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

I've got a shredder, but just to be sure I usually toss some really rank kitty litter (I use the pine sawdust kind) on top of it in the trash bag.

There is something terribly wrong with a system, where fraud can be committed just by obtaining publicly available information such as name and address.

My view is any organisation which allows a fraud to occur that easily, is unfit for purpose and should be shut down, After it has repaid the fraudulent amounts and the same again as compensation.

Well, the Post Office don't have any control over what people do with their mail after it's delivered, but if you're talking about the, almost weekly now, disclosures that thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of credit card and customer details have been hacked from yet another retailer's or bank's database, nothing's going to change until we get chip and pin cards here, by which time, probably, chip and pin will have been hacked while the rest of the world has moved on to the next thing, and US card companies and retailers are still dragging their heels over security.

Sorry, I misread your post. I see what you mean now.

Getting someone's name and address is a small part in perpetrating a fraud, and I think most organisations would need far more than these days.

The amount of personal information we give away every day by saying something in publicly viewable forums such as Twitter, Facebook and, yes, even h2g2, is another. In that instance we only have ourselves to blame. It's one reason why, as far as I know, there's no image of me anywhere on public or private websites.

This post has been removed.

Oops, that was me posting something I thought was a personal link, but then found out wasn't and asked for the post not to pulled, but too late. So here it is again.

24 hours into the experiment, still on full power http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah35/splashesca/Photo-0120_zps70da83c5.jpg

Don't worry, I won't be posting a picture of it every day.

One thing I found interesting - although the digits on the diffuser are already green and will show green if you shine a white-light torch through them (in my case a small LED torch), the LED inside the box is also green. Perhaps green LEDs are cheaper than white ones? I must say, it's very bright. And requires both batteries to light it. It doesn't shine with 50% brightness with only one battery - all or nothing.

It's funny the way that some things stick in your head. I haven't heard this song for years and years and years, and I only heard it once, but I can remember several of the lines and some of the tune (ask me what I had for breakfast yesterday though and I couldn't tell you) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juxCmDeeyVY

Some of the lyrics are a bit hard to decipher so here's a link to them http://mudcat.org/detail_pf.cfm?messages__Message_ID=1361213

Anyone around here remember Alex Glasgow? Geordie folkie from the 60s and 70s. Sang the theme tune to When the Boat Comes In. Wrote some fine songs. Ardent socialist.

You know, one of the highlights of my week at the time was hearing him sing "Thou shall have a bloorter when the boat comes in"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utkMQJeiK50

Simple pleasures

I swear I just heard NPR say "Florida Senator, Ted Cruz".

You're welcome to him, Florida.

http://theoatmeal.com/blog/net_neutrality

He said it would be like Obamacare for the internet.

And that's a problem because...

Here's an article that explains why.

http://gizmodo.com/ted-cruzs-net-neutrality-take-isnt-just-dumb-its-dange-1656821283

To clarify, this discusses why it's bad for Ted Cruz to say so. Not that Obamacare for the internet would be a bad concept on its own.

I enjoyed the boxty I made last week so much I've made it again, seeing as how I have more leftover mash in the fridge. This time I've added a little chopped bacon to it, and when I say bacon I mean pancetta.

Pretentious? Moi?

I forgot to drink beer for two days.

Good heavens, man. That is worrying!

Isn't it. It's not like I even made a conscious decision not to drink beer, or forgot about it until it was too close to bedtime. It just never crossed my mind.

I had one last night while watching an old Spike Milligan show

If it's freezing cold at night, and you're all toasty warm under the eiderdown, and the heating isn't on (or there isn't any), and you know that if you stick an arm or a leg out from under the covers you're not going to like it and will pull it back in a bit smartish, and you're not looking forward to getting up in the morning...

How come your face, which stays resolutely outside the covers all night long, never feels cold?

I have spent several nights when I pulled my blanket up over my face. Admittedly not in a secure home, but often in a tent or log building with a wind chill factor.

Just my

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