Colin

We should leave on the grounds that our politicians have only ever lied to us about Europe. I remember voting against entering the 'Common Market' because, even then, it was obvious that the government was holding back on the true nature of our involvement. Once out, we should then take another vote to decide if we want to get back in but, this time, on our own terms. Personally, I say out and stay out.

Wrong.. The problem with the independant is that the paper is to stiff for the only thing I can think it's useful for. As for giving "crazy's" a voice. Why not? I have not read Scotty's comments but if he thinks, for whatever reason, that gay men should not be allowed to adopt, he's entitled to his opinion and he's entitled to make it known. You might also find that quite a number of not so crazy people hold the same view and are afraid to voice it. Anyway, if it does become a platform for the crazy, you can bet that it will probably disappear as it's advertising revenue dries up.

Here's one I spotted earlier Seems like the Chinese have banned reincarnation.. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20227400/site/newsweek/

Not to a Welshman...

Weather can be a big problem but I remember seeing a really good Leonid (November) event a couple of years back. Biggest problem, even on very clear nights, is outside lighting. It's always best to get as far away from it as you can. You can see some Perseid meteors now if you care to spend he time looking. It's a very broad event. The peak is on Aug 12th.

Many years ago I was a union repand had to attend quite a few disciplinaries. Most were fairly boring but one or two were priceless. Best of the lot was when one worker, who 'traditionally' never worked on a Monday was finally called to account for himself. The manager, a hardened ex Welsh rugby internationl forward, who had a reputation for taking no nonsense, invited us to stand (not sit) in front of him and, when he was ready, said Well Mr Jones (not the real name) explain to me why you only appear to work 4 days per week. To which Mr Jones replied (imagine a solid Welsh accent here) "simple innit, can't live on 3 days pay..." Another disciplinary hearing was preceeded by the following; Branch reps were caled to the managers office (the same guy) at 9am on a Monday (something about Mondays) and asked to take a seat. The manager arrived looking very sombre and announced, in what was almost (for him) a very 'kind' tone of voice, that one of our collegues had collapsed and died on Swansea's High Street an 7pm the previous Saturday evening. Then came "It's not all bad news boys, he still managed to clock out at 10"....

My old Phillips cordless had a button on the handset marked 'Channel'. Anyway, if you can hear 'noise' on the line with only one device connected to the master socket (the phone), chances are that the problem is outside your house.

First off, and not being 'picky' but, I believe that it's REN (Ring Equivalence Number) not REM and it used to (maybe still does) refer to the loading various devices would put on a phone circuit. The maximum total value was (from memory) 4 and a standard telephone or answering machine had a REN of 1. These days, with digital exchanges etc., it's largely redundant as modern devices put very little load on the circuit. That's the 'waffle' done with now for some (possible) help. 1st thing I thought was that you might have a bad/missing filter. Dumb question; Have you checked that every socket in use has a filter attached? Have you tried disconnecting everything from your phone sockets (except your cordless phone) and re-connecting them one at a time? If there is a faulty device, this should help you find it. Have you checked your line yourself? I have found inthe past that BT's so called line check is rubbish. Pretty simple to do. All you need is an 'older' style telephone. Disconnect everything Plug the phone into your master socket. Dial any single digit. You should be able to hear 'nothing'. No hum, no crackles just a plain 'empty' sound. Anything else suggest that there might be a fault somewhere between your master socket and the exchange. NB.. This doesn't always work for Sky subscribers. They will have to remove the front cover from the master socket and use the 'hidden' socket inside. It's unlikely that your wireless network is interfering with your cordless phone as they are so far apart in frequency although it is possible that they are physically to close together and are interacting at their fundamental frequencies. Older cordless phones transmit on a few channels at around 49Mhz whilst the base station transmits at around 1.8Mhz (This is not an invitation to do anything illegal but, scanner users could check this ) Not quite sure where the newer DECT phones transmit but, it's different. I had a wireless network here (took it out -- to slow) and never had any problem with my DECT phones (set of 4). Having said that, you could try changing your router to a different channel. There are 11 available and, sometimes, switching to another channel can make some difference to performance.

Just discovered that Netobjects are giving away free copies of Netobjects Fusion v9 in the hope, obviously, that users will upgrade to version 10. Use Dreamweaver myself but, claimed a copy just to look at it. The following link might be of interest to anyone who wants to develop web sites. https://shops.netobjects.com/cgi-bin/pages/computeractive You will have to register etc. (*** mod edit - merged threads. Colin's thread was called "Not Really Freeware but". It's close enough me thinks ***)

Caroline Miller is only a 'player' in so much as she was the person who applied for the planning permission and, when it was refused, appealed the decision. As for others having 'greater roles', you should be mindful of the fact that a number of councillors, officials and local business people were opposed to having the Local Plan laid to waste in this way. Are you suggesting that the 'new kid on the block' has more clout and better contacts than the established 'players'. The decision was what it was because it was judged to be the correct one by an independent arbiter and, furthermore, it's announcement was within the timescale quoted for it's deliberation. It's a great shame that what is, essentially, a private dispute between two businesses is getting such a public airing and is subject to so much speculation.

I think that you have either missed, or are not aware of, some of the 'known facts' particularly with respect to Caroline Miller. Do you think that the planning decision went to appeal without legal advice indicating it's chances of success? I, for one, would be surprised if it did. Including 'unkown facts' (?) is just pure speculation and suggesting, as one of your 'probables', that it was 'a fix' IS, I'm sorry, conspiracy theory.

I like a good conspiracy theory as much as anyone else but you're stretching things a bit to much here. I think you need to get out more.

I didn't think that you were pickng on anyone in particular. Just wanted to point out that at least one person involved in organising the gig at Hamnavoe was aware that Scalloway Hall would be open on the same night. Neither hall, as far as I know, was aware that Whiteness Hall would also be open for a 'private' gig as well. Agreed, but it's up to the hirers to sort it out. If they, for whatever reason, want to go ahead there's not a lot that can be done about it. It's a frustrating situation all 'round and there are no winners. The hall committees (who work for nothing) wonder if it's worth the effort and aggravation supporting these events. The bands feel a bit down as they seem to be playing to empty rooms. The hirers wonder if it's worth their while as they might not have covered their expenses. The punters think that empty venues 'suck'.

Hmmmm, I think that you will find that at least one person involved with the night at Hamnavoe was well aware that Scalloway Hall would be open and knew this well before making their own plans.

Don't go blaming the halls for clashing. The night at Scalloway Hall was organised by Scalloway Gala Committee and NOT the Scalloway Hall Committee. We just provide the venue. Advertising and all other matters are the responsibility of the hirer. Having said that, when Scalloway Hall puts something on itself, we always advertise for at least 2 weeks in advance. As far as the halls co-operating is concerned, it's a non-starter. Just who is going to back off?. I can't speak for other halls but, at Scalloway, it's the hirer who chooses the date. If it clashes with activities elsewhere it's up to the hirer to either, cancel and choose another date or, go ahead anyway. In any event, I am not going to tell any Scalloway based group of volunteers that they cannot hire the hall because it will clash with something else. On the night in question Scalloway, Hamnavoe and Whiteness Halls were open. Scalloway and Hamnavoe were hosting fund raising events whilst Whiteness, as far as I know, was hired for an 'end of exams' bash.

I have been told that , apparently, some highlly paid consultant came up with this one. 1. Put 400 bricks in a closed room. 2. Put your new hires in the room and close the door. 3. Leave them alone and come back after 6 hours. 4. Then analyze the situation: a. If they are counting the bricks, put them in the Finance Department. b. If they are recounting them, Finance Department again. c. If they have messed up the whole place with the bricks, put them in Construction. d. If they are arranging the bricks in some strange order, put them in Planning. e. If they are throwing the bricks at each other, put them in Marine Operations. f. If they are sleeping, put them in Administration. g. If they have broken the bricks into pieces, put them in Information Technology. h. If they are sitting idle, put them in Personnell. i. If they say they have tried different combinations, and are looking for more, yet not a brick has been moved, put them in Research and Development. j. If they have already left for the day, put them in Housing. k. If they are staring out of the window, put them in Infrastructure Services. l. If they are talking to each other, and not a single brick has been moved, congratulate them and put them in Management. Finally, if they have surrounded themselves with bricks in such a way that they can neither be seen nor heard from, Don't hire them, Elect Them!!.

Couldn't find the old thread on Bolts Cash machine so, I'll try here instead. Has anyone else noticed that the ATM at Bolt's is no longer a Bank of Scotland ATM but now belongs to some faceless money grabbers who want £1.99 to let you get at your money? Just to keep this on topic. Does anyone else agree that the banking industry is guilty of malpractice by selling franchises to these machine operators? I might have this wrong but I believe that far to much money is charged for these services. Does anyone have an idea of the 'business model' that is applied? It was explained to me some time ago that any business can apply for a franchise (paid for of course) to operate an ATM via a link scheme. After that, they pay a fee/percentage (not sure) of the value of each transaction to the parent bank who then, proceed to charge the account holder for the privilege of accessing their money via a third party. Seems to me that the bank gets to charge you twice for granting access to your money this way. If that isn't a malpractice, what is.. Additionally, someone who has absolutely no connection with either yourself or your money also takes a bit off the top.. Anyway, gripe over for now except to say that I will NEVER use the ATM at Bolts again.

Good advice from others. Here's a bit more. If you paid using PayPay, open a dispute with them claiming 'Seriously Not As Described'. Normally, to win the dispute, you would have to return the goods (at your expense) via a singed for and trackable means but, if you also contact Trading Standards, they will give you a case number(?) and you can quote this in the PayPal dispute. Dead cert to win it and get all your money back. TS will also investigate your seller and, if he/she makes a habit of selling fakes, will take further action. As for feedback. Ebay will only remove it under certain circumstances. Best is to leave a calm and factual follow up. Anyone who is interested will soon figure out who was right.. Feedback is like virginity. It only takes one wooble.... Don't give up on Ebay. I've bought and sold quite a few things with no problems. Just be careful and, as suggested earlier, read everything twice. Make sure you understand exactly what is on offer. Don't get into 'bidding wars'. Check the sellers history as thoroughly as Ebay allow. Check the other bidders history as well. (to avoid 'shilled' auctions) Bid very late and bid the maximum (including p&p) that you are prepared to pay.

I thought she was a horse not a coo...

Brewing beer and wine was always a big thing in my family and used to do a fair bit myself. Never used anything other than clean water and elbow grease on the equipment. Best results (with patience) came from making wine and you can make it from almost anything. I have to admit that I used to cheat a little and add concentrated grape juice to the initial mix. Basic recipe was fruit (anything will do) that was 'mashed' then boiled in a strong sugar solution. Allow to cool then add the yeast. The type of yeast used is quite important and should be matched to the fruit. Try pears with a champagne yeast. Finish slightly sweet. Epic. One of my uncles once made quite a large batch of strawberry wine that not only tasted like a mild strawberry syrup but was also 'weapons grade' in it's effect. To see one of the hardest drinkers in the village staggering home from my uncle's with his trousers over his arm is a life changing experience I still have a couple of brewing jars + airlocks in the loft. Might just dig them out sometime. A tip for anyone interested; Try the local supermarkets for fruit. They have fairly strict (?) quality rules on what they can offer for sale so there's a good chance that you might be able to pick up some 'seconds' for brewing with.

Scalloway -> Lerwick up 40p tp £1.60p That's 33% Wonder how much the ferry fares are going up?

I might be missing something here but, having read most of the shorter posts here, I just don't understand why there is so much reluctance to accept that tidal energy is, possibly, a better alternative to wind power. Do we really want half the island covered by a wind farm? For myself, NO Is the possibility of being able to export electricity just spin? I think so. By the time things get moving properly everyone else will be doing it leaving us with a huge deficit and no market. Are the SIC capable of managing an investment of the size proposed? Do I need to ask? Why do the people who appear quite happy to have the island covered by 450 foot wind generators seem so reluctant to accept or consider relatively low level ground based facilities? My opinion is that the Gentec proposal is worthy of serious investigation as most of the technology is already available. Generating electricity from tidal barges or barriers is little different from existing, well proven, hydroelectric schemes. Storing the output as superheated water is relatively easy. Instead of storing it above ground, why not drill some bore holes and fill them with water. The height of the water column will ensure that sufficient pressure is maintained to superheat it. Little different from the geothermal stations used in Iceland. The only real difference is that electricity, not hot rock, will be used to heat it. I suspect that the real reason "Greenheatman" has been less than forthcoming on the detail is because he cannot protect any of the methods used. As an extra. I am not opposed to using wind generators. I just think that instead of grand schemes to provide half of the world with power, we should just generate enough for our own needs. If that works, and can be shown to work both efficiently and effectively, outside interests will be climbing all over us for a piece of the action. Let THEM put up the money and just charge them rent for the ground/facilities etc. Clean money after that.

I know some people in Lerwick who built their house just over 15 years ago at a cost of £35k. Just had it re-valued and it tops £325k. Seems like a lot of money for what is, basically, wood.

Not really relevant but I saw this on a builders van in Cambridge a few years ago; "Patel & Patel - You've tried the cowboys, now try the indians."

Keep your eyes peeled for aurora as well. http://spaceweather.com suggests a reasonable possibility for northern latitudes.