Reorte

A bit one extreme or the other there don't you think? I.e. exactly what I was getting at. Do we only pay for schools because ultimately there's an economic return? Libraries? Parks? It should've also been very clear that I wasn't saying "economic considerations don't matter at all," since I pretty much spelled that out.

There are more kinds of sense than economic sense. Indeed, just looking at the economics isn't sense at all IMO; economic factors and considerations are enabling and limiting factors, they're something you need to have a good grasp of when determining whether or not something's even viable, but they're a means to an end and shouldn't ever be the end itself. Sometimes we get a better world when economic considerations play second fiddle.

I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if it was common with horses and carts.

What? I'd not heard that, about sequels and DLC. That's very disappointing (and very odd considering what a success it's been).

Pretty sure they can't force you to take a smart meter even if yours needs replacing. They'll have to replace it with a non-"smart" one (or one with the supposedly "smart" functions disabled, although by all accounts they're good enough at doing that themselves) if you ask.

Sounds like the ship got a mayday out and traffic was stopped as a result, so a quick response there probably saved lives.

I've wondered about that. The kinetic energy in even a slow-moving container ship will be immense, is it actually possible to protect against something like this? I suppose you could go to really big extremes by building every pier on an artificial island but that could well be beyond practical.

I'm guessing that there are fairly strict laws like that, which is why we rarely see anything go beyond "This is 2% better than other leading brands." If they tiptoe around like that it suggests attacking competitors lands you in trouble.

Well the download decided to restart half way through. So that's another day and a half (unless it does eventually come to realise half the stuff's already there - the files definitely are).

PC port of Horizon Forbidden West out now, and it sounds like a solid port of the console version for once. I'll find out eventually (day and a half to download it, and that's if I don't interrupt the download so I can use the connection for something else). I've managed to completely avoid spoilers so far...

Hence specific international services like the World Service. What we're talking about here though is very much a domestic news story (not even a national one).

Yes, the right reply usually should be predictable. Calling it "nonsense" I'm afraid just looks like a lack of any sensible reply to it, sneering at answers you don't like. Do you expect reports in countries that use metric units to give conversions of them all to imperial? Remember it's not just the UK that uses them, the USA is a pretty significant country that uses mph.

Making pointless conversions is sadder IMO. Like I said it's read outside but the BBC's job is to provide for the UK, the ones who pay for it, not an international audience. Anyway when I look at sites and stories and so on from another country I find it preferable if they stick to whatever's used locally and leave me to figure out any differences for myself. Makes the world a bit more of an interesting place if people don't all do things the same way, and I may learn something.

Harry Potter is no doubt a very useful tool for bringing in business, they don't need to risk treading on any legal toes to make use of that perception of it (although you could certainly argue that their headbutting with the ORR shows that they're happy enough to do that even when they're on a hiding to nothing). Probably helps that the train's been running since before Harry Potter made it more popular.

Considerably less characterless than what's followed. Travelling over 25 mph in them doesn't bother me in the slightest, although that assumes they're in decent condition and not rotting apart by now. In any case what's the line speed on the Mallaig extension? We're not exactly talking ECML. Obviously there's a limit on how much I'd be prepared to pay but other than that there's nothing offputting.

They'll be full of things people elsewhere won't have heard of. The BBC's output, other than the World Service, is for domestic consumption. It's good that others can see it but that's not who it should be written for.

The bit that bothers me there is someone at the BBC has felt that they need to write 20 mph (33 km/h).

In order to race you need to go to the country the race is in. Immigration's under no obligation to let him in to the country.

The arch over the surviving lines seems to have been replaced with concrete too :(

In which case all I'll point out is that I'm not frightened of it, I simply loathe it.

If it feels like some want to shut WCRC down it's only because WC keep treading on toes and dragging their heels and generally giving the impression of not being a responsible operator. I said it earlier it's the job of an operator to follow the rules (they can argue against them, just as long as they follow them), and WCRC don't appear to be all that keen to do so. And whilst I'd more than happily travel on a train without locked doors (indeed, I'd prefer to) I'd have serious doubts about travelling on one belonging to a company that seems unwilling to meet the requirements - if they can't be bothered on one I'm not concerned about what are the chances that they're not bothering on one that I very much would be? So it's no wonder some people appear to have it in for them.

If you've got nothing to hide - then it's absolutely no-one else's business to know about it. Nothing to hide, nothing to prove.

Does that mean you're not allowed to not have a mobile there?

The jogger in the background must be really jaded. The thing nearly hits him yet he just carries on as if nothing's happened.

Nautical miles and knots are a logical unit for navigation purposes, your definitions show why (1/60th degree being one minute of latitude). You could argue that it doesn't matter when a computer's doing it all anyway, although navigators are still expected to be able to manage without them if they need to, but the same computer argument renders the convenience argument about any unit set moot.