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It’s a Disgrace!

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Everyone knows gentlemen prefer blondes!

Banned Ryanair ad

The new advertisement from Ryan Air has been “banned” by the Advertising Standards Agency, but the airline is sticking two fingers in the air to the ASA! I don’t see the problem myself.

As for those people who state is sexualises young girls, have you even noticed the way young woman dress these days! All the woman’s magazines send out a much stronger message to our youth than a short advertising campaign from an airline.

The BBC reports:

“We considered that her appearance and pose, in conjunction with the heading ‘Hottest’, appeared to link teenage girls with sexually provocative behaviour and was irresponsible and likely to cause serious or widespread offence,” the watchdog said.

What? The advertisement clearly shows a woman, not a child. Thirteen people complaining means the other 50 million plus folk in the UK don’t mind! Conclusion: the widespread opinion is NO offence has been caused.

The Ryan Air spokesman must win an award for their response:

“This isn’t advertising regulation, it is simply censorship. This bunch of unelected self-appointed dimwits are clearly incapable of fairly and impartially ruling on advertising.”

Political correctness gone crazy again.

Nice to see Ryan Air is standing up to these busy bodies by refusing to withdraw the advertisement.

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Spot the Product Placement

Did anybody manage to spot the product placement?

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About Time

Great to see Sir David Potter telling it like it is about the decline of our manufacturing sector and along with it, the accompanying reduction in R&D. It has got to be about time that people stood up and told those “merchant bankers”, both in government and the City of London, that the UK’s long term prosperity cannot be guaranteed when based on a service sector economy.

Remember that no one has told China, India, Pakistan and other low cost developing countries that they can’t also be knowledge based, financial power housed economies! 

[ Source: Psion Founder: Britain Needs R&D

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Freuchie Cricket Club Now Online

The world famous Freuchie Cricket Club are now online.

The fame comes from being the only Scottish team to win the Village Cricket Competition, which was achieved at Lords in 1985.

Check out the blog called, “Round the Wicket“.

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Some Words of Wisdom

Lesson 1
A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings. The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbour. Before she says a word, Bob says, “I’ll give you £800 to drop that towel.” After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob. After a few seconds, Bob hands her £800 and leaves. The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs. When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, “Who was that?” “It was Bob the next door neighbour,” she replies. “Great!” the husband says, “did he say anything about the £800 he owes me?”

Moral of the story:
If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.

Lesson 2
A priest offered a Nun a lift. She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg. The priest nearly had an accident. After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg. The nun said, “Father, remember Psalm 129?” The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again. The nun once again said, “Father, remember Psalm 129?” The priest apologised “Sorry sister but the flesh is weak.” Arriving at the convent, the nun went on her way. On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It said, “Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory.”

Moral of the story:
If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.

Lesson 3
A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out. The Genie says, “I’ll give each of you just one wish.” Me first! Me first!” says the admin clerk. “I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.” Puff! She’s gone. Me next! Me next!” says the sales rep. “I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life.” Puff! He’s gone. “OK, you’re up,” the Genie says to the manager. The manager says, “I want those two back in the office after lunch.”

Moral of the story:
Always let your boss have the first say.

Lesson 4
An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing. A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, “Can I also sit like you and do nothing?” The
eagle answered: “Sure, why not.” So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story:
To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.

Lesson 5
A turkey was chatting with a bull. “I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree,” sighed the turkey, “but I haven’t got the energy.” “Well, why don’t you nibble on some of my droppings?” replied the bull. They’re packed with nutrients.” The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second
branch. Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree. He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of
the tree.

Moral of the story:
BullSh!t might get you to the top, but it won’t keep you there.

Lesson 6
A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field. While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird d singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.

Morals of the story:
(1) Not everyone who sh!ts on you is your enemy
(2) Not everyone who gets you out of sh!t is your friend
(3) And when you’re in deep sh!t, it’s best to keep your mouth shut!

Original source unknown.

How Many Monkeys?

Start with a large cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it.

Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with ice cold water. After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result; all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.

Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth.
Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked. When all of the original monkeys have been replaced none of them have ever been doused with cold water. Consequently, none of the monkeys know why they are beating the newcomer or why they are not permitted to climb the stairs.

Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana. Why not? Because, as far as they know that’s the way it’s always been done around here.

And that, my friends, is how a company policy begins.

Employees don’t leave companies, they leave …

Who knows the answer?

In the main, the correct answer is:

“managers”

Anyone out there left a company and it not being traceable back to a twat of a manager?

I’m now left pondering the collective term for twat managers! Any suggestions?

Addressing Employee Complaints!

The latest Despair Inc podcast is simply superb.

Check out the Addressing Employees Complaints movie.

These podcasts are getting better and better.

Best Management Videos Ever

These have to be the best management videos ever:

Despair Videos

I know a few companies who employee this style of management! They are extremely successful with this style - their workforce are completely pissed off ;-).

Book Arrives Ready for Signing

Agile Management for Software Engineering book by David J. Anderson

Was awakened this morning by the ordered copy of Agile Management for Software Engineering by David J. Anderson dropping through the letterbox. It was ordered so I’d be ready for next week’s Agile Scotland event.

Thanks go to the excellent service of Computer Manuals.

By this time next week I should have an autographed copy and have met the man himself :-).

An Alternative Take on the Sun & Microsoft Deal

This alternative take on the Sun Microsystems and Microsoft deal is very funny indeed.

Checkout the other Flash movies in the series:

Inside Jack - Solaris 10

Inside Jack - AMD

Lean Software Development Workshop

Hubert Smits of Agile Scotland has announced that Mary Poppendieck has decided to come to the UK. She’ll be visiting Edinburgh in the week of 11 October and will be providing training in Lean Software Development. The full course details are HERE.

The training will take two days, and will be provided on the 11 and 12th of October (depending on the availability of premises). Hubert will confirm the venue in the next weeks, but expects to go to one of the Universities, as they provide good facilities in a nice atmosphere.

The cost for the training will be £ 300.00, including all course materials, lunches and refreshments. Dinner and hotel are not included. Hubert expect to go out for dinner with the attendees in a local venue, details will follow once he knows how many people will attend.

If you’re interested in attending this course then reserve your seat in an email to Hubert Smits.

More information on Lean Software Development and Mary’s work can be found at http://www.poppendieck.com.

Are the Weather Forecasts Ever Right?

The weather forecast on Friday for the weekend just past made my heart race with joy. They were predicting overcast skies and rain! Excellent or so I thought. Got up yesterday morning to be greeted by YACD (yet another cracking day). The sun was splitting the sky.

Yet again the volume of people visting Kinross Sunday Market was extremely poor. More worrying is the number of traders who are no longer coming and others who are talking about giving it up. The resurfacing of the Forth Road bridge is the main excuse at the moment, although I noticed declining attendance starting well before they started the road works. The management of the market have so far been uninspiring with their strategy to improve attendance. Allegedly there is a board meeting this week to discuss the whole problem and to investigate ways to alleviate the declining public attendance.

Takings weren’t too bad considering the volume of public but it needs to get much better very, very soon.

The Con from the Scam Merchants!

Just received a “Final Demand” from Data Protection Agency Enforcement Services. They are offering to charge £135 to register my business with the Information Commissioner, a service that anyone can do for themselves at £35+VAT per annum. However, a quick check on the Information Commissioner site reveals them to be a bogus agency.

On the front of the envelope, the words “This is not a circular” were stamped in bold black writing. The text on the front page, although factually correct was alarming and the last page could be easily construed into making people think they had to act swiftly. Many businesses could well rush into signing up for this service thinking it came from an official government body.

On this occasion they have picked on the wrong company. I will be reporting them to the Information Commissioner, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and our local Trading Standards. They will be passed the envelope and all printed documentation within the “Final Demand” pack, something they may be very interested in.

A good guide on what to do if you receive similar can be found HERE.

Hope this information is useful to other individuals, companies and organisations out there.

Yet Another Nice Day for Work!

Yesterday was far too nice a day again to have to work.

Road to hell! Nice picture of surrounding areas of Kinross Another nice picture

Well this is the country road to hell, I mean work. Seems like there are loads of flights out of Scotland on a Sunday morning. There were dozens of aircraft vapour streams. On the way back I stopped and took some piccies just outside Milnathort.