Funny thing is that in Belgium those third brake lights used to be forbidden until one day they became mandatory. Go figure...
As a guess I would say the Belgian law was changed in line with a European Directive.
I remember the first ones on Volvos, they used the the same full power bulbs as normal break lights and they were blinding to the following driver, especially on wet winter nights.
The European Directive probably set the lower intensity that we now have and mandated then across the EU.
It is also difficult for Belgium to ban something that is compulsory elsewhere as it is a country that many people travel through in order to get somewhere else, before the euro I avoided stopping as changing money to another currency just to buy a cup of coffee just wasn't worth it.
I must admit, I don't get it either, what's so special about integrating this tech into a smart-phone?
I already have an Oyster card http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyster_card, for when I go to London and have no problem with it. When you get on the bus or tube you just wave your wallet at a yellow disc. I believe it can be used in some shops to pay for food, drinks, newspapers but have not tried this.
Banks in the UK are starting to issue contactless cards, but I think its only in London where the Oyster has trail blazed the technology so far.
I did think a small pocket on a coat sleeve would be good, but I can put the card where its convenient for me.
Plus I'm not sure I want my bank to 'own' my phone.
So, how do you find the phone number of your child's 3rd grade teacher? In 1960 you used the phone book.
You phone the school and ask to speak to them, or leave a message. Phoning someone at home about work is just wrong. In an emergency, then it would be ok for his boss to call him, but a parent/customer never.
How do you find the phone number of your neighbor with a spotlight aimed at your window at 2:00 AM?
If you don't know him well enough to be able to knock on the door, then the chances are you won't know his name, certainly not his surname so how are you going to find him in the phonebook?
There is little chance of ISP Tech Support lines being in your local phonebook. Do you really expect them to pay for listings in every phonebook in the country? Local ISPs ceased to exist sometime in the last century.
You will find a computer repair shop in the yellow pages.
Same here in Leicestershire, there are so few residential numbers in the phonebook (most are ex-directory), that mine goes straight from the letterbox to the recycling bin.
If we want someone to phone us, we give them the number. Use of our landline has fallen to practically zero, I haven't given my landline number to friends for years, they have my mobile as its me they want to speak to, not the house.
The landline is needed for broadband, and its cheaper for non-geographical numbers and international calls.
Do Americans not have the same ease of going ex-directory as we do?
In the EU, they charge VAT according to the rate of the country to which the goods are destined.
Actually in the EU, they charge VAT according to the rate of the country in which the goods are sold.
There is no limit, on the value of goods that can be imported providing VAT is paid in another EU country.
If you import goods from outside the EU, which includes the Channel Islands (where a lot of Amazon and other online CD DVD companies dispatch from), proving each item is below a limit (£17 rings a bell) there is nothing to pay. If it is over you have to pay duty when it is delivered. Its important not to go slightly over, as the carrier will have paid the duty for you and then slapped on a massive flat rate handling charge.
Certainly never gets as far as a tax form. Most people in the UK (tax is deducted by your employer) never see a tax form.
Okay, folks. So what are they called where you live? In Ontario they are called advanced greens. UK seems to use the term filters.
An advanced green and a filter a subtly different, although they do achieve the same result.
An advanced green is a flashing green which tells the driver that the oncoming is held by a red light. At some point the flashing will stop indicating that the oncoming traffic is now released and the driver must now give way to oncoming traffic.
In the UK a right turn filter (arrow) will indicate that it is safe to turn right. On a right turn, the arrow will be followed by a red light. At no point will the arrow change to a standard green indicating that the driver should give way to oncoming traffic. Sometimes a right turn filter will follow a green (give way to oncoming traffic) but it will be followed by red.
Sorry, everyone who drives anywhere on the planet knows what an advanced green is. You'll have to do your own research on this one.
I suspect that statement is very untrue. I know what an advanced green is because I have driven in North America, but they certainly don't exist in the UK. Most UK drivers will have no idea what an Advanced green is.
The residential phonebook has been a waste of time for a long time. The chances of finding the person you want is tiny, the majority have gone ex-directory (unlisted) to avoid marketing calls.
If people want me to call them they give me their number they give it to me, usually mobile. The majority I know, myself included, would dump the landline tomorrow if it wasn't needed for the internet.
When you compare the size of the phonebook now, compared to when I was growing up in the 70s, it is now tiny in comparison.
No wonder so many folks had problems voting in the last election.
I don't believe the system is broken, there must have been 10s of 1000s of polling stations operating on the day, and in all but a tiny handfull they worked perfectly.
I haven't seen any enquiry results as yet, not sure if any have been published, but my understanding is:
Running out of ballot papers, there is no excuse for this, just order as many as you have voters, plus a enough spares.
The others seemed to be large numbers of students, turning up in the last hour without polling cards.
Polling cards have a number which allows the polling station staff to find you on the register quickly. Whilst not needing the card, it takes time to ask for name and address, check spelling etc. If large numbers do not bring their cards it, is easy to see how delays occur.
It is beyond me why so many did not bother to take their cards.
The hard part about Linux is the initial setup. Especially finding, installing, and configuring drivers to work with all of your various hardware. Since Dell does all that part before shipping the boxes,[1] yeah, it really does "just work" by the time the consumer gets it.
---
I have a Dell Inspiron, which came with Ubuntu, and everything does work. I assume the modem worked I never tried it.
It was, its now running Fedora 10, a totally standard Ubuntu Feisty install and it did come with OO. What Dell had done was to choose the right hardware. It has Intel wireless hardware, rather than broadcom.
When you are walking having to hold a separate BT GPS and operate Google Maps on you phone can be cumbersome.
Far easier to have them in one device.
Looking forward to June when my contract is up and I can get an N95.
For everyone to start work an hour earlier would mean.
Public transport needs to start and hour earlier.
Got to get the kids off to school and hour earlier.
That means every other firm starts and hour earlier too.
Its just easier to change the clocks.
Here in the UK, they move the clocks the wrong way in the winter.
When we are short of daylight and really need it, the clocks are set to ensure that everyone goes to work and comes home again in the dark, meaning a lot of people only see daylight at the weekend.
I doubt it.
Here, in the UK, providing you have a BT phoneline you have a choice of more or less any ADSL provider.
There is a choice of close to 100 providers. Some traffic shape other don't.
People do move to avoid this, so from a personal point of view we seem to be better off. But not enough move to make them change their policy.
New year SMS messages can take hours to deliver everywhere, its just not practical to design a network that can cope with that sudden surge in demand. As for trying to make a voice call.
Where I live the same thing happens whenever there is a blockage on the motorway.
For music festivals, where there are going to be 1000's of extra people in an area. The networks set up temporary masts to cope with the extra demand.
It could well have been 3G/HSPDA phone, which is a faster version of 3G, and could well achieve those speeds if connected to a laptop using the USB cable.
We have 3G/HSPDA phones here in Europe too.
Slashdot Mirror
Funny thing is that in Belgium those third brake lights used to be forbidden until one day they became mandatory. Go figure...
As a guess I would say the Belgian law was changed in line with a European Directive.
I remember the first ones on Volvos, they used the the same full power bulbs as normal break lights and they were blinding to the following driver, especially on wet winter nights.
The European Directive probably set the lower intensity that we now have and mandated then across the EU.
It is also difficult for Belgium to ban something that is compulsory elsewhere as it is a country that many people travel through in order to get somewhere else, before the euro I avoided stopping as changing money to another currency just to buy a cup of coffee just wasn't worth it.
I must admit, I don't get it either, what's so special about integrating this tech into a smart-phone? I already have an Oyster card http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyster_card, for when I go to London and have no problem with it. When you get on the bus or tube you just wave your wallet at a yellow disc. I believe it can be used in some shops to pay for food, drinks, newspapers but have not tried this. Banks in the UK are starting to issue contactless cards, but I think its only in London where the Oyster has trail blazed the technology so far. I did think a small pocket on a coat sleeve would be good, but I can put the card where its convenient for me. Plus I'm not sure I want my bank to 'own' my phone.
So, how do you find the phone number of your child's 3rd grade teacher? In 1960 you used the phone book.
You phone the school and ask to speak to them, or leave a message. Phoning someone at home about work is just wrong. In an emergency, then it would be ok for his boss to call him, but a parent/customer never.
How do you find the phone number of your neighbor with a spotlight aimed at your window at 2:00 AM?
If you don't know him well enough to be able to knock on the door, then the chances are you won't know his name, certainly not his surname so how are you going to find him in the phonebook?
There is little chance of ISP Tech Support lines being in your local phonebook. Do you really expect them to pay for listings in every phonebook in the country? Local ISPs ceased to exist sometime in the last century. You will find a computer repair shop in the yellow pages.
Same here in Leicestershire, there are so few residential numbers in the phonebook (most are ex-directory), that mine goes straight from the letterbox to the recycling bin. If we want someone to phone us, we give them the number. Use of our landline has fallen to practically zero, I haven't given my landline number to friends for years, they have my mobile as its me they want to speak to, not the house. The landline is needed for broadband, and its cheaper for non-geographical numbers and international calls. Do Americans not have the same ease of going ex-directory as we do?
In the EU, they charge VAT according to the rate of the country to which the goods are destined.
Actually in the EU, they charge VAT according to the rate of the country in which the goods are sold. There is no limit, on the value of goods that can be imported providing VAT is paid in another EU country.
If you import goods from outside the EU, which includes the Channel Islands (where a lot of Amazon and other online CD DVD companies dispatch from), proving each item is below a limit (£17 rings a bell) there is nothing to pay. If it is over you have to pay duty when it is delivered. Its important not to go slightly over, as the carrier will have paid the duty for you and then slapped on a massive flat rate handling charge.
Certainly never gets as far as a tax form. Most people in the UK (tax is deducted by your employer) never see a tax form.
Okay, folks. So what are they called where you live? In Ontario they are called advanced greens. UK seems to use the term filters.
An advanced green and a filter a subtly different, although they do achieve the same result. An advanced green is a flashing green which tells the driver that the oncoming is held by a red light. At some point the flashing will stop indicating that the oncoming traffic is now released and the driver must now give way to oncoming traffic. In the UK a right turn filter (arrow) will indicate that it is safe to turn right. On a right turn, the arrow will be followed by a red light. At no point will the arrow change to a standard green indicating that the driver should give way to oncoming traffic. Sometimes a right turn filter will follow a green (give way to oncoming traffic) but it will be followed by red.
Sorry, everyone who drives anywhere on the planet knows what an advanced green is. You'll have to do your own research on this one.
I suspect that statement is very untrue. I know what an advanced green is because I have driven in North America, but they certainly don't exist in the UK. Most UK drivers will have no idea what an Advanced green is.
We drive on the left in the UK too, but still stand on the right on escalators on the tube.
The residential phonebook has been a waste of time for a long time. The chances of finding the person you want is tiny, the majority have gone ex-directory (unlisted) to avoid marketing calls. If people want me to call them they give me their number they give it to me, usually mobile. The majority I know, myself included, would dump the landline tomorrow if it wasn't needed for the internet. When you compare the size of the phonebook now, compared to when I was growing up in the 70s, it is now tiny in comparison.
No wonder so many folks had problems voting in the last election.
I don't believe the system is broken, there must have been 10s of 1000s of polling stations operating on the day, and in all but a tiny handfull they worked perfectly. I haven't seen any enquiry results as yet, not sure if any have been published, but my understanding is: Running out of ballot papers, there is no excuse for this, just order as many as you have voters, plus a enough spares. The others seemed to be large numbers of students, turning up in the last hour without polling cards. Polling cards have a number which allows the polling station staff to find you on the register quickly. Whilst not needing the card, it takes time to ask for name and address, check spelling etc. If large numbers do not bring their cards it, is easy to see how delays occur. It is beyond me why so many did not bother to take their cards.
I can't remember if passport applications ask for the national insurance number
It doesn't.
The Conservatives proposed an ID card before labour
Then they decided it was a stupid idea and didn't do it.
Several times a week, but the ATM is happy with the Debit card and PIN.
Blackberrys are the norm for managment/business types that read the Torygraph.
The hard part about Linux is the initial setup. Especially finding, installing, and configuring drivers to work with all of your various hardware. Since Dell does all that part before shipping the boxes,[1] yeah, it really does "just work" by the time the consumer gets it.
---
I have a Dell Inspiron, which came with Ubuntu, and everything does work. I assume the modem worked I never tried it. It was, its now running Fedora 10, a totally standard Ubuntu Feisty install and it did come with OO. What Dell had done was to choose the right hardware. It has Intel wireless hardware, rather than broadcom.
When you are walking having to hold a separate BT GPS and operate Google Maps on you phone can be cumbersome. Far easier to have them in one device. Looking forward to June when my contract is up and I can get an N95.
For everyone to start work an hour earlier would mean. Public transport needs to start and hour earlier. Got to get the kids off to school and hour earlier. That means every other firm starts and hour earlier too. Its just easier to change the clocks. Here in the UK, they move the clocks the wrong way in the winter. When we are short of daylight and really need it, the clocks are set to ensure that everyone goes to work and comes home again in the dark, meaning a lot of people only see daylight at the weekend.
I doubt it. Here, in the UK, providing you have a BT phoneline you have a choice of more or less any ADSL provider. There is a choice of close to 100 providers. Some traffic shape other don't. People do move to avoid this, so from a personal point of view we seem to be better off. But not enough move to make them change their policy.
Who needs a separate mp3 player? Phones are more than capable of playing mp3s, so I guess they just download tracks straight to the phone.
New year SMS messages can take hours to deliver everywhere, its just not practical to design a network that can cope with that sudden surge in demand. As for trying to make a voice call. Where I live the same thing happens whenever there is a blockage on the motorway. For music festivals, where there are going to be 1000's of extra people in an area. The networks set up temporary masts to cope with the extra demand.
It could well have been 3G/HSPDA phone, which is a faster version of 3G, and could well achieve those speeds if connected to a laptop using the USB cable. We have 3G/HSPDA phones here in Europe too.