NJS

Maybe I'm wrong as I have no experience of the public sector - I wouldn't be surprised if Government edicts mean that MCSE etc boxes have to be ticked. I know the DSS are big on ITIL for example.

I wouldn't go that far but from a development pov I usually ignore them and look at job history above all else. The thing about the MS quals is that you can get the answers off E-Bay which everyone knows so there is an air of distrust. Of course if you know your stuff anyway then that's okay as it would only take 5 minutes to work out someone was completely clueless.

I think their policy of withdrawing from the EU might get around that. The strange thing is a lot of their non-racist policies, though a bit bat-shit crazy, are very left wing/socialist and I find myself thinking "if only other parties had the guts to suggest something like that" - I guess its a bit like the liberals - being realistic in knowing they can't get into power under the current system, lends itself to "out there" policies. I do think it should be easy to show him up but I don't think it will happen.

I did MCAD/MCSD and found it okay - haven't tried MCSE.

Thanks I looked in to that but learn better when taught by someone actually standing there teaching me. It might be the only way forward though so i'll put in a thing at work to ask them to pay for it and see what they say. Cheers! I was going to mention cost - an outsourced course will cost a lot - I looked at one about 6 years ago that was more than £2k wheras the training kits are about £100. Of course if you can get your employer to pay thats the best way. I did it self-taught.

Don't know of any NE based ones but most people use the self-guided training materials MS sell.

"Selfish twat costs NUFC January transfer budget"

Chloramphenicol ointment (Sold in the UK as Optrex infected Eyes) is the business. I had a bad case 2 or 3 years ago and since then have had a few re-occurences but the onitment sorts it out almost instantly. They may try and palm you off with the drop form of it which may work for some people but as I said the ointment is brilliant.

If the instalments are 8x10m then in all honesty I wouldn't blame the fat cunt for getting iffy. If its 2x40m (more likely) then I think not taking it is yet another mistake.

I think Stoke fans are generally scum but the work the FSF did with them to show up GM police was excellent and should be of interest to any fan. The Mackems should really complain about being setup but I suppose brutality is the only thing they have a chance of proving.

I would guess he's just looking at the table - remember his comment that Kinnear had us "safe" when his heart went because we were 12th when in reality we were 2 points off 3rd bottom and playing absolutely shite.

I don't think its inherently more "sad" than bird watching or indeed even football - if it doesn't interest you then fair enough. My initial interest came out of some stories I heard around the time of my Mam's death. Because I was an "afterthought" baby (my Mam was 40 when she had me) I always seemed to be unaware of some of the juicier stories from the family's past as I only knew one grandparent and also as my cousins/uncles/aunts seemed to be a generation older than they should have been. I only got back to the 1850s before I realised going any further requires a lot of time and effort.

I'm not sure of the breakdown percentage wise but NR did get criticised for having a lot of >100% mortgages in the UK. The rest of the UK banking sector was fucked by the securities based on the US bad mortgages rather than mortgages they granted themselves.

If we do get promoted this year and the twat gets his extra money in a sale then I'll bet it will be August before it happens and the new owners will have no time to get a manager or build a squad. We're fucked basically.

Who is saying it was like? Northern Rock did get into bother in a similar way to theYank Mortgage banks to be fair.

It won't affect the London branch that much (not saying that makes it alright) and its likely it will all be natural wastage as Germans don't like enforced job cuts but I do get your point - I made the point at the announcement meeting that capitalist always see job cuts as "good" cost cutting. If (and I know you could be naive and recognise the size of the word) the restructuring is stuck to, it certainly does on paper suggest less risk (withdrawing from dodgy product sectors etc).

The Fry worshipping has gone a bit over the top since he started doing QI. I think most people don't realise that he's reading an autocue. I'm sure he is very intelligent and witty and all that but it's getting a bit ridiculous now. I used to work with a lad who went to see a couple of QIs being filmed and he reckoned there was good and bad from Fry - some of the stuff off camera showed he was as intelligent and witty as people like to think but he also pulled a couple of complete strops which made him look like an arsehole.

I think a few articles recently have played the "they're just going back to what they did previously" outrage card which may not be true. The bank I work for has opted for a 6bn Euro recapitilisation package from its shareholders but EU approval for that has meant a restructuring plan which redefines a focus on customers more and a more cautious approach to risk in general (as well as 25% staff cuts over 4 years). Maybe big players like GS have just continued as if nothing has happened but I don't think thats universal.

I do think there should be some culpability for the public - I know people who want to buy can get desparate but "yes, yes give me 125%" does have consequences (though the stupidity is on both sides).

I always said that Hall/Shepherd just saw the fans as wallets to be emptied but Ashley's open contempt goes beyond even that.

They are letting the Pope in next year so I don't see the grounds for banning this bloke. I suppose they used the fear of violence to avoid free speech issues which they wouldn't have been able to use for the Pope but I find some of the views of both of them equally offensive - and would let them both in to encourage debate (minus the reverence to the latter).

I usually think of "cunt" being a description of somebody nasty which is why it probably doesn't apply in either case. Stevie's occasional nastiness (a lot of which I agree with) would suggest more cunt potential but I'd say KD was more leaning towards a boring twat if anything - probably a lesser crime. Oops - that should be in the "cunt" thread obviously.

I dabbled a bit last year and probably the most interesting thing I found was that my grandparents weddings on both sides were less than 9 months before the birth of my Mam and my Dad's oldest brother.

I honestly don't think finding the jokes amusing and finding the Mail article to be despicable at the same time is in any way hypocritical - I just consider both reactions to be sides of the same human coin.

Read a link to that on The Guardian site - I'm suprised it wasn't the Phillips whore though.