Oracle Corporation - Redwood Shores, near California. Oracle today announced the release of a major maintenance release of version 11g of the companies flagship database server product. Charles Phillips took the world by surprise by making a major announcement a full six months ahead of Oracle Open World as he addressed the media (including 17 carefully selected representatives from the blogging community): ‘This release is the culmination of years of engineering effort aimed at delivering deterministic and reliable performance with the very highest levels of throughput. Oracle 11gR7 offers proven scalability for all Oracle applications including universal support for third party (aka legacy) applications while simultaneously reducing the cost of ownership and maximising the return on investment for all our customers.’ ...

‘We were the best team. People say over a season you finish where you deserve to, but we didn’t deserve to finish behind Manchester United. We were everyone’s second team.’ Terry McDermott on Newcastle’s near miss in 1996. Just a reminder of the final League positions for the 1995-1996 season. Team P W D L F A Pts Manchester United 38 25 7 6 73 35 82 Newcastle United 38 24 6 8 66 37 78

The Fall - Hazel Grove Youth Club (1979) - ‘We are The Fall. Rule One: no-one gets on stage. Rule Two: no spitting. Rule Three: no requests.’ The Chameleons - Salford University (1984) - The Manchester gigs just seemed so much more manic. The Fall - Stockport College (1979) - Not so much a stage as a large step. Standing three feet away from a snarling Mark E. Smith and his carrier bag. The Chameleons - Gallery (1982) - Notable for a gigantic leap by skinhead from the gallery onto the dance floor. When we left, we found him lying semi-conscious on the pavement outside. The Fall - Manchester Poly (1980) - Compered by the late John Peel. Smith waded into the crowd to sort out a brave individual who doused him in lager. The Smiths - Brixton Academy (1986) - Little did we know it but turned out to be the final Smiths show. Morrissey walking on wielding ‘The Queen is dead’ placard. Pure theatre. The Smiths, The Fall and New Order - G-Mex (1986) - If The Chameleons had been present, my life would have been complete. The Fall - Walthamstow (1986) - ‘Bend Sinister’ tour with Brix and two drummers. So fantastic we went to Woolwich the next night. U2 - Warwick University Arts Centre (1981) - U2 blown away by an unknown support band; ‘Hi - We’re The Chameleons and we’re from Manchester.’ The Chameleons - Shepherd’s Bush Empire (2001) - Reunion gig - After 14 long years, as if they had never been away. The Fall - Lyceum Ballroom (1984) - sad to say, I went on my own and taped this show with a cheap Saisho walkman from Dixons.

London, near England - 28 February 2008 Arsenal Football Club were left reeling following another hammer blow to their chances of winning the Premiership. Last night, the French international defender and club captain, William Gallas was sectioned under the mental health act. A spokesman commented: ‘This is an unusual step but the action was necessary for the safety of the individual and those around him.’ Investigations revealed that William Gallas’ mental fragility was long standing and deep rooted. Our intrepid reporter tracked down his parents in Asnières-sur-Seine: ...

The forthcoming release of WordPress 2.5 was one reason I was hesitant to move to Habari. However, having seen a demo of the revised dashboard in WordPress 2.5, all I can say is I am glad I made the move and didn’t wait. While I am merely an end user (not a UI designer), Michael Heilemann articulates many of my views on the deficiencies and usability of the Wordpress dashboard in this detailed analysis. ...