GrahamS yeah but we didn’t want to get into the full carbon cost of producing, transporting, preparing, cooking and eating cycling fuel (food / beer).

I guess if I ran on locally produced bitter rather than imported lager I’d be greener?

VED rates are now based on carbon dioxide output so I recently worked out the total CO2 output of cycling with a mate (biomedical scientist).

We worked out that your average person (average on the basis of weight and fitness as it relates to efficiency of muscles converting the food into energy) puts out between 1.5 and 3.0 grams of Carbon per Kilometer.

Compare that with the most efficient car on the road today which puts out 98g/km carbon.

Anything below 100g/km has a VED of £0!

So why not let cyclists pay Vehicle Excise Duty – I’d happily pay my £0 per year per bike!

;o)

Most of my points have already been raised but…

Additional things when you get the basics smooth as butter (which I assume is what STW tech minions are up to at the moment)
[*]Preview of posts[/*]
[*]Loose the page divisions – just one long thread as before please.[/*]
[*]Tabs for each of the forums (although it looks like you’re almost there with this so I guess its on the list)[/*]
[*]A search function – I’m really missing this at the moment[/*]
[*]A new name for “off topic” as previously suggested – I’d like to suggest “heresy forum” on the basis its not bike stuff and this is a bike forum therefore its heresy. Alternatively the Sofa forum – you know like flopping into a nice soft leather sofa with a beer and talking b*llcks with your mates.[/*]
[*]Change the colour scheme a little – the text area looks a bit pale and limp[/*]
[*]A way to turn off the video advert on the RHS of the screen – its too attention grabbing – great in an advert but not so great if its your boss or work colleagues who’s attention it’s constantly grabbing (highlighting to them the fact that I spend far too much time “just checking” whats on STW)[/*]

These are all minor points really and STW tech minions have done a stunning job so far getting it all back up – must have been a bit of an onerous task to rewrite the whole site from scratch whilst beating off the t*ssers who hacked it originally with a virtual stick.

Well done STW.

Offroading,

I agree the qassam and grad-type rockets aimed at civilians are also a disgusting act. However, whilst hamas are a terrorist militia, The Israeli Army and airforce are supposed to be bound to a higher standard – that of the Geneva Convention on the Conduct of War.

Its expressly against that convention to target civilian infrastructure of a people. Schools, Hospitals, Mosques and Police Stations are NOT legitimate targets in ANY war.

Hamas are also wrong to target civilians, however, when they target military personel this is (whilst not helpful to the “peace process”) acceptable as international law recognises the right of a people to physically oppose an occuping or invading force through combat, sabortage and disruption (providing that they don’t target civilians).

Is anyone else mildly disapointed that no-ones tried to shoot the current “peace envoy” yet?

Given his record re: afghanistan and Iraq I was sure that he’d be dodging bullets as soon as he got their.

Not that I’m suggesting that it would be good if he was shot…..

….. he should be hung like the traitor to his country he is!

;o)

The Israeli government’s politics and security cabinet are a bunch of genocidal bastards who are committing war crimes and should be indicted before the ICC in the Hague along with Shimon Perez.

The Israeli people should be ashamed of their government and what it is doing in their name in order to get elected (anyone who doesn’t realise this is an election campaign for dominance in the Knesset, not a security campaign is very naieve indeed).

But the problem is that anyone who criticises the actions of Israel is branded an anti-semitic, as for most people Isreali = Jewish (obviously ignoring the people of Israeli nationality who are muslim, christian and even Seikh!).

Yeah OK, Hamas include a nasty bunch of Iran supported murders, but they also provide health care, education and were democratically elected – you can’t demand free and fair elections then demand that the people pick someone else if you don’t like the result! Especially after your illegal occupation of thier land and your oppression of their people destroys the moderate views giving Hamas a huge popularity.

But of course nothing but the diplomatic equivalent of tutting gently will happen, America won’t let the international community actually DO anything as that would undermine the “Iran/Muslim evil, Isreal good” subtle dialetic that the US pedal.

The UN and the USA should get off their pathetic asses and instead of wringing thier hands whimpering “oh but its all such a mess” they should send in Peacekeepers to establish proper border patrols, eleiminate rocket attacks from Hamas and helicopter gunship attacks from Isreal, open the ports etc. so Palestinians have some hope of a livelihood and maybe get some f*cking PEACE!
I’d support that much more than some oil grabbing war in Iraq on the basis it might make the world safer.

Grrrr…. rant over.

I’m spartacus! er…. oh sorry too much xmas film re-runs!

No I just dropped the “The” from “The Badger”

dobo – yeah I’ve got a flickr account but some of the work images aren’t suitable for public consumption (Forensic Archaeology and Anthropology, plane crash sites, degradation profiles of human remains etc).

Thanks

I thought Elements was just a slimmed down version of photoshop CS3 (which I have).
Didn’t know it also worked as an archival tool – OK I’ll have a look see.

Any other ideas?

Thanks