back to article How bad WAS the parking situation in Middelfart* in 2013?

The European Commission has flung £6m at a new digital archive for storing public and private sector data generated by European nations. Dubbed E-ARK, which stands for European Archival Records and Knowledge Preservation, the new system will set a "gold standard" for the hoarding of old and new information. E-ARK is a future- …

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  1. psychonaut

    the year is two thousand and 1984

    Minitruth is established.

    1. Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face
      Big Brother

      Re: the year is two thousand and 1984

      Now then "Citizen" careful what you say here...

  2. Torben Mogensen

    Middelfart

    I can't see how that name is unfortunate. In Danish the meaning is roughly "Middle seafaring" and alludes to the fact that there used to be ferry services from Middelfart to Jutland. Now there's a bridge, but you do pass Middelfart if you go from the island Fyn to Jutland. "Fart" can also mean movement or speed in general, so there is a joke that goes like this: "Q: Why are there so many speeding tickets between Odense and Fredericia? A: Because you have to go over Middelfart." (middle speed).

    By the same reasoning you call Middelfart unfortunate, Middlesex is downright disastrous.

    1. JudeKay (Written by Reg staff)

      Re: Middelfart

      If there were an English town called By Af Prutter you'd find that amusing, not so? I agree with you about Middlesex too... I should probably grow up, but IMHO sex is funny, and so are farts.

      1. Primus Secundus Tertius

        Re: Middelfart

        It amuses Germans to wish their English guests a safe journey: "gute Fahrt".

        1. big_D Silver badge

          Re: Middelfart

          No, they just find it embarassing when drunk Z-List celebs come on German chat shows and make Fahrt jokes (yes, I'm looking at you Pink!)

          She was totally wasted and it was the first time I've seen a presenter (Stefan Raab) looking at the floor producer with a begging look for him to jump to commercial.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Middelfart

        I should probably grow up, but IMHO sex is funny, and so are farts."

        Not if you're in the same room.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Middelfart

      You could try a few British locations

      Brown Willy

      Great Cockup

      Crapstone

      Happy Bottom

      Scratchy Bottom

      Shitterton

      and many, many more.....

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Middelfart

        I've been up Brown Willy. Part of me hoped no-one would see me.

      2. JudeKay (Written by Reg staff)

        Re: Re: Middelfart

        Heehee... Backside in Aberdeenshire....

        1. Gray Ham Bronze badge

          Re: Middelfart

          May I contribute to the degradation of Jude's Friday productivity with Wangqing and Fuxing ... both towns in Jilin Province?

          1. big_D Silver badge
            Pint

            Re: Middelfart

            You are forgetting the village of F*cking in Austria, which is getting tired of juvenile tourists stealing the village sign!

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Middelfart

              > You are forgetting the village of F*cking in Austria

              Last I checked it was spelled with an 'u'.

  3. J.G.Harston Silver badge

    Obligatory HHGTTG reference

    What happened to A-ARK to D-ARK?

    1. big_D Silver badge

      Re: Obligatory HHGTTG reference

      Hopefully they are filling up the B-Ark with bankers at the moment...

      1. Rukario

        Re: Obligatory HHGTTG reference

        Not really, we can leave Jamie Dimon and Lloyd Blankfein to be eaten by the enormous mutant star goat.

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  5. Jim 59

    Data

    We can still read ancient Egyptian scrolls after thousands of years. Because a scroll can just sit in a cave all that time. Not so digital data. It requires a digital infrastructure to exist always, and constant trans-coding due to technology advances. Even if you just lobbed a thumb drive into a tomb, would the machines to read it be around after 1000 yrs?

    1. I Am Spartacus

      Re: Data

      Jim 59 raises a very interesting issue. 30+ years ago I was archiving stuff on to 1600 BPI tape. Two years ago I found my old tapes and attempted to read them The best I could do was pay a data recovery company a small fortune. Frankly, my old Fortran and PL/1 code was not worth that so I junked them.

      20 years ago I was installed DEC kit with SCSI arrays using 2GB disks. Top of the range then. Now I could not even boot Windows on to 2GB. I would struggle to find an interface card to to read handle DEC's specific implementation these days.

      Disks don't last forever, even tapes have to be refreshed.

      I wonder how long they think the e-Ark will last?

  6. Scroticus Canis
    Coat

    And I thought Middelfart was...

    ...the explosive decoupling of a turd into turd-turd.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Nominative Determinism

    Spokesperson for a continent-spanning project to future-proof data mining : Dr Delve.

  8. Piro Silver badge

    Similarly, if you know any Danish..

    Grimsby becomes a description the inhabitants may not appreciate.

    ("Grim by" being ugly town). That said, it was apparently founded by a man from Denmark called Grim. Being called ugly is even more unfortunate.

  9. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Unhappy

    "Dr Delve?"

    You can't make this up.

  10. Torben Mogensen

    REALLY unfortunate Danish town names

    There are some towns in Denmark that even the locals find embarrassing: Tarm (intestine, though originally used for any long and narrow passage), Hørmested (smelly place, origin probably from "horn"), Bøvl (trouble, originally "bend"), and Lem (member, originally "barrow place").

    Then there are some that are just mildly funny, such as Sengeløse (without beds), Springforbi (jump past), Tappernøje (taps liquid precisely), Bagsværd (back sword, though originally back sward) and Middelfart (middle speed, originally middle ferry passage), though we can see why some English speakers find that name a bit embarrassing.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Would be better, and possible more accurate, if it was called the Knowledge Records Archive, and Preservation In Europe, or KRAPIE for short.

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