The world is full of crashing bores

When you consider that so much damage to peoples’ lives is attributable to the fact that selected substances are illegal to produce or posess, the logical solution seems obvious: legalise and regulate.

Here are a few recent articles which I think demonstrate the broad range of reasons well, particularly the first link to the documentary ‘Our drugs war’:

One in six British citizens have used class-A drugs… The police fail to control supply – in Scotland seizing just one per cent of the heroin consumed – criminals make money, and demand only increases.
Our Drugs War – 4oD

Up to 19 workers have been suspended from a Lancashire firm after failing random drug tests… One employee said the move had provoked fury among workers, who were allegedly asked to empty their pockets before the tests were administered.
Baxi staff in drug probe – Lancashire Evening Post

Not directly relevant, but the prohibition of drugs is still at the core of the issue:

Of the 2,800 gangs identified within the United Kingdom it is estimated that 60% are involved in drugs… [The Police] admit that British law enforcement is ill-equipped to deal with the threat that they pose.
2,800 crime gangs ravage UK streets – Times Online

Read more:
Transform Drug Policy Foundation
Transform Drug Policy Foundation Blog
TDPF – Support for reform

I’d be interested to know what the general sway is on this issue. So why not cast your vote by answering this extremely general question:

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Read this article: Useless, jobless men – the social blight of our age (Times Online)

I’ve spent a lot of time and effort training to do the job I do. I expected that by now, at least, I would be earning enough to save some money and relax a little, financially speaking. But the fact is that at the end of every month I barely have enough readies to cover rent, food and keeping a 20-year-old Volvo running me to work and back each day. I don’t smoke and don’t drink a lot; my lifestyle is far from extravagant.

Yet my housemate, who spends her days at work watching YouTube and 4OD while knitting (because apparently they have no work for her to do but can’t just lay her off), takes home only ~£100 less than me per month, even though there is an £8,000 gap between our salaries.

Turns out this could be why:

Gordon Brown made life more bearable for many people on benefits, but he also made it harder to escape from them. Get a job tomorrow earning between £10,000 and £30,000 a year and you’ll take home only 30p out of every extra pound you earn after the first £10,000. Twenty pence will go in income tax, 11p in national insurance, and 39p in lost tax credits. Add in the loss of other allowances (housing benefit, council tax benefit) and you may find it simply doesn’t pay to work harder.

Krave Dog Biscuits, a new fat-based snack from Kellogg's

Today, as I walked through town, I was handed a promotional 30g box of Krave, a new snack from Kellogg’s which is unique in that it is the first breakfast cereal designed specifically for dogs. Embarrassingly, I was unaware that they aren’t meant for human consumption and had a little nibble. I quickly realised my error and spat it out – they taste absolutely foul.

Krave is also a first because it is the most unhealthy cereal on the market – it consists of 16% fat and 29% sugar. That’s ok though, dogs aren’t that body conscious. They do, however, have a keen sense of taste and smell, which surely means they won’t go near the stuff. Having said that, they are partial to a slice of their own turd from time to time so Krave might slip down the throat nicely as a dessert. Bon appetit!

Having installed XP on the Revo without much of a problem, I was really surprised to learn how badly supported Windows XP is by Acer. No drivers are listed on their UK website, and finding the exact hardware specifications for ethernet and sound was a bit of a chore.

After a couple of hours trawling I managed to find them and have listed them here with download links:

Graphics (nVidia ION 9400): Download from nvidia.co.uk

Chipset and LAN (nVidia ION): Download from nvidia.co.uk

HDMI Audio (nVidia ION): Download from nvidia.co.uk

Wireless LAN (Atheros): Download from dw.com.com (Cnet)

Sound (Realtek ALC662): Download from dw.com.com (Cnet)

The Acer Aspire Revo R3610 is more than capable of playing 720p and 1080p video theough the nVidia 9400 GPU. H.264, VC-1 and MPEG-2 video formats are compatible. To take advantage of the nVidia GPU you will need to take the following steps.

First, download and install the Gordian Knot Codec Pack to handle audio and video decoding, and Media Player Classic for playing videos.

Next, you need to set up Media Player Classic. Open MPC and press O, opening the Options window. Click Playback > Output and check the VMR9 (renderless) radio box. Then go to Internal Filters and check the Matroska and MP4/MOV checkboxes. In Subtitles, select Desktop from the Maximum texture resolution drop down list. This will ensure that subtitles will appear smooth and clear.

UPDATE 09-08-2010 : If you want to get MPC using your GPU for h.264 video, this article is well worth a read – http://bit.ly/chncNW

That’s it, your Revo is now set up with the correct drivers and is ready to tackle almost any video you can throw at it. If you don’t have any HD video to test your setup, visit h264info.com and download one of the H.264 encoded trailers. Both the 720p and 1080p videos should play back flawlessly.

For web video running through Flash you may find this post useful, although please note this guide is for Windows 7.

Please let me know if any of these are dead links by leaving a comment below.

I started something…

Now in milk chocolate.

I saw this bike on Gumtree on Friday and by seven o’clock that evening I was riding her down Gloucester Road. (I think) she was made in about 1983 and internet tells me is definitely nothing special. Internets might not think so but I do.

1983-ish Peugeot P10s

 
It needs a bit of work; the wheels are old and steel, which is rusting, so they need replacing, as does the paint. I can’t wait to get started.

Health and safety regulations currently in force in the workplace do not allow a toaster in the office because it contains a naked element. People can not be trusted to stay alive when making a standard breakfast. A kettle is acceptable, as the risk posed by the naked element in a kettle is counter-balanced by the risk of first degree burns from the boiling water it produces.