Hatchet

True then, true now.

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:23:12 GMT

Tue, 26 May 2009 18:22:49 GMT

Little things...

Sun, 03 May 2009 19:05:54 GMT

"Oooh, he's got an arm off!"

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:10:22 GMT

I checked the BBC website moments ago and thought all my dreams had come true. The lead story was on the threatened global pandemic and the centre picture middle of the page is "Zombies take over".

As ever, the headlines have been somewhat misleading. I shall return my guns to the shelf. For now.

It's only a matter of time...

Groundhog Day

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:56:16 GMT

Phil:"What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same, and nothing that you did mattered?"

Ralph: "That about sums it up for me."

UCAP - Fallen Angel 2.

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 18:28:03 GMT

Some of last weekend's exploits. Once again, I am Sir Not Appearing in this film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThkBUV3Su5A

Festive plugging

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 09:12:41 GMT

Actually, that title sounds worse than I had intended.

Regardless, if you're stuck for Christmas present ideas (assuming you subscribe to that idea, rather than wandering around saying "How would the book-keeping staff like to be suddenly.. UNEMPLOYED!" like I do[1]) then have a look here.

http://www.rspca-pix.com/

Or indeed, even if you don't want to buy anything and just want to look at pictures of puppies and kittens for half an hour.

[1] Which is being even less well received than usual due to the current economic climate.

Operation Bulldog

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:07:11 GMT

"Pedigree Dogs Exposed" on BBC1 made interesting, if slightly sad, viewing tonight. It will most likely be repeated on the iplayer if you missed it.

"This is the end..."

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 00:29:04 GMT

In a series of complex and unfortunate errors, I have lost not only my all my files, but all my backups as well. I now no longer have about 15 years of my life. No photos, mp3s, cvs, emails, video clips, passwords, contact details, diary, order details.

From memory I can remember a handful of passwords that will allow me to get email working again, but as far as the rest of my life goes it's the equivilant of your house burning down.

I'm off to live in a cave.

JCB song

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:58:31 GMT

A couple of links for your amusement

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 21:26:48 GMT

http://robotmantheblog.com/2006/10/25/so-i-guess-i-got-kicked-off-another-my-little-pony-forum/

Funny how...

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 07:26:12 GMT

http://www.myspace.com/airheaduk

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 10:53:34 GMT

After a couple of weeks, this is *still* amusing me. I am a bad man, I know.

Also, Pirates!

In other news, it looks like I'm going to go a snipe people at the weekend for the first time in about a year, having discovered a skirmish site about 20 minutes down the road from me. I may actually throw up with excitement. I have been running around the house like a small child that's had far too much sugar.

Satnav advice sought

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 18:41:06 GMT

Right, thought I'd ask on here in case anyone has any insight they can offer.

I'm considering getting a satnav system of some description. This would primarily be used for work (as they don't as yet supply them) and also for occasional home use. My requirements are not outrageous and I'm guessing would be satisfied by most systems.

I would only need UK maps but would like to be able to add other countries later

Needs reasonable amount of points of interest and ability to add your own

Need to be able to add multiple waypoints into the system, delivery driver style. Ideal if there is some clever feature that reorders them and suggests shortest route and that I can add additional ones on the fly.

Must be easily removable/concealable to prevent theft. Some of the dedicated systems are quite large and bulky (Tom Tom CRT style) and might prove difficult in this respect.

In relation to above, alternative mounting option such as on airvents that doesn't leave a big black sucker disc on the window saying "I have satnav, please smash my window".

Sufficiently loud to hear in moving vehicle without having to integrate via radio or whatever (bearing in mind this will be in a works van a lot).

Other than that, that's about all I know. I'm unsure if a dedicated unit would be superior or a PDA approach. I don't use a PDA for anything really at the moment, but I do carry a great big diary around with me all the time, so perhaps I could think of one. Additionally new job would require making notes on jobs attended, etc. so I'm guessing this could be achieved with a PDA. Equally it could be achieved with a normal notepad, so I don't want to go down the PDA route just for the sake of having a PDA. Used to have a palm way back when and never used the thing.

Other considerations are that I'm thinking about a new mobile phone soon and so could potentially combine this, but I do wonder if that might be too many eggs in one basket. I've done a little browsing around so far, but haven't found much other than descriptions and prices. Input from someone who actually owns this stuff would be more useful I suspect, but if anyone has any decnet links I'd be happy to look at them. Currently been looking at things such as the MIO P550 and the like, but honestly I have no idea if I need all this kit. I think bluetooth is some sort of dental condition...

Thoughts?

Warcraft

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 09:33:28 GMT

Hey ho, the wind and the rain.

Have been playing too much Warcraft recently. Very much collect X number of Y for Z reward, but good nonetheless and now I have a full account I can enjoy the auction house and proper tradeskills. Which is nice.

Anyway, my main is Shoogly on Moonglade, just because my sibling is on there, and you can't beat /whispering your team's Paladin to go and make you a cup of tea. However, I would like to play with my other Warcraft chums (that's you lot) , but everyone in the world seems to be on different (full) servers.

Therefore I suggest that people create a Horde character on Ghostlands (new empty server) and we go and smite things righetously. You'll find me on as Kayeleff.

Reasoning behind this? It's an empty server. It's not RP (but that makes no difference anyway as far as I can tell). There's no point having Horde on my other server as my main is alliance and you can't trade, mail etc.

So, no excuses. Horde chars on Ghostlands. I thank you.

Oh, need a Warcraft icon too.

"We have found a witch, may we burn her?"

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 07:50:11 GMT

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/5383928.stm

This sort of thing really annoys me on many levels.

The "helpful" neighbour who ran in and hit the dog on the head with a hammer, giving such choice quotes as ""I knew something was wrong, particularly as a Rottweiler was involved." and ""I approached the dog and told it to go away but it didn't back off and it started coming towards me barking, so I then hit the dog over the head with a hammer." Because obviously any normal dog would back off when someone it didn't know came onto it's territory and told it to back off.

Naturally the article will focus on why these evil devil dogs should be banned/destroyed instead of taking note of comments like "The dog was tethered but on a very long leash in the front garden and the boy's grandmother was still trying to protect the boy from the dog." and asking why the dog had been left tethered in the garden and why the child wasn't properly supervised in the first place.

Also not in the news this week[1], Golden Retrievers, Jack Russells and German Shepherds top list of dogs which bite people and horses kill more people than dogs annually.

[1] Actually, it was in a counter piece Dr Roger Mugford did this morning, but that doesn't get mentioned in most of these reports.

"Stand by for action!"

Mon, 04 Sep 2006 17:38:00 GMT

This is actually a bit sad, although it was always going to happen sooner or later. Still, he did do a lot of conservation work as well as raising the profile of many animals and issues, so you have to give hime credit for that.

Silliness

Sat, 29 Jul 2006 12:26:55 GMT

From The Onion

Thu, 13 Jul 2006 18:42:31 GMT

Roof On Fire Claims Lives Of 43 Party People

February 3, 1999 | Issue 35•04

NEW YORK—Tragedy struck at a popular Manhattan nightclub Saturday, when the roof, the roof, the roof of The Tunnel caught fire, collapsing and killing 43 party people.

According to fire-department officials, the death toll was exacerbated by the clubgoers' unwillingness to evacuate the burning building.

"I tried shouting to the people on the dance floor that the roof was on fire and that they should exit the premises immediately, but they seemed unfazed by the danger," firefighter Michael Pitti said. "I just kept shouting, 'The roof! The roof! The roof is on fire!' and so forth, but they just went right on dancing, insisting that they didn't need any of our water and that we should let the motherfucker burn."

The party people's refusal to exit the flame-engulfed nightclub is widely believed to have been the result of DJ Phreek Malik's unstoppable mix of the hottest house, funk, hip-hop, disco, jungle and techno beats.

"DJ Phreek Malik was spinning in a manner so hot, these party people were willing to give up their lives for a few extra minutes on the dance floor," New York City fire commissioner Thomas Von Essen said. "Even as a 50-foot-high wall of flames surged toward them, they continued to dance, throwing their hands in the air and waving them as if they just didn't care."

As flames continued to fill the nightclub, firefighters frantically urged the revelers to keep low to the ground to avoid smoke inhalation, but the warnings were universally ignored.

"I was screaming at the top of my lungs, 'Get down! Get down, party people!'" said Garry Hodges of Ladder Company 42, "but the more I shouted out, the harder they danced."

Though an FDNY investigation is still pending, the deadly blaze is believed to have begun at 11:40 p.m., when a roof-mounted ventilation system short-circuited, igniting the motherfucker. The fire is New York's deadliest since 1978, when 117 party people burned, baby, burned to death in a South Bronx disco inferno.

Snakes! On a plane!

Sun, 25 Jun 2006 21:00:06 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdSUrtFdXUQ

U2 Parody tribute to SLJ's new film. Well, I liked it anyway.

"And I'm a musical man, and I'm a man of verse..."

Fri, 16 Jun 2006 19:01:51 GMT

Pointless music "quiz" for your alleged enjoyment. Somewhat marred by the fact that it's well after home time (ruling out the likelyhood of most people participating) and the fact that most of the MP3's I've bothered to download are extremely well known.

I have removed those with the title in the first line, those that are just *too* easy (does anyone not know the opening lyrics to Friday I'm in Love?) and the somewhat obscure items such as the 1989 F-14 engagement over the Gulf of Sidra. There are still plenty of easy ones there though.

Anyway, you know the drill

Step 1: Put your MP3 player on random.
Step 2: Post the first line from the first 20 songs that play.
Step 3: Ask everyone to guess what song and artist the lines come from.
Step 4: Strike out the songs when someone guesses correctly.
Step 5: No cheating.

EDIT - Well, you've had all weekend, so either you don't know them, or the post has disappeared under hundreds of others on your friends list. Unanswered ones in bold.

~~1) Didn't I make you feel, like you were the only man?~~
~~2) Well I guess it would be nice, if I could touch your body~~
3) I was in Jeff's crib one night about eight, we were watching a couple of Mike Tyson fight tapes - DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince : I think I can beat Mike Tyson.
~~4) Revving up your engine, listen to her howling roar~~
~~5) Oh the heads that turn~~
6) Ho ho ho ho, ho ho ho ho - Carl Douglas : Kung-Fu Fighting.
~~7) It's been getting so hard, living with the things you do to me.~~
~~8) I got my head, but my head is unraveling~~
9) Nothing ever stops all these thoughts and the pain attached to them - Linkin Park : Figure.09
~~10) Well you can give me all your love and anything else you got too~~
~~11) Bass, how low can you go?~~
~~12) Once in every lifetime, comes a love like this~~
~~13) Whatever happened to Leon Trotsky?~~
~~14) Ricky was a young boy, he had a heart of stone~~
15) If, if you choose that we will always lose - Beautiful South : I'll sail this ship alone.
~~16) My tea's gone cold I'm wondering why~~
~~17) Look around your world pretty baby~~
~~18) The road is long~~
19) Where's my snare? - Eminem: Cleaning out my closet
~~20) So no-one told you life was gonna be this way~~

Fri, 09 Jun 2006 18:17:01 GMT

An article on the BBC website reports on Alastair Campbell's various football related witterings on his Blog. However, the best is, as ever, saved til last when the BBC then quotes some of the comments the Blog has received

""Another man writes: "Alastair, if Iran find themselves behind at half time, do you think they'll be able to launch a counter-attack in the following 45 minutes?""

Legal Tender

Tue, 21 Mar 2006 22:16:29 GMT

I thought, for my own interest, I'd make a post about legal tender so that I can put it in my Memories and refer back to it later. Will probably not be of much interest to most people.

In the UK, anyone can pay a debt or settle a financial transaction in "legal tender" and the person owed the value has to accept it - and not reject the amount or demand, say, gold coins instead (as used to be the case). Of course, this is largely irrelevant as any trader can refuse to serve you this is covered by the legal concept known as invitation to treat (A shop owner displaying their goods for sale is generally making an invitation to treat (Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots Cash Chemists [1953] 1 QB 401). They are not obliged to sell the good to anyone who is willing to pay for them, even if additional signage such as "special offer" accompanies the display of the good.). However, restaurants that do not collect money until after a meal is served would have to accept that legal tender for payment of the debt incurred in purchasing the meal.

Are Scottish & Northern Irish notes legal tender?
In short ‘No’ these notes are not legal tender; only Bank of England notes are legal tender but only in England and Wales.
The term legal tender does not in itself govern the acceptability of banknotes in transactions. Whether or not notes have legal tender status, their acceptability as a means of payment is essentially a matter for agreement between the parties involved. Legal tender has a very narrow technical meaning in relation to the settlement of debt. If a debtor pays in legal tender the exact amount he owes under the terms of a contract, he has good defence in law if he is subsequently sued for non-payment of the debt. In ordinary everyday transactions, the term ‘legal tender’ has very little practical application. Legal tender has a very narrow and technical meaning in the settlement of debts. It means that a debtor cannot successfully be sued for non-payment if he pays into court in legal tender. It does not mean that any ordinary transaction has to take place in legal tender or only within the amount denominated by the legislation. Both parties are free to agree to accept any form of payment whether legal tender or otherwise according to their wishes. In order to comply with the very strict rules governing an actual legal tender it is necessary, for example, actually to offer the exact amount due because no change can be demanded.

The amounts for legal tender are stated below.

BANK OF ENGLAND NOTES:

In England and Wales the £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes are legal tender for payment of any amount. However, they are not legal tender in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

COINS:

Circulating Coins are legal tender throughout the United Kingdom for the following amount:

£2 - for any amount
£1 - for any amount
50p - for any amount not exceeding £10
25p (Crown) - for any amount not exceeding £10 (The value of this was increased to £5 in 1990)
20p - for any amount not exceeding £10
10p - for any amount not exceeding £5
5p - for any amount not exceeding £5
2p - for any amount not exceeding 20p
1p - for any amount not exceeding 20p

Legal tender in Scotland

Scots law has, in effect, a broader concept of legal tender. Although official legal tender is similar to that of England and Wales (Bank of England notes below the value of five pounds, and Royal Mint coins in varying amounts, but not any Scottish notes). However, since the smallest circulating Bank of England note is £5, the only way to pay large amounts in official legal tender is with coins.

This is largely irrelevant, however, as creditors are obliged to accept any 'reasonable' settlement of the debt, be it banknotes (Scottish, English or otherwise), coins, cheques (which Scottish notes technically are) or even (in theory) property. In the event of a dispute, it would fall to a court to decide what 'reasonable' meant in the circumstances. Northern Irish notes are not legal tender anywhere, a situation similar to Scottish notes. Whether Scottish notes are legal tender or not does not change alter their inherent value but it dictates their legal function. Credit cards, cheques and debit cards are not legal tender either but it doesn't stop them being used as payment. Only a minuscule percentage of Scottish and British trading is carried out using legal tender. Just because something is not legal tender certainly doesn't imply it's illegal to use.

The lack of a true legal tender in Scotland does not cause a problem for Scots Law which is flexible enough to get round this apparent legal nonsense, as was demonstrated some time ago when one local authority tried to refuse a cash payment (in Scottish notes) on the grounds it wasn't "legal tender", but lost their case when the sheriff effectively said that they were obliged to accept anything which was commonly accepted as "money", and that should their insistence on "legal tender" have been supported, it would have resulted in the bill being paid entirely in coins, which would have been a nonsense; stopping short of saying that the council would have been "cutting off their nose to spite their face", but seeming to hint at it.

Here is the news from the BBC

Tue, 16 Aug 2005 14:09:30 GMT

I can think of several people who'd love to get an ASBO like this...

"It was when the 15-year-old miscreant was hauled into court that the problem was first noticed. Angered by his unruly, boozed-up behaviour, police had hoped magistrates would punish the youth for breaching his Asbo. He hadn't.

Closer examination revealed that he had mistakenly been ordered not to be in public "without" alcohol and that he was also duty bound to act in a threatening manner likely to cause harassment, alarm and distress to others. After the boy escaped punishment as a result of the misprint, the officials behind the mistake were asked to deliver a new Asbo with more appropriate wording, the Daily Mirror reported"

Kill, your....

Fri, 05 Aug 2005 20:48:12 GMT

Television.

Date for your diaries if you like programs with small fluffy things in. Sunday 27th August, 18:00, ITV. New series of Wildlife SOS starts and runs for 8 weeks.

I shall be out running things over for the next couple of weeks in an attempt to attend rescues and become a household name. Like slop bucket.