Oh, to be a scientist in a German university.
“Penguins have extraordinary pooing powers, according to a team of scientists from a German university.” (BBC)
Or even one in Leicester.

You know how it’s really annoying when you’re trying to use a built-in function and it’s not working and you try all kinds of crazy syntax and variable declarations and things before you realise that you hadn’t read the function definition properly, so of course it’s not doing what you expected it to?
Nah, I don’t know either.

“Qantas passengers have been ordered not to queue outside toilets while making the 14-hour flight to and from the United States.” (Age)

“The patenting of software is a complete mess and discourages innovation”
…
“Even one of Amazon’s founding programmers, Paul Barton-Davis, said that “Amazon.com’s early development relied on the use of tools that could not have been developed if other companies and individuals had taken the same approach to technological innovation that the company is now following.”” (Independent)

Pictures from a trip. Excellent captions.

Old news, but done well. “Even in 2004, a foreign disaster is unlikely to endure on the front page unless an inventive news editor can place a plucky Briton at the centre of it. And if there’s a cuddly pet involved, all the better” (Independent)

Bush in 30 Seconds was a competition to find the best ad about Bush’s policies. You can still vote for the 15 finalists. It’s also worth visiting for the information about Bush and about political ads.

Speaking of cross-stitch…

I should stop making up reality tv shows, it’s too hard to compete with the real ones. Shattered puts people who’ve been awake for ten days in a house, performing tasks to stay in the show.
It can’t be long before they make ‘Comedown House’, locking strangers in a house after a very long weekend of excessive drug-taking. They are eliminated as they crack, talk to themselves, burst into tears or try and sneak a cheeky line or j.

I’m having a sick day/mental health day off work, so of course there’s an item on the news about the cost of sick days to businesses. I’d feel guilty but since I wouldn’t have been able to sit in the sun at work I can’t care that much.
From one of those long email lists of ‘new’ words: ‘(dining) al desko’ – lunching at your desk.