hjasga

I made no such assumption. My post doesn't depend on that being the case. 
 
However, you were initially a bit rude, a manner you have decided to ham up further descending into full on beliigerence. You know nothing of this person and are attacking them as if they are incompetent and lazy. You come across as somebody with a bit of a chip on their shoulder about something else, that you have needlessly decided to take out on somebody who made a very fair and reasonable request. 

Congratulations by the way Brian, it's good to see hard work pay off and receiving this funding is definitely a big achievement for a community like Fair Isle. 

What?! 
 
Computers are cheaper than they've ever been. If all you're doing is browsing the internet and doing basic word processing, you can get a Chromebook laptop for comfortably under £200. If you need a high end performance machine it'll cost a fraction of what it would have even ten years ago.
 
Broadband is getting cheaper all the time, albeit with faster speeds meaning more expensive options are available for those who want them.
 
You can get very powerful virus protection completely free (and I mean legal options, rather than easily accessed pirated copies if you are so inclined).
 
Subscription sites are not a necessity - if you want them though the choice is there, and often they are cheaper than traditional means (e.g. Netflix is far, far cheaper than a subscription to Sky). 
 
Yes, printer ink is still a rip off, but with tablets and laptops getting cheaper every day the need for reams and reams of paper is constantly reducing. Hand anybody under 30 a print out and they'll probably wonder why you've wasted paper on it. 

You are right Urabug however this is how communications are moving and if we don't move with them we will be left behind. Big companies very rarely now have meetings or presentations or training in person now due to high costs getting everyone to the same place. The need to see who you are talking to seems for business to be the over riding factor. I am employed by a national company and we have a group meeting once a week I take part by phone everyone else is on video I am not saying that is the best way to go but it is the way its going. Even down south now solicitor client visits in prison are done by video link, court appearances are done at procedural diets by video link.
 
Newspapers are online the list goes on and on. The biggest thing of late is plugging yourself into a machine and connecting to a doctor when you are unwell its all a bit mad

This sums it up. We dint come on here and moaned about our broadband we did something about it. Two and a half years of meeting after meeting traveling at my own expense juggling figures speaking to customers assessing need costing re costing business plans company formations and Colin for your information this was all done without receiving one penny of public funding. Even opening the bank account cost two of our residents £50 each.
I have an IT background and still support old customers down south this will open up remote working to Fair Isle improving employment we have potentially attracted a family who are self supported through remote network management so life goes beyond a website and you tube when you talk of broadband speeds.

Sorry but this is a very ignorant post. The difference between average and 'superfast' broadband has little bearing on general web browsing - chances are you wouldn't notice the fractions of a second faster that a Shetlink page would load after upgrading. Where it does have a big effect is on wider internet services: file transfers, video conferencing, collegiate working on shared documents in real time. These can also massively improve productivity in the modern workplace and would allow enterprise that simply isn't possible in Shetland at the moment. 

I said it was an ignorant post, not that you yourself are necessarily ignorant. Knowledge of IT certainly didn't shine through in denouncing faster broadband based on the idea companies would only benefit through customers accessing their websites. I'm not sure the point of your paragraph about bottlenecks - you'll always be as slow as the slowest part of the chain, so... what? Don't upgrade services in Shetland, often the slowest part of the chain? 
 
It's great that Lerwick, Scalloway and much of the south Mainland now have access to FTC broadband, in some cases even FTTP broadband. Much of rural Shetland struggles to get even reliable ADSL though and that is a cause of significant economic and social disadvantage. Affording better connectivity would afford business opportunities that are not currently available - whether somebody working remotely from Unst or even a digital storage centre as was proposed for Lerwick recently (let's face it, the land required for that would be far more readily available elsewhere if the connections could match). 

Sorry but this is a very ignorant post. The difference between average and 'superfast' broadband has little bearing on general web browsing - chances are you wouldn't notice the fractions of a second faster that a Shetlink page would load after upgrading. Where it does have a big effect is on wider internet services: file transfers, video conferencing, collegiate working on shared documents in real time. These can also massively improve productivity in the modern workplace and would allow enterprise that simply isn't possible in Shetland at the moment. 

No thanks, Hjasga, I were being a bit cheeky 

All very nice on paper but back here in the real world I don't think any party leader would be so feckless. Why on Earth do something you don't want to do in the vain hope that it leads to something you would like happening? It's very far from guaranteed things would play out like that, and as such would be completely counterintuitive. What you're suggesting would be an approach of far less integrity than simply saying, "I am pro-EU and therefore I hope people will vote to stay". 
 
Most independence supporters - however some Unionists might like to pain them - do not generally wish to see Scotland made independent against the democratic will of its people. Presumably Sturgeon and co feel that Scotland will eventually become an independent nation whatever the outcome in June. 

As I'm sure the film crew will attest, there aren't many clear days! 

To be fair to him, there is. 

Shetlanders tend to give you back what you put in. There are still strong communities and they are generally welcoming of people from anywhere, but I'd say the onus will probably be on you to get out and meet people and get involved with things. It's a sort of friendly but quiet place, where people will do all sorts of favours if they know you, but will leave you to yourself if they think that's what you want. 
 
I don't think you should be "tarred with the brush" of the barge workers. There are plenty among them who have settled fine and made friends here. It's just that a disappointing number come and cause trouble. I think part of the issue is that they don't see themselves as belonging to the place and therefore don't have much respect for it. Unlike you they haven't really made the active decision to relocate here, they've just been sent through work. 

To be fair to him, there is. 

The amusing thing about the survey wotsit linked - whether we believe the results or not - is that if you click through to the actual report, rather than the heavily abridged news article, you see fewer young people are drinking than in recent years. That runs in direct contradiction to the hyperbolic perception that underage drinking is somehow getting worse (it isn't).
 
Then the fact more parents are letting their children drink at home - which seems a positive step, giving them a supervised and safe environment to experiment rather than hiding out on the streets without any experienced body nearby - would suggest to me it probably isn't any more out in the open than it once was. You only need look at old Shetland Times photos of the Market Cross at New Year to know what a nonsense that suggestion is. 

Ah, statistics. Infallible as always. 

If you can't find a fire festival to fit in with school holidays, you could always try visiting in summer and going along to one of the carnivals. Unstfest is a very popular event in Unst with all sorts of activities for those of all ages (so something to do for both your 11- and 20-year-old). There's also a carnival procession that, whilst not torchlit due to the summer daylight, is attended by several Jarl squads in full regalia. 
 
That takes place  16th-24th July next year. At roughly the same time (a little earlier perhaps) there is the Scalloway Gala, which is another weekend of various activities and a carnival procession. They've occasionally carried torches at the procession for that but again it is in fairly broad daylight due to the time of year. 
 
Other carnivals take place throughout the isles in summer, so whilst you'd not be getting the authentic UHA experience, it's maybe a better holiday on balance, as coming in January/February limits options for other activities (especially anything outdoors). 

A good 40% of Shetland's population lives in Lerwick. Is our approach to equality in the isles really going to be "we can't have it so they shouldn't either"? There's another 20-30% within reach of it through the excellent Central and South Mainland bus routes, many of whom regularly go to town anyway (if we're talking about those in less affluent situations, I'd assume anybody on Job Seeker's Allowance or other employment benefit still has to go to Lerwick regularly to meet with staff at the Job Centre). 
 
Anybody who's been in the library recently will know it's still well used. The computer lab in particular has never had fewer than two or three people in whenever I've used it. There are good services with not just internet access but printers, scanners etc and access to software such as Driving Theory Test practices. 
 
And yes, the library vans are still used. There are two of them, operating daily, one of which has just been upgraded. One was in Whalsay this past Wednesday. With respect, that you didn't even know this was still operating makes me question how well placed you actually are to comment on library services. 

It's being proposed to make a revenue saving though, so your conclusion regarding education cuts isn't all that logical. If there are capital funds available that can be used to make long term revenue savings, that is exactly the sort of thing the Council should be considering.

That's not disputed. The difference is that Sumburgh Head is there by design of nature. You can't up and move the colonies of several species of seabird to somewhere more accessible. A restaurant isn't comparable and attempts to compare the two suggest people don't understand the arguments being made. 

Another seriously weak analogy, given Sumburgh Head is a site of significant natural heritage. People travel to see Sumburgh Head itself, of which the Visitor Centre (Lighthouse) is a part. It's not even close to the same as a restaurant. 

In case it wasn't clear, I never suggested otherwise. That just makes it even worse, and even more baffling that they haven't been very publicly panned for it. As it is, it's largely gone through without significant scrutiny, which is very worrying. 
 
That said, claims that nuclear is cheaper than wind power are extremely debatable, as it is very hard to compare the two fairly given the huge differences between them. But it doesn't matter what the theoretical cost is if those in power are so incompetent. 

Nuclear might be the cheapest "large scale" low carbon energy source on average. Even that is very debatable, and the caveat of "large scale" is of course very telling. What is without question is that the UK's planned nuclear plant at Hinckley Point is exorbitantly expensive. 
 
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b07291aa-56ef-11e5-9846-de406ccb37f2.html#axzz3s1ZmIyvo
 
 
 
 
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/sep/25/george-osborne-presses-on-with-hinkley-power-station-despite-criticism
 
 
 
The current government should be getting far more stick than they are about their deranged energy policy, but they seem to be getting away with it as things stand. 

Complete guff. Throwing around terms like "kangaroo court" shows how utterly blinded some are on this issue. We had top judicial authorities decide whether or not there was a legitimate grievance to be heard, and they were clear in stating there was, under longstanding laws relating to Representation of the People. You need to set aside the fact you disagree with it and understand that - whether he is found 'guilty' or not - those pursuing the claim were doing so via legitimate legal means. That is not a "witch hunt" in my eyes and I find it childish to suggest otherwise. 
 
Again, I'm not reading the rest of your waffle. 

Peter, I despair when I read comments like yours. Give them a chance to become involved, show them they have a chance to change things. Look how messed up things are with the older generation continuing to vote with old ideals.
It'll never be 'Like it used to be back when..'.
At 16 you can get married, have children....but not have a choice in who rules you??
Get with the times.