AMLinington

That is true, but how awkward would you feel getting all dressed up for your birthday dinner, booking a table at a restaurant then arriving and saying 'Oh, before we sit down I want to inspect your kitchen. If I don't like what I see we're leaving'. Yeah, thats a receipe for Spit-curry if ever I've heard of one. lol

Amen to that. But how then are you supposed to judge whether or not to risk eating there? Veranda is apparently very popular, but it got a 1. That concerns me a LOT because we HAD wanted to try the place - everyone we speak to raves about it but with a rating of 1, I'd have to question if it's worth the risk. The horrible chinese got a 5 but we don't eat there because the food isn't nice, but I'd rather try a place with a 5 and hate the food and not eat there on the grounds that I hate the food than because I contracted salmonella or dysentary because the food was fabulous but the place was crawling with vermin! They say the reports are available with an FoI request, but those things are a pain in the rear and the LA COULD charge you an 'admin fee'. It would be far more use for the reports to be published on the site to explain WHY a place got a 1*. If I read a report for a place with 1* that reported satisfactory handling, prep and storage, good kitchen hygiene but poor staffing levels I'd be more inclined to eat there as the problem isn't 'hygiene related' so to speak.

Yeah, once you've put data on Facebook it's there for eternity. IMO It's better to interact with it personally, that way you at least have ownership of the data rather than to leave it sitting in the nether in a Facebook server somewhere that you can't access or control in any way. Better the devil you know and all that. I once stupidly signed up to MySpace then deleted the account within 3 days after my inbox was spammed by people looking to 'love me long time' and 'horny fireman looking for love'... Luckily I never got around to putting anything significant on the page but still, I worry how much they might be retaining about me. I also signed up to Twitter because I'd rather sign up for something myself, than for someone else to sign up pretending to be me (a la the whole Funnyjunk Lawyer debacle). Re: Neg repping - why are people neg repping for meme references have I missed something? Thats not fair. As an aside, there should be an appeal button...

Indeed - by selling the list of @facebook.com addresses to 'selected marketing partners' so I imagine we need to go back through our 'preferences' and make sure there is not another ticky box that has appeared since the email change to say 'Please do not tick here if you want to be contacted by selected marketing partners' (in typically ambiguous and tongue-twisty syntax to confuse people into selecting the wrong option).

I can't say I've ever seen an ad for enlarging the male member based on my browsing history... But then I'm not a man. I've seen plastic surgery ads and ads for boob jobs (neither of which I want or need) and plenty of adverts for Shoes (which I never have enough of). I do think there is a difference between what they CAN stop and what they WANT to stop. They don't WANT to stop ads from appearing on the page because they make money every time the ad appears and more when they get a click-thru. The email SPAM doesn't make Facebook money, so they will be invested in preventing 'freeloaders' from spamming facebook accounts with 'Love your lady long time' as it doesn't make them money.

Yeah I saw this and after the initial spike of righteous indignation passed I realised there were a few benefits to this: 1) For those people who have not properly managed their security settings, the facebook.com email address being the 'default' means that their personal email address that they may use for such services as 'Online Banking' is hidden and therefore not harvestable by unscrupulous individuals. 2) Again with not harvesting emails - less SPAM. I would EXPECT facebook to be rigidly spam filtering mails sent to the @facebook.com domain otherwise user's inboxes would be full of adverts for meds, viagra and 'male enlargement - please your lady long time'. This would end very badly for facebook. 3) We ALL have friends on our facebook accounts that perhaps we knew at school, or perhaps they are a family member that you aren't particularly fond of but can't avoid friending by virtue of the shared DNA. Some of these friends have an annoying habit of fwd-ing all those glurge emails - so much so that I have a rule in place on my personal email account that says anything with 'fwd' in the subject bypasses the inbox and is immediately deleted. But using the facebook address, means my personal email account remains inviolate and I'm pretty sure you can set facebook to not allow this person to send you messages. 4) I have plenty of friends on facebook that I would rather not use my personal email account to contact me. I've got around this by creating a different profile I've called 'limited profile' in which they can see pics I've posted but not my wall, the can see my name and age but not my email, place of work etc. But equally there are people that I'd like to hear from, I'd just rather they contacted me via facebook tbh and this change means that facebook is the only way they CAN. I like this. I like controlling things from one place. If a friend has my personal email it is because I want them to. I like being able to have control over this again. 5) So-called friends can't use your personal email to sign you up for things that might result in you being targetted for identity fraud. This is a bit like point 1 with the online banking thing - keeping Facebook and your personal email account separate is a really good idea in my opinion. There is information on facebook pages that COULD be used to make educated and accurate guesses at the 'reset my password' security questions - Questions like 'What town was your first job in?' or 'Where was your first job?' - Facebook has a 'work history' section... If you can't see the personal email address you can't use that page to 'hack' an account you don't know about or cannot see. So whilst I briefly considered reasserting my autonomy over my Facebook account, I paused long enough to consider that actually, I am happy to hide behind the @facebook.com address.

I'm getting a bit scared now. I'd like to pass comment regarding my opinions on the behaviour of a certain lawyer and his spouse but in so doing he will probably track me down and sue me. So I won't. This is out of control and completely insane. It's like watching a multi-car pile-up - you really don't want to and you know it's devestating and horrific but you can't take your eyes off it. I just hope to hell that some judge somewhere says 'Enough is enough' and dismisses the petition, orders FunnyJunk to remove or properly credit The Oatmeal source on all Oatmeal works on the site, and disciplines this lawyer on the grounds of bringing the profession into disrepute or something. Bring it to an end. PLEASE. All the Oatmeal wanted was proper credit for his work - that's not unreasonable.

This is very very true. That being said, the apparent disorganisation of a short-term and comparatively transient government/corporation is conceivably a 'front' to hide the more long term shadow groups. Plausible deniability and all that.... Therefore Aliens. Or Ponies.

Don't forget this rating is about hygiene only, it's not a reflection on the quality of food. I would suggest the dodgy chicken (is it weird and slimy?) has been boiled rather than pan fried - Asda curries use horrid boiled chicken and it's gross. Hygiene ratings and food flavour are totally separate. I was simply distinguishing between the two by virtue of our experiences of their food. It's also really interesting to look up popular and supposedly 'high end' places and find out they have terrible ratings (I'm still shocked and concerned about Veranda) meaning that kitchen hygiene, food prep and storage is poor. You'd have thought somewhere 'high end' would be more invested in keeping their kitchen hygiene to a high standard wouldn't you. It's a shame the reports aren't published. If you want them you have to make an FoI request to the LA which is a pain in the rear.

I am surprised by the 1 rating for the 'nice' chinese - the food is lovely. The food from the 5-rated place is horrible. But I guess it's about food prep and storage and I can see how they might find the 'nice' chinese a bit dodgy - it's an 'open kitchen' meaning you can watch your food cooked 'live'. It's also TINY but having watched my food prepared, I don't have any complaints about the way they handle it so that rating did surprise me a lot. That being said I was also surprised by the 4 for the Indian. Pleased but surprised - the indian is LOVELY - best indian food I've ever eaten, but I can't say I've been overly impressed by the appearance of their staff tbh. I was also surprised to find that a very very popular indian restaurant in a lovely little village square near us got a 1!! Thats horrifying - it is supposedly a 'gourmet' restaurant. I WAS going there for my birthday meal but I think I've changed my mind now...

Wow, that is a great site. Disturbing but great. The 'horrible' chinese near us gets a 5, our indian gets a 4, the pizza place gets a 5 and the 'nice' chinese gets a 1 :-S Eeep.

I'm just *ROFL*-ing now. This is getting ridiculous. He's suing the charities, defaming Disney. My lord what is wrong with this man? I had thought he'd dug himself a deep enough hole with the first letter but this is getting crazy now. What started as funny and silly is now almost frightening in scale. I think I'm going to stop reading it now and wait for it to be resolved and for Carreon to fall into the pit of negative notoriety that he is teetering on the edge of. I just hope a judge has the sense to verbally (or literally, either or) slap him down and dismiss the whole lot.

To be fair, it seems that FJ seems to be making a lot of incorrect assumptions and basing the suit on these - they are assuming profit is made from the fundraising, but they have no statement of proof (although I know that in the UK, even non-profit fundraising must be done with licenses and registrations and stuff), they are also claiming protection from some government department that they themselves have not correctly registered with. That hole is getting deeper methinks. Will be interesting to see how it plays out and who 'wins'. My money is on Oatmeal tbh.

There is a condition (that I can't remember the name of) where the electromagnetic field is abnormal and disrupts electrical equipment. There is anecdotal evidence that people that grew up near or under Power lines and pylons are more susceptible to it, but there are loads of resources about it (if I could remember the name I'd be able to find them). It can be as simple and turning off lights when they enter a room to full on wiping out a fuse board on a regular basis. It's driving me crazy because I was really interested in it at school (I did it as a project in Science I think) but can't remember the proper name. It's an acronym of some sort.

I've just got down to page 5 of the response letter: This is from a LAWYER? REALLY? @X-13 don't forget that laws about fundraising are many and complex and Oatmeal has essentially said 'If you donate to the litigation fund, I will photograph the money and give it to charities' but he is not a registered fundraiser for these charities so it is the internet equivalent of one of us going out into the street rattling a tin and saying 'I'm not homeless but if you donate to me, I'll give the money to a homeless shelter' without actually being affiliated with or registered as a legitimate fundraiser. Soliciting others to donate is probably legislated in some way, and I believe that Oatmeal is probably walking a narrow line here and the plaintiffs lawyer MAY have a point. But I don't know enough about US fundraising law to speculate. As I said, it MAY be valid. Equally it may not. I don't know.

Ha ha haaaa I've just caught up with the latest 'twists and turns' in this case. The lawyer is a tw*t (then again, aren't they all?), although the point about unsolicited fundraising may be valid but it seems neither the plaintiff or his client are fully cognisant of the context of state laws. I really think FJ and Carreon are going to be pwned. They may win minor victories in the form of a point being conceeded here and there, but overall they've dug themselves a hole they will struggle to get out of. I am surprised that Carreon is risking so much reputation with the frivalous suit though. Although is it just me or does the letter from the Oatmeal lawyer sound 'weak' by using statments like 'Everybody knows....' - this cannot be backed up with verifiable fact so IMO phrases like this do not belong in legal documentation. Then again, perhaps I'm too conditioned into 'proving' and 'supporting' every statement in academic writing (blah blah blah in accordance with Heeby & Jeeby, 2009. Etc etc etc as postulated by J.Bloggs, 2011 (also, I know the citations are incorrect, I just cbb to check the syntax))? That being said, there are a great deal more citations than the original letter - guess someone didn't do their homework. lol. I love that this has exploded - it's so much fun to lurk around and laugh at the trolls.

Yeah I've seen some stuff about it but all the legalese is a bit over my head. From what I've seen and understood, FunnyJunk are in the wrong here as they have taken content that is presumably subject to intellectual copyright and normal copyright laws and edited it to remove the copyright information. This in itself is surely an infringement? Hosting of Oatmeal content aside, even if they had a point about hosting content from the Oatmeal, and even if the Oatmeal doesn't have a right to dictate removal of content on an ad-infested site, surely the removal of citation alone is enough to overturn this? Edited to add: User uploaded content is no excuse. It is the sites responsibility to moderate its content and ensure it remains within the law. It is even MORE unacceptable to then defame the originator of the work... Should he feel so inclined (and I'm certain some lawyer somewhere will step forward) I would not be surprised to find that Inman (aka The Oatmeal) wins his case.

1Gb a DAY! I struggle to do that in a month - what with the home WiFi taking most of the brunt. I've configged my phone to only update over WiFi and am counting down eagerly the days until I can ditch Orange, buy a Giff Gaff sim and root my phone. I love the phone but HATE orange.

Oh yes, I've been here! I've lost count of the number of time people assume I'm and administrator and ask to be put through to an engineer because I'm a woman... Drives me nuts! I'm not sure I fit into any of these stereotypes at the moment. Although I do posses the following qualities: - Rare female techy and often overlooked - Moderate interest in techy things and gamer of MMOs - User baiter of outstanding talent. Knowledge is power and knowledge of service level agreements and company IT policies is power over users! Feel my wrath lowly peons for I wield the Stave of Password-complexity-policy and wear the Robes of Change-and-configuration-management-policy-won't-allow-this (did I mention I'm an MMO gamer?) It must be said that I don't get to wield these powers so much these days in the second line role, but I do have some fond memories of first line support... - Moderately technical and can baffle ordinary peons but cannot last in an allout nerd-fest. Greater interest in ITIL policy and process management (see above) - Prolific supporter of the 'help yourself' approach - I'd rather send a lengthy set of instructions as the small piece of optimism still alive in me hopes that the end user will refer back to this when said issue occurs again. This is foolish, I know, but still. - Sponge - I learn fast and absorb knowledge like a sponge meaning I pick up new tech and complex concepts really fast. Also means I must always push myself to learn and understand new things or I become bored. I'm sure I'll think of more.

Shame to see you go but DEAR GOD I'M JEALOUS! I would move to Canada in a hearbeat. If @tom_newton is reading this, if DT2 wants to set up a Canadian office I would be more then willing to relocate to British columbia to set up the support department!!! If Smoothwall promise us a job, and DT2 sponsors me, I think my residency permit would be assured! I can bring LeBoyfriend too - I'm certain we can whip him into shape as an administrator! See - we have a mini-Smoothwall-Canada organisation already!

I went the other way. I did a PGCE then ended up in IT. Although my path was a little convoluted. I have a Science degree (Geology) so I couldn't register to do a PGCE in IT so I did a PGCE in secondary science, but my REAL passion was to teach IT and in my second placement I found exactly the department I wanted to join. Long story short, they were campagining for an NQT and told me that nothing would happen until the next academic year, so I should go out and get a first line role and get some industry quals under my belt (CompTIA, MCP, that sort of thing) then when they get the funding for an NQT, apply on the strength of the PGCE and industry experience. So I went out, got a first line job, then the network manager at the school in question left and the whole scheme went down the pan so I got 'stuck' in first line support for a while (TBH I hated teaching science so had no inclination to return to it), when I tired of first line support and hated being a phone monkey I left for a better job, still in the technical field and I can't say I've looked back with any wistfulness at all. Teaching is brutal. Experienced teachers make it look easy but the reality is like an iceberg - the bit you see is a tiny fraction, the worst part is behind the scenes.

Oh dear, that sounds horrifying! I probably would have declined at that point. As a professional, if I'd been asked to behave as a tree I would have said 'sorry but if this is how your company treats applicants this is not a company I want to work for'. An interview is not just about begging them to employ you, it is also about whether or not you want to work for that company and if they treat you like a fool then clearly that will establish a pattern for your employment so I'd have told them to get bent...

Sounds brilliant. When we went we spent a couple of days in Toronto, Ottowa and Montreal respectively then flew over to Vancouver and did a tour through the rockies doing Whistler, Banff, Lake Louise, Camloops etc - it was brilliant. I loved Vancouver so much I was sad to fly back to England. I'd happily up sticks and move to British Columbia!

Using apples iTunes Support Knowledge base (found at iTunes: Troubleshooting security software issues ) Try adding apple.com to the bypass. icloud.com too. Had to remove the list I'm afraid.

@dhicks pretty much has it spot on - it depends where you go and when. Largely I found that prices weren't all that different. Where some things were cheaper, others were more expensive. You also have to factor in the 'culture' of tipping - it is expected that you tip 15-20% on all meals. So if you eat out, factor this into the budget. It is not really an option dependant on good service, it is more-or-less obligatory. Especially if you eat at your hotel. This can make what seems like a reasonably priced meal (and meals are generally pretty reasonable) turn out to cost a bit more than it seems. A lot of it will depend on whether or not you're going to a main tourist area - Whistler for example is very pricy, but towns like camloops are less so. Are you going French or British side? British Columbia is beautiful, I loved Vancouver. Toronto, Ottowa and Montreal had the worst heatwave I've ever experienced when we were there so it coloured the experience somewhat but there are plenty of tours and boat cruises to do, but be prepared to hear EVERYTHING publically announced in both French and English. It's like being in an airport all the time lol. A lot of how affordable Canada is depends also on the exchange rate. When we went it was 2 Canadian Dollars to the £, but if the rate is less (or more) this will affect the savings. It's also worth mentioning that if you are going to the East Coast and plan to do Niagara falls, do the Canadian side - the Canadian side of the falls is MUCH better than the US side, although hotels will try to sell you tours that take you over the border (for some mad reason).