We were less dicks with you precisely because the Americans won, and we realised that being less dickish was more likely to keep the remaining colonies in the Empire.
Although that was a relative thing of course: we carried on being dickish for a lot longer where the colonies were mostly inhabited by brown or black people, sad to admit.
In this case, if the Lords do block it, which is possible but relatively unlikely, AND there's no time left for the Commons to overturn the Lords' vote, which is possible and fairly likely as the Mandybill is the last of the wash-up bills to be debated in the Lords, then it will fail, as the current Parliament will be dissolved. Unfinished bills can be carried from one annual session of a Parliament to the next, but can't be carried from one Parliament to another. If the above, admittedly not likely, scenario takes place, then even if Labour do get re-elected with a Commons majority, they'd have to re-introduce the Mandybill from scratch.
Also, not applying to this bill I beleive, but generally any bill that begins in the House of Lords can be thrown out by the Lords and the Commons can't override this. That's why if the government has any sense they always start likely to be controversial bills in the Commons.
The EU sets out what it wants, Canada sets out what it wants. In this particular section, the EU is asking for a lot more than Canada, but quite possibly in other sections Canada is asking for more than the EU (I've not read the full text of the draft).
Then the two parties sit down and start horse-trading. Maybe there's something that Canada really wants that they'll happily swallow these copyright provisions to get. Maybe Canada will say, no, we can't accept these provisions, but we'll concede something else instead, or maybe the EU will say insist, in which case the Canadians will say "no deal". Most likely there'll be a lot of compromises by both sides, with both getting some of what they want, but not all.
It's interesting to consider why the Canadians are considering a free-trade agreement with Europe, considering that they're already in NAFTA. I understand the Canadian government has been unhappy with what they see as persistent US non-compliance with their NAFTA obligations, so perhaps they're looking at a deal with the EU as a Plan B.
In the UK the public sector (and a lot of provate firms too) begins the new financial year on 1st April, so this date is commonly the day that new government agencies start operating, and old ones are wound up. It's because until 1752 New Year's Day in Britain and its colonies was March 25th. In 1752 we adopted the Gregorian calendar, and New Year's Day moved to January 1st. Since then the tax year in the UK starts on April 5th (March 25th + 11) because moving from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar meant an adjustment of 11 days, but the Inland Revenue didn't want to lose any revenue from their annual accounts. April 1st became the common financial new year as it was the nearest whole-month start to that date.
No, I was expecting someone else to pay for it, but then I'm not intending to come to the US for any healthcare anytime soon, as all the international stats show that my country is rather better at healthcare than the US is, even though we spend far less than you do.
And guess what, here in Socialist UKistan, we have *private* healthcare too! Yes, if I have the money, I can be seen by a private doctor or treated in a private hospital instantly. I don't know why I'd want to, assuming I had the money, as the NHS is pretty damn good in an emergency and the waiting times for non-emergency treatment have been steadily falling over the last few years. And private healthcare here doesn't have a terribly good rep. There have been several horror stories of people who've gone in for private treatment, suffered severe complications and been sent to an NHS unit for them to be dealt with as the private hospital was unable to cope.
Back in the early 80s my mother developed angina, and was prescribed nitroglycerine tablets for it - you popped one under your tounge when you felt the onset of chest pains and it helped keep your coronary arteries open. Although they worked, as they were reactive rather than proactive, they weren't so useful if the chest pains and breathlessness were particularly debillitating. Then OMNI had a short piece about a new treatment from the US: a patch that contained the drug and slowly released it through the skin to stop the angina attacks happening in the first place. I showed this to my mum, who showed it her doctors and she became just the second woman in the whole UK to receive the treatment.
They've also embarked on a population registration database and ID card scheme - for a population of nearly a billion. Given the scepticism critics have expressed here in the UK about the technical feasibility of the British Government's similar schemes (the National Identity Register and Interception Modernisation Project), I can't help feeling that the Indian officials have succumbed to an even larger dose of snake-oil than ours have.
A full English breakfast is worth trying, and close enough to some American breakfast foods as to be not wholly unfamiliar: the main difference is that we prefer not to mix sweet and savoury at breakfast as much as Americans often do.
Someone once said that to eat well in England, you should breakfast three times a day.
* Get yourself an Oyster Card - you can get one from the tube stations at Heathrow Airport and are valid on most public transport in London including all Underground (tube) trains, all local (red) buses in London, some "overground" (i.e. not tube) trains (from 2nd Jan 2010 almost all trains in London will take it) and some river-boat services (the river boats are not cheap but can be a great way to see the sights along the river). You have to pay a £3 deposit plus whatever credit you'll want to start with, but you can get that back plus any unused credit by surrending the card at a tube station when you leave.
* If you're flying into Heathrow and you don't have too much luggage, then the tube to central London is by far the cheapest option. There are also two "overground" rail services, the non-stop Heathrow Express (15 mins to central London) and the stops-at-local-stations Heathrow Connect (25 mins to central London). Both are rather more expensive than the tube, the Express especially so, and neither take Oyster. There used to be an Airbus services from Heathrow to central London but that stopped a few years ago. National Express run some coach (long distance bus) services to/from central London that call at Heathrow but they will be the slowest option and you may need to book your tickets in advance.
* If flying in to Gatwick, then your best choice is rail to London. There are two services: Gatwick Express is a bit more expensive but faster and has more luggage space. Southern is likely to be a bit cheaper and not quite as fast. Be aware that although the two services are run by the same company, tickets on one may not be valid on the other. Neither will take Oyster as Gatwick is well outside the city boundary of Greater London. In the unlikey event you fly into Stansted (which doesn't have many flights to/from North America) then the same applies to the Stansted Express rail link. There are cheapish coach links from Gatwick and Stansted but they will be a lot slower.
* Wherever you fly into, DON'T take a taxi into London unless you really need to and have LOTS of money! Having said that, if you're not sure how to get to a particular place, London cabbies have to spend several years learning "The Knowledge" and will always be able to get you to where you want to go, for a price.
* I second the motion to go to Bletchley Park. This is outside of London but only about 45 minutes from Euston railway terminus by train. It is an absolute must see for any geek: not only does it have working replicas of the Turing "Bombe" and Colossus machines, but it has subsidiary museums on site of computing and other technology.
* Amberley Chalk Pits museum in Sussex might be of interest to you too, with displays of agricultural and industrial technology, transport and communications (TV and radio museums). It's about an hour and a half from Victoria railway terminus.
* If you're interested in transport, then the London Transport museum at Covent Garden in the centre of London is a must see.
* If you do travel outside of London by train, then unless you're going long distance (more than a couple of hours from London) you won't need t
block "adult" content by default, but will remove the block once you've proved you're over 18, usually by supplying a valid credit card number. T-Mobile even included Facebook in the block a year or two back. Dunno if they still do.
Pretty much all DVD players sold in the UK are easily hackable - sometimes they even come with instructions so you don't even have to go online to find out how to do it.
Slashdot Mirror
The European Space Agency is quite different than the European Union. It includes Canada for a start...
They own Flickr. That's about the only product they own which is leader in its field though.
Uh this is England. Shooting people, other than Brazilian electricians and tooled-up lawyers, is rather frowned upon here.
We were less dicks with you precisely because the Americans won, and we realised that being less dickish was more likely to keep the remaining colonies in the Empire.
Although that was a relative thing of course: we carried on being dickish for a lot longer where the colonies were mostly inhabited by brown or black people, sad to admit.
Well yes, Parliament cannot bind its successors, but that could apply just as well to recognising *US* independence.
What might be the theoretical legal situation isn't always compatible with the real world situation. Sensible people defer to the real world.
Has already announced that schools will no longer be allowed to fingerprint pupils for any purpose without their parents' consent.
In this case, if the Lords do block it, which is possible but relatively unlikely, AND there's no time left for the Commons to overturn the Lords' vote, which is possible and fairly likely as the Mandybill is the last of the wash-up bills to be debated in the Lords, then it will fail, as the current Parliament will be dissolved. Unfinished bills can be carried from one annual session of a Parliament to the next, but can't be carried from one Parliament to another. If the above, admittedly not likely, scenario takes place, then even if Labour do get re-elected with a Commons majority, they'd have to re-introduce the Mandybill from scratch.
Also, not applying to this bill I beleive, but generally any bill that begins in the House of Lords can be thrown out by the Lords and the Commons can't override this. That's why if the government has any sense they always start likely to be controversial bills in the Commons.
The EU sets out what it wants, Canada sets out what it wants. In this particular section, the EU is asking for a lot more than Canada, but quite possibly in other sections Canada is asking for more than the EU (I've not read the full text of the draft).
Then the two parties sit down and start horse-trading. Maybe there's something that Canada really wants that they'll happily swallow these copyright provisions to get. Maybe Canada will say, no, we can't accept these provisions, but we'll concede something else instead, or maybe the EU will say insist, in which case the Canadians will say "no deal". Most likely there'll be a lot of compromises by both sides, with both getting some of what they want, but not all.
It's interesting to consider why the Canadians are considering a free-trade agreement with Europe, considering that they're already in NAFTA. I understand the Canadian government has been unhappy with what they see as persistent US non-compliance with their NAFTA obligations, so perhaps they're looking at a deal with the EU as a Plan B.
Next month marks my having worked professionally as a programmer for twenty years.
That is all.
If you've ever experienced our climate, you should realise we'll put up with anything.
In the UK the public sector (and a lot of provate firms too) begins the new financial year on 1st April, so this date is commonly the day that new government agencies start operating, and old ones are wound up. It's because until 1752 New Year's Day in Britain and its colonies was March 25th. In 1752 we adopted the Gregorian calendar, and New Year's Day moved to January 1st. Since then the tax year in the UK starts on April 5th (March 25th + 11) because moving from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar meant an adjustment of 11 days, but the Inland Revenue didn't want to lose any revenue from their annual accounts. April 1st became the common financial new year as it was the nearest whole-month start to that date.
s/No, I was expecting someone else to pay for it/No, I not was expecting someone else to pay for it/
No, I was expecting someone else to pay for it, but then I'm not intending to come to the US for any healthcare anytime soon, as all the international stats show that my country is rather better at healthcare than the US is, even though we spend far less than you do.
And guess what, here in Socialist UKistan, we have *private* healthcare too! Yes, if I have the money, I can be seen by a private doctor or treated in a private hospital instantly. I don't know why I'd want to, assuming I had the money, as the NHS is pretty damn good in an emergency and the waiting times for non-emergency treatment have been steadily falling over the last few years. And private healthcare here doesn't have a terribly good rep. There have been several horror stories of people who've gone in for private treatment, suffered severe complications and been sent to an NHS unit for them to be dealt with as the private hospital was unable to cope.
Really? I should have thought the fact this bill will cut the US federal deficit by some $140bn, rising ultimately to $1tn would help.
Except with my pre-existing condition I wouldn't be accepted by any health insurer in the US... What was that about rationing again?
Let us know if you finally do decide to join the civilised world America.
Back in the early 80s my mother developed angina, and was prescribed nitroglycerine tablets for it - you popped one under your tounge when you felt the onset of chest pains and it helped keep your coronary arteries open. Although they worked, as they were reactive rather than proactive, they weren't so useful if the chest pains and breathlessness were particularly debillitating. Then OMNI had a short piece about a new treatment from the US: a patch that contained the drug and slowly released it through the skin to stop the angina attacks happening in the first place. I showed this to my mum, who showed it her doctors and she became just the second woman in the whole UK to receive the treatment.
Thanks OMNI, I still miss you.
They've also embarked on a population registration database and ID card scheme - for a population of nearly a billion. Given the scepticism critics have expressed here in the UK about the technical feasibility of the British Government's similar schemes (the National Identity Register and Interception Modernisation Project), I can't help feeling that the Indian officials have succumbed to an even larger dose of snake-oil than ours have.
A full English breakfast is worth trying, and close enough to some American breakfast foods as to be not wholly unfamiliar: the main difference is that we prefer not to mix sweet and savoury at breakfast as much as Americans often do.
Someone once said that to eat well in England, you should breakfast three times a day.
* Get yourself an Oyster Card - you can get one from the tube stations at Heathrow Airport and are valid on most public transport in London including all Underground (tube) trains, all local (red) buses in London, some "overground" (i.e. not tube) trains (from 2nd Jan 2010 almost all trains in London will take it) and some river-boat services (the river boats are not cheap but can be a great way to see the sights along the river). You have to pay a £3 deposit plus whatever credit you'll want to start with, but you can get that back plus any unused credit by surrending the card at a tube station when you leave.
* If you're flying into Heathrow and you don't have too much luggage, then the tube to central London is by far the cheapest option. There are also two "overground" rail services, the non-stop Heathrow Express (15 mins to central London) and the stops-at-local-stations Heathrow Connect (25 mins to central London). Both are rather more expensive than the tube, the Express especially so, and neither take Oyster. There used to be an Airbus services from Heathrow to central London but that stopped a few years ago. National Express run some coach (long distance bus) services to/from central London that call at Heathrow but they will be the slowest option and you may need to book your tickets in advance.
* If flying in to Gatwick, then your best choice is rail to London. There are two services: Gatwick Express is a bit more expensive but faster and has more luggage space. Southern is likely to be a bit cheaper and not quite as fast. Be aware that although the two services are run by the same company, tickets on one may not be valid on the other. Neither will take Oyster as Gatwick is well outside the city boundary of Greater London. In the unlikey event you fly into Stansted (which doesn't have many flights to/from North America) then the same applies to the Stansted Express rail link. There are cheapish coach links from Gatwick and Stansted but they will be a lot slower.
* Wherever you fly into, DON'T take a taxi into London unless you really need to and have LOTS of money! Having said that, if you're not sure how to get to a particular place, London cabbies have to spend several years learning "The Knowledge" and will always be able to get you to where you want to go, for a price.
* I second the motion to go to Bletchley Park. This is outside of London but only about 45 minutes from Euston railway terminus by train. It is an absolute must see for any geek: not only does it have working replicas of the Turing "Bombe" and Colossus machines, but it has subsidiary museums on site of computing and other technology.
* Amberley Chalk Pits museum in Sussex might be of interest to you too, with displays of agricultural and industrial technology, transport and communications (TV and radio museums). It's about an hour and a half from Victoria railway terminus.
* If you're interested in transport, then the London Transport museum at Covent Garden in the centre of London is a must see.
* If you do travel outside of London by train, then unless you're going long distance (more than a couple of hours from London) you won't need t
These guys should go read Larry Niven's novel A World Out of Time and decide if they still think being cryogenically frozen is a good idea.
An adult might have set up the account, but it's not necessarily an adult using the phone, especially if it's PAYG.
block "adult" content by default, but will remove the block once you've proved you're over 18, usually by supplying a valid credit card number. T-Mobile even included Facebook in the block a year or two back. Dunno if they still do.
Not played the games myself, but aren't the Halos Orbitals rather than Ringworlds?
Pretty much all DVD players sold in the UK are easily hackable - sometimes they even come with instructions so you don't even have to go online to find out how to do it.