Archive for July, 2005

By July 31, 2005 Read More →

Olympic Lottery Taxed?

I work in London and consider myself to be a part-time Londoner. I was pleased when the Olympic comittee awarded the 2012 Olympic Games to London. I did wonder how London would finance such a major sporting event but my question was soon answered: The UK National Lottery

Camelot who run the UK national lottery have started a special Olympics fund raising scratch cards. The first of which has already gone on sale is called ‘Go For Gold’ and offers a top prize of £2012.

This seems like a great idea. I assumed that most if not all of the profit from the sale of these scratch cards would go towards financing the London Olympic Games. This is normally about 28% of the £1 ticket price.

So imagine how shocked I was to learn that the Labour Government has decided that 12% of the profit from the sales of Olympic Lottery tickets will be creamed off by the treasury for an ‘Olympic Lottery Tax’! This is expected to be about £340 million.

This is just plain old wrong! This money should go directly towards the Olympic Games. Why should the goverment profit from this?

Read the articles from The Conservative Party HERE

Read the BBC news article Olympic Lottery Puzzle

Matt

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Posted in: Editorial
By July 28, 2005 Read More →

Space Shuttles Grounded

NASA has said it is grounding the space shuttle fleet as engineers investigate debris which fell from Discovery’s external fuel tank during launch.
A spokesman for the US space agency said big chunks of foam broke off the tank after Tuesday’s lift-off but are not thought to have damaged the craft.

The Columbia shuttle was destroyed in 2003 after a similar incident.

If the shuttle is damaged, its crew could wait in the International Space Station until a rescue craft arrives.

Discovery is taking parts and supplies to the ISS.

It is the first orbiter mission by the US space agency since the loss of the Columbia and its crew.

It is due to return to Earth in 10 days’ time.

See also Mark’s Article

(Source: BBC News)

Matt

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By July 16, 2005 Read More →

Courier companies: The weakest link?

So we are well and truly in an age where everything and anything can be purchased online. I buy about 80% of items from the web. There’s better choice, more information and more competitive prices available online, not to mention the convenience of buying goods without leaving my seat.

So what’s the problem? Well the weakest link in this online boom is getting the goods to our door steps. Countless times have I had to re-arrange deliveries, give drivers directions and make sure that someone was there to take delivery.

Just this week I ordered some electronic goods from a UK site. The items where shipped same day and were on an overnight delivery. This was perfect for me as I wanted the items for a job I was doing over the weekend. I arranged for someone to be here to take the delivery and even called the courier to make sure it was out for delivery.

It’s now Saturday morning, the goods didn’t arrive and I’ve been told a variety of excuses:

  1. The Driver left a card as you weren’t in; I was and no card was left.
  2. The Driver said that your company wasn’t listed on the building directory; This is my home address not a company.
  3. The Driver couldn’t find your house; Isn’t it his job to find my house? My house is easy to find, and he could call for directions. Is this the same one that put the card through my door?
  4. We can’t find your parcel; Then why did they tell me it was out for delivery?

Courier companies are clearly the weakest link in home shopping!!

If someone came along with a company that could:

  1. Employ quality staff that can read a map
  2. Advise approximate delivery times
  3. Call if they have a problem

Then they would be on to a winner.

Matt

Posted in: Editorial
By July 15, 2005 Read More →

Free Game!

Ive been playing an excellent free game today, very adictive!

Download a copy from here.

Enjoy!

Matt

Posted in: Apps & Games
By July 13, 2005 Read More →

Thanks to my PHP guru!

Just a quick shout out to my best buddy Iain (aka Muff) for the work he put into this and my other site. You truly are a PHP guru! Thanks for the customisation!

Anyone else want customised PHP stuff on their blog contact me and I’ll put you in touch with the boy genius!

Matt

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Posted in: Site Announcements
https://www.ukmeds.co.uk/surgical-face-masks