Nanny's Back!

Good morning loyal readers!

Doubtless many of you have been wondering where this site went to over the last couple of days, indeed I have received a number of worried emails from some of you expressing concerns about the site's unexpected disappearance from cyberspace.

Well, here we are again, I will now relate to you what happened.

Google's (the owner of Blogger) spam bots claimed that Nanny Knows Best was a spam blog and, believing in the principle of shooting first and asking questions later (instead of the more sensible reverse policy), disabled it and asked me to prove it wasn't spam.

Wouldn't it have been more sensible to ask me first if it was spam, and to say if I don't come back in 3 days or so they will then disable the site?

Having deactivated the site without any warning, I was told by Google that I would have to wait several days for them to reactivate it:

"Blogger's spam-prevention robots have detected that your blog has characteristics of a spam blog. (What is a spam blog?) Since you are an actual person reading this, your blog is probably not a spam blog. Automated spam detection is inherently fuzzy and we sincerely apologise for this false positive.

We received your unlock request on 09 May 2010. On behalf of the robots, we apologise for locking your non-spam blog. Please be patient while we take a look at your blog and verify that it is not spam."

I decided that being asked to wait for such a long period of time was not very satisfactory, given that this site has been going for many years and has a real human following etc. Therefore I enlisted your help and asked (via my other sites) for people to drop Google a note prodding them about this.

Oddly enough, for a leading 21st century web company, Google is rather hard to contact directly via email.

Nonetheless I found a number of access points:

press-uk@google.com

- Phone: +44 (0)20-7031-3000
- Fax: +44 (0)20-7031-3001

I also faxed the CEO (Eric Schmidt) in the USA (+1 650-253-0001) about it. Oddly enough, within an hour or so of faxing, the site reappeared as if by magic.

My heartfelt thanks to all of you who wrote in, and helped restore this site.

It is ironic that NKB was shut down, as it campaigns against censorship etc.

To add further irony to the story, my HMRC site (www.hmrcisshite.com) which is also on Google was also temporarily out of action on Sunday. However, it restored itself within a few hours.

However, what was really odd was that my gmail account (another Google product) was disabled by Google on Sunday. They asked me to email them my mobile phone number in order for them to send me a reactivation code.

Is Google trying to tell me something?

Once again many thanks for your support and help during this period of stupidity by Google.
Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.comwww.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Nanny Knows Best

Off topic, but I would appreciate help from those of you who also read "Nanny Knows Best".

Google's spam bots claim that Nanny Knows Best is spam and have temporarily disabled it.

I now have to wait several days for them to reactivate it:

"Blogger's spam-prevention robots have detected that your blog has characteristics of a spam blog. (What is a spam blog?) Since you are an actual person reading this, your blog is probably not a spam blog. Automated spam detection is inherently fuzzy and we sincerely apologise for this false positive.

We received your unlock request on 09 May 2010. On behalf of the robots, we apologise for locking your non-spam blog. Please be patient while we take a look at your blog and verify that it is not spam."

If you can find time to drop Google a note prodding them about this, it would be much appreciated.

press-uk@google.com

Phone: +44 (0)20-7031-3000
Fax: +44 (0)20-7031-3001

It is ironic as NKB campaigns against censorship etc, and indeed (oddly enough) my HMRC site was also down yesterday for a few hours plus my Gmail account (which needed me to reactivate it by sending in my mobile phone number for a special code).

Is Google trying to tell me something?

Thanks

Ken

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.comwww.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

One Million Registrants

Whilst more than a million people had registered for tickets to events at the 2012 London Olympic Games, the organisers have told a gathering of influential world sports leaders that they still need to secure 117 further planning permits to host the 2012 Games.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.comwww.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Jobs For All!

One of the benefits of the London 2012 Olympics, so we were told, was that it was meant to provide jobs in the less wealthy part of London where the games are to be staged.

Taken literally, that is true. However, the actualite is not quite so inspiring.

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has revealed that 828 workers out of the total 6,277 workers on the Olympic site are Britons who live locally.

This revelation did not come voluntarily, but was made as a result of a Freedom of Information request (made 6 months ago).

Was it not Gordon Brown who promised that the Olympics would deliver "British jobs for British workers"?

A fatuous and divisive promise, the globalisation of the economy and the fact that we belong to the EU means that large projects such as this will always attract migrant labour (just as British workers go abroad for similar projects).

The foolishness was making the promise in the first place.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.com
www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Unsustainable

The Telegraph reports that two years ago Aggregate Industries was awarded the contract to supply aggregate materials (eg concrete, gravel, stone and sand) to the Olympic Park. A key element, so people were given to understand at the time, of the contract was that 99% of the materials would be transported by sustainable transport methods. Within this figure, 25% (250,000 tons) would come by barge via Prescott Lock on the River Lea.

However, Tessa Jowell, the Olympics minister, has revealed that during 2009 a pathetic 600 tons of material had been transported to the Olympic Park by water.

For why?

It seems that the financial downturn has scuppered the plans to carry out the necessary dredging work. Therefore the tide is only high enough to carry barges for a few hours each day.

However, Aggregate Industries will not face sanctions, it seems that the ODA did not make it a binding requirement of the contract (even though it was a key part of the contract).

I wonder how many other Olympics contracts have been so "naively" negotiated by the ODA?

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.com
www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

The Evening Standard repotts that Newham, the London Olympics borough, is one of London's robbery hotspots.

Met statistics show Newham, with 2,077 offences, the second worst borough for robberies last year.

Its Stratford and New Town ward (including the international rail and Tube stations) came third in a table of London's most robbery-hit wards with 219 offences.

Newham's Forest Gate South ward was also among the top 10 worst areas.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.com
www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Record Breaking Olympics

The London 2012 Olympics promises to break at least one record, the number of drugs tests carried out.

The London Organising Committee (Locog) will carry out around 5,000 tests, 10% more than were performed in Beijing in 2008.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.com
www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Environmental Legacy

The Daily India ran this story back in February about the contamination of the London Olympics site, that seemingly is buried beneath a plastic sheet.

How true is this story, and how much of a hazard does this present given that there is meant to be a "legacy" after the games?

"The entire Olympics site in London has reportedly been built on top of a thin plastic sheet laid at a depth of less than three feet to separate the surface soil from potentially heavily contaminated ground below.

According to reports, it has been revealed that London 2012 chiefs have covered up land that is possibly contaminated with asbestos and radioactive materials with a huge and bright orange sheet.

Spanning more than 600 acres it is buried at a depth of 31inches to protect the health and safety of future builders and homeowners. It is designed as a warning marker layer to anyone digging the foundations of new homes and offices that they must follow special precautions if there is a need to excavate more deeply, the Express reports.

While "clean" soil and debris have been placed above the sheet, anything below it has to be considered hazardous unless proved otherwise."

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.com
www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"