Not Rich Enough Yet, Mr Gates?

Microsoft have managed to come up with yet another way to make me dislike them. Starting from next year, for "security" reasons, Hotmail users will not be able to use MS Outlook/Outlook Express to read their accounts.

I use this handy facility quite a bit and will miss it. Apparently it will be possible to continue doing this, at a cost of $20/year, but I'm not prepared to pay for what's currently free. In any case, if there are security issues, surely they exist whether or not you hand over 20 bucks?

Blair's Bobbies

We have the unedifying spectacle next week of the Labour Party Conference just down the road in Brighton, my former home town. In these post 9/11 days, not to mention the fact that our Tone and his cohorts aren't over popular, I suppose that there will be a massive police presence around the venue.

The thing is, who's actually going to end out paying for all the extra rozzers? I've a nasty feeling that, courtesy of next year's council tax, it'll be me and my fellow Sussex residents. Oh deep joy...

For Fox Sake!

As the aftermath of the decision to ban hunting rumbles on, here's a little more fuel for the fire.

1. We often hear that foxes are pests and need to be controlled. Well, exactly how efficient a method of control is hunting them? In any case, the fox itself performs a pest control function in that they help keep numbers of rabbits and rats down.

2. If fox numbers need to be kept down, why was there a story in the Guardian a couple of years ago to the effect that some hunts were actually starting to breed foxes?

That's That Then , M'Luds

Despite the earlier disruptions, the House of Commons has voted BY A 2:1 MAJORITY in favour of banning hunting with dogs. That's a fairly clear-cut result by my reckoning and I trust that the peers will be mindful of this when the House of Lords debates this proposed legislation. Let's not forget that this was a manifesto commitment seven years ago...it's time that it was enacted.

Tally Ho

As a long overdue hunting ban is debated in the House of Commons, I'm pleased to see that the pro-hunt mob is so sure of their case that they haven't felt the need to resort to stunts to get their message across...

Now that MPs have seen their own safety threatened, what's the betting that we'll see a rather more serious security review than was the case a couple of days ago after "Batman" invaded Buckingham Palace.

Summer's Over Then...

Well, it looks like the summer's well and truly over. Before going to work this morning I took my old mutt around the block for his pre-breakfast constitutional and neither of us were pleased to find that it wasn't really light, the wind was howling and the rain lashing down.

Actually, I rather envied the dog. Once we'd got back and he'd had breakfast, he went to the back door, stuck his head outside...and promptly turned around and padded off to my bedroom, wherein he laid down and dozed off. I'd not have minded following his example...

Watcher of the Skies

Poor old NASA - the beleaguered American space agency has not had a good time of things lately. It's still working to restore the space shuttle to flight, last week the monstrous Vertical Assembly Building suffered structural damage from Hurricane Frances and yesterday the Genesis probe crashed. This mission was returning to earth with a cargo of particles from the solar wind for study, but the craft's parachutes failed and it crashed into the Utah desert.

Things may not be about to improve. Hurricane Ivan is currently moving through the Caribbean and has just been upgraded to Category 5 - which is as big as hurricanes get. Next week it's likely to hit Florida...

The Outlook's Clear

Last month, I posted a couple of times about my experiments with SuSE Linux. I'm still using it a fair bit, but there remains one Microsoft program which I use every day, namely Outlook, which I miss.

Until now...

I've installed and begun to use Ximian Evolution. This is a pleasure to use. It's very similar to Outlook in terms of look and function, but unlike the MS offering, it's not an efficient form of virus transmission!

A Microsoft-free desktop PC looks more and more achievable!

Your Clock's About Three Months Fast..

This lunchtime I had to pop along to my local Co-op to do a little grocery shopping...lucky me! Whilst I waited for the glacial-paced till technician to get round to serving me, I looked around the emporium and my eyes alighted upon... a pile of selection boxes emblazoned with Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer...IN SEPTEMBER!!

As far as I'm aware, September had only just started today and it's still officially summer, so I'd rather not be reminded about Christmas just yet.