Storming the brain with nonsense

Management consultants and government committes have always been about the buzzwords. However, they have been out of control for a while now. When we see the reports and PowerPoint presentations at their meetings, we technical folks come away with a feeling of emptiness. Now, we know that there are enough people out there who have become fed up enough with all the mindless jargon:

[From CNN.com]

Speak the King's English, please, no more buzzwords

LONDON, England (AP) -- British bureaucrats have been warned: no more synergies, stakeholders or sustainable communities.

The body that represents the country's local authorities has told its members to stop using management buzzwords, saying they confuse people and prevent residents from understanding what local governments do.

The Local Government Association, whose members include hundreds of district, town and county councils in England and Wales, on Friday sent out a list of 100 "non-words" that it said officials should avoid if they want to be understood.

The list includes the popular but vague term "empowerment;" "coterminosity," a situation in which two organizations oversee the same geographical area; and "synergies," combinations in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Officials were told to ditch the term "revenue stream" for income, as well as the imprecise "sustainable communities." The association also said councils should stop referring to local residents as "customers" or "stakeholders."

The association's chairman, Simon Milton, said officials should not "hide behind impenetrable jargon and phrases."

"Why do we have to have 'coterminous, stakeholder engagement' when we could just 'talk to people' instead?" he said.

The association sent its letter after reports that one town council had told staff to use the term "thought showers" instead of "brainstorming."

Officials at Tunbridge Wells council in southern England felt brainstorming might offend people with epilepsy, a condition that involves periodic electrical storms inside the brain.

However, the National Society for Epilepsy said it had surveyed its members and they did not find the term offensive.

"Brainstorming" is not on the Local Government Association's list.

Innocent by way of... Sudoku!

From CNN.com:

Sudoku-playing jurors halt $950,000 trial

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- An Australian judge has aborted a drug trial after discovering that some of the jurors were playing the puzzle game Sudoku while evidence was being given.

The $950,000 drugs trial was aborted after the judge discovered that jurors had been playing Sudoku.

Sydney District Court Judge Peter Zahra ended the trial Tuesday for two men facing drugs conspiracy charges. The trial had been running for 66 days and had cost taxpayers an estimated US $950,000.

The judge was alerted after it was observed the jurors were writing vertically, rather than horizontally. It had been assumed they were taking notes.

The jury foreperson admitted to the judge that four to five jurors were playing puzzle games for up to half the time the trial had been going.

A new trial is expected to begin in a few weeks.