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

vista does stupid things with quote marks with the keyboard set to international english.

You said too much... You could have stopped at, "Vista does stupid things."

Isn't the theory supposed to go that the newer something is the more advanced it is, and therefore better?

Yes, and the theory proves true... You see, the advance is in the part "Vista does...", as opposed to "Windows does not..."

Y., XP user.

Leonardo da Vinci could draw with one hand and write with the other simultaneously.

Limelight was how stages were lit before electricity was invented.
Illumination was produced by heating blocks of lime until they glowed.

to be honest i wonder what all the (negative) fuss about vista is about. i haven't thought for a second about returning to xp or windows 200/nt.

there are clearly things wrong with media player. but i use songbird and other apps anyway. and it is hellishly slow to boot up. but otherwise i've had few dramas.

what the international english version does is make quote marks a shortcut for foreign language letters which i apologise for not knowing the name of. it appears to be deliberate.

two things are odd about this. firstly that microsoft thinks that standard english is NOT that which is spoken/written in southern england and other similarly influenced places (as per the oed definition). secondly that we such people would have more need for foreign language shortcuts than multicultural/multilingual usa.

the fix for those wondering is to change to us english. something much easier to do in vista than xp.

JFK's rocking-chair fetched $442,000/= in an auction !!!!

The candy that Elliot spreads around in E.T. is Reece's Pieces.

In the ET game on the Atari2600 you had to collect Reese's Pieces. This is about the only way in which the game resembled the film.

From Wikipedia:

"Steven Spielberg originally approached Mars with the idea of product placement of M&M's in his upcoming movie, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). Mars declined the offer. Spielberg later approached the Hershey Chocolate Company, who turned down the idea of using their flagship product Hershey's Kisses but chose to use Reese's Pieces instead. Immediately after the movie was released, sales of Reese's Pieces increased by 80%"

Reminds me of the record executives who turned down The Beatles, saying guitar rock was over. Marketing geniuses ... their approach is

Bubble Wrap© was originally designed as a type of decorative wall covering (in the 60's, of course).

A Jaguar S-Type Sedan can respond to 44 voice commands. I've worked with people who could not do that.

Dashing horses kicking up mud (among other things), splashing the passengers riding behind them, led to the invention of the dashboard, a term which survives today.

The horse's name in the song Jingle Bells is Bobtail !!!

A giraffes tongue/lips are purple to stop them being sunburnt!

The albatross has the largest webbed feet of all birds !!!

Correction !!

The Albatross is the largest web-footed bird

800 million tonnes of tea.