The holy texts
When you see the Pope (or any world leader) speaking, at least you know the words are coming out of his own mouth, even if he may not have written it all himself.
I do wonder though how much of a role the Pope had in sending the papal SMSs last week.
- Tue 15 July — Young friend, God & his people expect much from u, because u have within u the Father’s supreme gift: the Spirit of Jesus – BXVI
- Wed 16 July –The Holy Spirit gave the Apostles & gives u the power boldly 2 proclaim that Christ is risen! – BXVI
- Thu 17 July — The Holy Spirit is the principal agent of salvation history: let him write your life-history 2! – BXVI
- Fri 18 July — The Spirit impels us 4ward 2wards others; the fire of his love makes us missionaries of God’s charity. C u tomorrow nite – BXVI
- Sat 19 July — Dear friend, u must be holy & u must be missionary: never separate holiness from mission – BXVI
- Sun 20 July — Young friend, the Spirit is calling u 2 be a bearer of the good news of Jesus 2 your generation – BXVI
Obviously they’re aimed at the young pilgrims who were here for World Youth Dayweek. And fair enough that any organisation wanting to reach its audience should use the latest technology.
But I have some trouble imagining his holiness whipping out the mobile from under his robes, thumbs ablur, furiously texting “C u tomorrow nite”, before comparing ring-tones with his bishops.
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Missing the mark
There are times when your comments go through the sausage factory that is the modern media machine, and come out elegantly encapsulating the issue, raising legitimate concerns, and capturing public opinion.
And then there are times like these:
But Public Transport Users Association president Daniel Bowen said most peak hour commuters wouldn’t see the new [seat] covers, “because other people will be sitting on them”. — Herald Sun 23/7/2008
Blargh. In the context it came out, it’s something of a meaningless, pointless comment — the overall tone of the conversation was that the new seat covers and other changes are relatively minor, but worthwhile.
Oh well, that’s the way it goes.
PS. Seems some nameless faceless subeditor somewhere made a boo boo. Not to worry… at least it’s got a few laughs around the place.
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The machines will win II
(Part I)
28/5/2011: Pictures tweaked.
Copy and paste
Spot the difference…
| From the $5 million Eddington report (full version) page 84, section: “What other cities are doing” | From urbanrail.net, a rail enthusiast web site run by Robert Schwandl |
| Shanghai (China) — The Shanghai metro is one of the youngest in the world and among the most rapidly expanding. The first line opened in 1995 as a northsouth axis from the Central Station to the southern suburbs; by the end of 2007, the network had reached a total length of 227 km, with 161 stations and 8 lines. | www.urbanrail.net/as/shan/shanghai.htm
The Shanghai metro is one of the youngest in the world and among the most rapidly expanding. After the first line opened only in 1995 as a north-south axis from the Central Station to the southern suburbs, by the end of 2007 the network had reached a total length of 227 km, with 161 stations and 8 lines! |
| Madrid (Spain) — In 2007, the Madrid Metro became the second largest metro network in Europe after London (415 km). In 2006, the total length was 227 km with 236 stations (counted separately for each line), but with the completion of a major four-year expansion programme in spring of 2007 and another short extension, the total length of the network is now 284 km. | www.urbanrail.net/eu/mad/madrid.htm
In 2007, the Madrid Metro has become the second largest metro network in Europe after London (415km). In 2006, the total length was 227 km with 236 stations (counted separately for each line), but with the completion of the 2003-2007 expansion programme in spring of 2007 and another short extension, the total length of the network is 284 km with 283 stations (07/2008). |
| Buenos Aires (Argentina) — is one of South America’s biggest cities with 3 million inhabitants (and 12 million in the larger metropolitan area). For a city of this size, the metro rail network is small, although it is by far the oldest subway in South America. After losing many passengers during the 1980s, the Subte was privatised and is now operated by Metrovias, which immediately started refurbishing stations and buying new rolling stock to replace older trains, some of which have been running since the Subte opened. The total network is now around 46.8 km in length and totally underground. | www.urbanrail.net/am/buen/buenos-aires.htm
Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, is one of South America’s biggest cities with 3 million inhabitants (Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires) and 12 million in the larger metropolitan area (Gran Buenos Aires). For a city of this size the metro network is still very small although it’s by far the oldest subway in South America. After losing many passengers during the 1980′s, the Subte was privatised and is now operated by Metrovias which immediately started refurbishing stations and buying new rolling stock to replace older The total network is approx. 46.8 km (2007) and totally underground. |
The problem here is all this text is replicated in the Eddington report without attribution or credit.
I reckon if a journo or a student tried that on, they’d rightfully get rapped over the knuckles.
(Apparently originally noted in Crikey yesterday; brought to my attention this morning.)
PS. Channel 10 graphics from tonight’s 5pm news:
PPS. Wednesday’s Age.
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Spam spam spam spam wonderful spam
Judging from the bounces I’m getting from spammers appropriating my email address to use as a Sender, something which is alas unstoppable, the latest trend is to put an unbelievably tabloid subject line on the messages in the hope that people will open them. Or perhaps it’s to try and get through spam defences that pick up common spammy words?
Most of them seem to involve bad news or scandal of one kind or another, often involving celebrities. Most of them are spelt correctly, but there are exceptions.
Paris Hilton stabbed by stalker
Pit bull attack leaves boy in coma
Savage dog attack leaves students in critical condition
Fed chief resigns over US economy
Apple unveils Macbook Air upgrade
Hunderds feared dead in ferry crash
Scarlett Johansson caught in sex-tape scandal
Tom Cruise falls from horse, breaks back
Norton Firm admits to releasing viruses
Nereida gets red card from Cristiano Ronaldo
Wedding Biels for Just & Jess
Girl attacked by pirahnas in Georgia
Oprah Winfrey announces marriage
Police investigation fingers De Niro in mafia funding scandal
Bill Gates and family held and robbed in family home
Hundreds of US soldiers desert Iraq
Berbatov sold for 30 million pounds
A-rod reveals third party to marriage split
Drug-related shooting leaves 2 NFL stars fighting for their lives
Scarlett Johansson ex-lover sells sex tapes to press
Bill Gates purchases $68m luxury home – exclusive pictures
Jack Nicholson dies from cancer
PS3 free giveaways here
Bill Gates announces plans to buy up to 1/3 of villas in Lake Como
One year of oil promotion for car buyers
Too much salt linked to breast cancer
Tony Blair assassinated
Afghan bombing kills President Bush
Michael J Fox found dead in apartment
I wonder if anybody more gullible than me believes any of these headlines, or at least opens the messages?
(Holy moley, my Gmail spam folder has 12,826 messages in it. That covers one month. 427 per day.)
PS. Another couple of good ones:
Blair: Im Not Gay, Thats Just My Accent
Paris Hilton Infested With Cockroaches
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Cap and trade
Here’s how I’d work carbon trading if I were appointed Grand Emperor of the World, based on my ten minute assessment of the situation.
I’d set an emissions cap on the world, starting in say 2010, based on the total emissions output of the world as of 2009. Each country gets a share of this, not based on their current emissions, but based on how many people they have.
The countries can trade. So the rich and polluting but under-populated countries (like Australia, 9th per capita) would have to pay to buy the right to pollute up to the levels they’re actually doing. The poor countries with a lower per-capita output would get an income stream, and can continue to industrialise if they want, up to their cap, but they’d have to stop things like deforestation (which is what’s pushing PNG and Zambia and other poor countries into the big league at the moment). Countries like China are painted as the bad boys, but per capita they’re currently well below the average. India is way below.
Polluting industries would be forced to adapt or die. For a little while they could buy their right to pollute…
Measurable, confirmed offsets could be used, but they won’t help for long, because most of them aren’t very scalable, and…
Every year, the cap would reduce by 2 4%. So get a move on reducing your emissions. The faster you do it, the more you can trade to someone else for moula.
So by 2060 2035 the world would be carbon neutral.
That’s my plan. Go ahead, poke holes in it. I don’t care — I’ll never actually be Grand Emperor of the World.
Tags: emissions, GHG
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Retail win
Dropped through Myer last Sunday (last day of their stocktake sale) to see if they had any nice work shirts or ties on special. I hate clothes shopping, but discounts numb the pain.
Saw a shirt I thought looked all right. Special price: $29.95. Pelaco, okay brand.
Take to counter. Extra super discount: rings up for $12.50.
This time, I win.
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That show
That cult show, the one I’ve liked for 30+ years. I think it’s really gone mainstream.
Nice touch the ads being on phone booths, too. Not quite as well done as the Get Smart ones though.
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