DamnSaxon

That's right - hence my comment about it being "the best thing for 25 years" When you think how quickly those machines "booted" with their <5MHz processors, it seems ridiculous how long it takes your modern bloat-powered job to start up at >1000MHz. That's what really attracts me to this. Do you suppose if enough of us asked, they'd give us a row of ROM sockets on the m/b, so we could plug in our own selection of "instant-on" apps? Er, a bit like the good ol' BBC computer used to have? Also, surfing with their browser, you wouldn't get too much trouble with viruses. It'd be very difficult to infect a read only chip in the machine. Presumably it'd still need to keep an eye on the hard drive for when you got round to starting the OS, of course, but a ROM browser could still refuse to do anything except download and store to keep a guard up - run nothing, install nothing, just browse. I still want one. In all my machines.

Check. Couple downstairs from me some years ago had a gay dog. Show him a bitch, not interested. But he'd "have a go" with any of the other dogs. And just like us humans - most of them didn't seem too impressed with his advances, with occasionally entertaining results

Ain't it the way, though ... the louder the goveernment shouts about the evils of something (terrorism, drugs, whatever), the "cooler" it seems to a young person to be involved in it. I certainly wanted to "kick against the system" when I was young, most people seem to, and if the government's constantly telling you who's the evil of the moment, hey, I'm one of them. It's also very worrying that you can't even look at these "subversive" publications without being assumed to be a terrorist. I remember years ago, before all the hoo-hah, coming across "The Terrorist's Handbook", which has been mentioned in one or two cases. I leafed through it with an intelligent amateur's appreciation of chemistry and found it pretty terrifying, not least the observation right at the front that even if military-trained personnel are driven to use these last-resort munitions, you can expect about 1 in 3 of them to die in the preparation - and from what I can remember of some of the chemistry in it, that's probably an optimistic figure. Any real terrorist is going to want the preparations to be a darn sight more discreet than that, but no, our masters deem the T.H. to be evidence of intent. I think I'd better check through all my old floppies and make sure I haven't still got it somewhere, or it's off to the Scrubs with me ...

Okay, perhaps the "Operating System" thread isn't the perfect place for this. This is the sweetest thing I've seen in computing in 25 years. Who needs an operating system anymore? http://www.splashtop.com/index.php I want one. I want it NOW.

Sheepshagger - No malice intended "me owd", I just couldn't resist a bit of selective quotation Actually I'm at least partly in agreement with you - it's strange here these days, just down the hill from me the predominant language is Polish, with Turkish running pretty close, and although the great majority of them are decent enough sorts the area does feel different from when "standard Midlands" was the predominant language. Go in a different direction and you get to the tower blocks where there are some none-too-desirable heavies over here illegally from Jamaica. And Leicester is on the cusp of being the first British city to become over 50% Asian. You're quite right about "at the expense of the majority" (although you do need to beware of "the tyranny of the majority"), and I think we agree about crimes against the person, whether physical or just taking unfair advantage. Going against others' religious beliefs - it depends really on how tolerant the religion in question is, some are distinctly intolerant which can make it distinctly risky. But what can be done about the clash of cultures? - There are parts of Spain and southern France where the locals find "English enclaves" just as objectionable, and as the world gets smaller it's something all societies, and all migrants, are going to have to deal with. But going to another country and ignoring their laws/culture is definitely out of order - if that place's ethos means so little to you, what the hell are you doing going there? (Not getting at your activities in dry countries btw, most of the people I know who've worked over there did just the same.) As and when I get to Shetland, I'm planning on enjoying exactly the sort of stuff that makes it Shetland - I shan't be trying to turn it into an outpost of "Englishness". Whatever that is ...

http://members.aol.com/robinjoan4/homewav/waterprf.jpg Don't try this at home. (Maybe someone else's home ... )

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7081038.stm

This Sentence Expresses a Falsehood.

An aging Triumph Vitesse (the 1.6L, 6-cylinder original) with a Bond Equipe bonnet which gave it a strange and very distinctive "droop snoot". Put my own overdrive in one weekend. 40mpg at 80mph. Had to go when MOT time came round, though. No chassis left! (Any former Triumph owner will know the feeling )

^^^ ... and no foolishness like the foolishness you feel when you free it

Mmm, and that particular form of gambling is alleged to be about 70% of the UK's wealth nowadays ... and we seem to have forgotten how to manufacture anything anymore ... I wouldn't be surprised either, and it's not a pretty thought.

Sheepshagger, it sounds like your own nefarious and criminal activities in foreign lands offend your own principles ... Or should we just ignore 'dry' countries' laws because we Brits have that one 'right'? What about people who like using drugs that happen to be illegal here but are tolerated where they come from? Depends on the minority in question, surely? Romanians who are into stoving other peoples' heads in with bricks (a la original story) are one thing, but if it's (say) a Romanian music and dance ensemble, then, as Yeah. Only common sense, really (whatever exactly that is!).

Er, yes, but every study seems to show that CCTV makes no overall difference to crime rates - in some areas crime goes down, but in others it goes up or stays much the same. It does, however, give the police / authorities a full record of your innocent doings, if you really think that's desirable. And never forget that figure of 4.5 million cameras in the UK relates to 2002. I haven't noticed any slowdown in the infestation in my local city, but I've never seen a more recent (= more worrying?) figure. Also, does the figure include the millions in pubs, clubs, shops ... ? - all of which are used by the police.

I'd like to recommend also a look at Rudolf Steiner's methods, having spent a good few years at a Steiner school. The children start in Kindergarten at three-and-a-half to four, but start formal education around seven - and IMHO the education they start then is very good, more centred on the individual child than the State system in the UK. Worth a look.

^^^ Er, yes, except that global warming might turn off the Gulf Stream and plunge the UK into its own special Ice Age ... (There's no "shivering" smiley ...)

My all time favourite from FZ is: "Rock journalism is people who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, for the benefit of people who can't read." He didn't believe in treading gently around the subject, did he?

Well, I've lived in the red light area of this fine city for thirty-odd years (I heard that smutty comment at the back), and have known one or two of the girls (And that one! Socially, I mean!). Anyhow, another short essay by DS. Thirty years or so ago, a fair percentage of the girls were working for themselves, so couldn't really be said to be exploited - it was an easy enough, if rather risky in health terms, way to make a living if you didn't have too many O levels - or did, but just wanted to make some quick money. There was some exploitation, of course, but there was enough of a community among the girls to keep it reasonably under social control. These days, unfortunately, this is a lot less true - perhaps the majority of the girls now are crack addicts or whatever, who are doing it mostly to feed their addiction, and usually the addiction was started by an exploitative man (who ends up, surprise, surprise, as the pimp) showing them a "good" time. By the time it's gone that far, Pleepsie's right - it becomes plain exploitation, where the pimp lives off the girl(s) by controlling the drug supply, and it is not a pretty sight. Yes, it is very like drug use: you wouldn't advise your daughter to take up whoring any more than you'd encourage her to get wrecked on the latest chemical nirvana. However, both paid-for sex and people seeking alternative states of mind have been with the human race a long time - not for nothing is prostitution called "the oldest profession". As with drugs, I would rather the whole thing were legal, so that, even if not encouraged, there would not be the added threat of illegality preventing those who practice it from seeking help when help is needed. Trying to pretend that "it doesn't happen to nice people, so we'll make the whole thing illegal" creates more problems than it solves - and whatever the legal status, neither commercial sex nor drug use is going to go away. And both can happen to "nice" people, too. To the men who are exploiting prostitutes, on the other hand, I would show no mercy whatever, any more than I would to those who make a living selling drugs to children, or otherwise screwing up other people's lives to their own advantage. Get rid of the exploitation of the weak by the strong by all means, that's what our gentle western liberalism is supposed to be about, but let's not waste police time and public money trying to legislate for moral rules - even your own. That's much better done by treating those who are prone to vile "immorality" as kindly as possible, and trying to encourage them to change their ways and "improve themselves". Some won't change. Okay. As the old prayer says: God give me the strength to change that which I can, the forbearance to withstand that which I cannot, and the wisdom to tell the difference. Oh, and Pleepsie ... yes, male, you guessed. But I hope I've explained why I voted yes. And I'm an atheist, but that doesn't mean I don't benefit from reflecting on that prayer. And I'm a hungry male atheist, so I'm off for me tea.

But surely this is relevant to this thread Damnsaxon? Yellow card! Oh, sorry. Seventeen.

I rather agree with Ghostrider - the UK's been getting crappier and crappier over the last 30 years and it really is no longer the country I'd hoped to grow old in. Mostly this is due to successive governments getting more and more obsessed with micro-managing our lives and snooping on our every act, no matter how innocent. Where to? - In Europe, Germany, which probably has more of European culture than anywhere, and fewer "English enclaves" than, say, the south of France or Spain. Otherwise, probably somewhere like Mexico - warm weather, laid back culture, only real disadvantage the northern neighbour. Prices are pretty low, too. Or, as I've commented in another thread, Shetland, after Scottish independence and Shetland then realigning with Scandinavia ... So ... any rich, unspoken-for German ladies reading this thread? :D <-- süsses Lächeln!

Sounds good. Can we have Andy Hamilton as Satan running the show? And thanks to Styumpie for mentioning the FSM, all honour to His noodly tentacles! People forget where the real power lies.

- ignoratio elenchi - A logical fallacy which consists in apparently refuting an opponent while actually disproving something not asserted; gen. any argument which is irrelevant to its professed purpose. (New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary)

Rather suggesting that making it less "alluringly illegal" is having the desired effect, at last. Okay, a revolutionary suggestion: HMG shold make drug use compulsory. Then no-one would want to take anything. Imagine the scene: "Johnny, have you had your opium and cannabis tincture yet? It's nearly bedtime!" - "Aw, mum, do I have to? I'm never gonna take this stuff when I grow up!"

Hmm. Should Picolax be legalised? Try http://www.voltini.com/ OK, his site is, well, not bad, but ... His show ... his show ... I'd travel quite a long way to see his show!

Fjool's link to the BBC page is good, the programme was quite interesting listening too. It's repeated on Sunday, recommended. I still think the problem is the attitude of a lot of the people who take drugs. During my own mis-spent youth we used to enjoy getting nicely stoned, talking rubbish, listening to music etc., but we never even considered mugging other people for money, breaking into their homes etc. - in fact the coolest thing was to be really stoned and not to show it. We thought of it as drug use - and generally, we were experiencing one drug at a time. These days your average user seems to regard getting "mashed" (a telling choice of word in itself) as just a prelude to going around causing trouble. I'd call that drug abuse. Example, one of the "celebrity" stoner stories recently mentioned that they'd taken heroin, cocaine, amphetamine, ecstasy and ketamine ... and then gone out clubbing. Dear God! With a mash like that inside, I don't think I'd trust myself to behave responsibly. With a full tank of alcohol added, even less so. I still think we need to legalise most drugs (I'd make exceptions for the really nastily addictive, damaging stuff like crack), but somehow we'd also need to teach the users responsibility. Perhaps we could just start by ignoring drug use completely, as irrelevant to any crimes committed: you cause trouble, sunshine, you're inside, no excuses. What a joke that "They" call them "controlled" drugs. For as long as society throws its hands up in horror at the very mention of them, controlled is the one thing they're not.

Now here's a nice little story. Ghostrider should love this. http://lifeisaroad.com/stories/2004/10/29/neighborhoodHazardorWhyTheCopsWontPatrolBriceStreet.html