Phaedrus

Another spring-y one: More here.

Gogol Bordello - Think Locally, Fuck Globally http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT0COuplVQ4

This is a good point. Although I don't want to prevent people reaching out for support, I wonder if it might be a good idea to have a separate forum for this kind of thing with somewhat-restricted access (say, members only, or members with some minimum number of posts, or something - just enough to weed out the lurkers and search engine spiders). This is already done in some respects (e.g. you can't start a new reco thread until you've written a few posts), although we obviously wouldn't want to set the bar too high so there'd be a somewhat delicate balancing act here...

I have to say, though... I'm glad you raised the issue and started a thread on it. I may disagree with you about it, but I think it's much better to get these things out in the open and have a sensible discussion about them than to let them fester, or simply have people drift away from the community/family/fellowship/whatever-you-want-to-call it without anyone ever really having much of a clue why they're going. Actually... no. We don't have freedom of speech here - this site is quite heavily moderated, and that's the reason it's the asshole/troll-free zone that it is. Unmoderated boards with complete freedom of speech are available for those that want them; personally I find that they're too infested with crap to be worthwhile. [edit: I should probably add: if you click that link, don't be surprised at *anything* you may find there, from the delightfully cute to the utterly revolting]

Happy Birthday, Rachelle! Have a good one!

That's a relief! My neck was itching the other day for the same reason - glad it's not some new and exotic disease I've contracted :wink:

Lego man is definitely sexier.

Oh, God. NOOOOOO!!!!

Anthrax - Got The Time

Oooooh, heck. This is a tough one. I have no idea whether "new and different" beats "known awesomeness". I think there's something to be said for doing both. And then, of course, that person you've been meaning to see - or meaning to go back to - for a while retires, and suddenly you've missed out. You can't win 'em all :) And tratelle - did you really mean plutonium, or did you mean platinum? 'cos plutonium is probably quite valuable, but it's seriously nasty stuff :)

On the threads about STIs: as I said in the most recent one, I don't think they're a bad thing in principle. They educate people (maybe not those who have seen/heard it all before, but there's always new folks here), and I'm all in favour of that. I also disagree that they cause panics, moral or otherwise; I don't recall seeing any panic-ridden posts, and unfortunately STIs are a reality that we all have to deal with. Sweeping them under the carpet won't change this, and may make things worse. I think pretty much everyone here on CERB is well beyond the "All SPs are disease-ridden vermin" stupidity that we see in some sections of society, and I see no reason to avoid an open and honest discussion about these things. And if inaccurate information gets posted - whether it be scaremongering or overly complacent - I see no reason why it shouldn't be shot down. And yes, it might be a good idea to have a forum specifically for health-related discussions that those who aren't interested/know it all already can ignore. In the short term, I believe anyone who feels that these threads (or any others) should be moved to another forum can flag them for the Mod and suggest this. XXXXXX I don't think that most of the folks here who express sympathy for the misfortunes of others are being insincere, and I'm *sure* that those who do care would prefer not to be tarred with the same brush as those who don't. Maybe I'm just being a little naive here, but much of the sentiment expressed strikes me as genuine, and I don't think it's fair on the majority of people here to characterize them as shallow opportunists. And even if they are - is that a bad thing if it cheers someone up when they need it? I'd argue that it's not. XXXXXX It has been mentioned that other places - such as Chicken Soup for the Cerbites Soul - would be a better place for some of the "I'm having a tough time right now" posts. One issue with this is that it's a group rather than a forum, and groups aren't actually all that easy to find for folks who aren't intimately familiar with the CERB layout. It's been mentioned before that perhaps the main groups page should have a link on the main toolbar (with User CP, Chat Room, et al). I'd be inclined to agree with this, and more generally with the idea of making groups more obvious. XXX-- Finally, as has been suggested already, everyone is entirely at liberty to ignore threads they're not interested in, for whatever reason. And anyone who thinks there are too many threads on one topic, or that the overall tone is too negative, is more than welcome to start more threads on breasticles, kittens, death metal, rainbows, unicorns or whatever other topics they consider more acceptable (or if anyone feels like a challenge, get all those in the same post to kick off the ultimate in awesome threads - bonus points if you do it in verse :) ).

Not really. Many countries just don't have the money, but I think most countries that can afford it understand that society at large has at least some moral obligation to help the most vulnerable. In fact, I can only think of one country (in fact, only really half - politically - of one country) that really espouses the "Stop bothering me and go away and die in a ditch somewhere" philosophy.

Iron Maiden - Fear of the Dark http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMWAsS2xP7E

Woohoo! Congratulations!

More here.

Looks kind of uncomfortable, I'm afraid. I much prefer my own stylish, home-made tin-foil hat :)

Absolutely. And this is why I'm somewhat of a paranoid Luddite on these things... I really don't trust large corporations further than I can spit, and I don't want them to know where I am, or what I'm doing, or how I'm spending my money. And so I don't have a smartphone with funky apps, and I think twice about what I post on Facebook, and I don't use my credit card for absolutely everything. Yes... but it scares the crap out of me at times.

You can always ask the SP when you book. Also, some SPs are smokers themselves... :)

That's covered in the FAQ - and as you said, not allowed.

I have to disagree with you on this one, I'm afraid. If CERB's membership was constant and unchanging, and if we all had perfect memories, then I'd be right with you - but both SPs and hobbyists come and go, and even for those who have been around for a while a reminder of the potential pitfalls isn't necessarily a bad idea. If this thread makes someone, somewhere stop and think a little harder about what they're doing (or not doing), or if someone learns something from it, or if someone decides to go and find out more about something as a result of it, then I think it's been worthwhile. And I won't complain if it comes up again a few months down the road, for the same reasons; we'll have new members by then who won't have seen it before. Those who feel they have nothing further to learn are free to move along.

Oh, yes. I'm well aware of this - have a look at this, for example, in which a German politician's movements were tracked over several months (although I believe it took some legal action to get Deutsche Telekom to release the data). What makes it worse with the iPhone is that it's being sync'd to other devices too - and the more different places information end up in, the harder it is to stop it falling into the wrong hands... Additional Comments: I think it'd just stop the apps getting it. Which may or may not be a problem, depending on which apps you use and what you use them for. Your phone is *always* in contact with the service provider's transmitters, and triangulating between these means they can usually determine your location, although the margin of error may vary from a few miles to quite a lot less. The only way you can prevent this is to turn the phone off entirely. And as Sarcasticsid said, this applies to all phones.

It's the people. The sense of community, the mutual respect, the variety of things that get talked about from the deadly serious to the spectacularly silly... all that comes, in the end, from the people here. It's also worth mentioning that although there's always that one person who might screw things up for everyone else, our mods do a great job of keeping a lid on that sort of thing. Tip 'o the hat to you guys for keeping the undesirable elements out!

This kind of thing really makes me angry. If the guy's considered a serious risk, *why* does someone have to get badly hurt to prove the point? It doesn't sound like he's shown much in the way of remorse, either, which simply increases the risk to those around him. *sigh*...

Wow... much respect to you. Congratulations, and all the best for the road ahead.