• In Retrospect: Now That We Know What Happened Next …

    Just to recap what has been published previously on the BBC website, because with hindsight it makes the Menezes incident really tragic. (my emphasis, added) [news.bbc.co.uk] – Published 22nd July 2005 Scotland Yard said the man shot dead at about 1000 BST on Friday in Stockwell had still to be formally identified. […] The man

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  • The Horror of Seat 29E

    Complaint from Seat 29E :- [www.i-am-bored.com]

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  • The War On Terror – As Viewed From Bourne Shell

    $ cd /middle_east$ lsAfghanistan   Iraq          Libya         Saudi_Arabia  UAEAlgeria       Israel        Morrocco      Sudan         YemenBahrain       Jordan        Oman          SyriaEgypt         Kuwait        Palestine     TunisiaIran          Lebanon       Qatar         Turkey$ cd Afghanistan$ ls bin  Taliban     $ rm Talibanrm: Taliban is a directory$ cd Taliban$ lssoldiers$ rm soldiers$ cd ..$ rmdir Talibanrmdir: directory “Taliban”: Directory not empty$ cd Taliban$ ls -a.            ..           .insurgents$ chown -R

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  • Appropriate postscript to the Menezes affair?

    There’s a lot of pro-shooting, anti-shooting, it could happen again hot air going on, but I find this most apt as a summary of my views: [news.bbc.co.uk] Surely the most frightening thing is how quickly we have come to share the terrorists’ evident belief that innocent people must die. Robin Saltonstall, Beverley, UK

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  • Scotty Beamed Up

    James Doohan, dead at 85. 8-( [news.bbc.co.uk]

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  • Finnish Emergency Runway?

    So I was riding through Finland a few weeks ago, heading north for Nordkapp as I shall recount later; specifically I was pelting through the swamplands of northern Finland, a lovely area which I hope soon to revisit, and specifically I was on the E75 heading northwards out of Rovaniemi. It is a lovely, fast,

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  • The European Beer Migration

    Ok, so, this is how the German explained beer migration to me: The Norwegians go over the border to Sweden to get beer, because it’s cheaper…. The Swedes make daytrips to Denmark to stock-up likewise…. The Danes pop south into Germany for the same, and the dirty little secret in Germany is that… a lot

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  • New laws target terror training

    Potential for IT Security Professionals to become illegal / subject to Govt registration, in UK. Pardon the banner headline, but I just wanted to hammer point home before explaining it, because this is one of those times when I will be actively compaigning against a bill, and hope that by catching public perception whilst the

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  • Graham Kemp’s Charity Ride for Naomi House

    Sun employee Graham Kemp is riding a R1200GS around the coast of Britain in 10 days in a high-speed adventure starting on July 25th. Proceeds are for Naomi House Children’s Hospice for which I have previously collected so do please visit the site where you can donate online, and UK tax-payers can click a box

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  • Tracking the London Bombing stories

    It’s quite interesting to watch the media machine at work; I first heard this chap referred to as a chemist, then a biochemist (less scarey) and now the story that the bombers used homebrew explosives has broken, he is being referred to as a chemistry expert which vague description will fit the media spin without

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  • Paper Enigma Machine

    Well that’s my weekend sorted-out, then: [mckoss.com]

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  • Extended Motorbike Vacation Equipment Checklist

    I’ve read any number of these in the past six months; here’s mine. Some ancilliary notes: canvas deck shoes: cheap (10 quid?), lightweight, pack flat and vaguely washable. perfect travel shoe for bikers, but try not to keep dry before packing. hat with brim: essential for non-biking times in sunny areas. waterproof luggage: assume it

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