What makes you happy ?

“Warning to abusive bloggers as judge tells site to reveal names” says the Guardian Unlimited.
Just one tiny problem - the article mentions 2 forums.
Forums are not blogs, forum posts are not blog posts, forum users are not bloggers.
I honestly thought the Guardian had more of a clue.

Court orders obliging websites to disclose the identity of users posting anonymous defamatory remarks began in 2001.

That may be true, but if we take this blog for instance I can reveal no more than you can see. Sure I have the email addresses but if you are really going to have a go at someone then you shouldn’t use your email. And even then it proves nothing because you can put anyone’s details there. There are a surprising amount that start comments@ blog@ wordpress@ and none are real. So as a blog owner who requires no registration - and therefore a verifiable address - for use I can’t see that I could be held accountable. I’m sure some lawyer somewhere would say that I am. “I” also being “us bloggers”.

But then abuse is the least of it - linking is illegal now.

This isn’t about anything but bureacracy.

Like millions of others we do not own our own home and given we were working as nurses those salaries couldn’t get close to affording one around here if we were still there. So we rent. Not a problem except Jacq needs a downstairs toilet. We become reliant to a huge degree on what are laughingly called ’social services’ and ‘councils’ as Jacq has ‘unmet needs’.

So. We ask for a downstairs toilet. The Occupational Therapist says that will not serve J’s needs forever so no, we cannot have one. She says that we need an extension on the back of the house which can have a bedroom, bathroom, toilet etc. Here is what happens:

1. We have to complete detailed financial accounts. This will entail an Accountant’s report as well
2. The council consider this.
3. The council say they will do the work if we contribute £XXX. Last time we enquired about a downstairs toilet they wanted £18000. Up front.
4. We tell them we cannot get a loan (true) but that if they let us pay them back that would not be a problem (also true). Councils don’t do loans. So this stage comes to nothing.
5. Next stage. We have to complete detailed financial accounts. This will entail an Accountant’s report as well
6. Another part of the council consider this.
7. They will again come up with a figure but hopefully less. They also ask up front.
8. IF we can meet that, then they give the go-ahead for plans.
9. Once plans are set, we enter the next stage.
10. We have to complete detailed financial accounts. This will entail an Accountant’s report as well
11. They meet to agree the plans and give the final go-ahead
12. I am told that following this “things might happen”

But:

• if the neighbour disagrees at the end (shared party wall) it all stops dead.
• if a building survey finds a fault, it all stops dead. (note how these happen at the end?)
• if at any time anywhere between a finance report being done and a meeting to consider our financial circumstances change then that stage is reset. (I asked about exchange rates, and yes, that could affect this bizarrely)
• if the landlord has any objections (which he won’t know til he sees the plans) it stops.
• if an estate agent says that the extension could actually harm the house value (which in this case it could) then obviously it would stop.

Also, if this happened then we would be taken off the housing waiting list because J’s needs were being met - even though it’s privately rented and liable at any time. Even if the landlord agrees to terms his life events would take precedence.
The above is not about us not wanting to pay - we would if they would let us. It is strange that councils can play the money markets but not give loans to the people they are meant to serve.
Accountant’s reports are not cheap.
So all that process, which takes time, energy and too many people and far too many rules, has to be gone through because the occupational therapist says we need an extension on the back of the house.
It’s like they put every obstacle in the way because they don’t want to spend any money.
All we asked for was a downstairs toilet. We don’t want the extension. But we can’t have what we would like, we have to have what they say. Of course we don’t ‘have to’ anything but it seems beyond stupid that what would cost less and take 2 days and is wanted is overruled in favour of something way more expensive which is not wanted and subject to many variables.

Councils. Nonsense.

http://bbc.co.uk
Is there anywhere that lists what programmes can be watched online? No.
Why? The main listings are atrocious, the navigation terrible, the design is dire and you cannot find, in a convenient list, what can be watched in full online. Why? Don’t they think people want to? Or should be stick to just what we know? I’d complain to them but it’s waste of time - I complained once about a reported Digging stuff and he got really annoyed. Didn’t change anything either - who the hell is going to Digg a TV show?
Time to find somewhere else to watch while working.

It passed a few minutes….

Am I dumb?

Name that drug

Cadaver for sale

Rate my life

Under a new UN treaty, countries can claim a greater share of the ocean floor if they can show a direct link with their own land mass. Belfast Telegraph

So the UK can have lots of places then - after all, we are an island and unless we were directly linked we’d sink. It’s another example of nonsense - “I’m more connected that you”.. what is this? LinkedIn for tectonic plates? And if the gas/oil (GWB will say he’s connected next) is under all of them as is probable, who then gets it? Stupid.

The KKK just have no sense. Or humour. This is just excellent. (src: Reddit)

It is a commonly held belief that Jupiter shields Earth from comets or asteroids that might otherwise hit us. BBC

It is?

Dr Jonathan Horner, with Professor Barrie Jones, has designed a computer model that tracked the paths of 100,000 Centaurs, over 10 million years, and recorded the number of objects that would impact the Earth.

Models mean zilch. Political parties have economic models which grandiosely predict how much better we will be with them and they are always wrong.

The results showed that the numbers of Earth impact events were the same for the cases with the real Jupiter and with no planet at all.

And?

The next phase of the project for the group is to assess the impact risk posed to the Earth by objects in the asteroid belt and the team will go on to study comets that venture into the Solar System from deeper out in space.

And precisely who on this actual real earth will benefit? Whose life will be made better by this research? No-one’s, that’s who. So what’s the damn point?

So back home in Leicester there are a bunch of witches that have declared victory in their battle to have a multi-million pound development renamed. Their ’spokeswoman’ (shouldn’t that be ’spokesperson’ or are male witches not allowed?) going by the completely made up name “Morrigan Wisecraft” apparently said they have used the proposed name for a series of websites.
This just screams fraud and complete garbage.

“It was our only wish all along, to be left in peace ..”

Well if you hadn’t (1) contacted the company (2) presumably rattled at them repeatedly and (3) gone running to the Press then (a) no-one else would know, (b) the ‘peace’ would be undisturbed, (c) we might have more space for actual news and lastly (d) people who do follow wicca and other ‘alternative’ faiths would not be held up to further ridicule by Ms M Wisecraft’s complete stupidity.

As you had immediately guessed… this website is clearly not connected in any way with the Leicester City Centre “Highcross Quarter Leicester” retail, entertainment, and leisure development.

it says on their site. Maybe on the new commercial centre it should have

Not connected to a bunch of small-minded shallow individuals known for sensationalisation and a desire to wring money from companies because we all know that was their real motive

Morrigan Wisecraft - can a fellow wiccan throw a “Clue Replenishment” spell her way? She seems to be in need.

I have the Director’s Cut of Leon and it’s Region 1. Most of the other DVD’s are Region 2. I’ll admit I’ve not looked (it’s late, work to do etc) but if anyone does know of a tried and trusted way to make the DVD drive forget all about that region encoding nonsense then such knowledge would be most useful. If I do find later I’ll post back.

–

So, I looked. As the macs I have are new, I have no chance it seems. Steve Jobs and Co. are eager to make sure that mac users get no leeway at all. Why do people believe this stops piracy? It doesn’t.

PC : 1
Mac : zero

Bloke #1 “So what happened then?”
Bloke #2 “I wanted to run in and punch him 18 times”

Why 18?
Why not 19 just for good measure?
Or once but a really hard one?