Posts by John Prew

Boss frogmarches bound employee to cop shop

False Imprisonment?

Sounds like a creative Citizens arrest to me. Good on the boss for providing entertainment for people as he frogmarched the thief to the plods.

Back the F:\ Up

I want one too

Where can us Brits get our mitts on one of the T-shirts then?

Ballmer! explains! hostile! Yahoo! bid!

title

Wonder what this means for those of us who use Yahoo Messenger. MSN can't even connect 30% of the time, and half the features are disabled effectively if you live outside the US. Its also useful for the Launchcast plugin, both of these services i can see getting the axe under MS. They axe Yahoo Messenger and bring it under MSN's wing, i won't be using that crap.

Former DEA agents sue over American Gangster

my blah

To the Aussie AC - 'However I am pretty sure that US troops did indeed fight in Burma'

Yeah there were US troops in Burma, as well as US trained Chinese troops. They fought alongside the British and Indian troops.

(Least thats what i remember my grandfather telling me, he fought in Burma).

On the article subject. What a totally ridiculous case. Okay yes, it didn't portray the Narcs in a favourable light, but watching the film it's clear that this is fictitious. That's the idea of the disclaimer. Most people know that anything produced by Hollywood needs to be viewed with an objective eye. Bringing this to sue, means they bring themselves into the public eye, rather than people just dismissing it.

Apple hit with another class action

Hmm

So his argument hinges around a monopoly because his iPod uses iTunes and that's a monopoly on digital music. Guess all those other sources of digital music and alternative mp3 players must be a figment of my imagination.

It's an annoyance that iPod's use such proprietary software and make life difficult, and of course iPod now is almost synonymous with MP3 player. Perhaps if he was so worried about Apple creating a monopoly, he should of bought a different player?

Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard - Finder

Good Info

'The transparent toolbar is more than just annoying. It can make it very hard to see what's going on. This should be a user selectable option, but it's not even available as on option to the visually impaired.'

Mac have never been very customisable in regards to high contrast, this comment saves me having to have more than a cursory glance at this 'new' OS, so thanks for the info. I work for the Special Education Needs service, its a constant source of frustration to me that Apple put in no real accessibility for those whot need it. I'm far from a windows fanboi, but MS is a bit further ahead in this area. Hopefully this can be remedied in a future version however as Macs are so prevalent in the education system s still.

'PlayStation-deprived' teen admits part in plot to pop parents

US Law?

How can he be up on an attempted murder charge if there was no actual attempt on the parents life. Surely 'Conspiracy to commit murder' would be a better charge, or does such a charge not exist in the US system.

Genuinely confused :)

Museum drops Watson talk in race row

Since when?

Looking through most these posts i have to wonder, since when does intelligence = intellectualism. (As Finnbar pointed out with the Masai tribesman analogy). People from a different environment focus their attentions on alternative things. We've had it easy in Europe, so yes people have time to 'waste' on intellectual pursuits. Compare that to rural Africa. Yeah an African isn't going to be building a nuclear reactor in the back streets of Burkina Faso, but that doesn't make him less intelligent. It means his intelligence is geared differently. As initially the scientist stated. And what is the best method of testing this....well to place someone from the subcontinent in an 'alien' setting.

I've no doubt the Scientist in question is an unqualified bigot, but dismissing his evidence on those grounds isn't Science. Stop these knee jerk reactions because something wasn't phrased 'PC'. Lets take the evidence out, show it the light of day, and look at it logically. He might have phrased it badly, but his inital statement was valid, people from different environments adapt differently. No where in that do i see anything saying 'Black people are less intelligent', but 'people from harsher environments such as Africa think about different things to people living comfortably in Europe/the United States.'

Computer glitch nixes death row appeal in Texas

Think of the colleagues

Personally i feel sorry for the judges, having to stay late because the presiding judge didn't bother to tell them she wasn't extending the deadline. Talk about a wasted evening.

UK's future depends on science and technology

Its partly about the fees

I was at university the year they broke into the tuition fee idea and abolished all my grants. Instead i was expected to get out a loan. My father was a cotton miller, and my mother a childminder (hows that for a 'northern stereotype'). I was studying Biochemistry with Biotechnology. I took out my loan, and it didn't even go part way to covering my books after fees took it all. I looked into finding part time work....but with a 37 hour study course....who realistically could afford the time to do a part time job as well and expect to do well? Needless to say, after looking at the situation logically, i could not continue at university. And my payscale afterwards wouldn't have been worth the years of hardship i'd have put my family through.

Physics students were expected to do 40 hours at my university.Other Science and Technology subjects simililarly high hours....art had to do 15.

So instead of bemoaning the lack of graduates, the UK government should accept that I and others like me were 'priced out' of the graduate system, by their policies. Upping the pay scale, or preferential funding for Science students is something i can see resolving this slightly, but students aren't stupid, why go through years of being broke and working long hours, when you can do a 15 hours a week course and still be able to say you have a degree?