karma · joined April 28, 2010
I am curious though, how do you distinguish between people "talking out loud to their phones", and people talking out loud to other people using their phones (ie making a phone call).
Long home button press.
<beep>
"Siri (or Android version, or WP12 version) , search for <whatever the thing is>"
<beep>
<Here are your search results>
You understand incorrectly. The BBC is funded by a compulsory license fee, but it's certainly not a communist era Pravda-like entity.
Each of the UK's political parties generally thinks that the BBC is biased against them. and the BBC is often regarded as being biased against the left wing and the right wing simultaneously.
All I will say is that I have several of her pencil sketches in my house, and they are poignant, provocative, angry and fragile. To me, they are art. If you don't think they are, that's fine, but try to not let your frustration at not having a reaction make you belittle those that do.
Also, anyone who walked around and saw some of Damien Hirst's work before the Sotheby's auction a few years ago might been stunned at some of what was seen. The shark in a tank was a spectacular piece but a lot of that was in how it was staged and presented.
Art is a very personal thing. There's plenty of stuff I really don't like, but if others do, that's fine.
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4115852
This is the version that patio11 is quoting.
After this, the shitstorm intensified, and the council leader appeared on Radio 4 to state that this would be reversed. Shortly after that, a version of the statement was put out that was pretty much the opposite of the original one.
The leader of the council (Roddie McCuish - an elected politician) was interviewed on national radio and stated that he had just instructed senior officials to reverse the ban.
Finally, some common sense.
"we had to act to protect staff from the distress and harm it was causing
"In particular, the photographic images uploaded appear to only represent a fraction of the choices available to pupils, so a decision has been made by the council to stop photos being taken in the school canteen."
An embarrassing own goal that could have been resolved with a simple "OK, we overreacted, Veg can carry on as before" has been turned into a quite spectacular PR catastrophe.
An Exec Director for Argyll and Bute is appearing on Radio 4 at 1pm - should be fun!
http://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/news/2012/jun/statement-school...
Argyll and Bute Council wholly refutes the unwarranted attacks on its schools catering service which culminated in national press headlines which have led catering staff to fear for their jobs. The Council has directly avoided any criticism of anyone involved in the ‘never seconds’ blog for obvious reasons despite a strongly held view that the information presented in it misrepresented the options and choices available to pupils however this escalation means we had to act to protect staff from the distress and harm it was causing. In particular, the photographic images uploaded appear to only represent a fraction of the choices available to pupils, so a decision has been made by the council to stop photos being taken in the school canteen.
There have been discussions between senior council staff and Martha’s father however, despite an acknowledgement that the media coverage has produced these unwarranted attacks, he intimated that he would continue with the blog.
The council has had no complaints for the last two years about the quality of school meals other than one from the Payne family received on 6 June and there have been no changes to the service on offer since the introduction of the blog.
Pupils have a daily choice of two meals from a menu which is designed with pupils, parents and teachers. Our summer menu is about to be launched and includes main course choices like meat or vegetarian lasagne served with carrots and garlic bread or chicken pie with puff pastry, mashed potato and mixed vegetables.
Pupils can choose from at least two meals every day. They pay £2 for two courses and this could be a starter and a main or a main and a desert. Each meal comes with milk or water. Pupils can have as much salad and bread as they want. Salad, vegetables, fruit, yoghurt and cheese options are available every day. These are standing options and are not a result of any changes in response to the blog site.
As part of the curriculum for excellence, pupils in all our schools are regularly taught about healthy eating and at lunch breaks staff encourage pupils to make good choices from what is on offer. We use a system called ‘Nutmeg’ to make sure everything is nutritionally balanced. Our staff also get nutrition awareness training so they know how to provide a good healthy meal. There is portion sized guidance which we adhere to and it is matched to the age of the child so they get the right amount of food. Second portions would mean too many calories for pupils.
In Lochgilphead Primary School we are piloting a new pre-ordering scheme which is designed to encourage class discussion around meal choices and also improves the accuracy of meal choices. The pupils use a touch screen to select their lunch option and the data is downloaded in the kitchen so they know how many portions of each meal are required. As they place their order, the pupils are given a coloured band which relates to their meal choice that day. They wear it during the morning, and at lunchtime they hand it to the catering assistant, who will give them the corresponding meal.
The council’s focus is now on supporting the school in the education of young people in Argyll and Bute
And instead of using a poor secondary source, why not link to Veg's blog post - http://neverseconds.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/goodbye.html?
An utterly bizarre and idiotic decision by Argyll and Bute council to stop her taking photos of her food and essentially stop her blogging.
It's also amusing that you denigrate Singapore for their "numerous and extremely punitive criminal laws" when the incarceration rate in Singapore is roughly a third of that in the US.
Seems to me that the Spotify API opens up all sorts of possibilities for music discovery.
Sorry if that's harsh, but what are you providing for your 6% beyond "your network"?
Or perhaps they are collecting a (lower?) percentage.
That made me laugh.
"Top executives" typically have compensation packages that, to some degree, directly tie their compensation to the overall company performance. Thus, the harder they work, the more likely it is that the company will perform to or above expectations, and thus the more likely it is that their stock or option package compensate them for the "excessive hours". These "top executives" are also incentivised, by their compensation structure, to obtain as much value as possible out of fixed-cost resources.
But, as an average employee, without generous option packages, you start to rationalise the 8th week of working 80 hours as "career development", because the alternative is to confront the fact that you are helpless and beholden and powerless to refuse to work the extra hours without risking your health insurance, or your job.
(close tab or close application for you non macheads)
Do we have different definitions of "sole" and "private" - those words feel fairly absolute to me.
Sure it may not be a massive positive and direct benefit to you, but I find it hard to understand how you think there's no possible benefit at all. Do you feel the same way about teaching people to read, write and count?
That actually made me feel sorry for you.
Are you really this much of an island, or do you just enjoy trolling? Is there no possible benefit for me that you might have learned something, or that perhaps you might now be able to tell me something I didn't know before? Is there no benefit to me that perhaps because someone in a library showed you how to apply for your housing benefit online you didn't feel the need to break into my car?
And yes, much crime like theft can be related to drugs. But a significant proportion can also be tied back to poverty.
You're like a parody of all that's bad about the libertarian ethos. Or whatever you think you are.
There are apparently 1.5 million homeless children in the US. Are they watching cable tv?
But it's ok - you can link to the correct definition of public vs private good.
I'm actually disgusted by your attitude.
Because, in this specific case, the people who most need libraries can often barely afford to pay for food and shelter.
Libraries are such an obvious public good that I will never understand why they're not treated (both in the US and in the UK, and perhaps in other countries), as a basic and absolute necessity.
[edited to add not which I left out in my rush to get my point across]