nigel99

the reason I dislike Microsoft is their policy of swamping products with features that I do not want and then have to pay for. For example MS Office is more powerfull than ANY of us will ever have use for - the featureset within it justifies the high price - MS Works is more in line with what we all use BUT MS does not make the two products compatible. The same goes for Windows they bloat the OS with Video editing software/MSN messenger/email & internet apps etc - the featureset justifies the price IF you use them - some of us would prefer the choice of having a barebones windows OS cheaply and buying 3rd party better tools to fulfill our needs. Thankfully in Europe it looks like MS will be forced to do just that. Linux - I've tried it but unless you use a PC just for surfing the net you get severely hit on software for business use. The Linux user interface on software is generally fragmented and not "designed" it has evolved and does not benefit from the money the MS have put into UI studies. Another problem for Linux is the lack of a business face to it - generally we like to have someone we can phone and kick when it goes wrong. It makes a great & cheap server for a small business though (use it for that ourselves) Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

thanks for the link - nice product. Maybe next time I should use engineering units instead of ambiguous "long distance" terms. GPS = global coverage, however a 1 mile radius line of sight (this will degrade in built up areas) To work effectively in the situation suggested I believe you would ideally want to uplink to a satelite for national /or regional coverage. I suppose a 1 mile radius could work if you have aircraft doing the searching as you would get some element of enhanced coverage (don't know the figures of improvement though) Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

GPS is and can be very small - the problem is that GPS is a RECEIVER and not a transmitter and therefore the GPS knows where it is and nobody else does. Making an effective long range transmitter that is small is is extremely difficult/impractical Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I don't know but flying the London/Washington route circa once a month - it is probably the safest flight in the world - the last few times people have been given a thorough going over especially when leaving Washington (seperate secure area AFTER the departure gate where everyone is "scanned" using the magic wand and they freak out about the rivets that are built into your jeans...) It is also the most likely flight to be delayed/cancelled leaving the UK. The escort only joins the airline for the final stage of the flight (I believe) and is the result of an airborne development and therefore not known in advance. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

There's lots of planes that are currently "escorted" by fighters because of the threat of terrorism - the main users of this philosophy being the USA and France. The clear understanding is that these flights are high risk (e.g. the flight between Washington DC & London has had escorts a few times now) and should a hi-jacking take place the fighters would be authorised to shoot the plane down... Would this be a declaration of war on the host country? Would the USA accept France downing an American airliner? I would expect a full court trial in public (not the usual for security reasons the evidence can't be released...) if the USA did it to a British flight... Lastly in such a situation does anybody know whether your typical Warsaw convention /life insurance covers you? I fly to Washington alot from London and it is a genuine concern since this flight appears to be one of the highest profile targets? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Can you name freedom's that you have that we do not enjoy across France/Germany/UK? In fact if liberal attitudes towards nudity carry any weight with regards to freedom then I would say Europe has more freedom than you Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I would say being in Europe it is not jealousy. I also don't think that "most" westerners hate the US. I would say you are generally perceived as ignorant of world affairs & arrogant. (not sure if you've seen the maps circulated around showing american geography - large grey areas with details showing "we bombed here"...) I don't know what's up with the Arab world and their view of the US though... Africa - they tend to see the US as trying to "colonise" them at least that is what I have heard... and no they are not jealous they just want to be left alone to run their dictatorships in peace Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

just picking you up on the statement about "silly rules" - I believe that most of those rules make very good sense when taken in context - i.e. no refrigiration, and the dangers of food poisoning etc. That said diets in general get to me Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

It's the international criminal court and the US is generally perceived badly for not signing up as many people question the motive - if you are whiter than white then what are you scared of? What shocked me was on a trip to the states a few weeks ago someone was on Fox news and she pretty much used the words "international court thingie..." - she did not know the name - fair for the average person but on a NEWS broadcast Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=525308 Not sure if he came with strings though Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

some of his facts are questionable to say the least... on a daily basis implies that a minimum of 200 million Iraqi's a year were executed - accounting for them not working 7 days a week that is... People tend to keep their mouths shut (Iraqi's) when it results in being killed - it DOES NOT excuse the rest of the Arab world for not crying out - but it does the Iraqi's in my book. As to double standards - 4 US civilians were killed and there was a major outcry from the US - how many Iraqi civilians have been killed (limited to the coalition troops doing the killing - it still is a pretty large number) and there is virtually no outcry from the west so double standards are upheld by all parties... Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Good idea in principle except for because then Gordon Brown becomes PM and labour stays in power for another term = my tax's will kill me off Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

yes he does seem confused. But then the Falluja aproach of hand the control over to the Baath party general's in old style uniforms - seemed to work quite well. Heck if they put Saddam back in they don't even need elections and we can get all our troops out before it obscures all the upcomming elections. I mean Saddam's been through a prison rehab program right? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

France has asked for clarification on who the coalition has to answer to, and what the plans are if they are asked to leave. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3745611.stm well I hope this time around my government (UK) listens to the French. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

It was posed as a question and not an accusation/assumption. The UK government has a habit of blaming our high fuel prices on everyone and their dog - forgetting the circa 80% fuel tax's that they impose. I don't think it is unreasonable to question the impact of american demand on world fuel prices - the fact that they are 1 of the largest consummers must have some influence. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

too true - now that the US/UK are in they have got to see it through to some sort of stable solution. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Agreed - the leadership has to go. Military might is going to get the US into deep shit. There is noway that a country can behave like a bully forever and be safe. Not least the US military suppress/kill all dissenters option makes them sound like a repressive regime /rogue state with WMD's - imagine that Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I don't here you crying out for CNN etc to give equal airtime to the deaths of Iraqi civilians at the hands of the coalition as they do to coalition deaths... a bit lopsided to me... Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=3841 Seems to me like "sleep deprivation" is another nice term like collatoral damage - hiding what really goes on. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Ultimately Rumsfeld, Bush & Blair bear the responsibility. It is a total mess and as an ex CIA director said the Bush administration has been dodging legal obligations since 9/11 it is logical that the troops will do as well. I don't believe it was a "few bad apples" - people don't publish photo's & videos if they are a couple of renegades - it takes a culture of acceptability for people to blatantly admit to things... The whole lot of them should go (Bush, Blair etc). They got us all into this mess - I am not saying we should pull out - its too late, the US/UK should have stayed within the UN framework. Then with credible leaders who the world can deal with on a more respectable footing maybe some sort of resolution can be found. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

It's 1am on Sunday morning and I am still working - this seriously sucks. Been here since 10am Saturday trying to get a new design working... Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Do your research - the chemical weapons that he did that with were supplied by the UK government and the distribution systems supplied by the US government. In addition to this I believe there is solid evidence to support the fact that the US including Rumsfeld himself continued to support Saddam after the kurdish attrocities. Additionally about 4 years ago Powell made a statement with the Egyption's to the effect that "our policy on Iraq means that they are unable to continue their WMD programs". Finally Robin Cooks autobiography lists the fact that it was well known that the unaccounted chemical & anthrax stocks were something like 10 years past their effective use by date and that Iraq did not have the capabilities to regenerate the Anthrax the USA has the capabilities - the original supplier... Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Hold done the "shift" key while opening the file - you'll be back in design mode... Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I hope I am not missing the point here and not knowing the situation in the US. Here in the UK they have recently or are going to repeal the law protecting schools from "promoting" the gay lifestyle as normal and healthy. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/613023.stm In this manner their lifestyle which I disagree with will be "shoved" down my childrens throats - so yes it does directly infringe on my beliefs. Out of interest - the bible always quotes male homosexuality - does that mean that lesbians are ok? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4146756343 Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.