Thanks, is that pay in advance or just turn up?
Any other suggestions?

very good! Getting better with each episode.

I see a return to fast skinny bikes, Like a sort of Phat Cyclocross.
Small amount of suspension, with zero pivots, Adaptive front fork, internal gear box in BB.
Narrow bars and tyres of approx 1.8.
For many peoples riding a phat cyclocross would be better and faster that the 6 inch travel AM bike that they ride the gently undulating trails on.

Good work…well done!

Does that mean you earn about, ooh, £74,800, then?

Heavens, no!

😉

Yes I am serious – it was one of the key foundation stones of the welfare state post-Second World War.

Its not unreasonable for a taxpayer putting £15000 plus into the state coffers to expect some financial help tax wise when raising kids. Child benefit gives a little back to those who are raising the next generation.

Worth noting how much of the tax collected by PAYE comes from a small number of individuals.
On £50k a year you pay nearly 15k in tax!

Do you think that’s a lot or a little?

15k is a third of the salary, so I would say thats quite a lot.

Still think child benefit should be universal as its a real help to many families even on top 25% salaries. However I would support a small increase on income tax for those earning over say £75k to make the child benefit self funding.

Its in societies interests to have well brought up next generation. And for singletons bleating about paying for others rugrats to be raised then just ask “who paid for the CB your parents recieved?”

It should stay a universal benefit.

It may have been mentioned, but given that high earners are paying ( in principle) much more tax than others, it seems no big issue that they get some back, the same as everyone else

+1

Interesting reading here on how tax is split by income level:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/tax-statistics/liabilities.pdf

(OK I lied about it being interesting).

Worth noting how much of the tax collected by PAYE comes from a small number of individuals.
On £50k a year you pay nearly 15k in tax! So really letting people on these kind of salaries keep child benefit is just a small rebate to reflect the fact they are raising a family. They are still MASSIVE net contributors tomthe tax system. For some this equates to a 5% cut in houshold income…not chickenfeed.

I am sure that everyone affected will manage. Am also sure it will give an interesting bite in the backside to the Tories come 2015.

This cack handed policy is crap for working families.
How can it be fair to give someone on 50-60k an effective tax rate of 65%?

The Government say that the top 15% should pay more into the pot.
I agree with this, however this policy only affects the 15% with kids!

Why not keep the benefit as universal and add a smidge to income tax for all over 50k or somthing to make sure that all high earners pay a bit more into the pot, and not just rob £2500 from those trying to raise a family.

Do not use meths, it has stuff added to it.

will probably switch to sky next. Plusnet is ok, but the router is poor.

Best wheels I have are from Merlin (have 4 sets in active service, all straight).
I would always prefer them to factory wheels due to service ease and spares availability.

Stif in Leeds always built good wheels too, but its ages since I last had some from there.

So have a look at the Merlin website and see what they have on offer.

Wall:E is mostly perfect, but has a couple of flat moments.

The Matrix doesn’t waste a moment of screen time.

Aliens is perfect as its the most pristine example of Sci-Fi action horror and defines the genre.

Stardust is perfect: Great cast playing engaging characters, witty and clever plot. Its the perfect fairytale film, like a Terry Gilliam film but without the flaws. Plus the Robert De Niro pirate is an inspired performance!

SQUIRREL!

Very moving, and with the best dog ever.

Try this if you really want to upset the cat:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Kslv7l75jQ&sns=em

Happy New Year all.

That means that 1:33 bikers you meet will be on this forum…crikes thats a lot!

Whats the source for this info?

Other than the weather, cant really complain about 2012.
Work dead busy in a good way.
Family OK with kids blossoming at school.
No health problems with nearest and dearest.

Worst is probably self inflicted lack of effort to get out cycling, still think of myself as a cyclist, but time on the bike has been sporadic at best this year. Can blame combination of weather, work/college/kids, but the really reason is not siezing those 3-4 hours slots that we all have if we grab them.

Definately. Gotten portley this year. Back into cycling rather than typing in 2013.

Actually let me guess…The Palace by any chance?

Which pub?
Did you get caught in the 2pm deluge?

Grantway: not the worlds best pictures. Fuzzy and low resolution. The double socket and mixer tap on the second pic show it worst for me.

OP: No need for full frame for most photographers. I wanted one a few years ago (still using a D80 currently). I shoot a lot of stage performances and wanted full frame for the extra ISO reach it offers. However, with current sensors offering very high ISO at DX frame size then I think my next camera will be a DX rather than FX frame size. The loss of zoom reach on FX is high (unless you use in cropped mode).

Any SLR will be a massive leap up from a point and shoot. Handle a few and see what feels right for you. I much preffered the feel of Nikons when I was shopping. Now that I have >£1000 of wireless flashes and lenses, I am certain my next body will be a Nikon too.

It’s created by the BBC. It was always going to be crap.

Will have to disagree, BBC does some of the finest TV going. Compared with ITV or pretty much any foreign tv organisation they stand head and shoulders above a sea of dross. (OK maybe HBO in the states is a bit good for dramas etc).

liked the sontaran banter, and the “its smaller on the outside” comment.

Plodding boring episode, hardly up to epic xmas expectations.
New companion went some way to improve it.

dropbox:
http://db.tt/Nyyb75g

Cant live without it!

WeatherproHD

PlanefinderHD is cool!

Iplayer obviously

Tunein radio

Loads more!

Emirates business lounge in Manchester is a brilliant place to be.
However the return lounge in Dubai served the most inedible food I have had in a long long time.

The inflight business class food is also very nice, but so it should be for the cost of the flight!

Nope. Got “No Easy Day” instead.

You won’t holiday there because you perceive yourself in having higher morals but probably consume cheap goods made elsewhere by child labour or by exploited workers. You buy them because they are cheap. You consume petrol and oil based products which perpetuate the disparity and support oppressive regimes.

Same applies if you holiday in Devon and buy your wetsuits from the local Tesco.

Not everwhere has the same social standards as the EU.
Thats why I prefer to buy from the EU when I can. However, standards will only be raised in developing countries IF we in the west trade with them and only trade with the top 25% of ethical companies in each country, that way we engourage a race to the top. This is up to businesses to drive as much as it is up to consumers.

As for Dubai, yes its very fake and against nature, but its bloomin impressive what a huge amount of ill spent oil billions can achieve!

Happy Christmas all!

Orange clockwork 1991
Rocklobster Ti 2002
Stumpy fsr 2005
Planet x sportive 2008
On one 29er 2010

Plus the family bikes!

As a car driver who pays taxes to cover the crazilly expensive PRIVATE train companies, I take it as my liberty to only pay when asked to.

Also consider splitting the label into two smaller, self adhesive labels.
That way you could have a full colour pretty label on the front and a plainer (maybe screen printed or letterpress?) label with the statutory weights and regs info on the rear.
This would be cheaper than one HUGE. full colour label, and could look just as good or better.

For modest volumes you would be better off getting them printed digitally.
Flexo and. litho are only suited to longer print runs and have set up costs that are comparatively high for a full colour job like yours.
My day job is a packaging buyer.

I can heartily recommend a company called Source Labels in the UK. I use them for small run (few thousand) label work. Would normally suppy artwork as high quality pdf or Illustrator file.

Have. D80 currently and have had 5 happy years with it. If I was replacing tomorrow it would be the D7000.
Nikon CLS is brilliant.

Sleeples in Seatle. What is this love thing of which they speak?

Have both. PS3 is much better experience.

Opened as soon as kids wake up.
They do their stocking first, then downstairs for the main presents.
The result is kids are entertained all day and parents can get on with cooking and lounging.

No wonder religion is on the decline….some of the responses on here are surely designed to make kids hate sitting in a church.