AsD

Got it too, obviously spam, what a sad little soul

I think the UK are, perhaps, concerned about Vista: UK holds Microsoft security talks Seems Microsoft probably told 'em to take a run and jump After the British government putting through all the new laws, and allowing different types of evidence in court, the prosecution attempts might be hampered by encryption. Government's ultimate goal is, supposedly, the protection of its citizens but IMO this is going too far. Yes we do need to a certain amount of 'protection', in order for a society to function, but this should not encroach upon one's right for privacy and freedoms.

It's a very complex issue Roco. One aspect of human nature is an inability to be fully satisfied, this is an aspect of humans which enable us to advance and innovate. Unfortunately if this is not channelled in a positive direction the outcome, in this instance, is crime. In part there has been a failure of both the individual and society to provide opportunitites for those who only see crime as an option. Other aspects are peer pressure and greed, and unfortunately modern societies are based upon capitalism, which is ultimately centred on greed - or the desire for materialistic possesion. Western societies are supposed to offer liberated freedom, while ensuring we can live with each other in a tolerant manner. However when this breaks down, problems occur, crime being one of them. I must admit that many citizens do not wish to live by the rules that government stipulates, or indeed the morals that are intrinsic in our societies. This can manifest itself in 'petty' crime, or organised crime which both erase our feeling of safety. Usually the feeling of safety, of being restricted by the fear of crime, is more powerful than crime itself. If we are to believe the statistics crime, in general, has not increased dramatically, but the fear of crime certainly seems to have. Is the answer more control, increasing cameras, restricted anonimity and personal rights, IMO no. The danger is too much control, negative things happen in life, and although one can do alot to avoid these instances, you cannot completley avoid them. The danger of control is an increase in paranoia, which the media love, as it sells them papers and makes us watch the news (and the adverts), making money for these organisations. I think a pragmatic view is to find a balance between freedom for the indicidual, and control by the state, while offering opportunities for those who feel (or are) disadvantaged within society. How this is done is another question, which academics, 'specialists' and the government have yet to answer. Ultimately humans are imperfect, as is nature, and the negative aspects of society will always be with us even with complete control. This imperfection is what makes the world such an amazing vibrant place, and without it the world would loose, however imperfection and individuality brings both positive and negative.

It's the park bench you wake up on after the whiskey that's the b*****d

Don't forget the eye and breathing holes, plus a pen to draw a face on 'em. Plus the cheap bottle of whiskey that came with the paper bags, to drink after the heated moment

Lmao, can just see the riots now, zimmers verses hoodies - could be great TV

Looking at that story I think George Orwell knew something for sure !! Best bit is the anonymous e-mail to 'shop' law-breakers, beware Big Brother is watching Wonder what the legal issues are with this type of broadcast, especially for minors

I use two programs which remove the digital rights that wma keeps, whilst ensuring very good quality IMO. The first converts to WMA or Audio Zip and is called CDex Version 1.51 available for free from link The second converts from WMA to mp3 format it is called WinLAME from the help file: winLAME is an encoder for several audio formats, including mp3 (MPEG Layer 3), Ogg Vorbis and more. winLAME lets you set up the encoding process with an easy-to-use wizard-style user interface. winLAME supports many input audio formats, and uses the LAME mp3 encoding library for encoding and the MAD decoding library for decoding. winLAME is distributed and licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). also free from this link Although this is a two step process I find the winLAME conversion the best quality, and the added clicks are worth it in the end.

Hose-pipe ban here, so no watering allowed. Seems old Britania is running out of water too.

I think the problem resides with the realtively short amount of time science has been 'studying' the earth. The computer simulations they use are generally flawed, and therefore their theories are usually unsound. In addition scientist propose theories, and that is all they are, in the hope this will create additional research - whilst justifying the commercial sponsorship of their own studies. It is now thought that more mature trees use up oxygen link. However this does not take into account the many vines, fungi etc that live off them. I think it will take mankind many thousands of years to fully understand the ecology of earth, and I just hope we don't destroy it before we have.

Got it installed on my Pc mainly use it for DVD's it is very good. Uninstalled Realplayer - too many privacy issues and ads. Got a P4 Dell (or Hell) with 2G ram as well as this celeron so il give it a go

Cheers for the welcome

looks like its WinAmp for me, can run G-Force visualisation, looks very smooth, and sounds great to boot Thanks again for all your ideas everyone

Thanks for the info everyone, Il give them all a try. I forgot to mention I use the G-Force visualisation, so Il have to check compatibility, but thanks again

Just wanted a few opinions on Media/Audio players, I don't like Windows Media Player and have tried a couple of alternatives - WinAmp and Jet Audio but find there are some bugs in them. So are there any others that the community would recommend? Bein a bit lazy i guess, but the suns out so I dont have time for searching and testing