AdamJ

Juliet - Avalon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAD6WleeyME

You have the most eclectic musical tastes of any of us, Aeolienne. What instrument do you play?

Napoleon Dynamite is thought by many to be AS. I can't tell - if he is then it's a caracature. Brilliant film, though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2Kh7umdOrk

Aeolienne's Wagner post reminded me that, aged 23, I had a summer romance with a girl whose 'bedroom' music of choice was The Flying Dutchman, culminating in this section at full volume. I thought it a bit weird, considering it's perhaps the most violent operatic passage ever written (who else but Wagner would have included a wind machine in the score?). But hey, it left me with a lifelong passion for Wagner!

I was referring to the old ISPs (mine was Globalnet) who were separate from your phone line and who charged monthly subscriptions just to give an access portal to the internet, separately from the telecom provider's dial-up charges. These ISPs disappeared when broadband replaced dial-up.

I never knew people had such strong views about antivirus programs - I feel like my judgement is being questioned because I use the free, yet multiple award-winning, Avast. Well, I don't know about the other 165 million users but I like it because it's unobtrusive, has a good interface and, apart from one miss in the last four years (no antivirus is perfect), it works. The virus database gets automatically updated just about every day. Oh, and it hasn't ruined my laptop, which is nice. Back in the early nineties, we all had to pay monthly subscriptions to an ISP to get online. I wouldn't mind betting that subscription-based antivirus programs will have been equally long-forgotten in ten years time.

No - I suppose if I was really bothered about the problem, I would have put more effort into fixing it. It's no big deal, really.

Steven, do remember that different meds work well for some people and not for others. It's one thing to relate your own experience of a medication but quite another to use only your experience to say it won't suit anyone with autism.

Atlantis, as darkshine said, you really need to give it a go to find out if it suits you. Steven might have had trouble with it but that is no indicator at all as to whether you will get on with it or not. Just to illustrate the point, Steven says Citalopram worked for him, whereas for me, Citalopram worsened my condition so catastrophically that it very nearly cost me my life.

Thanks for your reply. I'm certain that the virus has been destroyed so I'm sure I won't need to go as far as reinstalling Windows. It really is just the start menu that I need to reinstate. It's possibly nothing more than a missing folder. Special Talent, I like Avast because it doesn't slow things up too much and it's free for ever (not just free for a limited period). Tanya, it's a good idea to download the free anti-malware program that was recommended to me, so that you have a back-up solution in case something nasty gets past your antivirus software again. It's called Malwarebytes Antimalware, it's fast and very easy to use.

My computer got some kind of trojan virus recently, which pretended to be Windows Defender and flashed up messages telling me I had to buy a bogus antivirus program to get rid of various bogus viruses that it said had been detected on my machine. It also disabled all other applications on my computer. By going into Program Manager and also the registry, I managed to disable it long enough to go online and search for help. As a result, I downloaded a free anti-malware program which successfully got rid of the problem. However, I've been left with something missing. I'm not quite sure what it is but the symptoms are that: My antivirus program (Avast) wouldn't automatically start up when switching the computer on. I had to reinstall it to do that. The start menu is always empty, instead of showing the icons for my most recent / most used applications. It's possible that other background programs are not starting when I switch on but that doesn't bother me because my machine is functioning perfectly well without them (whatever they were!). It's only the blank start menu which is a bit irritating. Any ideas on how to fix it? Thanks, Adam

Blimey, Aeolienne, how many languages do you speak? I just remembered an extreme example of the problems a typo can cause. Here's a fictional email exchange between a woman away on business, and her husband: ____________________ Hi darling, how are things? What have you been up to while I've been away? ____________________ Well, I've spent the whole of this weekend in bed with a coed, one I picked up at school on Monday while dropping off the kids. I'm now worried that I might have caught a dose of something nasty so I'm going to the doctor tomorrow. After all, I wouldn't want to give it to you. ____________________ You cheating, brazen b*st*rd! I won't forgive you for this. I'll be staying with my parents when I get back. The marriage is over!! ____________________ What have I done!? ____________________ And with a coed! You shameless, pathetic man. Well, I might as well tell you now that your best friend has been begging me to leave you for him. Some friend, huh? And you know what? I think I might just do that. ____________________ No!!! It was a typo - I meant a cold, not a coed!!!

I think if I called anyone a 'gentille tarte', I would brace myself for a slap on the face!

I think it's 'mon petit chou.' I used to make up my own French terms of endearment: Mon petit cornichon - my little gherkin Ma jolie poubelle - my pretty dustbin Ma petite camionette - my little van (Best used with non-French speakers )

None of the things you mention drives me nuts. For what it's worth, I've always understood that the 'sk' pronunciation of schedule is English and the 'sh' pronunciation is American. Honestly, though, it doesn't bother me either way. I'm struck by the occasional absurdity of words that sound like one another. "Walking through a meadow, I leant down to pick a buttercup, though why anyone should have left a buttock there, I have no idea." Also, some double-entendres amuse me, like these: "Thank you for sending me your manuscript. I shall waste no time in reading it." "University is a fountain of knowledge and students go to drink there." In examples like these, the play on words often needs pointing out to me - a lack of imagination, I suppose. For the same reason, I often struggle to understand typed text if a word has been misspelled to form another work. Sorry, I mean 'word.' I also find mistakes in predictive texting confusing, like "I promise to be good at 10pm." [good = home]. So, much as I love language, it's a mixture of amusement and confusion!

No, it's definitely not just an AS thing. It would be nice to hear from NTs who experience ASMR.

I was a bit of a train fan when I was very young. Having grown up in the diesel age, diesel locomotives were my thing. Living in a house overlooking the GWR London to Bristol line, I did my trainspotting exclusively from my bedroom! The most common locomotives I saw were the Brush 4 (Class 47) and Brush 2 (Class 31), and to a lesser extent the Hymek (Class 35), Crompton (Class 33), Western (Class 52), and English Electric 3 (Class 37). My favourite was the Deltic (Class 55) but they didn't operate near me and I only ever saw one once, at King's Cross. My highlights were seeing a rare Metro-Cammell Blue Pullman, and the even rarer (unique) APT-E (prototype Advanced Passenger Train). My train interest stopped when I was about 8 or 9, and I've been a motorbike nut since I was 17.

Ooh, this is one of my favourite subjects! Many British people think that the Americans have somehow corrupted our language with words like color and the use of -ize instead of -ise at the end of some words. But no - it is we who corrupted our own language! When the early settlers went to America, they took with them the English language as it prevailed at the time, which included color and words ending in -ize. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Britain came under the increasing cultural influence of France, and this fashion led to changes of words like color to colour, and -ize to -ise. So it was we who changed, not the Americans. In the mid- to late 20th century, academics (mostly at Oxford University Press) campaigned for a return to the -ize spelling and for a while, their dictionaries only listed this variant. I think I'm right in saying that even The Times, traditionally a weathervane of English usage, adopted the -ize spelling for a period. However, the -ise variant survived this academic backlash and is now once again generally accepted as the normal spelling. It's usually easier not to change words with antiquated meanings because we have grown up understanding these words for what they are. Steering wheel: erm, well, it's wheel-shaped and it's for steering! Clutch: it's a device that clutches (or grips) the crankshaft and gearbox together to produce drive. Declutching releases the 'clutch' of the, erm, clutch so that the gearbox is not under the load of the engine's power and gears can be changed. Manifold: a complex casting that channels the exhaust output of the engine's exhaust ports from four outputs (in the case of a four cylinder engine) into one so that the outputs are expelled through a single exhaust pipe. Manifold refers to the multiple exhaust ports it connects to. Boot: I don't know this one - perhaps somebody else does? Sunroof: A symptom of our blind optimism that it will allow sun to shine through the roof when opened. Hatchback: well, it's at the back and when opened, reveals an opening a bit like a hatch..

There are certain odd things (some sounds, mostly) that I find so pleasurable that I get a wave of tingly feelings across my scalp and down through my arms and legs. Until now, I thought it was just me but I've discovered that it actually has a name! It's called ASMR, or Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. Examples of things that often set off my ASMR are: Some people's voices, especially quiet voices or whispers. The sound of someone eating certain things, especially apples! Watching people involuntarily moving their lips when reading. Watching people concentrating really hard on solving something like a Rubik's cube or similar puzzle. The pleasure I get from ASMR definitely isn't a gender-related 'turn-on', it's neutral in that sense, and it's relaxing rather than stimulating. A male doing any of these things can trigger my ASMR although I admit that, for me, it's mostly females. Just last week, a woman sat next to me on a busy train. I didn't even glance at her so had no idea what she looked like, how old she was, etc. But she proceeded to eat an apple and it set off my ASMR big-time - for the entire duration, my scalp and arms were tingling like mad! Now that I know this phenomenon has a name, I don't mind admitting to it! But I'm curious to know whether people with AS/ASD generally have the capacity to experience this feeling. After all, many people get it when being softly touched but that's something many of us really dislike.

Trouble sleeping again, darkshine? Me too! Short answers from me: I don't tell people I'm AS unless with good reason. I don't consider that to be a sin on my conscience. I do try to behave like an NT as best I can. Rightly or wrongly, that doesn't prick my conscience. I can't remember the last time I was told a 'serious' secret (e.g. not counting things like surprise parties) so that issue doesn't really arise for me. Empathy is an area of difficulty for me - I'm probably too honest for my own good. Am I capable of lying? Yes, but I typically don't recognise situations when lying would be in the interests of either myself or others. Consequently, I don't think I lie very often and when I do, they're 'white' lies, not big whoppers. One thing you didn't ask is whether you can spot other people's lies. I can't - I take everything that is said to me at face value. This opens me to potential manipulation and abuse, which has happened several times in my past.

[spoiler warning for The Usual Suspects] Do you remember the poster advertising The Usual Suspects? It was a picture of all the gang members lined up in an identity parade. I used to get the tube every day from West Kensington to Liverpool Street and on just about every poster at every station on the way, some joker had used a marker pen to draw a big arrow pointing to Kevin Spacey and the words "IT WAS HIM!!" What a killjoy! Anyway, that was one of my favourite films too. Also Kill Bill (especially Vol 1), any other Tarantino film, most Woody Allen movies, and most of Hitchcock's stuff, Shawshank Redemption, Schindler's List, most Pixar movies, the Bourne trilogy, The Matrix, Groundhog Day, Dumb and Dumber, The Life of Brian. Special plug also for Fanny and Alexander - the unedited version is over five hours long but it's a really lovely movie. .

This is what my kids are listening to!

I told a female friend that I liked her jeans (mainly because they were so tight, they looked painted on) Someone on this very forum told me recently that I was nice looking and "well turned out." She should see me on a bad day!

Me too!

There is a saying that the test of being truly cultured is whether you can listen to the William Tell overture without thinking of the Lone Ranger. I think the test nowadays should be whether you can see The Montagues and Capulets from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, without thinking of The Apprentice! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB3sd2BAxys And just because it's Christmas, let's have Prokofiev's classic seasonal piece. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnT3DxWxeDg