Video ad winner does Linux no favor

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and when the Linux Foundation announced a contest to produce a TV advertisement for Linux they meant well. It's just a shame the results don't end up doing Linux any favors. At all.

The problem with asking amateur film makers to make ads is that you get amateur results, unfortunately. And so, like watching your father dance at a wedding, it just ends up being embarrassing. Leaving aside the number of entrants who were so enthusiastic about the competition that they forgot the rule limiting the videos to 60 seconds, you have to wonder how some of the entries are meant to persuade people to use Linux.

Manchester waste deal

Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA) has signed a 25-year £3.8bn waste and recycling contract with Viridor Laing that will trigger a £640m construction programme, creating a network of recycling facilities over the next five years.

These will include abiological treatment plant with anaerobic digestion, a materials recovery facility and a combined heat and power plant.

Greater Manchester's network of 25 household waste recycling centres will also be upgraded.

MRI pressure

A pressure group that goes by the name of the MRI Alliance is demanding that the European Commission amends the Physical Agents (EMF) Directive, which, if adopted into national legislation, would drastically curtail the use of MRI scanners in hospitals.

The EMF Directive, adopted by the European Union (EU) in 2004, and due to come into force on national statute books in 2012, contains limits to occupational exposure of electromagnetic fields.The Directive was originally set to become law in 2008, but this was postponed due to pressure from the MRI community.