2014 — 12 August: Tuesday
Bright, sunny, fresh, dry1 and no longer "Patch Tuesday". I can hardly wait to see what Microsoft flings at its 'update' distribution fans later today. I was told (by a more local major non-fan) that the next major update to Win8.1 Update 1 is no longer going to happen. And there's me, just getting used to it. I'll need a new hobby.
Now, here's...
... a cheery thought. It's the late Christopher Hitchens, quoting our Astronomer Royal, Martin Rees:
"It will not be humans who watch the sun's demise, six billion years from now. Any creatures that then exist will be as different from us as we are from bacteria or amoebae."
I still have No Idea why Brenda needs her own astronomer... And I recall Bertie Russell's opinion, too:
Organic life, we are told, has developed gradually from the protozoön to the philosopher, and this development, we are told, is indubitably an advance. Unfortunately it is the philosopher, not the protozoön, who gives us this assurance.
The new head...
... of the chess world is the same chap who's had the job for the last 19 years. He's also been abducted by space aliens if Wikipedia can be believed.
[Pause]
Supplies safely gathered in, walk enjoyably walked (rather humidly), lunch lunched, tea drunk, laundry laundered, and two recent Polanski recommendations delivered:
There is, of course, no way of knowing — until I watch the more recent of these two films — whether it bears any resemblance at all to...
... either the original text, or to the more modern graphic interpretation of that same text by the late Guido Crepax, of the strange autobiographical 'novel' written by one of Marianne Faithfull's ancestors.
My opinion...
... of the usefulness of the average HR department was never very high to start with. Here's a tiddly extract from page 59 of the Employment Tribunal hearing into the dismissal of the hapless chap in the BBC who was left haplessly holding the Digital Media Initiative parcel when the music stopped and this £100,000,000 IT project (that had been under development for a decade) finally imploded:
157.6 That an experienced HR figure could have considered that this was an acceptable way in which to conduct a serious gross misconduct disciplinary process against a senior employee of some four years' service, can only be credibly explained, in the Tribunal's view, in one of three ways: (i) spectacular incompetence. The Tribunal did not accept as credible this degree of incompetence on Mr Pascazio's part, since it seemed highly unlikely that Mr Pascazio would have been handing a disciplinary of this notoriety and importance without senior oversight and support, particularly since lawyers were involved on both sides. (ii) explicit instruction by others, which in the absence of specific evidence the Tribunal was unable, on a balance of probabilities, to find proven. (iii) by the HR department being so imbued with the general organisational culture regarding accountability for catastrophic events 'on your watch', together with 'comms' timing considerations regarding how such matters should best be presented both internally and externally, as to eclipse entirely the requirements of reasonable compliance with the fundamental principles of a fair hearing, namely; that a person facing serious allegations is entitled to know the specific allegations against him and to have sufficient time to consider all of the evidence and to prepare his defence. After careful consideration, the Tribunal concluded, on a balance of probabilities, that the third alternative was the most credible explanation for Mr Pascazio's letters.
So good to see my BBC Licence fee isn't being wasted.