Posts by Des 67 publicly visible posts • joined 8 Feb 2007
Even the best condoms are only 99% safe, and that doesn't mean they don't leak 99% of the time, just that the risk of a leak resulting in a baby is only 1%. Now supposing the Bigelow Space Condominium leaks a little - it'll be alright 99% of the time, but maybe 1% of the time might result is you being berthed in space?
I'm all in favour of sending nukes into space - surely that's been the basis of ICBMs for decades and no one seriously said we could do without them did they? We could also remember the comments from ROSPA recently which said that we should be allowed to play dangerous games and risk bumps and bruises as we mature. Put them both together and you're hard-pushed to come up with a justifiable reason for not using nuclear energy in space.
Anyway, as has been pointed out many times here before; the biggest hurdle is the small step to GEO and beyond. If only we could overcome that problem then we probably wouldn't need to worry so much about nuclear energy in space - just stick the reactor in a packing crate and send it up the space elevator! Isn't a side effect of the space elevator that it might generate electricity? I'm sure I've stumbled across that whilst working (reading theregister).
I have used Epson in the past and currently have a Canon Multi-Function Device (printer / fax / scanner / copier) and I swear by it. The ink is reasonably priced although I do use non-Canon products as I'm a tightwad anyway, but if you were to buy the genuine article I think they're about half the price of most Epson inks and even they are reasonable compared to HP.
HP = Higher Price
PS. My wife had a HP and I nearly feinted when I tried to get a replacement ink cartridge (which seemed to almost be a printer in it's own right)!
Scottie, I disagree that my comments are completely stupid although I confess to feeling outraged at the flaming this young man was receiving for being brave (or stupid) enough to stand up for what he thought was right and put his life on the line to come to the aid of others.
To respond to your comments; I have not witnessed an armed robbery, but I have witnessed and assisted with the prevention of a petty crime - I happened to be leaving a supermarket as a man ran out with over a hundred GBPs worth of meat. I ran to the assistance of the security guard as others just stood and watched. My wife provoked a couple of additional men to assist in preventing the theif from getting into a car and making a clean getaway, but otherwise they would have stood and watched! In this case the danger was limited; the theif may of had a knife, he may have got into his car and used that as a weapon, but in the end he was apprended and he didn't get away with his crime. The victim here might have been a faceless corporation that makes huge profits but the fact remains that the theif was attempting to commit a crime and I believe that by standing by and spectating I would have been supporting him in his criminal activities!
I have also been in the military, and my reasons for being in the armed forces didn't start out as noble ones, but merely because I sought out employment and the military offered me a stepping stone into a career that provided me with training and made me the man I am today. In no way did it make me feel that I had become different from the rest of society and in no way did I presume that I had joined a small elite force of protectors of society! Just because we have police and military personnel does not mean that we give up any responsibility, that only serves to support the ideas that you seem so set on. For me, the police are too small a resource to be able to deal with all crime and need all the help they can get. Your language (cellphone) suggests that you may not be a UK resident(?), but in the UK there are people who give up their free time as Police Community Support Officers (http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/police/recruitment/community-support-officer/). They work with the police in their local communities because they want to make a difference, not disappear into the background in the hope that criminals won't notice them.
I had a discussion with a co-worker about this topic and he seemed to suggest that he would only stand up against crime if it was an individual that was being attacked. How do you judge whether or not to stand up against crime? Do you ask the victim if they can afford the loss? Do you make an arbitrary decision based upon their personal wealth? If you were the victim of a criminal act (if someone was stealing your mobile phone or if you were being assaulted) how would you feel if the people who witnessed the crime turned their back on you? The police are a stretched resource and cannot be depended upon, this country is the way it is today because too many people turn their back on crime.
Just for the record I don't consider that a mobile phone is equivalent in any way to a woman being raped; my point was that crime is crime no matter how much monetary or personal value is affected by the crime.
I can't believe the comments made by people on this post! It may have been foolhardy for him to tackle the armed criminals, but at least he was prepared to stand up for what he believed in and say no! Just suppose the robbers had been armed with fake weapons - it might have been the actions of this brave man that turned a robbery into an attempted robbery!
How many times have the people who posted the negative comments on this article been witness to a crime (no matter how minor) and just crossed to the other side of the street or turned a blind eye? Just imagine that rather than a security van delivering cash to a faceless ATM that this was a woman about to be raped or a young person having his mobile phone stolen. No one wants to get involved and yet we're the first to say that this nation is going to ruin - take some responsibility you f*ck!ng cowards and stand up for what you believe in!
It makes me sick when I think back to my youth and the personal freedoms I enjoyed and how today I wouldn't let my children out on the streets for fear of their safety. This nation is what it is because of the people in it - if you want it to be a better place you have to help make it a better place. Grow some b@lls!
...but then again...
Once more an invasion of privacy and spilling of the found beans, I wonder just how happy the cops would be if all their little skeletons were let out of the closet?
This case has been dragging on for ages, surely the little orange tablets would have been tested by now? My bet is that they are harmless vitamin C and that it's more damaging to leak them as unidentified.
No disrespect to the person who posted "Sucker born every minute", but why did you even bother?
Surely for less than $20 you could have knocked up your own certificate of ownership every bit as authentic and legally binding as the ones being sold by Dennis Hope? Alternatively you can post me £10 GBP and I will send you instructions on how to do it yourself :)
Incidentally, did anyone watch the earlier (7:15) programme on Five? It discussed how the American Dream has turned us all in to consumerists who aspire to own everything ownable for no reason. Personally it made me reconsider my recent request for budget approval (from her indoors) to buy a new HD TV for at least 5 minutes. Sadly she is still sitting on my application. Perhaps instead of selling plots of the moon I could sell pixels of my new HD TV? Anyone interested? I plan to sell them for 10 a penny (that's £0.01 GBP) and still raise the two grand for my 1080P HD TV.
My wife is due to give birth to our daughter at any moment and we have agreed to name her Sophia. Obviously I wanted her second name to be Loren after the popular Italian actress, but my wife has objected on the grounds that our daughter would be ridiculed!?!
I find this hard to believe.
Yours sincerely, Dave Ontopovaman
Patients should (if they are physically able) lie on their stomachs so that they can be shafted more easily by service providers, or they could just leave their wallets open on the bedside cabinets. Another case of rip-off Britain, and again patients are easy targets. It was only recently that there were reports of the excessive charges incurred when parking on hospital grounds for the purposes of receiving treatment or visiting sick friends and relatives.
I stay in hotels quite frequently and would like to make use of the internet, but I'm put off by the excessive 50p per minute charge no matter how much bandwidth I use. Thankfully my generous hotel caps this at £20 per night, but this is almost what I pay monthly at home for a dedicated broadband link that I have to share with nobody.
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