Most governments have departments dedicated to statistics. Some are even called the Statistics Department (mathematicians aren't known for being creative) and like any other government department they have offices and waiting rooms.
It did cross my mind that if they were really well organised (it is statisticians we're talking about here) they'd have a much improved queuing system to other departments.
You take your number and the screen shows not only who's being served but the chances of when you'll be served. "If your number is between 119 and 126 you might be served in 30 minutes...almost definitely served within 45 minutes...and definitely in..."
Or maybe they're just as normal and energy sapping as every other department.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Chewing gum conspiracy
I don't know if it's because I live and work in a - let's admit it - posh part of the world that I haven't seen this but I think there's a conspiracy when it comes to "chewing gum droppings".
Chewing gum droppings = chewing gum on the footpath (and in innumerable other places).
Every year the local council - Kensington and Chelsea - must spend a LOT of money removing chewing gum off the footpaths/pavements in the main shopping areas. Some guy goes around with some kind of turbo-powered water blaster and takes seemingly a day to do about 10 meters of the footpath.
From the view point of our office it leaves "negative droppings" - where the bit where the chewing gum was is now wonderfully clean and the rest of the footpath isn't.
Now, the question is, has anyone actually seen anyone throwing their chewing gum on the footpaths? I'm pretty aware of the world around me and I can honestly say I've never seen anyone dumping their used chewing gum on the footpath here (there's no shortage of litter/trash cans around - and I have seen smokers dump their butts around the place). I'd like to say that maybe it's because we're classier here and don't do that sort of thing (yeah, right)....but there's a phenomenal amount of gum on the footpaths.
Where does it come from? Does someone gradually sneak it onto the footpaths in the middle of the night?
Chewing gum droppings = chewing gum on the footpath (and in innumerable other places).
Every year the local council - Kensington and Chelsea - must spend a LOT of money removing chewing gum off the footpaths/pavements in the main shopping areas. Some guy goes around with some kind of turbo-powered water blaster and takes seemingly a day to do about 10 meters of the footpath.
From the view point of our office it leaves "negative droppings" - where the bit where the chewing gum was is now wonderfully clean and the rest of the footpath isn't.
Now, the question is, has anyone actually seen anyone throwing their chewing gum on the footpaths? I'm pretty aware of the world around me and I can honestly say I've never seen anyone dumping their used chewing gum on the footpath here (there's no shortage of litter/trash cans around - and I have seen smokers dump their butts around the place). I'd like to say that maybe it's because we're classier here and don't do that sort of thing (yeah, right)....but there's a phenomenal amount of gum on the footpaths.
Where does it come from? Does someone gradually sneak it onto the footpaths in the middle of the night?
Supporting terrorism
If a terrorist uses open source software does that make every contributor to the code a supporter of terrorism - I hear Firefox is really popular these days!
...for the sceptical out there you might want to see what people ARE arrested for in the way of supporting terrorism like the guy who gave his cousin a SIM card that WASN'T used in a bombing.
Then again, to be fair, maybe if Microsoft or Apple aren't actively trying to crack down on piracy in the Middle East, maybe they're participating too if they use Windows or OS X.
Oh, the dilemmas!
...for the sceptical out there you might want to see what people ARE arrested for in the way of supporting terrorism like the guy who gave his cousin a SIM card that WASN'T used in a bombing.
Then again, to be fair, maybe if Microsoft or Apple aren't actively trying to crack down on piracy in the Middle East, maybe they're participating too if they use Windows or OS X.
Oh, the dilemmas!
Sunday, February 18, 2007
British Law
One thing I've noticed about British laws since I've lived in London (and it has to be noted that NZ law is originally based on British law) is that the British tend to legislate for specific instances rather than broader reasons.
An example for this is there are laws effecting parks...and laws effecting Royal Parks. Why do there need to be separate laws - stuffed if I know?!
This can be increasingly stupid when you start to wonder a) why the law wasn't implemented in a universal nature in the first place and b) that when it does need wider application it requires a new law (and all the legislative hassle to go along with it).
This has come to light recently in a spate of shootings in South London - we've had about 4 in the last few weeks. It has to be pointed out that British people (like NZ people) generally don't own guns and are not allowed to. This is so we don't go around shooting people all the time and generally works a treat.
Well, to address this spate of gun crime effecting mainly young men, the Prime Minister Tony Blair (and some other politicians) want to change an existing law which makes it possible to send a person to jail for 5 years if they are illegally carrying a gun. The existing law has the proviso that the law effects people over 21 (I'm guessing that that may be the case because you can't get a gun licence under 21).
Now, this law was most likely introduced to catch people who don't have a gun licence and can you imagine the law making process - "Hmmm, maybe we should let teenagers roam around with guns? That's OK isn't it?". So why with the age limit?!
Now they're talking about changing the law so the "limit" is reduced to being 17 years or older. When all the murders have effected people under 17! Are these people stupid or what?
An example for this is there are laws effecting parks...and laws effecting Royal Parks. Why do there need to be separate laws - stuffed if I know?!
This can be increasingly stupid when you start to wonder a) why the law wasn't implemented in a universal nature in the first place and b) that when it does need wider application it requires a new law (and all the legislative hassle to go along with it).
This has come to light recently in a spate of shootings in South London - we've had about 4 in the last few weeks. It has to be pointed out that British people (like NZ people) generally don't own guns and are not allowed to. This is so we don't go around shooting people all the time and generally works a treat.
Well, to address this spate of gun crime effecting mainly young men, the Prime Minister Tony Blair (and some other politicians) want to change an existing law which makes it possible to send a person to jail for 5 years if they are illegally carrying a gun. The existing law has the proviso that the law effects people over 21 (I'm guessing that that may be the case because you can't get a gun licence under 21).
Now, this law was most likely introduced to catch people who don't have a gun licence and can you imagine the law making process - "Hmmm, maybe we should let teenagers roam around with guns? That's OK isn't it?". So why with the age limit?!
Now they're talking about changing the law so the "limit" is reduced to being 17 years or older. When all the murders have effected people under 17! Are these people stupid or what?
Monday, February 12, 2007
Hindsight
Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Despite thinking that George Bush was wrong all the way from the start (not that it makes any difference - I can't vote in the US) him losing the 2000 election (well, I mean, not stealing it) could have resulted in a few notable bad things happening.
Like having a Vice President and possible 2008 president of that prime example of the Democrat party - Joe Lieberman. What do you call someone who sounds, and acts, and votes like a Republican? A Republican - perfect for a Democrat Vice President and possible President. That was a lucky escape.
And the topic that is being brought up more and more - that if Bush hadn't screwed up the Middle East (well, made it more screwed up) and made the US economy a walking disaster area, the stage wouldn't have been set for needing alternative fuels - and for making those alternative energy supplies cost effective enough (or cost effective enough that your average Joe - obviously not Joe Lieberman) to put into practice.
Aren't we all lucky.
We'd probably be more lucky if Al Gore announced for 2008 (sans Joe) - and by "we" I mean a global "we". The "told you so" part of me can appreciate Bush's screw ups coming home to roost but having a failing US doesn't benefit the world in the least.
Despite thinking that George Bush was wrong all the way from the start (not that it makes any difference - I can't vote in the US) him losing the 2000 election (well, I mean, not stealing it) could have resulted in a few notable bad things happening.
Like having a Vice President and possible 2008 president of that prime example of the Democrat party - Joe Lieberman. What do you call someone who sounds, and acts, and votes like a Republican? A Republican - perfect for a Democrat Vice President and possible President. That was a lucky escape.
And the topic that is being brought up more and more - that if Bush hadn't screwed up the Middle East (well, made it more screwed up) and made the US economy a walking disaster area, the stage wouldn't have been set for needing alternative fuels - and for making those alternative energy supplies cost effective enough (or cost effective enough that your average Joe - obviously not Joe Lieberman) to put into practice.
Aren't we all lucky.
We'd probably be more lucky if Al Gore announced for 2008 (sans Joe) - and by "we" I mean a global "we". The "told you so" part of me can appreciate Bush's screw ups coming home to roost but having a failing US doesn't benefit the world in the least.
Pre-news
One thing that really irritates me about English news (and it probably happens elsewhere too) is what I call "pre-news".
This is characterised by news articles that start like "Today, Tony Blair will announce..." but instead of just giving a rough outline, it goes into complete detail about what he will announce (not speculative but accurate). You have to wonder why they actually have a press conference - why don't they just do the press release and be done with it?
I'd guess this will eventually mutate into "Next week, David Cameron will announce..." where, if the pre-announcement goes down particularly badly, they actually won't announce the announcement and go back to the drawing board and media organisations will stop reporting on the pre-news.
I hope so.
This is characterised by news articles that start like "Today, Tony Blair will announce..." but instead of just giving a rough outline, it goes into complete detail about what he will announce (not speculative but accurate). You have to wonder why they actually have a press conference - why don't they just do the press release and be done with it?
I'd guess this will eventually mutate into "Next week, David Cameron will announce..." where, if the pre-announcement goes down particularly badly, they actually won't announce the announcement and go back to the drawing board and media organisations will stop reporting on the pre-news.
I hope so.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
da iPhone
Well, it's finally here. The iPhone from Apple. As an Apple geek and a phone geek it is technically gadget nirvana. That said, I know enough about mobile phones and their technology to be very sceptical about the iPhone - at least version one of it.
Thoughts:
It needs 3G for the rest of the world. The US's rollout of GSM 3G is at least a year behind Europe. Most high end phones come out with 3G in Europe. It has to be noted that 3G (300Kb) is UMTS or W-CDMA (not to be mistaken with normal CDMA which is the opposition to GSM). The often mentioned HSDPA (often mentioned in regard to iPhone) is a kind of upgrade to UMTS - more 3.5G (1Mb). With regard to the European markets (huge mobile phone users), a lot of the networks never bothered with EDGE as they'd spent so much buying up 3G licences. So the iPhone would be very slow here as it is now (it may have to do GPRS data - often as slow as 28Kb or, God help us, normal GSM 9Kb) - I'd expect an upgrade to 3G by the time of the European rollout though.
For places outside the US, texting is more the "killer app". This is because all networks are on GSM and they all interoperate when it comes to texting. No worrying about whether your friend is on the same network or technology - texts just work. Because of that, a lot of the people who have tried the iPhone mention the on-screen keypad has limitations because of the size of the keys and the lack of tactile response (which obviously can't be helped). Maybe they can make a landscape keyboard view for people who want to run off an email? That'd make the keys bigger.
They better have a good battery indicator - you'd hate to have your phone die on you because you've been enjoying your music or videos too much!
Do the contacts have default phone numbers (i.e. double click on the contact to dial their default number instead of having to choose every time). Nokias do and that was always the flaw when I synced my contacts over - I'd have to choose my defaults again.
According to reports - no flash or Java yet. I hope they're working on a iPhone version of Flash or many websites are going to have problems (Flickr?) and I'm not sure if JavaScript is supported, which again is heavily used in websites these days.
Nobody's really tested the actual mobile reception yet - that could be a make or break for most heavy phone users. The question of Cingular is a US specific one - GSM coverage is pretty much everywhere in the rest of the world. You expect your phone to work anywhere in Europe. The move by Apple to go GSM may be another nail in the coffin for CDMA (and EVDO) - already the few other countries in the world that use it are having second thoughts - like places in South America, Australia and NZ where other GSM networks compete. Nokia (the biggest handset manufacturer) also seems to have ceased making phones for it.
Are the other international networks going to have to engineer the "visual voicemail" function from scratch or are Cingular or Apple going to sell the work they've done to them to save time and effort? That would also reduce the rollout time.
As a person who has been severely stung (i.e. I could have paid for the iPhone with change if I hadn't got the phone bill) by data charges on 3G in the past, the data plans on this would be very important. Not only does it make using data services practical (and networks have discovered that nobody really cares about video calling so need other uses) it could make it pervasive. If they continue to have "deadly" call plans, there could be a number of very angry (and broke) subscribers after the first month rollout.
Only having a 2Mpixel camera seems a bit light - maybe this will be upgraded when (or if) they upgrade the phone to 3G (which will be able to handle the bigger file sizes better). Think photoblogging to Flickr. Maybe Yahoo (Flickr's owners) will make a custom application for the iPhone since they're currently friends with Apple?
I'd guess this will be like the original iPod (and Mac) that later versions will fix a lot of problems - more storage for video; smaller phones for people less keen on video and more keen on compactness; price; attachment viewers if they really want to take on Blackberry.
Nokia's already have a number of the facilities available to them - especially on the N95 coming out soon - just not the extreme ease of use. They already use a Safari (well, WebKit) based browser on their new phones - and apparently don't need a special version of Google Maps to see them. It does however make Motorola's and even Sony Ericsson's phone interfaces look exceedingly poor.
Overall, I'd say highly appealing - and also curious for version 2.0. Software upgrades are also an interesting matter.
Pity that MacWorld didn't actually have any Mac announcements though! :(
Thoughts:
It needs 3G for the rest of the world. The US's rollout of GSM 3G is at least a year behind Europe. Most high end phones come out with 3G in Europe. It has to be noted that 3G (300Kb) is UMTS or W-CDMA (not to be mistaken with normal CDMA which is the opposition to GSM). The often mentioned HSDPA (often mentioned in regard to iPhone) is a kind of upgrade to UMTS - more 3.5G (1Mb). With regard to the European markets (huge mobile phone users), a lot of the networks never bothered with EDGE as they'd spent so much buying up 3G licences. So the iPhone would be very slow here as it is now (it may have to do GPRS data - often as slow as 28Kb or, God help us, normal GSM 9Kb) - I'd expect an upgrade to 3G by the time of the European rollout though.
For places outside the US, texting is more the "killer app". This is because all networks are on GSM and they all interoperate when it comes to texting. No worrying about whether your friend is on the same network or technology - texts just work. Because of that, a lot of the people who have tried the iPhone mention the on-screen keypad has limitations because of the size of the keys and the lack of tactile response (which obviously can't be helped). Maybe they can make a landscape keyboard view for people who want to run off an email? That'd make the keys bigger.
They better have a good battery indicator - you'd hate to have your phone die on you because you've been enjoying your music or videos too much!
Do the contacts have default phone numbers (i.e. double click on the contact to dial their default number instead of having to choose every time). Nokias do and that was always the flaw when I synced my contacts over - I'd have to choose my defaults again.
According to reports - no flash or Java yet. I hope they're working on a iPhone version of Flash or many websites are going to have problems (Flickr?) and I'm not sure if JavaScript is supported, which again is heavily used in websites these days.
Nobody's really tested the actual mobile reception yet - that could be a make or break for most heavy phone users. The question of Cingular is a US specific one - GSM coverage is pretty much everywhere in the rest of the world. You expect your phone to work anywhere in Europe. The move by Apple to go GSM may be another nail in the coffin for CDMA (and EVDO) - already the few other countries in the world that use it are having second thoughts - like places in South America, Australia and NZ where other GSM networks compete. Nokia (the biggest handset manufacturer) also seems to have ceased making phones for it.
Are the other international networks going to have to engineer the "visual voicemail" function from scratch or are Cingular or Apple going to sell the work they've done to them to save time and effort? That would also reduce the rollout time.
As a person who has been severely stung (i.e. I could have paid for the iPhone with change if I hadn't got the phone bill) by data charges on 3G in the past, the data plans on this would be very important. Not only does it make using data services practical (and networks have discovered that nobody really cares about video calling so need other uses) it could make it pervasive. If they continue to have "deadly" call plans, there could be a number of very angry (and broke) subscribers after the first month rollout.
Only having a 2Mpixel camera seems a bit light - maybe this will be upgraded when (or if) they upgrade the phone to 3G (which will be able to handle the bigger file sizes better). Think photoblogging to Flickr. Maybe Yahoo (Flickr's owners) will make a custom application for the iPhone since they're currently friends with Apple?
I'd guess this will be like the original iPod (and Mac) that later versions will fix a lot of problems - more storage for video; smaller phones for people less keen on video and more keen on compactness; price; attachment viewers if they really want to take on Blackberry.
Nokia's already have a number of the facilities available to them - especially on the N95 coming out soon - just not the extreme ease of use. They already use a Safari (well, WebKit) based browser on their new phones - and apparently don't need a special version of Google Maps to see them. It does however make Motorola's and even Sony Ericsson's phone interfaces look exceedingly poor.
Overall, I'd say highly appealing - and also curious for version 2.0. Software upgrades are also an interesting matter.
Pity that MacWorld didn't actually have any Mac announcements though! :(
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