GCHQAgent

http://www.cs-blingbling.com/cgi-bin/yabb/...;num=1052408607 :P

Ok, I think its resolved now. If anyone else gets this error message please PM me and let me know.

test post [We're looking at the issue]

I am pleased (and relieved!) to say that the shirts arrived today. Two cartons full of quality shirts :) I have yet to go through and do a check to see we've received the correct quantities of each size/colour but hopefully all will be okay. I'll be getting them embroidered by a local company and they should be with members in about 2-3 weeks. A few lucky people may get theirs before the meet on the 20th ;)

Big apologies to everyone for that. The dedicated server that hosts LOC died in the early hours of Saturday morning due to a combination of software fault and drive failure. Thankfully we use a RAID-1 mirroed setup for LOC so we've lost no data and rebuilding the array was relatively simple, the problem was fixing the software fault that rendered the machine unusuable for the past few days. I'm working with Steve to get a replicated database going on a second server and we should have something in place within a month.

I want! I want!... I was going to get them on my BMW before I sold it to buy the Lex... group buy?! count me in!

Hmm... looking at the rear of that shot somehow reminds me of a Mercedes C or S class. Am I imagining that?

Hi everyone, This post is for all that ordered the club embroidered T-shirts or polo shirts. I had agreed with Steve (Admin) that I could get a batch of these to members within a matter of weeks but due to a string of problems with the designing of embroidery logos to delays at the production factory there has been a considerable delay in receiving these items. I would like to stress that all of the problems were out of our control but I do take responsibility for the delay and am doing my best to make sure they arrive as soon as possible. As soon as the items arrive I shall inspect them and then forward them to the members, I'm hoping to have the shirts with me within the coming weeks. I would like to thank everyone for their patience and ask that you bear with us for a little while longer. If anyone has questions you can post them to this thread or message me, alternatively email me at gchqagent@goldmembers.co.uk Regards, -Emrul

Andy, it is unfortunate that all publicity is good publicity. My parents once had a brawl by two lesbian police officers in one of their restaurants and a Sun reporter happened to be eating there at the time. Needless to say, for weeks after there were people coming in and asking 'is this the place where the lesbos were fightin?'' So I presume business went up but I don't think the publicity did much good for the police <G>... perhaps publicity is a double edged sword.

There is a big difference between something on the net and something on terrestrial TV. That difference is things on TV are pushed to you to a certain extent, sure you can change the channel but if you happen to be tuned into C4 you'll receive quite a shock. On the Internet you have to go and look for whatever you want to see. If I go to Yahoo I expect to see a portal, I don't expect to see something lude. In the same way, if I turn to C4 I expect to see real documentaries, news, normal boring C4 stuff, not dead babies being eaten. Surely if the ITC outright blocked that particular broadcast then it wouldn't be necessarily be censorship? If someone wants to see dead babies being eaten I'm sure they can go buy it on video, see it on some obscure satellite or cable channel or watch it on the internet but who has the right to PUSH it into my face onto my TV?

No no, I wasn't pointing the finger at you. I meant that you are correct, people will watch it just to see if it is real but I feel that they will be as guilty as the person commiting the act. We live in a free soceity and that is a good thing but as a result we're bombarded with things we may not like. Because we're free to do as we choose we must be responsible for what we DO decide to do. No one forces you to watch a particular broadcast (I won't digify it by calling it a documentary) so therefore what you watch you do so by your own choosing, by a conscious decision. I hope what I said makes some sense to someone <g> Its like if someone was being raped and you decided to sit down and watch then you would be no different to the rapist.

I think if you're gonna watch something like that then you might as well be commiting the act. C4 may get good ratings and even if the regulator (is it ITC?) comes down on them for this what will happen... the damage will be done, profits will be made and you can guarantee the outcome will be a slap on the wrist as usual. If I were in charge I'd throw the book at C4 and call them paedophiles because eating of flesh can be considered a sexual act (a more common form of this is a love bite or hickey) but nonetheless, eating flesh could be an act with sexual intent. Put that together with the fact that we're talking about a baby (a minor) we have C4 broadcasting paedophilic material. Yes it is stretching it just slightly but the fact is with a decent legal team (don't laugh.. I know the CPS are a joke) then C4 and any other broadcaster thinking to get some quick ratings could be taught a lesson it would never forget.

Illegal or not I was under the impression that TV broadcasters have an obligation to consider the moral and ethical implications of whatever they intend to broadcast. I also thought that C4 was an informative channel, I don't see how showing someone eating human flesh is informative at all. I have a feeling the bosses at C4 must be some sort of weirdos who are into body butchering otherwise this would never have been allowed. I bet none of the bosses at C4 will be willing to take the rap when some psycho watching TV decides its alright to do that and decides to go on an eating spree... if someone does do that I would hope they go after the fool that is responsible for this disgusting broadcast.

I'm a fairly controversial guy... but W T F http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_734293.html I think eating dead babies is disgusting and how the hell can C4 get away with broadcasting that?? I can understand how showing an autopsy on TV might be educational, but this?!

Actually there's something interesting a friend of mine said to me a few days ago: We were talking about men and women dumping/playing each other and he said that women are the most hurtful since when they cheat on a guy its usually 'cos they're in love with another man... yet when men do it at least its only for s*x..... Anyone in agreement?

I can't speak for women or men in general but I can speak for myself as a man and I agree :D

Hey Loz, In my case a few hours is fine by me, in fact I'd prefer it in some ways... but you are right, to find a decent girl in a club is almost impossible. If you're lookin for something a little more real, more meaningful I can suggest you think about:- a) Joining the gym (you don't have to excercise, just sit in the bar and talk to the nice ladies as they relax after their workout) B) Join some cool club (LOC counts as cool but doesn't apply here - you have to join a club with more single women around ;)) c) If you're in London the tube is actually a pretty neat way... if you take this option make sure you do it right 'cos ppl in London are quick to think ur weird. d) A lively bar... this is where I believe lots of decent women hang out when they're looking for a good time. A reminder to all: I don't know what the c**p I'm talking about.

I agree.... I keep getting dumped by girls for spending more time working than with them... women can be so selfish! Then again... I'm working away upto 120hours some weeks and around 60 hours per week on average. I don't care though, go clubbing every week and there are always plenty of fish in the sea, won't cut down on work for anyone.

I think the idea of having cameras at crossings is not going far enough, instead we should have smart bombs attached that just blow drivers up when they go through red lights or fail to stop at pedestrian crossings. I'm not being sarcastic either. And I agree the driving test is too easy I've said in a past post that I think part of the reason is that driving is considered a right and not a skill or privilege. I think a good way forward would be to start issuing grades (A through to E) and people with grade E are considered high risk and grade A are considered safe. High risk drivers should be banned from driving in certain areas or at certain times (areas with lots of pedestrians, school children, elderly people or during peak hours). I also think speed should not be linked to safety, that concept is flawed in so many ways I wouldn't know where to begin to explain. Things such as carelessness and wrecklessness destroy lives and constitute bad driving, those are the real factors which should count in a driving test and there are psychological tests which can be done to assess how altert, careless or wreckless a person is or can be. You might be doing 40 in a 30 zone at 3am when there's no one around yet you'd be breaking the law when in all probability you're less of a risk then than when you're driving the next morning through a busy area at only 25mph. Then again, if you're doing 40mph in a 30 zone when you're in a busy area (risks from pedestrians and other cars) you're not just breaking the speed limit, you'd be being careless and oblivious to your environment - that is the most dangerous thing about speeding. I feel making motorway driving a compulsory part of the driving test would be a sensible idea, currently learners aren't even allowed onto motorways yet immediately after they pass their test they are. I took pass plus and gained some useful information which new drivers without pass plus won't know.

I'm a bit cynical and I happen to think the government have managed to pull of a well planned excercise into netting the treasury billions today and billions tomorrow. While they have tried to sort out the pensions problem some might say they haven't as done as much as they should have, but then there are always people who'll say that... just look at one of the opposition ;) However, the government are taking more money in the way of taxes and their latest advice is that everyone should work longer... how convenient for them that they get to collect income tax for a few extra years. If they were serious about getting people to save they would reduce taxation on pensions and offer real incentives to save. I'm only 19 and run my own company and I don't plan on saving putting a penny into a pension scheme ever. It isn't that I don't think I'll get old, it is just that I have absolutely no confidence in the government. I will however be saving, I'll be saving my way and on my terms and I shall continue to do so until the government wise up and get real. A different issue, but I really don't see why there is no public lobby against IHT or Inheritance Tax. The government think they own 40% on every asset in your name above £242,000... how can they justify this? People are born, they pay to be educated, they pay taxes during their lifetime, they work to support themselves and their country yet on death the government cream a nice 40%... before anyone suggests it only hits the rich, consider this: a ) The value of Mr Average is often above £242,000... which is the price for a small house in some parts of the country. B ) People who are 'rich' can very easily avoid IHT almost entirely, it doesn't take a lot of money, just a bit of planning. Playas is on to something with property instead of pensions, but I would never put all my investment into the property market 'cos that would be really risky... and don't let IHT hit ya dude... <my monthly rant is over... please continue with your normal business>

c'mon... do we really want more BMWs on the road??

I just got mine today - I like it... its different to most Christmas cards... feels like the difference between a BMW and a Lexus. The card is laminated on both sides, has a niiiiice piccie of an SC430 and is made with nice thick cardboard....now if the BMW car club (wait... is there one??) were to send cards to members they would probably make it as tacky as possible, using copier paper, and just the BMW logo where its meant to say 'seasons greetings'. Oh and don't forget, most likely they would have made you buy the card, the stamp and an enevelope ;)

Hi Craig, I got my IS200 (Sport) when I was 18, my quote was 0„52,200. 1 years no claims, done through Eagle Star Direct (over the web). -Em

I wouldn't touch f9 / plustnet with a barge pole now, the used to be good until things went wrong for me. Almost overnight they changed their T&Cs to include a charge for my free domain if I ever left. So I disagreed with the new T&Cs and said I wanted to terminate our contract... so they tried to enforce their £50 charge for a .co.uk domain on me. It also didn't help that none of the managers were customer facing... I guess if they weren't customer facing then must have been facing each others arses or something. Anyway, try demon.net - £24.99/mo and they have a good reputation. I'm with Pipex (£23/mo)... I will recommend them again when service levels return to something decent.

*comes out of his cryogenic chamber* [Note: this may well turn into a rant... if it does feel free to stop reading] When I first heard of the idea almost a year ago I didn't like it and right now I am feeling neutral and while I still don't like the idea I am willing to see how it goes. Firstly, we (taxpayers) paid to have the roads built. Then local councils decided to assert their right to our roads by charging people to park on them. Now, the Mayor of London is asserting his authority on our roads by charging people to use them. I think Ken forgot much like the government often does that they don't own roads and other infrastructure built and paid for by the public, they are merely trustees of that infrastructure. In my opinion the government as trustees are mismanaging a lot of things but that's an entirely different and political issue. Anyway, let us take the argument that all 'profits' from congestion charging will be reinvested into improving transport in London. Now that's a good thing, anything to improve transport would be a welcome move. Where exactly will that money be spent in a few years time when the Tube becomes part privatised - will they make a reduction in the £5 charge? I doubt it. So all the money would then be spent on buses. The reason I don't get on buses is because I don't want to be stabbed or otherwise attacked at least while in a car I can lock my doors. I shouldn't have to sit near a seat that's been urinated on and smells. I don't like groups of young thugs giving me piercing looks. I certainly will not use a bus given all of my concerns for which I haven't heard Ken address any of. In 3 years time there will be a large pot of cash from this congestion charging and they won't know where to put it... that's when we can expect silly 'initiatives' being rolled out and idiotic projects a la The Dome cropping up. Oh and it seems Ken didn't quite realise something else... if everyone who commutes into London by car decided to take the tube or use a bus then the current system would not be able to cope - so we are paying a £5 congestion charge designed to encourage us to use public transport but if we all decided to use public transport we wouldn't be able to... hmm... I feel a pseudo-scam here. If Ken seriously wants to reduce congestion in London he has to realise that its a problem increasing nationally and is a particular problem in the South East therefore he must work with the government to come up with a solution. I want to see public services improving before I'm forced to pay increasing taxes to use my vehicle. I want to see a plan for where the money will go, how it will be used, who will have a say in how its spent (don't we live in a democracy or am I dreaming?). After speaking to a friend who lives in Germany some suggestions for the government to reduce traffic on our roads might be as follows: 1. Charge foreign lorrys for using our roads and limit the amount of foreign lorrys within the UK at any given time. In Germany foreign lorrys will have to apply for a license in order to drive through the country which will cost several thousands of Euros and will be paid yearly. Also there will be a cap on the number of lorrys in the country at a particular time and when that ceiling number has been reached lorrys looking to enter will be blocked at the border and will have to wait until other lorrys have left. This may seem drastic but the fact is big foreign vehicles are destroying roads which we (in the UK) paid for. Other EU countries are doing similar things, Switzerland and Germany for example. 2. Actively encouraging schemes such as car sharing or have days where car users are offered reduced prices on public transport. 3. Demonstrate that public transport is effective. People don't like to use cars going into London, the driving is far from enjoyable. I use a car because public transport is not up to scratch. 4. Do more to prevent strikes (and I don't mean ban strikes by unions). If they were paid half decent salaries in the first place they wouldn't be complaining. 5. A more stringent driving test. A theory test was a good introduction, the new reaction timing test is also good but face it - some people are not meant to drive and they still slip through the net. People complain I'm prejudice against poor drivers (my definition of poor can be found if you watch Britains Worst Drivers on Channel 5) and its true and I feel I have every right to be. Take for example this scenario: some people can't fly commercial aircraft and even if they cry after failing a test they've prepared for for a long time its just tough - they're not allowed to be pilots because they're deemed a danger. In the same way, if someone cannot drive then they should be kept off the road because they are a danger. It is not everyones right to drive. Driving instructors should focus on helping people to be good drivers instead of helping them to pass their next (possible 4th or 5th) test. *remembers this is a car club and not a forum for this*... *stops* For more information on it have a look at http://www.cclondon.com