links for 2009-02-01

"A STOCKTON-BASED pub chain defended a 'penny-a-pint' promotion after being accused of encouraging binge drinking. The Dukedom Group, which owns 32 venues across the UK, is offering a pint of Tetley beer for 1p to customers who buy a house spirit."

"To lend some credence to the NowPublic story, the writer cites the case of Brandy Bridges, from Maine, who apparently, went through a nightmare when a CFL broke in her daughter’s room. More fool her". The good news is that the level of mercury in the bulbs is so small that if you open the window and leave the room for 15 minutes you should be fine. The bad news is that I can remember repeatedly playing with a test-tube of mercury which came as a part of a hand-me-down 'science set' when I was a kid. So an early mercury-infected grave for me then :-(

"After all my moaning of recent times, a good news story. Lincoln City Council have released a site called Community Voice which links to all their ongoing consultations, with an RSS feed to keep up to date with new ones and comments so that people can have conversations about them."

Genius mash-up - work out how far away you have to be to survive when "the big one" drops...