Question:
"Who's voting for all these new regulations?"
Answer:
The millions who voted Labour in the last general election.
It was in their manifesto.
The millions who voted Conservative in the last general election.
It was in their manifesto.
(A weaker, but similar version, promised by them.)
Moral:
You get what you vote for.
@unknownuser said:
Money is just a convenient way of exchanging services. Banks provide a service in the form of lending money and they get paid for it in the form of interest. No smoke and mirrors in sight.
That is what banks should be.
Alan has pointed out that this is not how modern day banking makes its obsence profits. They do indeed employ smoke and mirrors to mask their activities. They try to convince us that their jobs are far too complicated for us peasants to understand. So we must not trouble our little minds about what they do. We should simply trust them to do whats best for us.
Yeah, right.
===================================================
Hi Pete,
The liberal and right wing labels we each have are obviously very superficial and don't go anywhere near explaining the whole of our world outlooks.
Actually, I live with the "right wing nut" label just because I enjoy seeing politically correct liberals foam at the mouth. Its just a hobby of mine 
Actually, I think I am more of a libertarian.
But there seems to be a "left-wing" and a "right-wing" strand to this political philosphy. Sometimes I find myself agreeing with the left-wing view, other times I agree with the right-wing view.
I just know I hate the Neo-Cons vision of the world.
And I hate communist tyranny.
Go, figure.
Hi Pete,
@unknownuser said:
As always the innocents get screwed, the guy who goes to work, earns an honest buck. The person who bought a home using correct methods and honest practices (not 100% finances based on a 'Stated' income with interest only payments)who now find themselves upside down and unable to pay their variable rate loans for a home that is not worth half the price due to falling home prices based on market values. or the guy that cannot pay his staff for an honest weeks work because banks are too scared to honor his unfaultered line of credit, or even the guy who works for the company that cannot get the funds to buy raw materials to honor new orders which results in his job loss.
It's hard not to be pessimistic in their shoes, and what is basics for them?
Its interesting that you as a "liberal" and me a "right wing nut" are in 100% complete agreement on this. I don't know quite what that means, but it is interesting.
People justify talk of living through the pain of these economic "bust and boom" cycles as if it is a natural part of mother nature. There is nothing natural about it. It is a system devised by man.
This system doesn't need supporting, it needs overhauling from top to bottom. Scrapped, if need be. If we can put a man on the moon I'm sure mankind can find a much better alternative to this corrupt financial scam.
Nearly all the criminals who caused this are walking away unscathed with most of their ill-gotten gains intact. Why should millions of innocent people who lead honest, hard working lives be forced to pay the price for the mess created by these bastards?
There is nothing "natural" about this process.
If the whole system is propped up by the Obamas and Browns of this world then this legacy is being passed on to your children, your grandchildren and their children. The Obamas and Browns don't have the trillions to spend.
They are just racking up more debt and misery for future generations.
But they won't be around to worry about that. And being part of the establishment keeps them pretty much insulated from their actions.
Another sad aspect to all this is that these second rate vaudeville performers spout soundbites about "saving the world" and millions run out to vote for them because "they look good on TV and the wife wears pretty dresses".
No,
The banks are being helped out to maintain the systems status quo.
Eveyone who is a part of the establishment has a vested interest in keeping things the same in order to protect their own interests.
They are not doing it to put things right for the millions whose lives have been blighted by these greedy criminals.
I think the Mafia had more honour than these bastards.
If you had given me all of your money and I had made a complete mess of your life would you come back to me and ask me to ensure the future of your childrens future?
Do you really believe that Capitalism will remain the only viable economic model for the rest of time?
Capitalism in its current form has failed.
Nothing stays the same forever.
Change always comes about at some point.
And I mean real change, not the useless slogan mouthed by that stage performer Obama!
Hi,
The Credit crunch may be an interesting subject to discuss in an objective fashion whilst you are still in employment. I think I may have joined in a few discussions here concerning this and related issues.
However, over the last few weeks I can only describe the atmosphere amongst my family and friends as doom and gloom to say the least.
A good few have been made redundant. Many of them are facing unemployment soon. Some are on a four day week and others have taken a pay cut to be kept employed.
As an example, one night a week, I play five-a-side soccer with about 14 other guys. Nine of them are facing being made unemployed!
These are all decent family men with mortgages to pay.
They work in a wide variety of jobs. No single industry seems to be effected.
Everyone is being effected!
I myself work for a large architectural company which is in the fortunate position of having some large contracts. Even so, some smaller offices have been closed down due to being "uneconomic" to maintain.
With family and a mortgage of my own it sends a shiver down the spine.
Even guys who are contract staff can no longer feel smug.
They are used to being able to float from job to job being paid a generous hourly rate. Not any more. Their agents are telling them there is no work so try hanging on to what you have!
This credit crunch is inflicting terrible damgage on many people. It makes my blood boil to see all these criminally negligent banks receiving trillions of dollars to be kept secure whilst their actions have put millions of people at risk. They should have been allowed to go bust. Then they should have been nationalised. Then the trillions of dollars wasted on these parasites could have been put to good use. Helping millions of honest, tax paying people secure their futures working in real wealth creating jobs.
Amazing how all other industries are told that if you aren't profitable you must be allowed to go to the wall, because that is how the "free" market works. But this "law" doesn't apply to the financial industries.
Criminal!!
How are your lives being effected?
Hi,
I am little bit confused about peoples comments about UAC.
It was a knee-jerk reaction to the demands to "improve" security.
It was undoubtedly a stupid thing for Microsoft to introduce.
All it did was annoy the hell out of everyone
However, since SP1 it is a feature that can simply be switched off.
So, thats what I did. Problem solved.
I have a machine that is running Vista Home Premium and it is just like using XP except with a bit of extra eye candy.
Yes, the hardware needed to run Vista is more demanding than that needed for XP but hardware is constantly advancing and most "standard" machines produded today (or even a year ago) run Vista fine.
I am not a Microsoft fanboy (many years ago I was a Mac fanboy) but I have found Vista to be a stable OS with a slightly prettier GUI.
It wasn't the leap ahead it should have been and Windows 7 is just a further refinement of Vista.
But I can live with a steady evolution rather than a revolution of the OS I use.
To be honest, I don't think many software applications (including SketchUp?) that run on Windows come anyway near taking advantage of the advancements that have already been provided by this OS.
It seems to me that software developers are still years behind in bringing their software up to a level of exploiting the advances that have been made.
Why aren't we all running 64bit applications that are truly multi-threaded?
Why don't all serious graphic programs fully utilise DirectX?
I must be getting old.
Hi,
Thats really cool.
I wonder if you speeded things up and added the Wacky Races theme music to it whether a whole new feel could be created. 13 year olds should love that.
I am assuming that you will know that Wacky Races was a very popular cartoon in the 1970's. (Oh dear, giving my age away!)
If you don't know what I am talking about, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlTlL53KGRs
Dick Dastardly and Muttley were very popular.
Actually, these are 2 cartoon characters SOLO should recreate!
Hi,
Not 100% sure where this item should be posted so I'll just hope the moderators will put it in its correct home.
Anyway...
I know there are other programs that generate seamless textures for 3D rendering but I have just downloaded a demo from PixPlant.
It's been a long time since I have used a piece of software and thought "Wow, cool" I think SketchUp was the last time!
This generates all the the 3D formats needed such as bump, displacement and specular etc in one simple operation. The interface is simple, intuitive and by using DirectX provides a realtime feedback of the finished result.
(I wish SketchUp could use DirectX in a similar way).
Editing, tweaking, resizing and then exporting is straightforward.
It is one of those bits of software that you just want to keep playing with.
I have no connection with the company and I'm still undecided as to whether I can justify the cost to my employers, but I'll certainly try.
For those of you who use photo-real renderers I suggest you take a look.
Visit: http://www.pixplant.com
Make sure you click on the support tab and view the video tutorials to get a feel for what it does.
Lesson 1:
A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings.
The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbor. Before she says a word, Bob says, 'I'll give you $800 to drop that towel.' After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob , after a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves. The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs.
When she gets to the bathroom , her husband asks, 'Who was that?' 'It was Bob the next door neighbor,' she replies. 'Great,' the husband says, 'did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?'
Moral of the story:
If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.
Lesson 2:
A priest offered a Nun a lift. She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg.
The priest nearly had an accident. After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg.
The nun said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?'
The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again.
The nun once again said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?' The priest apologized 'Sorry sister but the flesh is weak.'
Arriving at the convent, the nun sighed heavily and went on her way.
On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It said, 'Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory.'
Moral of the story:
If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.
Lesson 3:
A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp.
They rub it and a genie comes out.
The Genie says, 'I'll give each of you just one wish.'
'Me first! Me first!' says the admin clerk 'I want to be in the Bahamas , driving a speedboat, without a care in the world..'
Puff! She's gone.
'Me next! Me next!' says the sales rep. 'I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life.'
Puff! He's gone.
'OK, you're up,' the Genie says to the manager.
The manager says, 'I want those two back in the office after lunch'
Moral of the story:
Always let your boss have the first say.
Lesson 4
An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing.
A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, 'Can I also sit like you and do nothing?'
The eagle answered: 'Sure, why not.'
So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested.
All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
Moral of the story:
To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.
Lesson 5
A turkey was chatting with a bull.
'I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree' sighed the turkey, 'but I haven't got the energy.'
'Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?' replied the bull. They're packed with nutrients.'
The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree.
The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch.
Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree.
He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.
Moral of the story:
Bull Sh*t might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there..
Lesson 6
A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field.
While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him.
As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was.
The dung was actually thawing him out!
He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.
A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate.
Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.
Morals of the story:
(1) Not everyone who shts on you is your enemy.
(2) Not everyone who gets you out of sht is your friend.
(3) And when you're in deep sh*t, it's best to keep your mouth shut!
Regards
Mr S
=======
And those damn French eat horses and Frogs!
Savages!
Hi Jackson
@unknownuser said:
he just looks like something parents would use to scare their children into behaving.
Nice one!
He looks even whiter than you nowadays.
Hmm... you share the same surname.
Just when you think you can't be surprised any further.
She is obviously a prime candidate for joining others like her at:
http://www.darwinawards.com/
Clean the gene pool!
Hi,
I was a Mac fanboy until Windows 95 was released.
There was absolutely no way you could compare a PC to a Mac prior to this.
The Mac ruled and I looked down at PC's with utter disdain.
Things have changed dramatically since then.
Windows XP is an excellent OS but still not as pretty to look at as OSX.
But despite how pretty OSX is, I still feel that XP is more functional in how you use it.
Macs are now PC hardware based because over time PC hardware developed far faster and produced much better results than the dead ends Apple ventured down. Anyone remember how Apple insisted PowerPC processors were the future?
Today, I am not a fanboy of PC's or Macs because I now regard all computers as tools and not fashion items. It is nice to have pretty looking hardware but not essential.
If spending my own money I would always buy a PC for bang for buck and a greater choice of software. Plus being able to play Call of Duty in all its glory!
Regards
Mr S
Hi Gus R
This is another one of those big issues that stirs deep emotions.
It used to be very simple. The Allies wore the good guy white hats and the Axis powers wore the bad guy black hats.
In total war crimes are committed by both sides because all that really matters in these circumstances is ensuring that you win.
The spoils of war go to the victor and the victor gets to write the official history of what took place. And only those on the losing side get convicted of war crimes!
As time time passes, these events can be judged without emotions swaying our judgement and it becomes obvious, that like most other things in life, nothing is completely black and white.
As more time passes we may eventually get a more balanced view of this terrible period in history. That time is not now. In many European "democratic" countries you can spend a long time in prison for expressing views that go against the "official" view of this period.
I would suggest that it is best not to take everything on face value.
As an example of this I would like to point out that the photo you submitted in your post is one of those alleged to be a photo-montage forgery produced in the Soviet Union.
This type of thing certainly happened and has been documented by the Germans themselves, since this was neither illegal nor unusual during time of war. Allied forces also carried out such acts.
War is a horrible and nasty business.
That is why it is so important that you make sure you are on the winning side by whatever means.
Hi Pete,
Do you live in some sort of Twlight Zone where time is slowed down?
How do you have time to watch movies, learn all those 3D applications and produce all those cool models and images?
Do you sleep?
Were you one of those kids at school or college who just seemed to soak up information naturally?
I have to do things at least three times before it starts to sink in.
It would be nice if, like computers, I could get a RAM upgrade.
Lifes not fair!
Hi Earthmover,
I hope you don't mind but I have also taken the liberty of "tweaking" your image. Without a properly colour calibrated monitor we are all looking at different results. Even colour calibration is a bit of science and voodoo mixed together because individuals "see" colours slightly differently.
Anyway, this is my result after a bit of midtone, contrast and saturation changes made in Photoshop. I tried to stop the image from looking too dark whilst maintaining the original warmth.
Regards
Mr S
=======
Hi,
I have a Playstation 3 and have just installed this free software on my PC.
Instead of burning media to disc and then bringing it to the living room to watch I can now just browse from my PS3 the contents of a Media folder I created on my PC which is located upstairs in my study.
Works great for me.
Works with plenty of other console/devices as well.
Visit: http://tversity.com/
Simple to install and use but there are Video guides available on YouTube if needed.
Hi,
I seem to have bounced back and forth between a number of Anti-virus software programs. Never been completely happy with any of them.
I really hate those ones that constantly interrupt you whilst working.
I have recently tried the free Rising Anti-Virus program.
Up to now its proven to be the best one I've used.
It just feels like one of those programs that gets on with what it was designed to do, without having to tell me about it all the time!
So, I thought I would give it a mention here.
Visit: http://www.freerav.com/
Hi Gaieus,
Yes, thats the answer.
I forgot that I must have changed the axis at some point.
Nice to know that SU7 has "fixed" this issue.
Thanks.