yummifruitbat

Mine's a fruitbat. If I was an American, I might say "Figures." at this point

Now this is more like it - keep it clean & tidy, then when work gets too much for you, you can hit the beloved 'Show Desktop' button and clear your head. Works for me anyway. http://hangar152.kicks-ass.net/images/desktop.jpg Geographical pop-quiz: Can anyone identify the view? Clue: it's in the UK

I'm with Newtonian - I suspect those fires are some sort of flammable liquid burning on something else. In the first clip you can see the grass being singed and little 'sparks' rising into the air - these are probably little flakes of hot ash from the grass or whatever the undergrowth is. It is quite possible for a coating of a substance to burn without consuming what is underneath - I remember once while on a school trip to Italy, one of the guys staying in our room burst through our door screaming "Help, s***, I'm on fire!" etc. We turned to see flames about a foot high flaring from his crotch and up over his stomach. The initial impression was pretty scary but then we realised he was holding a can of deodorant between his legs, spraying it upwards onto his trousers and sweatshirt. He'd lit it and the flames were burning on top of his clothes. Afterwards, no scorch marks whatsoever and he said it didn't even really feel particularly hot. To prove it, he sprayed some on his bare arm and lit that. I think some of his hairs got a bit singed but otherwise he was untouched. I'm not suggesting the substance in the videos is anything as volatile as what's in deodorant, but the principle is there. Perhaps a better example would be 'Greenheat' - the environmentally friendly firelighter gel you can buy in UK outdoor shops. It's some sort of plant derivative, which burns quite slowly and doesn't burn what's underneath it. Of course, I'm not suggesting anyone try burning deodorant on themselves. Really, really don't try this at home. The guy in question was the same one who set off a firework in his bathroom and melted hundreds of little specks in the floor, then hoped the cleaning staff wouldn't notice if he covered them over with toothpaste

I get them if I click the links in the right hand 'last post' column, and occasionally clicking links in posts (internal ones). They're all the same as the one Jordan got: Error 403 forbidden, additionally error 404 whilst trying to access ErrorDoc. Still getting them today

I remember seeing H20 (aq) in a text book during A-level chemistry and having a giggle at the pointlessness of it

What colour is the light from the mouse? My understanding of optical mice is that they detect the intensity of the reflection of a beam of light, and thus can see the 'pattern' of the surface and can calculate their velocity over that surface. Mine's red, and it seems likely to me that if the mouse detects reflected red light, it's going to get the most easily interpreted reflections off something which is red itself. However, that could be four lines of complete bs

My parents are both civil servants (they work for various agencies of the British government) My dad and I have a variable relationship - he has a tendency to be impatient and suspicious of people, and will never admit when he's at fault - and although I think he means well at heart he can be difficult to live with. To be fair, when he's in good mood he can be great fun, and he's constantly playfighting with my little brother and sister. My mum on the other hand is an absolute star; she's always stuck in the middle of things (if I'm not rowing with my dad, you can guarantee my brother or my sister will be), but rarely complains and is incredibly supportive and easy to talk to. She's also a great cook and better at most things than she lets herself believe. Dad enjoys gardening and has an allotment a few miles from our house where he grows all sorts of fruit and vegetables, quite a lot of which I don't eat My mum is an avid reader and also enjoys horse riding, although she's had a few nasty falls of late and has lost her confidence a bit. Neither of them have ever played music but my maternal grandfather was an accomplished singer and my siblings and I seem to have inherited some of his musicality - we all play at least one instrument pretty well.

Yay! Cheers Phi & whichever Admin it was... I feel complete

Ooh, now we're talking... ah, go on then I've noticed that actually quite a few people have names longer than 12 characters - is there actually a limit in place or was something just a bit screwy when I signed up? (and no, it's not a typo - it kept stopping at 'a')

OK, you say you've formatted the hard drive - how exactly? Do you have an XP install CD or an upgrade? It sounds like you had Word/Excel etc. preinstalled on the computer when you got it: do you have an install CD for those? I format my hard drive every year or so to clear up all the junk that Windows likes to accumulate. XP isn't as bad for that as 98, which was pretty appalling. The way I do it is as follows: - Make sure you have all the discs you will need to replace any software/files you wish to reinstall on your 'new' computer. You can't "back up" programs like Word if they're already installed, you need the installation disc. You will almost certainly also need drivers for your computer's hardware components: these should have been supplied with it. If not, don't worry too much: XP has a good set of its own basic drivers so it's unlikely you will not be able to get your computer at least 70% functional without any of the original manufacturers' software. - Restart your computer and go into the BIOS. This is usually done by pressing Del or F2 right at startup, but the key you need depends on your motherboard. The BIOS is the grassroots setup utility which tells your computer how to start up, what to do with the drives/cards, and things like the time and date. Once you're in the BIOS (usually a blue menu screen) you'll find somewhere an option for Boot Sequence or the equivalent. You need to set this to boot from your CD drive first (by default it'll probably try floppy or primary hard disk first). I'm assuming you have a bootable CD drive, otherwise you'll need to create XP Setup startup floppies, which I've never done. - Once you've done that, restart your computer again with the XP install CD in the drive. If you've successfully set up the BIOS to boot from CD, you should see a blue XP Setup screen. Follow the instructions for a Clean Install. - The XP setup utility can automatically format your hard drive. You will probably need to delete the existing partition and then create a new one. Make it NTFS, this is much more efficient and stable than FAT under XP... in fact I can't remember if XP even gives you the option of using FAT for a clean installation. - I think the rest of the installation process is pretty straightforward. I've done it so many times myself that it's become automatic and I can't remember exactly which steps I take now. Follow the instructions it gives you and post here if you get stuck! Edit: Yay! I'm not a Lepton any more!

From orffyre.com: "Sale of the wheel would ultimately ellude Bessler for various reasons including paranoia, jealously, treachery and uncommon bad luck." ...I'm sure they missed a reason there...

Thanks Glider, I think I'll go with the teeth, at least for starters

Actually there is at least one other 'current' plane capable of supercruise (supersonic flight without afterburning) - the Eurofighter Typhoon. This also has the capability to be fitted with thrust-vectoring engine nozzles with no alterations to the actual aircraft, although obviously there would need to be control/software updates as the aircraft is dynamically unstable. I don't know about the Su-43 but in a comparison of the BVR capabilities of some recent fighters, only the F-22 (91%) beat the Typhoon (82%), with the Su-35 scoring 50%.

Ello, I'm a 2nd-year Aeronautical Engineering student at Bristol University in the UK, doing a 4-year MEng. My interests include things that go fast and/or boom; music (piano and guitar mostly, although I got quite good at clarinet once and spent a while learning church organ); gliding; technology/computers; photography and decent fiction. I'm thinking about writing a book if and when I ever have enough free time. I also grow insectivorous plants at home but they tend to die quite a lot while I'm away at uni and my dad's always trying to dig them up to use the space for 'useful' vegetables. I hope to work in the aerospace design industry and live happily ever after with my girlfriend, who is studying English Literature and Drama far away and wants to be a teacher. I would also like a pet gecko called Frank but I'm not allowed one in my uni accommodation. If the powers that be give me my 't' back, I will be yummifruitbat Edit: Sayo gave me my t back!

meh

Why? Does the fact that we are incapable of accessing something prevent its existence? (I'd really prefer not to get dragged into a debate on the nature of existence!)

Can someone take off/increase by one the username length limit? I'm new here but if I'm going to be a regular contributor I'd prefer not to be known as Yummifruitba. The 't' is kind of important to me

So does the cat cease to be in a superposition of states after, say, a fortnight? You can thus just wait out quantum mechanics and beat Schrödinger with your box, which contains a dehydrated, starved and quite possibly somewhat mummified cat!

Flame me for my sacrilege if you must, but... erm - to me the universe is by definition everything. Not just everything we can see/detect/calculate-the-probability-of-the-existence-as-we-perceive-it-of; everything that 'is', anywhere. So to ask about multiple universes one must have a different definition of universe - 'multiple universes' would all have to exist somewhere and thus would simply be elements of the actual universe... ie. not universes at all.

Actually you only have to be 17 in the UK - not that that'll help you for another 14 months or so... good luck though if and when you do. Btw, if they say "I'm a trainee nurse but I've done this lots of times, is it OK for me to take your donation...?" - the answer is NO!

Thanks very much Glider, that sounds like an interesting idea. My immediate thought would be 'what if someone removes the tooth' - but then I suppose you could reduce the likelihood of that by 'filling' all the subject's molars; that would presumably have the added benefit (although obviously not to the subject) of magnifying or increasing the radius of the pain. Still, some might choose a complete set of dentures over a life of servitude! coquina: The primary function of the device would be as a deterrent - the aim is not so much to cause paralysis or control movement as to threaten unbearable pain, the memory of which is so strong as to overcome the willpower of the subject (if necessary with the aid of occasional reminders). If anyone else has anything they think might help, this thread is still open!

Hi, This will probably seem a bizarre question, in which case I apologise! I am considering writing a book set in a dystopian near-future, the plot of which will rely on the ability of certain individuals to control the behaviour of their 'subjects'. One idea I have considered involves the use of subcutaenous implants capable of temporarily crippling the 'wearer' with an electric shock on receipt of a remote signal. The intention would be to cause such excruciating pain as to make it almost impossible for most wearers to even contemplate disobedience, but for the shock to be non-lethal and any resulting paralysis only very temporary. It would of course be possible to simply strap a large battery to each subject and zap them with horribly large voltages, but that would be unsubtle and also probably quite easy to overcome with a little assistance and a pair of wire snips! I am aware that Biophan and probably other companies are developing thermocouple devices intended to power pacemakers etc. without the need for a battery - instead generating small amounts of electricity from the patient's body heat. My question is, would it be possible (theoretically of course!) to use this sort of device to administer small electric impulses directly (or very close) to nerves to bring about the sort of effect discussed above? Where would be the optimum location for such an implant, bearing in mind that it would be 'installed' in thousands of subjects and thus should require only minimal surgery? The Biophan devices produce around 100 microwatts at 4 volts and measure about 6cm². The plot would assume only minimal technological advances from present levels, and it would be necessary for the implant to issue successive shocks every few minutes or so in order to ensure long-term control of the subject. I hope that someone among all these Neurology experts will be able to give me some pointers, but if I've posted this in entirely the wrong place, sorry! Thanks very much for your time, Best regards yfb PS: Username = yummifruitbat... damn that length limit