They Would Say That » Cock Ups

German Bank Robbers Only Supposed To Blow The Doors Off?

admin — Thu, 27 May 2010 17:00:28 +0000

The classic phrase from the original film, ‘The Italian Job’ with Michael Caine definitely came to mind when I read of a German gangs attempt to rob a bank. If only they had Michael Caine standing their saying, “You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!” when their explosive charges had destroyed the bank yet left the cash machine they were after still securely fixed to the ground.

Apparently they left empty handed and I imagine a little sheepishly and perhaps deaf from the blast and a somewhat shell shocked. I doubt the police are looking for anyone with previous explosives experience.

Who Has Been Given Your Bank Account Details Thanks To A Printing Error

Council Sign Painters Need A Big Rubber

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 14:56:56 +0000

There were reports yesterday of council contractors painting a ‘No Entry’ sign on the road but they spelt it wrong and it said ‘NO ENTRT’ You have to wonder how such a thing can happen.

Maybe they Two Mr T men in that day and forgot to get the man who does the Y’s.

The council said they rely on their contractors to do they work as required and they just do spot checks now and again. Maybe they need to do spellchecks as well.

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Primark Withdraws Padded Bikini Tops For Children

admin — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 15:16:51 +0000

It seems astonishing but in an age when the only thing companies seem to think about is profits perhaps we should not be too surprised. Primark had been selling a range of bikini sets for children with the tops being padded with the intention of making the children look rather more adult shaped.

Now I am sure that most adults would read that and think it ridiculous so how come Primark failed to do so? To their credit they have responded to criticism by withdrawing the range of items and also intending to donate any profits made on these to a childrens charity but they should be asking themselves how the decision was made to stock such things in the first place.

Let us hope lessons have been learned throughout the retail industry that sexualizing children is not considered to be a good thing to do.

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Government Error Helps Kids Find Gay Porn Site

admin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:31:17 +0000

There is a great, as in amusing, report over at the Register today about a Government website that had been set up to help kids learn more about government services available for kids with some games and projects and sections aimed at parents and teachers. It all sounds pretty good so far doesn’t it?

Trouble was they used a name for the site that is already in use elsewhere on the internet for a gay porn site. I haven’t attempted to look myself but according to TheRegister.co.uk if you do a search for Busters World on Google the first site that comes up is probably one you would rather your kids did not see.

Apparently the site has been taken down for now while the Government Department responsible considers their options and presumably tries to think of a safer website name. I do have some sympathy with the civil servants behind this as they would hardy expect a name like this to be a poblem. It seems like a perfectly reasonable name for a kids related website.

This raises an interesting paradox. If the government are to check for porn sites before they name a website they will have to do searches for porn on government computers whilst at work which will, almost certainly, go against all their own rules about using government computers for browsing porn and could well lead to them looking at illegal content.

On the other hand, if they don’t do this it will allow the possibility of a similar gaff in the future. Which does rather prove the point that simple laws and blanket rules are a nonsense and common sense should always prevail.

How Bankers Earn Their Bonuses?

admin — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:26:00 +0000

This is classic. While a live video interview was being carried out on the Australian TV Channel 7News with Macquarie Bank’s Street headquarters to discuss some breaking news about interest rates an employee, described as being a mid-level client investment manager was browsing glamour images on his computer in the background.

At some point during the video a collegue presumably tells him they are filming behind him and he turns to see the camera whereupon his screen suddenly reverts to showing spreadsheets.

Maybe he was stitched up by a collegue but whatever the reasons, it is good to see the real world and how some bankers spend at least some of their time earning huge bonuses. The clip is below. Look to the middle on the left side of the screen and have a smile.

His employers say they are investigating and point out that they have a strict code on how their employees use IT resources.

It all goes to show that you should never let your guard down, especially when there are TV cameras around.

Cutting Back Bankers Bonuses

Who Has Been Given Your Bank Account Details Thanks To A Printing Error

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:02:53 +0000

Apparently the Skipton Building Society have somehow manage a cock-up that has meant the details of accounts have been printed on the reverse of statements sent to other account holders.

Apparently the Skipton has appologised. Well, that makes everything ok then.

How do these cockups keep happening? The age of computers has enabled us to do things previously unimaginable. We can do great big tasks at the click of a button but please, before you press that button check that you are not about to commit some almighty error.

In the good old days a member of staff making a mistake might have meant a 10 or twenty people had errors made on their accounts. Now with one press of a button millions of errors can be made instantly.

Companies have to learn that they must allow staff the time to ensure these tasks are done properly. Check, double-check and triple check.

Otherwise you end up looking really stupid like the Skipton Building Society. Would you pick them as your first choice for investment having heard about this? I know I wouldn’t.

No More Babysitters? – Another Poorly Prepared Law

admin — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:04:57 +0000

Two female police officers who previously had an arrangement whereby each would babysit for the other when they were working has been stopped by Ofsted under the Childcare Act 2006.

Officers representing Ofsted knocked at the door of one of the women and informed her that they had become aware she might be running an illegal childcare service. She, as any normal person would, thought that this was clearly a misunderstanding and invited the officers in to explain. Even after fully explaining the situation she was told that to continue their arrangement they would both need to become registered childminders and pass all appropriate tests or face prosecution.

To become a registered childminder is not a simple process of simply checking you are a decent person. There are all sorts of rules and regulations to follow and I know personally one lady who gave up because she got fed up with being required to follow what seems like silly rules such as having enough black as well as white dolls and having to follow irritatingly complicated procedures with the ever present fear of an ofsted inspection at any time. I guess if you are running a childminding nursery looking after dozens of children it all makes sense but for one or two children it seems excessive.

The problem for the two police officers was that the exchange of service for each other has been considered to be a ‘reward’ by the Ofsted officers which is a reasonable thing to decide since there clearly is a reward in that they each help out the other.

The law was clearly never intended to stop people babyminding for close friends under such an arrangement and Vernon Coaker the Minister for Children, Schools and Families is speaking to Ofsted about the interpretation of the word ‘reward’. It is hard to see how they could interpret it any other way than that which they have done and all they are doing is enforcing the law as it stands.

This would seem to be another example of a law rushed through parliament with the best of intentions but without the appropriate time spent on it to ensure it does what it is supposed to do. In this case that was to protect children and parents from dodgy childminders but it was surely never intended to stop the practice of babyminding for friends now and again to earn a few pounds or in an exchange of service by friends.

It is a worrying thought that there may be dozens more laws that have been rushed through parliament in recent years that are full of careless errors such as this and that ordinary decent and honest people may well suffer for the lack of care taken.

Apparently this does not apply to anyone looking after the children in their parents home so employing a schoolgirl or friend to regularly babysit to allow the parents to have a break and earn a few pounds is not affected by this law.

Government Error Helps Kids Find Gay Porn Site

Too Many Laws For The Lawmakers To Understand – What Chance Do We Have?

admin — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:17:34 +0000

It has been announced that Baroness Scotland is to be fined £5,000 for failing to correctly follow the law in regard to establishing legal status before employing her (now ex) housekeeper. Apparently the Prime Minister continues to consider her a valuable asset to government even though as a presumably, great legal mind she failed to follow the law in a piece of legislation she was largely responsible for when it went through parliament.

The rest of us may have the excuse of ignorance of the law, though it is said to be no legal defence. Anyone who was involved in pushing a law through parliament can have no defence whatsoever and when it is the attorney general who advises government on the law it is simply astonishing that such a mistake can be considered acceptable and not require instant resignation.

I accept that we all make mistakes and I would much prefer an honest politician who admits to making mistakes and is prepared to apologise to the electorate. I would prefer that to the slimy weasel words we so often hear as MP’s and government ministers wriggle in their attempts to maintain an illusion that they are perfect.

However, we the electorate have these laws imposed on us without our agreement or request. Nobody asked me to give my opinion on immigration law before the last election and the law was enacted without any agreement from me. Yet, if I employ someone I am subject to this law and I am expected to understand it and should I fail I am subject to fines and even a possible jail sentence. I do not pretend to be an expert on the law yet my life could be destroyed by an innocent mistake through not knowing about, or not understanding laws such as this but I am legally required to know about it and understand it.

There can be absolutely no excuse for the Attorney General to not know about this law since she was a minister at the home office pushing the bill through Parliament. As a legal expert she has no excuse for not following the letter of the law. If she couldn’t manage to be aware of, or understand the law what chance have the rest of us.

If there is one lesson from this episode it is that we already have too many laws that are understood by too few people. If ordinary decent and honest people are turned into lawbreakers through ignorance there is something wrong with the system. The alternative would be that we all give up our jobs and spend our days studying the legislation pouring out of Parliament but that would clearly be ridiculous and hardly beneficial to the country.

The Cost Of Efficiency May Be Too High For Passengers At Stansted Airport

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:15:58 +0000

One of the mantras of business and politics over the last 30 or so years has been to worship the god of efficiency. Everything has to be super efficient and costs are to be cut to the bone. Cut out all the waste and have super efficient businesses and cost effective government.
You can see the logic of the argument. We don’t want to waste money so being efficient makes good sense. The problem with efficiency is that it plans for stable conditions and it takes away any flexibility. For example. If you are not fighting a war then having an army is very inefficient, the same applies to the fire brigade and police. If nothing is going on then you don’t need the service.

When war breaks out or there are lots of fires, thefts or civil disorder you need these services to be available instantly. It is easy to cut back when things are going well but you have to plan for times when things do not run so smoothly.

One of the current super efficient companies to have made a success of cutting to the bone and running a super efficient service is Ryanair the cheap flights airline. They have cut out all the waste in their efforts to offer the cheapest possible flights and people have been attracted by the low costs of flying but you have to wonder if they are not now cutting back a step too far.
The idea has been suggested by their CEO that they might start charging for the use of toilets on flights and even allowing standing passengers. The idea of passengers standing in the event of even a minor ground accident doesn’t bear thinking about and I find it astonishing that the idea can even be suggested but it shows how far down the road of cost cutting we have gone.

Ryanair are trying to encourage passengers to check in online to avoid the need for check-in desks at airports and they have started charging extra for luggage so passengers now try to travel with only hand luggage. It makes sense and is efficient for everyone until there is a sudden demand for people to check in luggage. During a lot of the year many travellers are able to travel with little luggage for short breaks but when it comes to the summer holidays people have lots of luggage and it would seem this may have been the cause of the problems at Stansted airport at the weekend. It is always a very busy time of year leading to problems with car parking at stanstead as hundreds of people with lots of luggage try to find their cars, or their friends who are collecting them, and queues of cars try to get into and out of the airport area.

The passengers were queuing at the weekend to check in their bags and it is thought that up to 700 passengers missed their flights at stansted airport because there were not enough check in desks open.

There may have been other reasons but the obvious assumption must be that Ryanair had not made plans for the surge of families travelling with luggage during the summer holidays. What works the rest of the year is likely to fail at a time like this and you would have expected the company to see this coming.

So is efficiency good for us? It certainly reduces prices but the lack of flexibility when circumstances vary from the norm must make us wonder if perhaps cheap isn’t always best and cutting beyond a reasonable degree is bad for all of us.
Once upon a time air travel was considered glamorous and exciting but these days air travel seems to be something we have to suffer to get where we want to go. Another reason for holidaying at home perhaps.

The Home Secretary Jacqui Smith Wants The Taxpayer To Pay For Porn

admin — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:48:25 +0000

Of course the headline is inaccurate and nobody is going to suggest that the Home Secretary wants the public to have their porn paid for by the taxpayer but somehow or another an expenses claim was made for the taxpayer to pay for porn her husband chose to purchase and watch.
So the question is why did that expense claim get put through the system and since it did get passed through why should not all taxpayers be allowed to claim for their porn rentals. No doubt some could claim it as a legitimate business expense but most would be turned down flat and questions would be asked.
This is yet another example of the way MP’s claim for anything they can get away with as expenses and expect taxpayers to fork out for everything they do. The government needs to act on MP’s expenses allowances and act fast. The public are sick of these squalid revelations of members of parliament taking the public for a ride. If MP’s deserve better pay then let that be established in the court of public opinion. Most of us would not want the job but then neither should it become a job that people would do for the money and the power.
Sadly, more and more, we are given the impression that this is exactly why many people do go into politics and that may be very unfair on the majority of hard working members of parliament. It is a dark cloud that hangs over what was once deservedly known as the mother of all parliaments but is rapidly becoming the whore of all parliaments.