h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'll try.

Am I playing server roulette again? I have to refresh each page at least once in order to get something other thatn a big sign that says "UNAVAILABLE".

Affi, I feel your pain. I think it is very unaccomodating of tasks to come due all at once, and as for money, well, it ought always to be there. Not a lot, necessarily. Just as much as one needs.

Lil, I'm having to find ways around that "service unavailable" too. Maybe its just the western US.

Affy, I have a friend who knows Python pretty well, but when I said "Icon" he just laughed and said that was a joke some guy made up to confuse everyone. He also said that if your professor was trying to make you do something in Python or Icon, he was pretty much a sadistic b@stard. He suggested doing it in Java, and then just sitting down with pen and paper and handwriting the code for Python before doing it on the computer.

I'm getting a lot of "server unvailable" notices as well. It's not nice.

I'm working on my protocol for my project that I'm carrying out in the Outer Hebridies, and I'm confused.

I'm comparing rates of reccurance of simple UTI infection in women, and rates of incidence of side effects before and after a new treatment regime is implemented. I understand what statistical tests I need to do, (A Chi squared test comparing obeserved and expected) I'm just not sure how to calculate how large a sample I need to get a significant result.

Gosh I've bored you all to death - A was certainly looking disinterested when I told him about it.

Russia joining the EU would be superb for me and B, but not likely to happen soon. Similarly wedded to the dying idea of their empire as Britain is, and that will keep them out as much as it does Britain. Well, further out obviously, but same principle. Russia does still have it's own sphere of influence: the CIS or rather the conglomerate of former soviet states who, while independant now are not close enough to Europe to blagg themselves in on their own. I mean it may not seem like much to you, but better a big fish in a small pond and all that...

That said, the chances of Russia and the European Union forming a sort of special relationship in some areas aren't so bad, and they are already in the Council of Europe. But I expect you'll see them in Nato before the EU proper.

As for the subject of Russias Europeaness. Interestingly I was reading Orlando Fides book called Natasha's Dance about Russian culture, and he was tracing this sort of aspect. Apparently, at some point in the 19th century the Russians got a bit fed up of being regarded, and regarding themselves as inferior to real Europeans in terms of culture and whathave you and hailed full throttle for national pride which played up their uniqness and anti-Europeanness (decadent donchaknow). Mussorsky and Rimsky Korsokov where in that tradition, whereas Tchikovsky followed the European path, for example, though it had a lot more impact than just that.

And now, Russians will emphasize the fact that Russia is Eurasia, not simply Europe and mutter darkly about geopolitics given half a chance, and what you have to remember about that is that Russia, or at least the CIS, does pretty much span everything from artic circle to sub tropical regions. And the ethnic groupings contained within that are pretty diverse, as are religions and whathave you. We have your actual shamanism out there in the wilds somewhere still. Not revived, the origonal version. The USSR used to be one sixth of the world, which is a figure that rather shoked me. It's still pretty big. Even if the iron curtain hadn't existed, it's a whole other world out there, and I'm not sure that, well, look: America has a reputation for assuming that the world begins and ends at its doorstep, which given the size, diversity, and geographical distance from anywhere not actuall South America or Canada is not that surprising. Britain can be similarly insular (Fog in channel: continent cut off'), so it's not surprising that Russia and the regions around are a whole universe in itself to itself. Trust me, Europe starts to look a long way away after a while.

If Turkey can be part of the EU, than so can Russia, frankly.

Can I just state that the flu sucks this year? It's nasty, and the headaches that go with it are just no fun. My eyes hurt. But apparently, it's a short duration flu, so I should be well by next week. Great. Too bad I don't need to be healthy *next* week.....

*Brings out a bottle. Pours out a medicinal sized shot into a vodka glass and hands it over to MR*

It's a sort of vodka mead with pepper and honey. Drink it straight down. Your stomach will love you for a few hours, and it'll clear out your nasal passages and whatnot. Um. Eat something though, preferably first and after too.

Russia is definitely European but I can't see it becoming a member of the EU. But then I didn't think the Berlin Wall would come down in my lifetime.

*fetches the dragonFLYbot and her toolkit* sits on the edge of the coffee table cleaning and servicing the DFB* Matina makes tut-tutting noises at the sight of the 3-in-1 oil and oily rags*

I've just been reading this month's Woman and Home. I don't know whether I'm depressed that I don't get to play with shiny, sparkly things or whether I'm delighted that I'm never required to design flower arrangements for the back of dining room chairs. It's the fashion this year, apparently.

How on earth would you get a flower arrangement on the back of a dining room chair?

I'm very confused?

Flower arangements for the back of dining room chairs? How does one balance the vases?

Simulpost, and not a surprising one!

Welcome back Gw7en - I hope you'll have the time to keep up with the backlog!

And I quote

"Decorate the back of your dining chairs with a pretty flower and make your guests feel pampered. Just fold a large tropical leaf into a cone shape, fasten with a pin and attach a length of ribbon, also with a pin. Place a red rose and a thistle in a tiny plastic vial (available from florists) and tuck into the cone."

So know you know. The picture shows the ribbon tied to the top of a dining chair back.

In another part of the magazine we have flowers attached by unexplained means to a broad ribbon tied around the back of an modern upholstered dining chair.

Well that would be me in fear for the whole meal as the flower tickled my ear. If I hand squashed it somehow as I sat down.

Can't be quite all the rage, Amy, Good Housekeeping don't seem to be advocating chair back floral displays . Little point in this household anyway, Cassie would have them in shreds in no time.

I'm not entirely sure if "pampered" was exactly how I'd feel if my host had gone to so much trouble. In fact I may start to worry about the state of my friends life if they had so much time to spare!

Of course if you enjoy doing it, then why not, it's a hobby I suppose

Sorry, must have caught MR's flu: 'If i _hadn't_ squashed it...'

[MTG]

"I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can."

Only about 4000 to go. Piece of .

Someone mentioned NATO earlier, and frankly I think that's an obsolete military alliance considering the Soviet Union no longer exists. We who were old enough to be cognizant of the Cold War didn't think we'd ever see the abolition of that particular "conflict"--Amy brought up the Berlin Wall--based on that change I can now easily imagine Russia being a player in the EU in my lifetime, as well as a lot of other interesting developments on the global political stage.

I don't like that flower arrangment idea. Not at all. Good thing you're not tempted, Amy.