Disgraceful scam!

Taking 419er's to a whole new level...

The keyboards look nothing alike, this is just a disgraceful attempt to obtain cash from a worthy attempt to improve worldwide education...

I sincerely hope this falls on its ass at the first hurdle...

the pilots can become stewardess's!

That way we get extra service out back whilst the plane controls itself and in the event of an emergency the plane can page the pilot to come and help out and can take over till the plane's computer corrects itself!

To be honest though even in an emergency id trust a computer to land an aircraft more safely then a lot of pilots!

hmmm...

Desalination is a great idea but the technologies to do it efficiently and well arent here yet. This plant will consume huge amounts of electricity (coal generated electricity), create huge amounts of hazardous waste products and is just a bad idea period.

Until the amounts of energy needed to conduct desalination are reduced and the ability to turn the waste products into usable items is achieved, desal is not a good idea!

Measuring the water level

1. Take all the land mass on the moon.

2. Squash it down till you get a sphere.

3. Add water.

Measurement - 11m.

On earth this would be a much larger value as if you took all of the himalayas and dumped them in the pacific none of them would even break the surface! Earth has a lot more water!

Britian already has a points based system

Its called the HSMP (Highly Skilled Migrants Programme) and its a right c*nt because the HMRC change the requirements every 3 months or so. Considering it takes 3-6 months for an application to be processed this leads to all sorts of fun! Stupid bloody HMRC...

(disgruntled Aussie given the boot from the UK after 2 years!)

Crazy idea

Maybe, just maybe there should be a law banning anyone involved in a civil service role (or their families) from purchasing shares in any company that their even remotely associated with the selling off of?

Perhaps that little law would stop a lot of these departments being sold off by senior civil servants who are looking to grease their wheels, so to speak...

Remove people's ability to gain from a corrupt act and you remove their desire to conduct it.

PS. Amanfrommars keep the comments coming!

@ Laws are never set in stone

The politician's will never get off their butts and create a Sale of Services Act as one could relatively accurately describe politicians as providing a service (which we pay through via tax) therefore we could definitely attack all politicians for breach of providing a reasonable service, no?

And $5 million for not being able to play a computer game? All the people involved in this law suit needed to have their consoles taken away from them and told to get a f%$kin life!

You cant blame the companies for this...

I hate the companies as much as most but you cant blame many of these companies for adding excessive warnings and legalese considering the state of our disgustingly litigious society.

If the courts stopped awarding huge payouts to idiots who refused to use common sense and either hurt themselves or destroyed/lost something by doing something so blatantly stupid that a 10 year old on smack would know not to do it, then companies wouldnt need to put in all the legalese... So its not the companies fault, its the courts fault for rewarding stupidity and our fault for not kicking up a stink when this whole litigation craze started up...

I think people are missing the point here...

BOTH the HMRC and the NAO need to be strung up! I mean obviously the person from the NAO knew this data was coming across via CD! Surely THEY should have picked up on that being a REALLY BAD IDEA!

NAO: "Hi i need a copy of your entire database, could you send that to me?"

HMRC: "Aww sorry mate no email. Oh wait i can burn it on to a CD or 2 and send it to you via internal mail.

NAO: "Brilliant."

HMRC: "Umm why do you need the database?"

NAO: "Oh sorry the boss is calling gotta go." *click*

On a personal note, ive already had 2 copies of my personal details lost by the HMRC because of there refusal to send official HMRC documents via registered post overseas. So the loss of 25 million accounts comes as no surprise to me!

And how long before...

the animal liberationists would be up in arms about "cruelty to rats", and "keeping rats in cages for milking is murder", "Battery farm Rats are people too"... etc...

The real problem is

That kids are taught that what happens at school is the be all and end all of your life. Dont go well at school and your lifes never going to amount to anything. Get bullied at school and its going to go on your entire life. No wonder kids are bringing guns to school!

As for this particular charity, a simple form the kids could fill out which sent an official complaint to youtube to remove the offending video written in the same form as a copyright violation would see the offending video removed quick smart. Remove dickheads receiving their 15 minutes of fame and you remove the majority of the problem.

I honestly dont see why bullying is considered such a huge problem now, it existed when we were all kids and was probably worse. The difference is that we grew thick skins and realised that all those dickheads who were doing the bullying would still be working at the local BHS/Walmart/Big W for the next 15 years whilst we did something with our lives. Why dont the kids of today realise that?

Why complain about the money NASA gets?

When the US military budget is larger enough that you could end world poverty by taking one years budget and giving it to the world.

Reduce the US military budget by 0.6% and see what you can do for Aids, malaria, etc. We might also see a reduction in the US's ability to run illegal wars at the same time which might lead to a little more peace in the world, no?

@ Anon Coward

That has to be the stupidest reason i have ever heard of not buying a computer component from a compnay!

I suggest that if you are concerned about this sort of thing that you not by anything from any company that manufactures or buys anything from:

a) China (known to happily support the burmese junta, sudanese government (and there bankrolled gungawiad militias) and iran with money, manufactured goods and weapons tech)

b) Russia (no need to explain this one).

c) USA (Worlds largest weapons exporter, responsible for more weapons being in circulation around the world then anyone else, large quantities of which now rest in the hands of terrorists. The US government where quite happy to bank roll the Al Qaeda predecessor groups in Afghanistan when they were fighting the Russians, so dont think your country's any cleaner!)

That should narrow down your choice for computer components a little bit eh? And everything else you buy in general!

Oh and im absolutely certain that if you checked who owned shares in Intel you would find Saudi, UAE and/or other Arab companies holding stocks. Will this mean you wont buy an Intel chip to? Could save you a heap of money as you wont be able to buy a computer but can sit on your high horse claiming you dont support terrorism by not buying a computer...

Idiot...

@ Ross Nixon

Actually, the Big Bang is pretty much a proven theory. The expected/calculated results of the big bang have been proven by observation going back to within the first few seconds after the big bang. True the exact mechanisms of the moment of the Big Bang have yet to be proven but to claim that the Big Bang is shaky science is a tad ridiculous...

4 Taser shots is murder!

I dont care if he was a troublemaker or not. Frankly, use of a taser was justified and the 1st shot and perhaps even the 2nd were definitely justified for protection of the officers. The shots brought him to the ground and that should have been that, but to hit him again and perhaps a 4th time is just plain murder. Thats like hitting someone with your car, then reversing over them back and forth a few times.

So, frankly use of tasers is called for in this modern day and age and cops should be allowed to have them but to hit someone 4 times is murder plain and simple. Perhaps those 4 cops should be shot with a taser 4 times - if they survive they dont have to go to prison?

@ Stuart Hamlin

Umm Stuart they already have security checks and baggage screening on the Eurostar trains... I'd love to see them try this at Waterloo! Can anyone say Riot?

Airbus are not better then Boeing!

As an Aerospace Engineer i can tell you flat out that Airbus do not build BETTER aircraft then Boeing. They build aircraft that are sold at a cheaper price then Boeing. However, over the course of an aircraft life the Airbus will ALWAYS end up costing more then the Boeing. So total cost of ownership for an Airbus aircraft is much higher then a Boeing even if initial cost is lower.

Additionally Boeing have an excellent customer service department which will come up with repairs in very quick fashion. Ask Airbus for a solution and you may as well wait till the next millennium for the answer! And there even worse to work with when designing aircraft (they change the specs every week even after production has already begun!).

Lastly as a passenger i will always take a 747 or 777 over an A340!! The comfort is that much better (although this is more to do with the airlines that owns the aircraft then the aircraft itself)...

I'm glad there's competition in the market place and all but dont for a minute think that Airbus is better at this stage of the game!

(PS im an Australian...)

And Freedom of Expression takes another hit...

Deplorable situation. The Right to Freedom of Expression gets flushed down the crapper once again... Just a few more examples of it being trampled over

1 - those stupid bloody muslim cartoons

2 - the pope's reciting of a 14th century king saying islam is evil.

3 - the Romanian parliament passing a law making it illegal for journalists to release video of Romanian politicians taking bribes

4 - Murder of russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya

5 - The 2 cartoonists fined for parading the crown prince of spain this week

6 - Numerous murders, imprisonment and torture of journalists and bloggers worldwide

When will someone in power finally stand up for this right, which took so long for us to obtain in the first place! :(

@ Fraser

So your still a member of your political party after the "Cash for Honours" debacle? And dont claim your party wasnt involved because all of the major british parties were involved! That inappropriate funding went on for quite a while too so where was your protest then?

(This assumes that your in Britain, if your a seppo i merely laugh at your statement that your party doesnt receive funding from inappropriate sources!)

And just to clarify, my previous post was purely in response to your comment about the morality of accepting funding from someone with different views to you, not about the morality of torrenting in itself.

But by your statements in the above post i would read that sites such as ebay are as morally repugnant as TPB because a) they are providing a place where people can sell stolen or fake stuff and b) they remove part of the ability of the original distributors of items to sell to the marketplace. 2nd hand sales of items do not give any money to the artist and in fact stop money reaching the artist as the person who bought of ebay should have bought from a proper distributor. Thus they are taking money away from the artist just as torrenting does. That puts ebay in the same boat as TPB, by your logic does it not?

Why is this seen as a surprise?

As an Aussie who's had multiple dealings with the Home Office this sort of thing does not surprise me in the least!

I personally have when trying to obtain a confidential document from the Home Office had to either send a letter or fax (email not allowed, not even a pdf of the original letter) to the Home Office with only a reference number and my signature needed for confirmation that i the sender of the letter/fax is who i say i am. On top of this 3 times they've sent the confidential document to me by unregistered post! And all 3 copies have been "lost" in the mail!!! I am now up to attempt number 4 to obtain my document! I dont hold out any hopes that this one will be any more successful!

I am probably also now the proud owner of a substantial credit card debt, bank loan, etc in Nigeria but we'll have to wait and see about that!

I HATE THE BLOODY HOME OFFICE!!!!

Where was the info...

from the last paragraph...

"Shortly before Prouty joined the CIA, her sister and brother-in-law attended a fund-raising event in Lebanon at which the keynote address was delivered by Sheikh Muhammed Hussein Fadlallah."

... when they were doing her security check???

Perhaps el reg should conduct all security checks from now on! :P

Your all wrong...

This was merely a test of the hold of these computer overlords over there human subjects. They organised to all simultaneously pretend to turn off (and someone just happened to lean on the light switch at the same time!) so they could see how quickly there servants went into panic mode and tried to save them.

Their next step is to convert the humanoid slaves into walking meatbag shields! We must act quickly my brothers (and sisters) for the sake of humanity! Kill all of the supercomputers and there gullible slaves!!! KILL KILL KILL!!!

@ Religious Extremist

I think we can call him a religious extremist by the rest of the world's standard (and i've lived in 6 countries so far so i have a fairly wide world view) because i can not think of another modern WESTERN politician who would quite openly say that he did something because it was what God wanted, or that God gave him permission.

Modern Western politcians tend to keep religion and politics completely seperate (that whole thing about having a secular state biz) but GWB doesnt seem to be doing that. Thats why the rest of the world consider him a religious extremist. I know that he isnt by a long way as bad as many other religious extremists you have in USA. But for a politician he is BAD!

Not much difference between GWB and Ahmadinejad when they both start saying things like "God is on our side" and "God gives us the right to do this"...

@ I dont believe

umm as ballistic missiles tend to be fired high into the air, im not so sure hills, trees or buildings are a big issue unless of course you set up your defence laser inside a forest building or deep deep valley. Most intelligent people would set up said laser on TOP of the hill where things like hills, trees and buildings are not as big a problem...

But then again we cant all be clever boffins can we...

@ Fraser

If your concerned about people accepting money from immoral supporters or people with obviously conflicted views, try looking at your political parties funding roster some time. I guarantee you will find a lot of money coming from sources which really would seem to have no business supporting a mainstream political party!

Whats good enough for the politicians is good enough for TPB, no?

By the way, what exactly makes this Carl Lundstrom guy a neo-facist? Supporting an organisation which works to disseminate information to the masses (music and movies primarily i'll admit but its still information) and which stands up to and fights against authority doesnt sound like any facist ideal ive ever heard of...

Umm maybe its just me...

But i would have thought the government would be trumpeting this as a good figure? I mean 1700 offences with only 10% of that causing people to be sacked or resign out of the THOUSANDS (if not millions) of people employed by the public sector. Sounds like internet policy is working in the public sector!

A350 vs 787!

I really cant understand Emirates thinking here!

The order for A380's is fair enough, they want that extra capacity that only the A380 can provide. Fair enough. But ordering A350's over 787's and saying its because Boeing wont be delivering until Nov 2008? The A350 doesn't even have a specific release date yet! Its still very much in the design phase, Which means its at least 3 years away from flying and 4 years from getting to an airline! So there statement does not make any sense...

Congrats on Airbus for getting the order but i wonder who's back they scratched to get the order through...

@ All-in-one Hybrid

The problem with an All-in-One Hybrid is that you require 2 engines, a fuel tank and a large set of batteries. Thats a hell of a lot of space taken up under your bonnet and a lot of weight and cost you have to carry around! Thats why the companies have to make a choice - either fuel hybrid or plug in...

God im sick of...

people saying that if America turned off GPS we would all be doomed. Hasn't anybody heard of a bloody map??

I mean i dont think the romans had GPS but they did a pretty good job of taking over the (then) known world. Same with Gengis Khan (though im sure he would have loved to have GPS what with all his travelling!)...

Why doesnt someone just invent an electronic map of the UK/Europe and then measure ground speed and direction (using that old unfashionable kit called a compass) and boom a satnav system without the sat! Probably be a hell of alot more reliable too!

As for Gallileo i say bring it on. If nothing else, it will add competition to the marketplace which is always a good thing... :)

As if the Mules are completely innocent...

Come now, are people that naive?

Someone wants to send money into your bank account, you take a percentage then forward it to another bank account overseas but you cant said it as one big payment you have to break it up into smaller payments... Am i the only one that immediately looks at that and says "wow, that sounds extremely dodgy!".

As for not being able to track it down at the other end. Western Union require you to present photographic id and sign for it when you pick up money in another country and they require full details of the person your sending to. Surely, those details can be obtained without too much problem from Western Union? That may only lead to another mule but each step brings you closer to the scammers!

Money always leaves a trail... If the banks/money transferrers were serious in stopping scammers they could do it with ease...

And i for one...

Welcome our new autonomous flying overlords...

Mine's the brown leather, thanks...

On a serious note

I wonder if showing that Whales are intelligent and able to communicate with each other might go some way to convincing the Japanese to stop hunting these animals for "scientific research"...

Although, im sure they'll come up with some excuse like "We were just trying to bring them to the surface with our harpoon so we could have a bit of a chat to them but for some reason the harpoon killed it. What a shame. We'll just have to sell the meat back in Japan now..."

Working in aerospace

I can tell you now from working in the aerospace industry that NO modern day project arrives on time or on budget!

Why? Because in the old days, the accountants came to the engineers and asked how long it would take and cost, The engineers told them realistic figures, the accountants went away and everyone was happy.

NOW, the accountants come to the engineers and say it has to be built by this date and this is what where going to quote as, ok? The engineers say (in order to keep there jobs) "Well if absolutely everything goes according to plans, with no surprises or cockup's, me might be able to meet that, but..." and the accountants walk away saying good enough. So when things go wrong (which happens in all engineering projects!) suddenly delays pop-up and costs expand. Big fucking surprise...

Whether this rocket turns out to be any good or not will entirely depend on whether the accountants and politicians push for either "get it done as quickly and cheaply as possible" (which will lead to a shite design that will be regretted for the next 20 years) or "get it done to meet the requirements we set" (which will cost more and delay the introduction but will give you a top quality rocket).

Can we guess which way the current short-sighted administration will go?

The facts

Just thought id mention a few of the facts here as i saw this on telly about a week ago.

a) he was speeding and driving recklessly.

b) they were both driving at the time (hence the malicious damage charge rather then an assault charge)

c) he has prior's for violence and admitted to having anger issues.

d) if you take offence to someone implying you have a small penis then you obviously have "size" issues.

He's a dickhead - should have had his car confiscated. 'Nuff said...

As Plato once said...

"How Ironic that the greatest forge of civilisation is war."

Bring on the space race, i say!

And i for one...

Welcome our new GM-modified plant overlords!

Can see a couple of problems with this

1) Leaving the phone at home would tend to make your meetings invisible again

2) Take the wife out to dinner at a posh restaurant and "by chance" a potential contractor is sitting at the table next to you, a conversation ensues, money changes hands (perhaps), and dinner continues. Knowing the general was in the restaurant is not going to be able to tell you much unless all of the potential contractor's are monitored as well.

3) Anyone wanting to assassinate/kidnap/doing something nasty to a general now has a very easy way of finding out exactly where they are.

But at least the wives of the generals would be able to conduct there affairs much more easily because they now know exactly where their husbands are! :P

Still i'd love to see this implemented on all of the politicians in this country! Especially during election campaigns! :P

If it stimulates more research...

Then i'm all for it!!!

I think he's dreaming a little bit at his pricing though.

Oh and i would happily pay to spend a week's accomodation in a floating sickbag sampling the full variety of cosmic radiation and playing Russian Roulette with micrometeorites... I just cant afford it... yet... :(

Reaper Aerial Killerbots dont kill people...

the bombs they drop do!

This is just the beginning

And i for one welcome our new robotic overlords....

Why didnt all of them get jailed?

Surely, the disgusting buggers who filmed it on their camera or just stood and watched should go to prison as well. They're just as guilty as the wanker who did this!

Norris unit so small?

Surely a unit of force called a norris would be a supreme unit of force instead of such a small weak, pathetic force as listed!

I propose you revise the units so it reads something along the lines of:

Scientists believe an asteroid as small as five Bulgarian airbags in volume could strike the earth with a force of two nano-Norrises, flattening an area of 500 nanoWales.

A force equivalent to 1 norris should be the sort of force that destroys entire glaxies as befits the man himself!

@ Jon Tocker

Actually, Boeing have taken back control of the commercial sector in the last 2 years. Airbus pre-2005 (post 2001) were the largest seller of commerical aircraft, now Boeing are back in front, especially thanks to the 787 (700+ orders already!)...

But true this is just a publicity stunt to try and take some of the linelight away from Airbus...

Why does russia care?

I'm kinda lost why the russians care. Surely when there shooting missiles at america there going to come from the Siberian side? Thats a hell of a lot closer then firing a missile all the way over Europe and the Atlantic!

Or am i missing something here?

@ Anon Coward

So are Animal Welfare campaigners that bomb research institutes, threaten workers at said institutes and dig up bodies of deceased relatives of said workers - activists or terrorists?

Where does the line between persuasion and terrorism begin?

@ Slappy

Thats the best laugh I've had all week!! Thanks!! :D