UK judge asks "What's a web site?" 18 May 2007

During a trial on Wednesday, a British judge admitted he was struggling to cope with the use of basic terms like "web site". Judge Peter Openshaw told the court "The trouble is I don't understand the language. I don't really understand what a web site is...I haven't quite grasped the concepts". Good job the three men standing trial were only accused of the trivial matter of inciting global terrorism (!).

As other bloggers have said, it's difficult to grasp how anyone in Openshaw's position could be so insulated from the everyday realities of modern life. It reminds us of this quote from Austin Powers' Dr. Evil:

"Back in the 60s I developed a weather-changing- machine, which was an essence to sophisticated heat-beam, which we called a 'laser'. Using these 'lasers' we punch a hole in the protective layer round the world, which we call 'the ozone layer'..."

[via Yahoo! News / CNET News]