Unfriending is a violent act

FOI request

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 07:44:23 GMT

Following comments from government about how inflation is related to public sector pay (as an argument to restrict public sector pay rises to 2% when inflation is running at 4-6% and private sector pay rises are running around 3.5-4%), I sent the following Freedom of Information request to parliament:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information act (2000) I should like to request the following information.

What is the total number of people employed in the public sector in the UK?
What is the total number of people employed in the private sector in the UK?

For the purposes of this question: Employed means in payed employment; Public sector includes those employed by bodies such as the NHS, Local Government, Civil Service, the Judiciary and any other body funded through the public purse whether the funding is collected centrally (e.g. income tax) or locally (e.g. Council Tax). Private sector includes this employed by an organization not primarily funded through the public purse such as through sales of goods, fee for service, charitable donation, commission &c.

Hopefully I'll get an answer, although I'm not holding my breath.

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Mon, 05 May 2008 23:07:57 GMT

21:01 Being depressed. apparently everything is my fault. #

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Mon, 05 May 2008 20:58:32 GMT

After 2 days of watching Music on Demand (off and on) I have come to a conclusion about Avril Lavigne. The quakity of her music is inversely proportional to the lightness of her hair, or proportional to the darkness.

Blonde Avril gives us "Girlfriend" and "Best Damn Thing"
Light Brown Haired Avril gives us "Complicated", "Sk8er Boi" and "I'm with you"
Dark Brown Haired Avril gives us "My Happy Ending"

Blonde = Bubble Gum Pop
Brown hair = Good Music

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Fri, 25 Apr 2008 23:02:57 GMT

18:12 Trying to learn UML #

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Sat, 19 Apr 2008 19:53:29 GMT

Last week someone described me as being manic-depressive. I had to point out that I don't really have manic phases. just depressive and more depressive.

Right now I'd say I'm low but not as low as I can get, not quite as bad as last week. Still hoping for a nuclear apocalypse though.

Last night my sister and her husband came round to watch DVDs. First we watched 'Stardust' which is good. After that and them not responding to the the question "What should I put on next?" for about 10 minutes I put on 'SiCKO'. My sister cried at the bit about the 79 year old who has to continue to work for the medical coverage for his sick wife. It's probably for the best that they left before we got to the kid who died because she was taken to a hospital that wasn't 'in network' for the medical insurance company her mother had bought her policy from and the insurance company wouldn't even pay for the treatment to stabilise her enough to transport to an in network hospital.

Today I watched the rest of 'SiCKO' on DVD then 'Britz' on VirginMedia TV On-Demand then 'St Trinians' on DVD followed by 'Dr Who' on BBC1 then 'Dr Who Confidential' on BBC3. Now I'm watching Evanescence videos on VirginMedia Music On Demand, when I've watched all them I'll most onto other groups.

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Sun, 13 Apr 2008 23:02:02 GMT

18:50 Watching a documentary about how abused kids become criminals and abusive parents. #

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Fri, 11 Apr 2008 23:03:03 GMT

08:38 tinyurl.com/6zkxlv #
18:52 Feeling depressed and frustrated, wanting the world to end, think the human race is too sick to be allowed to live #

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The human race is too sick to be allowed to survive

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:42:08 GMT

It's my 38th birthday today, I hate the world. My sister has said she'll be coming over later (she says that every Friday, she actually does about half the time but usually only a flying visit to neck some alcohol then leave). Apparently she's going to pick up my birthday present from our mom and drop it off. Our mom always spends far too much on utter crap that I don't want and can't use then spends the rest of the year complaining about how she doesn't have any money.

Watched "Bridge to Terabitha" last night on 'VirginMedia on demand', they had it on special offer for one pence, because my sister recommended it and said it was great with a good plot twist. I wrote a review on IMDB. It's crap, so is the plot twist.

There's never a nuclear apocalypse when you need one, or even two angels from Wisconsin trying to get to New Jersey to enter a church and so negate the whole of existance. I'm not fussed, I just want the world to end.

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Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:04:03 GMT

13:12 Reworking my 'Personal Profile' (internal CV/Resume type of thing) for work. #

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Reworking my personal profile at work

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:32:36 GMT

I've had some feedback on my personal profile so I've reworked it again.

Name: Stephen Booth Contact: 07795590508

Current Role: Technical Lead Profile Last Updated: 19/03/08

Personal Statement

A PRINCE2 (Foundation) and ITIL (Foundation) qualified Technical Lead working in a multidisciplinary, multivendor environment to deliver transformational business and IT solutions to reduce overheads, minimise back office costs and improve frontline services to customers. Suited to both business and technical environments and roles.

Long term career goal to develop into a management role. Short term goal is to use and develop my business skills more and capitalize on my non-technical experience to transition into a business role

Planned training:

· ISEB Diploma in Business Analysis

· Presentation Skills

· Facilitation Skills

· Coaching

· Creative Problem Solving

· Understanding Behaviour

· Interpersonal Skills

Skills

n Written communication skills described as “second to none” by assignment manager on CST. Recently approached by [gantthead.com] (http://www.gantthead.com/, “The online community for IT project managers”) for use of a quotation from myself in their marketing literature.

n Good research skills

n Good problem solving skills

n Training Needs Analysis

n UNIX shell and Oracle SQL scripting

n Oracle DBA (install, configure, troubleshoot)

Attributes

n Proven ability to pick things up quickly, adaptable

n Familiar with both business and technical environments

n Analytical Self Starter

n Used to working independently with minimal supervision to high level, broad, brief or as part of a team

n DiSC profile 6-1-3-7 (Creative), full profile (as at 27/08/07) available

n Good overall knowledge of IT and how it fits into businesses

Achievements / Experience

n Invited by Keele University to address final year undergraduate students on job seeking and careers

n Invited by Oracle University (training arm of Oracle Corporation) to deliver presentations to an upcoming programme of seminars they are running in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

n Gained accreditation in PRINCE2 and ITIL at Foundation level

n Achieved over 75% saving on automated PDF and TIFF production in ad-hoc payments system; researched, evaluated and recommended alternate products to identify one that was cheaper, faster and more easy to configure than the one initially recommended by the vendor, who adopted it as their preferred solution

n Developed methodology for secure transfer of highly confidential electronic documents by non-technical staff

n Developed and maintained excellent customer contact with both internal and external customers, including pre-sales and second/third line support roles

n Developed and maintained security standards for database systems in Birmingham City Council

n Facilitated and successfully organized meetings in the workplace and externally with positive outcomes

n Evaluated products against business needs to recommend the optimum solution

n Developed website for UNISON Birmingham Branch

n 12 years in IT doing everything from basic desktop support to implementing N-Tier server stacks in multi million pound projects

n Specified, procured, installed and configured Sun servers running Oracle and various applications for projects, installed and configured applications and Oracle RDBMS software

Accreditations

n PRINCE2 (Foundation)

n ITIL (Foundation)

Career Aspirations

n Long Term: Develop into a management/project management role

n Short term goal is to use and develop my business skills more and capitalize on my non-technical experience to transition into a business role

n Gain new skills and greater authority

n Apply and develop my skills and experience in an interesting job

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Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:07:05 GMT

22:02 Watching "Southland Tales", it's banal. #

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Sun, 06 Apr 2008 23:07:13 GMT

00:45 Just got home after leafleting Cllr Tillesley's ward and visitng my father. #

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Tue, 01 Apr 2008 23:06:58 GMT

08:38 Wondering how many April Fools jokes BBC Breakfast News are going to try to squeeze in. #
11:25 @gareth HMP = Her Majesty's Prisons? #

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Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:55:58 GMT

I've been working on my 'Personal Profile' for work. The business unit I'm in we're kinda internal consultants sao we have to have personal profiles for the resourcing team to use to 'sell' us to the projects we work on.

Apparently people looking at mine have said I come accross as too technical. Well, duh! I'm from a technical background and my job title is Technical Lead, what do they expect me to be?

Name: Stephen Booth Contact: 07795590508

Current Role: Technical Lead Profile Last Updated: 19/03/08

Personal Statement

A PRINCE2 (Foundation) and ITIL (Foundation) qualified Technical Lead working in a multidisciplinary, multivendor environment to deliver transformational IT and business solutions to reduce overheads, minimise back office costs and improve frontline services to customers. Suited to both business and technical environments and roles.

Planned training:

· ISEB Diploma in Business Analysis

· Presentation Skills

· Facilitation Skills

· Coaching

· Creative Problem Solving

· Understanding Behaviour

· Interpersonal Skills

Long term career goal to develop into a management role.

Skills

n Written communication skills described as “second to none” by assignment manager on CST.

n Good research skills

n Good problem solving skills

n UNIX shell and Oracle SQL scripting

n Oracle DBA (install, configure, troubleshoot)

n Training Needs Analysis

Attributes

n Tend to pick things up quickly, adaptable

n Familiar with both business and technical environments

n Analytical Self Starter

n Used to working independently with minimal supervision to high level, broad, brief

n DiSC profile 6-1-3-7 (Creative), full profile (as at 27/08/07) available

n Good overall technical knowledge

Achievements / Experience

n Gained accreditation in PRINCE2 and ITIL at Foundation level

n Developed methodology for secure transfer of highly confidential electronic documents by non-technical staff

n Developed and maintained excellent customer contact with both internal and external customers, including pre-sales and second/third line support roles

n Developed and maintained security standards for database systems in Birmingham City Council

n Invited by Keele University to address current final year students on job seeking and careers

n Facilitated and successfully organized meetings in the workplace and externally

n Evaluated products against business needs to recommend the optimum solution

n Developed website for UNISON Birmingham Branch

n 12 years in IT doing everything from basic desktop support to implementing N-Tier server stacks in multi million pound projects

n Specified, procured, installed and configured Sun servers running Oracle and various applications for projects, installed and configured applications and Oracle RDBMS software

Accreditations

n PRINCE2 (Foundation)

n ITIL (Foundation)

Career Aspirations

n Develop into a management/project management role

n Gain new skills and greater authority

n Interesting job

I hope this is non-technical enough for them.

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Sun, 30 Mar 2008 00:07:03 GMT

17:08 Watching the video to "Confide in me" by Kylie Minogue. Very different vibe to the song alone. Less Spiritual. #

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Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:07:56 GMT

11:02 Marveling at how people are getting all aerated over teenagers drinking the equivalent of one unit of alcohol a day. #

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Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:04:07 GMT

01:14 Watching BBC News 24 coverage of the situation in Somalia. Can't afford to feed themselves but seem to have plenty of cash for ammo. #
01:16 Feeling rather cynical about the world. #
01:20 Seeing Xtian MPs claiming they have to be accountable to their god. No! You have to be accountable to your constituency, gods don't vote. #

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Mon, 24 Mar 2008 00:05:14 GMT

13:02 Cold. Wondering if someone could please explain tot he weather that it's March, not January. #

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Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:27:34 GMT

16:02 Just had my Performance and development review, third in the last 12 months due to changing line managers in that time #
16:03 Stuck on my personal profile for work, specifically the "Career Aspirations" section. I don't think "6 figure salary" is what they want. #

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Thu, 20 Mar 2008 00:04:01 GMT

08:18 Watching Victoria Wood being interviewed on BBC Breakfast about her campaign to keep her local post office open. #
08:34 Watching item about Tory electoral fraud on BBC Breakfast News #

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Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:07:03 GMT

16:47 Just had my Performance and development review, third in the last 12 months due to changing line managers in that time #

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Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:04:06 GMT

08:41 Watching BBC breakfast news about a 65 year old fitness instructor who is claiming age discrimination. #
12:57 updating union branch website www.birminghamunison.co.uk/ #
13:25 Popping out to get some lunch. #
20:14 just watched V for vendetta. Governments _should_ be afraid of their people. #

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Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:03:35 GMT

12:57 Watching a documentary about tea #
21:05 @stevebosman I use AVG free, seems to work fine. #

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Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:06:03 GMT

10:29 Thinking of going to the pitch and putt at Tudor Grange before heading to my dad's. Anyone want to come along? #

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Sat, 15 Mar 2008 00:07:01 GMT

21:10 Thinking the drummer of New Young Pony Club is really quite attractive. #
21:16 Watching Daft Punk videos on Music On Demand #
21:34 Wondering why they bothered to cut the line "and screw" out of the video for Pulp's 'Common People' #
22:11 Watching "Terminator: Sarah Conner Chronicles" and wondering if my house is bugged. #

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