wasaweblog

110: 9 March 2012

The weather has been somewhat changeable for the past few days: warm, cold, sunny, cloudy, rain, the typical British weather. However, the unmistakable signs of spring can be spotted as flowers are starting to bloom. Unfortunately, this also means my annual hay fever season may have started. Or is it just a cold? A runny nose can be either, or both.

109: 16 February 2012

Emoticons: I use them sometimes, especially in chats and informal e-mails, but wouldn't really want to use them too excessively. (Independent: Being Modern: Emoticons)

108: 14 February 2012

The situation in Syria is grave, and is of grave concern, but the escalation of the conflict between Iran and Israel is also extremely serious at the moment.

107: 13 February 2012

The witch-hunter generals, the journalists at The Sun, are now victims of a witch-hunt. Given that some of them were definitely acting in an unethical manner and probably breaking the law in obtaining stories, there is unlikely to be a huge amount of sympathy towards them. (BBC: The Sun's Trevor Kavanagh attacks journalists' arrests)

106: 12 February 2012

Apparently, the Bank of England is going to print more money proceed with a further round of quantitative easing. Also, inflation is coming down. So, could Britain be in deflation sooner or later, whatever the bank decides to do? (BBC: Quantitatively more easing from the Bank)

105: 4 February 2012 :: It's snowing in London

104: 3 February 2012

The left dominates the blogosphere in France: it will be interesting to see how the internet will influence or even shape the presidential election. (Le Monde: La gauche domine le Web politique)

103: 1 February 2012

Do I trust the reviews on TripAdvisor? Not really. Unless there are hundreds of reviews, a few positive or negative entries can skew the results greatly. Some people are so picky that they find faults at even the best establishments, some hotel owners would be posting negative reviews about the accommodation next door, and some owners would be posting positive reviews about their own places. I'd be surprised if such things didn't take place. (Guardian: TripAdvisor under fire for 'real traveller' contribution claim)

102: 31 January 2012

Sir Fred is no more. The former RBS boss is now a plain Mr Goodwin. If honours can be stripped for incompetence, and retrospectively, rather than for committing a crime in the eyes of the law, who will be next, and where should it stop? (BBC: Former RBS boss Fred Goodwin stripped of knighthood)

101: 22 January 2012

A political dinosaur making a come back? Does Mr Gingrich have a realistic chance of winning the Republican nomination to challenge President Obama in this year's election? It feels a bit like travelling back to the 1990s and to the Clinton presidency. (BBC: South Carolina poll: Gingrich triumphs over Romney)