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Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Mon 05 Oct, 2020 6:56 am
by refitman
Morning all.
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Mon 05 Oct, 2020 10:37 am
by RogerOThornhill
Morning.
LOL at this...
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Max Roser
@MaxCRoser
In the UK the number of cases rose rapidly.
But the public – and authorities – are only learning this now because these cases were only published now as a backlog.
The reason was apparently that the database is managed in Excel and the number of columns had reached the maximum.
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Mon 05 Oct, 2020 11:27 am
by GetYou
Using Excel to manage critical public health data?
That's such a basic mistake, it's almost as if no-one there knows what they are doing, but that can't be right surely?
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Mon 05 Oct, 2020 11:38 am
by AnatolyKasparov
Even so, Excel has quite a big "maximum" - its the way they were recording cases on it that was actually the problem.
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Mon 05 Oct, 2020 11:47 am
by GetYou
I've come across numerous examples in my job where people thought using Excel to manage data would be a quick and easy solution.
In most cases, they were wrong.
Corrupted files, inadequate security, no data audits, the list goes on.
The real issue is when I get asked to "fix it"
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Mon 05 Oct, 2020 11:47 am
by RogerOThornhill
'Er indoors does her birth stats on Excel...with a different tab for each month, and the numbers aren't huge.
Did they not think about using a new tab?
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Mon 05 Oct, 2020 12:17 pm
by gilsey
Jon Ẉalmsley
@ArghZombies
Replying to
@DavidHenigUK
"We're just using a spreadsheet for now until we get around to building a proper database."
Cut to 5 years later...
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Mon 05 Oct, 2020 12:21 pm
by RogerOThornhill
Heh.
John Dickens
@JohndickensSW
From a Schools Week story in 2015:
'It's a year since computer science was added to the national curriculum. Back in 2012, Michael Gove decided to phase out ICT with its Excel and PowerPoint obsession in favour of a new qualification on how computers work'
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Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Mon 05 Oct, 2020 12:40 pm
by AnatolyKasparov
This is surely an instance where "why not both?" is an appropriate response.
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Mon 05 Oct, 2020 1:23 pm
by RogerOThornhill
Well quite.
The "schools should be teaching stuff useful for kids to get jobs" that comes out from Williamson doesn't sit very well with not teaching things like Excel & Powerpoint that most office-based people will need to know well.
I know the Cameron line was "kids will all need to know how to code in the future" but that was always crap from someone that didn't understand computers. Or business or that matter.
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Mon 05 Oct, 2020 4:23 pm
by AnatolyKasparov
Anybody about this afternoon?
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Mon 05 Oct, 2020 4:33 pm
by RogerOThornhill
Back from a swim.
And Katie Hopkins has had to apologise again...
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Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Mon 05 Oct, 2020 5:31 pm
by RogerOThornhill
Priti Patel faces tribunal questioning over alleged bullying
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... lip-rutnam" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Priti Patel is facing the possibility of being questioned before a 10-day employment tribunal hearing next September after lawyers for her former permanent secretary Sir Philip Rutnam pushed forward with a claim for constructive dismissal.
The home secretary, her department, and Downing Street are also being asked to disclose all correspondence related to Rutnam’s departure following claims that he was forced out of his job for intervening in her alleged bullying of fellow civil servants.
A schedule for an employment tribunal has been sent to the Home Office’s lawyers which names the home secretary as the respondent, the Guardian understands.
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Mon 05 Oct, 2020 5:47 pm
by gilsey
Next September? Jeez.
You'll need a lot of popcorn.
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Mon 05 Oct, 2020 10:26 pm
by Sky'sGoneOut
Just back from a trip up to the borders to see the folks in a town that's been locked down despite having had 3 cases of coronavirus in total.
First things first, if you fancy travelling on the trains don't bother buying a ticket, nobody will check them, that's now 10 trains in a row from one end of England to the other without having any of my tickets checked. 'But what of the ticket barriers' you may ask? As an experiment I tried walking out of Leeds station through an emergency exit and nobody stopped me.
As for locking down all of Northumberland when you can count the infections for the North half of the county on one hand it's obviously absurd. It was surreal to sit in a tiny pub almost exclusively frequented by pensioners in a quite part of town with the barman masked behind plastic screens and a one way system that meant you had to follow a yellow tape road to go to the toilet. I discussed it with PorFavor and we agreed it was like a dystopian 70's tv show. People grimly fighting an invisible monster that isn't there.
And that's true of all the little villages throughout rural Northumberland that have never had a sniff of an infection, people banned from visiting their friends and families, while Londoners can come and go as they please.
But then it's a lot less politicaly damaging to ruin the lives of a few of Northern hicks.
Cumming's father in law's castle is just down the road, maybe if they set fire to that and the grouse moors in protest they might get some attention.
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Mon 05 Oct, 2020 10:27 pm
by AnatolyKasparov
Good to see you here Sky, good to see anybody here in fact.
(where is cJA today?)
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Mon 05 Oct, 2020 11:29 pm
by Sky'sGoneOut
Yes this place is as quiet as Matt Hancock's cerebrum.
I forgot to mention, yesterday while out for a walk with my Mum and Dad we completely by accident came across a testing station in a car park on the outskirts of town. There were three vans with stuff in them and about 10 people wearing those generic hi-vis bibs all sitting about looking bored. A brief chat revealed that they'd tested precisely nobody all weekend and that they were all employed by Serco.
As to CJA's whereabouts I'm afraid I can't be of any help.
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Mon 05 Oct, 2020 11:34 pm
by RogerOThornhill
Maureen Dowd
@maureendowd
When Trump walked through the doors, Walter Reed had a stellar reputation. As he walks out 72 hours later, its reputation is in tatters. There's nothing Trump can't ruin.
8:38 PM · Oct 5, 2020·Twitter for iPhone
Their problem is one of patient confidentiality - they can't possibly contradict his side of the story.
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Mon 05 Oct, 2020 11:58 pm
by Sky'sGoneOut
I've avoided the news as best I could these last few days, what the fuck is this about missing 15,000 tests through an Excel error?
I have to admit I've never had reason to try to enter ginormous numbers into Excel but why would you? You're creating a spreadsheet not a database and never mind Public Health England, many businesses still use XLS because upgrading Office is expensive.
I'm sure the response will be to blame PHE for not updating its software while at the same time calling it a quango in the Mail and saying it's wasting taxpayers cash.
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Tue 06 Oct, 2020 12:24 am
by Sky'sGoneOut
[youtube]SbSM02_1k34[/youtube]
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Tue 06 Oct, 2020 12:52 am
by Sky'sGoneOut
[youtube]HSf-izKPbAY[/youtube]
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Tue 06 Oct, 2020 12:57 am
by PorFavor
[youtube]4vaIBZCLUQU[/youtube]
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Tue 06 Oct, 2020 12:59 am
by Sky'sGoneOut
I saw mounds of foam on the beach this morning wobbling in the wind like it was alive.
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Tue 06 Oct, 2020 1:00 am
by Sky'sGoneOut
We have proper beaches.
Made of sand.
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Tue 06 Oct, 2020 1:08 am
by PorFavor
[youtube]3wIBynEROEw[/youtube]
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Tue 06 Oct, 2020 1:15 am
by Sky'sGoneOut
Broadcast - Live ATP 2001
[youtube]bObxdPBv5FY[/youtube]
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Tue 06 Oct, 2020 1:20 am
by PorFavor
I'll save listening to the whole of it until tomorrow.
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Tue 06 Oct, 2020 1:24 am
by Sky'sGoneOut
Do it now.
I command thee.
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Tue 06 Oct, 2020 1:29 am
by Sky'sGoneOut
[youtube]fEtgRtZ1fD0[/youtube]
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Tue 06 Oct, 2020 1:37 am
by Sky'sGoneOut
Owww this carpal tunnel thing hurts.
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Tue 06 Oct, 2020 1:40 am
by Sky'sGoneOut
******
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Tue 06 Oct, 2020 2:13 am
by Sky'sGoneOut
[youtube]gziD6feMRmA[/youtube]
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Tue 06 Oct, 2020 2:24 am
by PorFavor
That was a good way to spend around 45 minutes.
Night night.
Re: Monday 5th October 2020
Posted: Tue 06 Oct, 2020 2:41 am
by Sky'sGoneOut
Who killed mr moonlight?