Gordie

Click here first (you can access that via "My Controls", then "View Topics" on the left - unsubscribe to anything you don't want to be subscribed to. Then do the same here ("My Controls" -> "View Forums"). James

I'd be inclined to agree with microsoft_admin about this actually. Unfortunately, if he's right, there's not much you can do to resolve the problem, except to be patient! (But clearing out spyware and viruses is always a good move anyway. ) I think Spybot sets restore points automatically actually. James

Here's the web site of the company that makes the forum software used here ... http://www.invisionpower.com/ip.dynamic/pr...oard/index.html James

Can't really help you, except to say that I'm sure there's a Microsoft headquarters in the UK too. In fact a look at the "Contact Us" page on Microsoft's UK web site will tell you all you need to know ... http://www.microsoft.com/uk/contactus/phone/default.mspx James

It is? How come no-one's ever told me then? It's never done me any harm. James

You're right, Paula. "Slim" does not automatically equate to "beautiful". Actually ... slim ≠ beautiful. The classic example of this, if you ask me, is Geri Halliwell (ex-Ginger Spice). But at least she had the sense to see the error of her ways when she became stick-thin and ugly, by putting the weight back on again. She has beautiful curves, which had disappeared along with the weight. Doesn't look like she did get it all off her chest, judging by her later posts! No, you're right, Paula ... well I think you're right anyway. Yeah - I quite fancy Pete Burns actually ... and I'm a heterosexual male! (Blimey - how off-topic has this got now?!?! ) James

I think lindy-lou just underlined the title of the article in her original post, rather than making it into a link ... especially as I can't find a link to the article on the News of the World web site. Hilarious post, baddad!! Yeah - she's mingin' these days ... she used to look great in her TV-am weather girl and early-Gladiators days - I really fancied her then. But now ... no, thanks. James

A close and long-time on-line friend of mine has a brother who is regularly in touch with, and is friends with, the Jackson family, especially Jacqui. My friend occasionally passes on updates to me on how they're doing, but I doubt they're for public consumption, so I'm afraid I won't be passing on any news I get. James

My goodness! ITV doing something socially responsible and useful, for once! Shame about the other 99% of their programming. James

Hmmm ... this is very impersonal. I think there should be a new thread for every single one of them, so that they feel more special. Nah - happy birthday, guys! James

(Sorry - just wanted to post that really. ) James

Yeah - you've made 80 more posts than me, and you only joined the site last August! I've been here since September 2003 (albeit with big gaps of many months between visits during that time)! James

What's the point in the Calendar feature of this forum (apart from birthdays), when no-one is able to make proper use of it without having to nudge an admin or moderator first every time they make a new entry or edit an existing one? I find it very frustrating to make entries on there, for the benefit of the forum as a whole (because forthcoming events appear on the main index page of the forum), only to come back days later and find they still haven't appeared on the Calendar. And when writing entries for the Calendar, we get no feedback as to what has happened to the entry either - it just doesn't appear. It would be nice for the system to come back and tell us that the entry requires moderator approval before it will appear, but we get nothing. And it seems the system doesn't even tell anyone that their approval is required for an entry either. Moderator approval is fine, as long as the moderators bother to check the Calendar for new or edited entries on there. At present, this is not happening. I have to PM an admin/moderator to get their attention every time I write a new entry on the Calendar, or edit an existing one. Although, to be honest, I don't really see why moderator approval is even necessary here. We're generally a decent bunch of people, so why would any of us enter anything inappropriate on the Calendar? And even if someone did, retrospective moderation would be sufficient, I think, as with any other forum post here, by deleting the relevant entry once it had been discovered. So ... what gives? James

Thanks for enlightening me, Tally. James

Good question! James

To find out the outcome of my driving test, please see my new post here ... James

To find out the outcome of my driving test, please see my new post here ... James

It's ... !! Woo-hoo! Don't ask me how I blagged that outcome though! Despite only getting an amazing 4 minor faults (out of 15 allowed), 2 being driving faults, and the other 2 on manoeuvres (1 for the reverse park and 1 for the turn in the road), I thought I'd done worse today than I did last time! Must've had a nicer examiner yesterday, I guess. I was genuinely stunned though when he told me I'd passed! I thought I'd messed it up right at the start, having needed about 2? attempts to get the reverse (parallel) park right. I just got the one minor fault for that though. But thinking I'd failed already, that fortunately relaxed me for the remainder of the test. Not so much that I started becoming careless, but enough to stop me my ###### left leg from shaking on the clutch pedal. It was so obvious, my examiner had to tell me to relax, as it was messing with my clutch control! Perhaps if he didn't also start chatting to me about my work life about halfway through the test, in a built-up town centre environment, I'd have been a little more chilled-out ... that really isn't good for the concentration! I suppose he was just trying to test me out a bit more, knowing I was doing well, and on course for a pass. But of course I didn't know that at the time! The crucial thing this time was getting no major faults, which are instant fails. Last time, my one major fault was just a silly mistake, and without that I'd have passed with 11 minors. So I knew I could do it if I could hold myself together. Thanks to everyone else for their best wishes and positive thoughts, which led to it stopping raining and getting marginally brighter by test time, compared to the miserable morning conditions! I have permission from my best-friend-######-instructor to post a link here to her LiveJournal, so you can read her thoughts on the day. You can find the journal here - look for the entry dated/timed: Thursday, January 19th, 2006, at 7:51am ... or click here for a direct link to that specific entry. Calm? Relaxed? Wish you could've told my left leg that during the reverse park. You probably meant my examiner, rather than my instructor ... and besides, I've imagined my instructor in the nude ... actually I won't go there! Glad I could be of assistance to you. That's exactly what I did actually! We got stuck in a traffic jam on what is normally a fast section of road (60 mph limit) shortly before my test was due to start, so we had to do a dramatic U-turn and go back the way I came, to make sure we arrived at the test centre on-time. But to make 100% certain of that, I had permission from my instructor to break a few 30 mph speed limits, so I went 35 mph or even 40 mph in places! Also, at roundabouts, coz I was feeling rather rushed, I was naughty, and twice failed to give way adequately to traffic on my right! I was baaaaaaaaad! At least I didn't hit anyone though, and thankfully got all of that out of my system early enough! Yeah - maybe that's what happened to me on my first attempt. I wasn't afraid at all. (See below!) But thanks for the hugs anyway. <'> Well remembered - I'm glad someone noticed the small print in my Calendar entry! I stayed overnight with my best-friend-######-instructor and her family last night, so while I was on-line at her house, I didn't fancy delving in here for too long, preferring to enjoy her company instead. I got back home this afternoon. James

It's 9pm. (And I think you meant "heads-up", not "thumbs-up". ) James

I'll whack it on the Calendar, and link back to this post from there ... James

Yes, but only for an hour. That list at the top of the index page only shows users that have been active on the site at some point in the last 60 minutes. James

I don't think it had been "moved" as such (using the strict forum terminology jargon, where a moved topic is one that has been moved by an admin or a moderator to a different forum, because the post had an inappropriate topic for the forum where it was originally posted). I think it's more likely it had been "bumped" to the top of the forum, either by an admin, a moderator or the person who started the thread, lisa (using the "Bump this topic" function from the "Options" menu at the top of the thread), or that a new vote had been cast in the poll - I think that automatically bumps the topic back to the top as well. I could be wrong though! But what I wanna know is why there's a special symbol (shown at the bottom of each forum) for a "Moved Topic", and while topics here have been moved before, the symbol has never appeared alongside any of these moved topics. James

I may have confused you all with my comment. I was referring to what the "idiotic passerby" did, not what Tylers-mum did. James

She's probably not even a parent, let alone a parent of an autistic child. It sounds like the sort of thing I'd be tempted to do, but wouldn't actually do (coz I'm an Aspie, and we just don't do stuff like that! ). James

I voted "Yes", coz I'm on anti-depressants (have been for about 7 years now), and I am the person with A.S.! James