Friday, June 30, 2006

World Cup Live Scones

Have you enjoyed getting live scones from the World Cup direct to your desktop PC, mobile phone or set-top fish tank?

If so, you may want to sign up for our new online Wimbledon strawberries! These delicious e-strawberries will be available for download soon.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Pity Mr Sprüngli

The wonder chocolate known universally as Lindt is, to be strictly accurate, actually made by Lindt & Sprüngli. So who was Mr Sprüngli?

It seems that Rudolf Sprüngli got into the choc business first in Zurich, his family later taking over the factory of Rodolphe Lindt in Berne. (There was a later bust-up, with an illegal Lindt company trading on its own until it was "liquidated" in 1928.) But hey - you can catch up with the rest of Lindt's history at its informative website. Key quotes include:

"Between 1920 and 1945 the firm had to face almost unimaginable challenges"

"After the war, demand exploded first within the home market and later abroad"

and

"Due to the meteoric growth of the Lindt Group of companies, the Group’s structure was redesigned and a Kilchberg-based holding company was formed in 1994 whereby all the companies became wholly-owned subsidiaries of 'Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG'. The former parent and manufactoring company in Kilchberg thus was renamed 'Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli (Schweiz) AG'"

Interestingly, Rudolf-with-an-eff was clean-shaven, while Rudolphe-with-a-pee-aitch had a moustache.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Job Ad Jargon

Here's the first part of my handy guide to job ad jargon. I hope you find it useful!

"You are a highly motivated self-starter": We have no idea what this role entails.

"£ NEG": Negligible payment

"Must have XML/UML": ... and believe that they are the same thing.

"Some travel required": We have no offices.

"A fantastic opportunity to move to the next level": ...downwards.

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Goodbye, Long Falcon

Synopsis:

Private detective Bertie Simms is hired to drop a small rock from the roof of the Bradbury building. When it lands on the head of LAPD commissioner Prescott Lamplighter, Simms realizes he has been framed for the murder of Gnat "Gnegligible" Smolfins, a suburban hoodlum who controls the olive oil supply from the Owens Valley. On the run from the cops, the feds and the fops, Simms seeks refuge in a Santa Monica church. There he discovers a Nazi-backed plot to drill into the sea bed beneath the pier, drain the ocean and sell the new real estate to people from the mid-west.