Month: December 2004

Some quick thoughts on a very quick scan across the BBC News website front page.

Ivan Noble has been diagnosed with a new tumour – I’ve read his diary on and off for a while, and as is often the case, cancer sufferers find strengths they didn’t know they had. I hope he gets through this latest setback.

Beckham is Britain’s richest footballer – Alas this kind of thing is considered ‘news’. I DO like the comment about no.2 in the list, Dennis Bergkamp, saying “Maybe Bergkamp’s second becauase he’s brighter than most, and has invested his money wisely”.

Bugs get the train too – one of the first ‘posts’ on this site (pre-Blogger days) covered this kind of ‘research’. That time it was about the wearing of sunglasses, this one is researching “whether commuters packed on trains face a greater risk of catching cold and flu viruses”. This first thought that springs to mind is “Well, DUH!”. And it’s the second and third thoughts as well. I wanna be a researcher. Money, old rope etc etc.

Rwandan troops in Congo – Why isn’t this headline news? Blunkett Schmunkett, if he goes, another one will replace him. People are DYING and yet this is rarely elevated much past a passing mention.

Auto Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

Doesn’t sound that bad really, when you say it like that. Just some medical term you can ignore. When was the last time you were tested for it? Yes YOU.

This year in the UK, World AIDS Day is about reminding us all that HIV is an issue for everyone. There are many ways you can offer support.

Completely missed St.Andrews day. But then we don’t get a public holiday to mark the occasion of our national saint.

Also missed the vote for our “national bird” (I did suggest Kirsty Wark but seemingly they didn’t mean that kind of ‘burd’), with the fiery little Robin coming out tops, beating the lesser seen Golden Eagle into second place. I’m convinced that if more people HAD seen a Golden Eagle in real life it would have triumphed. It is a soaring majesty of a bird, much larger than anything else that shares it’s skies.

Still, what better way to celebrate the passing of time into the month that holds Christmas than to select a bird that will soon be adorning several thousand dead trees. I wonder what Robin thinks of it all?

In other news: I currently have two items for sale on eBay. My old SPV mobile phone and a Bluetooth headset.

And for Firefox users, if you’ve installed any of the extensions I’ve previously mentioned, check for a little green arrow in the top right of the window. Some of them have been updated. Click the arrow and Firefox will download the updates you want and install them for you. Brilliant.