:: Fade - the blog ::

If you want to understand the origins of the headings go to Friday, November 29, 2002.

:: Friday, November 29, 2002 ::

You talk pretty: the close proximity of the 'send' button to the 'close' button bothers me.
pyro orbweaver: Heh. What program are you using?
pyro orbweaver: (btw, in case this hasn't happened to you yet:)
pyro orbweaver: JocelynLSquires: http://play.mp3.com/cgi-bin/play/play.cgi/AAIBQhgTLADABG5vcm1QBAAAAFJbkQAAUQEAAABD5FZePgr5tnedRyoQebocm.9WUnI-/Vaders_Employee_Evalua.m3u :-D
You talk pretty: bah. registration shmegristration.
You talk pretty: hey, do you have any form of blog or somesuch?
pyro orbweaver: Ahhh. It's not actually necassary to be honest there, you realize? To mp3.com I am, lessee...ah, yes, Damien Soulbender, at some interesting but obviously false address.
pyro orbweaver: Hmm?
You talk pretty: d'you have any of the following:
blog, livejournal, open diary, or any other form of journalwriting online?
You talk pretty: wait, damien soulbender?
pyro orbweaver: As far as they know, yes. And no, I don't believe that's actually a character from anything, I just liked it at three A.M.
pyro orbweaver: And no, maybe I should. Nothing quite like a captive audience...
You talk pretty: you know that oscar wilde story 'the happy prince'?
You talk pretty: i think you're 'the happy goth.'
pyro orbweaver: Wheee! I've never read it, but I'm flattered nonetheless. Can I quote you?
You talk pretty: sure.
pyro orbweaver: *black chuckle*
You talk pretty: and i quite understand the captive audience thing, seeing as i have three blogs myself. :-D
You talk pretty: so easy to make, soooooooooo addictive...
pyro orbweaver: Hee! I love a group that makes comments like that about writing:-D.
You talk pretty: writing is one of those mixed blessings. i can't live without it, and it loves to play with me as a result.
pyro orbweaver: Greeaat. What aspect of your mind doesn't enjoy playing with you?
You talk pretty: i'm sure there's one somewhere. if using my blogs as the sole textual evidence, most of what i post publicly is happy enough.
pyro orbweaver: Well, yes, that's public. I tend to complain to folks I can be more assured will put up with me.
You talk pretty: really? i'm always afraid i'll wear on their patience.
You talk pretty: not that it stops me, but still.
pyro orbweaver: HEH. Donaworry about it, you're nice enough that it just lets us feel grandmotherly. Hell, you occasionally step on my protective instincts just by talking.
You talk pretty: is that a good thing...?
pyro orbweaver: 's fine for me. 's probably a bit more irksome for you, since the idea of me protecting you from anything is a tad on the ludicrous side.
You talk pretty: not so much, actually. probably very un-PC of me, but it feels nice in some ways.
pyro orbweaver: *is pleased* Eh, to hell with PC. Glad to be of service.
You talk pretty: hm. it occurs to me that i've been citing my blog as evidence to the workings of my head and not providing you with an address. would you like one?
pyro orbweaver: Soitenly.
You talk pretty: throttlebottom.blogspot.com
You talk pretty: the wonderful thing is that throttlebottom is a legitimate word.
pyro orbweaver: Really? Wassit mean?
pyro orbweaver: *is greeted at Jeeyon's blog with the words "oh, a rhinoceros!" and promptly dies of hilarity*
You talk pretty: *grin* you're easily pleased.
pyro orbweaver: Only after a certain point. My taste reasserts itsself sometime around 8:00 A.M. Which is about when I become concious enough to be grouchy...
You talk pretty: ah, right.
pyro orbweaver: "it would be better for everyone if I just disappeared?" Fe. *forcibly anchors you* I don't suppose you asked any of them first?
You talk pretty: y'know, it's very rare that i articulate that sort of thing publicly. so i count that in and of itself as asking.
pyro orbweaver: *recalls rigging/climbing training in continuing to anchor you* Well, you're answered.
You talk pretty: mrh. by you.
pyro orbweaver: Eh, 't counts for something. Who wanted you disappeared when you wrote this?
You talk pretty: neil.
You talk pretty: anyway, this is a silly conversational topic and i'm sure there are other perfectly new ones lying around somewhere.
pyro orbweaver: Almost certainly. *plucks one of the admittedly less likely ones out of the air*. Hmm. Random, possibly very stupid thought: Have you ever gone in for pain artistry? The innocent kind, of course.
You talk pretty: pain artistry?
pyro orbweaver: Learning to hurt people. Martial arts.
You talk pretty: no, i haven't. why?
pyro orbweaver: (Bah. Connection flicker)
pyro orbweaver: (Judo too. Or whatever. Are we sensing a trend here?)
You talk pretty: just slightly.
pyro orbweaver: Anyway, that's what happens when you ask a dis-Circadianed Jan for a topic change. Ain't I just fascinating?
You talk pretty: *grin* indeed.
pyro orbweaver: The only reason that triggered was the mention of the armoured woman with your blood on her mind. The closest thing I can compare to that would be an Armaggedon dream of mine that degenerated into dueling and angel in a clearing somewhere.
You talk pretty: mm. in retrospect i think she was supposed to be athena.
You talk pretty: my dreams are Odd.
pyro orbweaver: As mine are not? I think yours are just more traumatic.
You talk pretty: perhaps.
what are your dreams like?
pyro orbweaver: Hmm. Lessee. There was that period I went through where my mind kept putting odd spins on stereotypical dreams.
You talk pretty: such as?
pyro orbweaver: I began one, for instance, being chased by the proverbial dark thing down a maze of allyways.
You talk pretty: gah, pardon me a moment...
You talk pretty: i really dislike this 'one phoneline' thing.
pyro orbweaver: Heh. Can't imagine why. Donaworry, it gave me time to type everything:-P.
pyro orbweaver: As such:
pyro orbweaver: Partway into it I realized "wait. This is the dream where the dark thing chases you down the alleyway. Running is unlikely to get me anywhere . In fact, I'm likely to hit a deadend.
pyro orbweaver: Thinking this, I of course immedeatly did, and was promply stuck in an allyway with a roiling mass of darkness.
You talk pretty: what happened?
pyro orbweaver: Here, my mind decided to follow the path of its own literary convention, and the dai-sho (smaller and larger sword) appeared in my hands.
You talk pretty: that sounds like a lucid dream. you lucky bastard.
pyro orbweaver: Heh. You think its over:-D
pyro orbweaver: The rest of the dream consisted of me dancing with the thing in the alleyway. I slashed at it, while it would manifest...spikes, I guess...from its substance and strike at me. It slowly dimished in size as we fought. The dream ended as the thing and myself collapsed next to each other by the wall, both of us bleeding. I pumped blood, it leaked a shadowstuff. I looked down, and saw the two fluids mixing on the ground.
pyro orbweaver: Then I woke up.
You talk pretty: ...that's exciting.
pyro orbweaver: Yeees. 's the kind of dream that people like me really enjoy. I woke up sort of peaceful-ish.
You talk pretty: yeah, i can imagine...
You talk pretty: i've been trying to lucid dream for years.
pyro orbweaver: Hmm. How does one attempt a dream, precisely?
You talk pretty: i dunno. from what i've read, it takes building up, and sometimes it doesn't happen. for other people it does every once in a while naturally.
pyro orbweaver: Hmm. Me, apparently. Although some of this stems from the fact that I remember the lucid ones better...
pyro orbweaver: What do you read, incidentally?
You talk pretty: on lucid dreams? mostly websites. a few essays in some psychology textbooks, one from a rather outdated dream-significance book published in the early eighties.
You talk pretty: all fairly boring and new age hippy-dippy, but supported by a dream therapist who came to talk to our health class last year.
pyro orbweaver: heh. I'm sure they were; I've actually read through one of those last ones. They will occasionally strike on something, but on the whole "expert" in this area is kind of a relative term. Of course, considering my opinions on psycologists this might be viewed as just a tad biased...
You talk pretty: well, it's understandable. dreams are really subjective things.
You talk pretty: i probably ought to go study for that physics test now.
pyro orbweaver: Yes, which is why I can understand all the odd material on them, to a degree at least. I just find it kind of irksome that people who write try and tote their opinion as qualified or concrete.
You talk pretty: yeah, try freud. genius in many ways. but not this one.
pyro orbweaver: Hah! Excellent idea. As spake Dawn: "what is this sleep of which you speak?"
pyro orbweaver: Or somesuch.
You talk pretty: heh. i won't sleep for another few hours. just need to free up the phoneline and study.
pyro orbweaver: Eh, Freud was a man of extremes. When he was right, it was impressive. When he got it wrong...*shakes head*
You talk pretty: exactly.
:: Kieran 1:52 AM [+] ::
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She Dazzled Me with Basil - Random Jottings
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Kicked in a series of headings to the blog to divide up the information, if anyone is interested the headings celebrate the fact I'm currently listening to the Dentists in terms of the random jottings, a line from the vital 'Fade to Grey' which gave Fade it's name (although we do like to pretend it stands for Frequently Accessing Documents that are Esoteric), a line that may be a misquote from a Chills number on the incredibly beautiful 'Submarine Bells', The Ranter just reflects a bizarre fascination with a 17th century sect and of course my Warhol fascination with Another 15 Minutes.
:: Kieran 11:19 PM [+] ::
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Une valise a ses cotés - Today's Grey Literature
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Today's fun filled grey literature is provided by the Health and Safety Executive with Health and Safety in Local Authority Enforced Sectors: The national picture 2002. This report presents a picture of local authority work in enforcing health and safety law in 2000-01, including indicators of local authority enforcement; gives an overview of workplace injuries reported to local authorities during this period, including provisional fatal injuries for 2001-02; presents data to support the 'Revitalising health and safety' agenda; and latest available data on work-related ill-health.

The relentless flow from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister continues with The Government's Response to the Transport, Local Government and the Regional Affairs Select Committee's Fourteenth Report on How the Local Government Act 2000 is Working. This paper sets out the Government's response to the Transport, Local Government and Regional Affairs Committee's Report on How the Local Government Act 2000 is working.

For those of a nautical bent there is also the Department for Transport's Marine Accident Investigation Branch: safety digest: lessons from marine accident reports which draws the attention of the marine community to some of the lessons arising from investigations into recent accidents. It contains facts which have been determined up to the time of issue.

The Home Office has issued Statistics of Mentally Disordered Offenders: 2001. This bulletin provides information about patients subject to a restriction order (restricted patients) admitted to, detained in or discharged from hospitals.

The Cabinet Office concerned about the environment have produced Waste Not, Want Not: A strategy for tackling the waste problem. This report puts waste reduction, reuse and recycling at the forefront of its reform package together with creating the right environment and new institutional structures to deliver change.
:: Kieran 10:46 PM [+] ::
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Another 15 Minutes... Health News via Fade
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007's unsafe sex
Bond’s seamless seductions defy reality, as well as safety in this hepatitis C and HIV-ridden world.
The Times 28/11/02
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Breast cancer: a new weapon
Although some women will inevitably be disturbed by the evidence collated by Oxford scientists and published in the British Journal of Cancer which supports the suggestion of a link between breast cancer and alcohol, there is also some recent good news on the breast cancer scene.
The Times 28/11/02
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The British way of death
Some doctors estimate four-fifths of the NHS's cancer-drugs budget and around 40 per cent of its total budget is spent in the last year of life – and more is spent during the last few weeks than on the months and years of care that precede it.
The Independent 27/11/02
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Brown to borrow to keep up service reform agenda
The chancellor, Gordon Brown, today promised to hold firm to his ambitious plans for public service investment despite lower than predicted growth this year and continuing economic uncertainty across the globe.
The Guardian 27/11/02
Daily Post 28/11/02
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Children died 'as advice ignored'
The deaths of some of 331 children suspected of suffering a fatal reaction to medicine might have been avoided if doctors had heeded prescribing guidelines, according to an analysis of 35 years of data collected by government but previously unstudied.
The Guardian 28/11/02
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Depression on the rise among young
The number of young people battling depression has doubled in 12 years, as hundreds of thousands find themselves excluded from rising levels of education and prosperity, according to a report today from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
The Guardian 27/11/02
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Doctors set to transplant faces from dead to the living
Surgeons are preparing to cross a new medical frontier with the transplant of a whole human face from a dead to a living person.
The Independent 28/11/02
The Guardian 28/11/02
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A lifesaving poison
Warfarin is a more efficient anticoagulant than aspirin, but taking it regularly involves repeated visits to a clinic to check that it ensures effective anticoagulation without inducing a risk of heavy bleeding.
The Times 28/11/02
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Milburn clashes with Unison over PFI
Alan Milburn, the health secretary, yesterday clashed with Britain's biggest union when he promised to import private care from overseas to cut waiting lists and warned that the government's controversial private finance initiative to build hospitals was "here to stay".
The Guardian 27/11/02
The Guardian 27/11/02
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Mercury in fish linked to risk of heart disease
Certain species of fish contain levels of mercury linked with an increased risk of heart attack, a study indicates.
The Independent 28/11/02
The Guardian 28/11/02
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NHS pay deal will top 40% for some staff
NHS staff are set to be offered a lucrative long-term pay deal with some workers getting more than the 40 per cent originally demanded by striking firefighters.
The Times 28/11/02
Daily Post 28/11/02
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Scientists fear BSE link to second type of brain disease
"Mad cow" disease may be causing a second epidemic of brain illness in humans which has so far gone unrecognised as being related to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
The Independent 28/11/02
The Guardian 28/11/02
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Soap star's fears for son
Denise Welch today (Wednesday, November 27) told of her relief after her baby son was discharged after a second life-saving operation at Alder Hey hospital.
Echo 27/11/02
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Warning issued after blood donor develops CJD
A blood donor who later developed the human variant of mad cow disease gave blood twice in the 1980s. Haemophiliacs in Scotland and Northern Ireland were treated with plasma from the donations between 1987 and 1989.
Daily Post 28/11/02
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Win the battle of the bottle
Heavy drinkers are a problem to themselves and their employers.
The Times 28/11/02

:: Kieran 12:26 AM [+] ::
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Une valise a ses cotés - Today's Grey Literature
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In the ever growing field of e-government the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has reseased National Strategy for Local e-Government. The national strategy for local e-government sets out the issues that council leaders, members, e-champions and senior managers should be considering, the questions they should ask of their organisations and the national framework that is being created to support them.

Busy little bees that they are they have also generated The Government's Response to the Transport, Local Government and the Regions Select Committee Report: The Need for a New European Regeneration Framework This document outlines the Government's response to the House of Commons Transport, Local Government and the Regions Committee's Report into the need for a new European Regeneration Framework. It describes the regeneration policies, rules and schemes that are currently in place, as well as setting out arguments in favour of a new regeneration framework. It also includes a complete list of the Committee's recommendations.

Meanwhile the Cabinet Office have issued an eProcurement Functional Requirements Specification. This document sets out the functional requirements for an eProcurement interoperability standards in the public sector. These requirements cover the procurement cycle from enquiry through to remittance. The focus of the document is on the information content of messages exchanged between public sector buyers and external suppliers. Comments are welcomed on this document until 10 January 2003.
:: Kieran 10:56 PM [+] ::
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Tied Up With Chains Your Parents Made - Useful Links
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For the burgeoning Informatics professions the UK Council of Informatics Professionals has been established following a growing consensus that there is a need to develop Health Informatics as an independent profession. Defining Health Informatics as “The knowledge, skills and tools which enable information to be collected, managed, used and shared to support the delivery of healthcare and promote health” UKCHIP UKCHIP is a professional registration body for all those involved in health informatics. Well worth keeping an eye on.
:: Kieran 10:31 PM [+] ::
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Another 15 Minutes... Health News via Fade
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Milburn promises patient choice in three years

Health Secretary Alan Milburn says by 2005 all NHS patients should be able to have a choice over the hospital, time and doctor when they need an operation.

Daily Post 27/11/02
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NHS forced to use private nurses

Plans to recruit extra nurses to help hospitals cope with winter were greeted with scepticism yesterday.

The Sctosman 27/11/02
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No blame no gain?

The commission for health improvement has up until now been the Mr Nice Guy of inspectorates, but with more funding and more powers on the way all that could change.

The Guardian 27/11/02
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Northern lights

Crisis management and blame culture pervade our healthcare system, but a government watchdog reveals that hospital trusts embracing new ways of working are improving care.

The Guardian 27/11/02
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Timeline: a short history of the commission for health improvement

The Guardian 27/11/02
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We're failing our disabled children

Liverpool has been failing its disabled children and their families.

Daily Post 26/11/02
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:: Kieran 9:04 AM [+] ::
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Tied Up With Chains Your Parents Made - Useful Links
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NeLH awareness week is here so check out the National Electronic Library for Health out here. With Virtual Branch Libraries and specialist portals it's well worth a visit, honest guv! While you're surfing check out Aditus the North West Knowledge Portal, provided by the Health Care Libraries Unit North West, if you work for the NHS in the North West ask your local librarian for a password and use the key bibliographic databases and around 40 full text e-journals, these include special collections for nurses, those working in the mental health arena and all of the journals published by BMJ publishers. Even better it's free for NHS staff in the North West of England, what more could you want.
:: Kieran 6:42 AM [+] ::
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She Dazzled Me with Basil - Random Jottings
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Blog is giving us grief, it is either the network or more sinister blogger.com. It seems healthy now, maybe IT have sorted the network.
:: Kieran 12:45 AM [+] ::
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She Dazzled Me with Basil - Random Jottings
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Fade is piloting a current health news service at the moment as html attachments to e-mails. However we have had a request for a serious use for Blog technology and the use of a blog as a media for the transmission of ‘Typically Topical’. As the user concerned informs me typically topical sucks as a name (who’s been reading my blog Ken Clare!) and I have to agree with him the blog version is the Warholian ‘Another 15 Minutes’. If you like it as a service mail one of us to let us know, if you hate it let us know too.

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Another 15 Minutes... Health News via Fade
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Assault victim wins right to sue health authority
The Independent 23/11/02
Blood test breakthrough to prevent heart attacks
The Scotsman 25/11/02
Cannabis smoking by teenagers surges by 50 per cent
Daily Post 24/11/02
The Independent 25/11/02
Emergency radios can jam patients' lifelines
New Scientist 22/11/02
Hopes for better knee replacements
BBC Health 24/11/02
Fitness group to create 500 jobs
Daily Post 25/11/02
Focus: Cardinal Sins (Paedophilia)
Daily Post 25/11/02
The Independent 24/11/02
The Times 25/11/02
The Times 25/11/02
The Times 25/11/02
Food firms 'hijacking' healthy eating message
Daily Post 24/11/02
Jail population to top 100,000
The Independent 24/11/02
One in five schoolchildren is a smoker
The Independent 24/11/02
Make ecstasy a class B drug, says Blunkett adviser
The Independent 24/11/02
Ministers look on as they too near the brink on pay deals
Financial Times 24/11/02
Ministers to investigate stress and alcohol link to low sperm counts
The Independent 23/11/02
Hospital trust reports give Nestor a boost (Agency Staff)
The Times 23/11/02
New equality law to drop the word 'homosexual'
The Independent 25/11/02
Patients released with no care plan
The Independent 24/11/02
Psychology counselling on the internet
BBC Health 23/11/02
Scottish bat worker dies after contracting rabies
The Independent 23/11/02
The Independent 25/11/02
'Security risks' hold back Stone report
The Independent 24/11/02

:: Kieran 6:58 AM [+] ::
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She Dazzled Me with Basil - Random Jottings
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Team blog for Fade - The North West Grey Literature Service. News and views from the Fade team as it happens or the fancy takes us. Fade is the North West Grey Literature Service.
:: Kieran 6:15 AM [+] ::
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