Zombie

Hmm. Gets a lot of strong reactions. Like religion First off "climate change" and "global warming". They are not the same words and they do not have the same meaning. However they are two sides of the same coin. Global warming is about averages. Climate change is about localized conditions. It's important not to conflate them. But guess what - that's exactly what the "strong reactors" do! So with all the cold weather records being broken in the US over the last week or so, the "strong reactors" have been triumphantly squawking "so this is global warming, eh????" It's been said that climate is what you expect... weather is what you get. So when the weather that you get is consistently deviating significantly from the weather that you expect then there comes a point where you need to change what you expect. At that point your climate has... changed See, it's really not that difficult

It's not jazz as such but a rich mix of references to European classical works and jazz phrases from a lifetime's immersion in music. All overlaid with a pulsing Cuban Latin American rhythm. I've listened to it many times and usually hear something new I'd missed before Old musicians just know so much!

Been waiting for someone to post Miles Davis - the inventor of cool The Cuban pianist Rubén González retired in the 1980s. He didn't play piano again for eleven years. Then the American musician Ry Cooder made contact and kick-started a second career for the old man, in his eighties, touring solo and also with the Buena Vista Social Club until 2002, and recording with combos like this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR0vMyDoDN0

Ooops, you're right I was wrong to say talentless *%@~# After all he is talented at churning out Hollywood crap And he can't be all bad... with a dog called Bonecrusher

Actually it was demonstrated by observation - the maths just gave the dimensions Pythagoras's Theorem was proved... by Pythagoras And by many others. In many different ways

Dunno. Don't care But at least he's confirmed his status as a talentless dick

Yes, Edison was a consummate businessman and entrepreneur - shame the French don't have a word for this - able to take ideas, develop and improve them and build very successful businesses around them. The light bulb is an example - Edison didn't invent the light bulb or even innovate the necessary changes to make them practicable, that was done by Joseph Swan who later sued Edison for patent infringement and won. As punishment, Edison had to make Swan a partner in his electric company and the U.S. Patent Office decided in 1883 that Edison’s patent was invalid, as it also duplicated the work of another American inventor. Edison later bought out Swan so it is Edison's name that is remembered... for making a lot of money out of 'em What Edison did do, and where he was brilliantly successful, is to make continual improvements to products like the light bulb and create better products.

Sound recording Came across this pic the other day. It's the world's earliest sound recording made between1857 and 1860 Thomas Edison is credited with inventing sound recording with his 1878 phonograph patent. But he didn't. Just like he didn't invent the lightbulb The first sound recordings were printed onto paper 20 years before Edison and the above pic is one of these printed recordings. These are the earliest known playable sound recordings, made over 150 years ago, and were made between 1857 and 1860 by a Frenchman, Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville - who you won't have heard of - of music and speech. Scott deserves his place in the history of invention. A printer by trade, in 1857 he patented the "phonautograph" which "printed" sound onto paper. His patented device was essentially a breakthrough invention, creating the method of analogue recording that was used for recording all sound - music, radio, film, TV - until replaced by digital technology from the 1980s. A phonograph / gramophone able to playback Scott's recordings - called a "paleophone" - was invented by fellow Frenchman Charles Cros in April 1877 but lack of money meant this was never done. It wasn't until 2008 - 150 years after they were made - when a computer program was developed using optical scanning to play them, that Scott's recordings were heard for the first time. BBC newsreaders are very professional but when Charlotte Green played this clip as part of a news summary she collapsed in a fit of giggles - I defy you not to laugh when you listen to her training, professionalism and composure go flying out the window... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJdlF-DCUKs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonautograph http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleophone

Did he go by the name "Fishie"?

removes nasty niffs

No, it's not the same. OW's conviction was really a tragedy of his own making. It was OW who decided to start legal action against the Marquess of Queensberry [his lover's dad] to have him prosecuted for criminal libel for making allegations about OW's homosexuality. The problem is these allegations were true. Wilde obviously did this to try and protect his reputation but it meant he was being dishonest in using the law this way. During the trial evidence was then produced that confirmed Queensberry's allegations and because of this charges were then brought against OW and the rest we know. If OW had just kept his head down then probably nothing would have happened. It's very sad but that's what happened.

Yes, yes you will. It's all my fault - I've only been out of therapy a short while... I thought I'd got over it... I thought it was safe to make a quip... I was wrong... it's all coming back... and I can only apologise to addy for causing him mental suffering

Happy New Year to you too, Dustin. Hope you can visit GA more often and have some fun

Many other examples where people's job is to provide a personal service to customers and its not arrogance but legitimate and good business practice to probe the customer's motives - and decline if they're not themselves satisfied about that customer. I could give many examples, but cosmetic surgery and financial services are two that spring to mind.

All this tells us - as if we need reminding - is that large corporations and fancy over-paid lawyer firms are run by exactly the same dicks you'll find in any walk of life

ask Fishie - he had a bag of them somewhere... :funny:

"history? It's just one fucking thing after another" [Alan Bennet]

Cleaning my fridge yesterday - new year, new... food - was shocked to discover, lurking at the back, something dated May 2003. Obviously it was made well before that date - so it could be older than someone reading this thread So what was this mouldering - possibly biohazardous - food item? A bottle of spicy HP Sauce Don't remember how it got in there. But I've known about it a long time. Kind of reassuring to know it was there whenever I wanted some. Thing is, when I took it to the window for closer scrutiny it just looks like... er, HP Sauce. And it still moves around Now it's possible that the ingredients are toxic to all life forms - which is good news, 'cos that means it's still safe to eat So what's the oldest thing in your fridge?

In Britain, at least, it's never been a problem with the top and bottom bits of society. Churchill had a tattoo, so did several "recent" monarchs, even the current Prime Minister's wife. As with much else the problem is in "the middle". It's the Hyacinth Bucket syndrome Personally I have none but they can be very attractive. As others have said it's about quality and, for me, less is often more. But please - not on the face

Happy New Year to everyone at GA

The horrible thing about chemical castration is the side effects. In Alan Turing's case although he kept his balls he grew breasts because of it Just to clear up a few points. My first post was wrong - the pardon doesn't "cancel out the criminal conviction", it is forgiveness of the crime and cancellation of the penalty, so the historical record won't be "altered or changed to airbrush this injustice from history" Also, it derives from the prerogative of mercy. It used to be the absolute power of the monarch but now it's granted by the government as a derogated power, mindful of public opinion. It is very rare. So the Queen had nothing to do with the decision - all she did was sign off as Head of State the bit of paper shoved under her nose by some greasy government oik Obviously this has been timed to mark the 60th anniversary of his death. I guess there'll be a lot of stuff on the telly this year to celebrate his achievements. You need to understand that all the people involved were sworn to secrecy, and they kept that secret - for decades. The wartime codebreaking work was not declassified until the late 1970s so none of these people or their achievements were known or recognised until the 1980s when they began to talk about it, so accolades were never an option. I know this because I had an elderly relative who only spoke about her work at Bletchley Park when she was finally satisfied she could talk about it It was so secret that Churchill ordered that the Colossus computers plus all records designs and plans - remember these were the first ever programmable electronic digital computers which were used to automate part of the codebreaking process from February 1944 - should be destroyed at the end of WW2 to preserve their secrets, and hugely valuable computer knowledge and skills were lost because of this and the dispersal of the team who mostly went back to their old jobs. Two computers did in fact survive at what became GCHQ and continued to be used after the war - slyly, Britain sold encryption machines to other governments and then used the Colossus computers to decypher them Geeks may be interested to know some of the team that built the Colossus computers completed a fully functioning replica based on original notes, their recollections and authentic parts in 2007 and it can be seen at the National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park

Mike is right. The logic is unassailable. To answer the question I believe it's around 50,000, many of whom are still alive.

Alan Turing has been granted a Royal Pardon for his conviction for homosexual acts [technically it was called "gross indecency"] I'm in two minds about this. On the one hand I'm sure it will be some comfort to his descendants to have the state cancel out the criminal conviction of a man who is rightly revered as a brilliant mathematician whose vital Enigma code-breaking work undoubtedly shortened WW2 and who is seen as the father of modern computing. On the other hand it's important that history remembers the shocking ingratitude shown by his country for the crucial work he did which shortened the war and saved countless lives, and for choosing instead to disgrace him and subject him to chemical castration for doing nothing more than express his love for another man. The historical record must not be altered or changed to airbrush this injustice from history. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/10536246/Alan-Turing-granted-Royal-pardon-by-the-Queen.html More details in this archived thread https://www.gayauthors.org/forums/topic/35030-alan-turing/

you're just not looking in the right places

Hey, all mothers are "unique". And complex. And irrational The real questions are do you still love her and can you find a way to accommodate her behaviours while you're still living under her roof. Because you won't always be, and she won't always be around. It's worth taking the long view and accepting some compromise until you are fully independent. "i've only truly accepted who I am in the past 12 months" Well that's a big thing, maybe the most difficult step a gay person can ever take. Then there are other steps you need to be able to take too - such as liking yourself for who you are. This will then make you feel good about yourself. You see people who've developed this - it's attractive and makes people want to become friends. I'm not saying this should be in a narcissistic way - very unattractive - it's more about becoming comfortable in your own skin, developing inner confidence and self esteem. Maybe you could try self-help books, or set yourself small daily targets - "I'll talk to two new people today", or "I'll follow up that conversation". Good luck. It gets easier as you get older