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Random Q & A Thread - PART 2

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21:57 / 27.05.04

Question: Do men like being given flowers and if not why not?

Question: Other than Amnesty, is there a charity or a pressure group that is supporting the Laos Hmongs?

Question: If I wanted to go camping in Britain but didn't want to stay in a campsite and preferred to stop at a random wild place of my choice, could I do this and if so, where? Most national parks require that you camp in specific sites don't they?

Is there anywhere in Britain that is fairly out of the way, lovely, and 'free' land?

00:34 / 28.05.04

1. I like getting flowers, although I prefer plants that still have roots attached. If ever there was a time when I didn't like getting flowers, it was because I didn't know where to put them (not even owning a vase, you see, as well as not having a clear table or shelf to house the vase).

2. I think there are Hmong cultural clubs here in the States -- I know there are big populations of Hmong in Minnesota and I think in Dallas. Quick look at Google gives us the Lao Human Rights Council.

3. Can't help you there. Don't you people have Tinkers or Travelers or something roving around and camping on open land?

08:38 / 28.05.04

Olulabelle:

"Do men like being given flowers and if not why not?"

I would bloody love to be given flowers, and I suspect this is true of most of the men I know. Ideally they should be manageable (the flowers, I mean, not the men I know, though that also is desirable) - anything from a single flower to a small bunch that you can hold comfortably with one hand, and preferably of a single variety. NOT one of those huge great forests full of 50 different types of flower that people get when they leave work or win an Oscar.

"If I wanted to go camping in Britain but didn't want to stay in a campsite and preferred to stop at a random wild place of my choice, could I do this and if so, where? Most national parks require that you camp in specific sites don't they? Is there anywhere in Britain that is fairly out of the way, lovely, and 'free' land?"

In some respects public land is probably the most difficult to camp on, as the people in charge of it feel they have a duty to stop anyone using it in certain ways, whereas private landowners can share it however they see fit (up to a point). There must be farmers around who don't mind the odd camper spending a night or two in one of their fields, as long as you ask nicely.

As I understand it, Norway is great for the sort of thing you're talking about, and it is gorgeous in the summer. I'm pretty sure you can go more or less wherever you like so long as it's not within X metres of a private house etc.

grant> yeah, we do have gypsies and travellers but I think they are restricted to use of designated areas, as defined by local councils. Any large group who pitches up on a non-designated site gets served with eviction notices pretty sharpish.

08:42 / 28.05.04

Lula, I love getting flowers too, although, like grant, think plants are better! I vaguely remember a conversation I had about free land in the mountians in Cumbria. I think you are allowed to camp on free land, but free land is so inhospitable generally that you wouldn't want to!

My question: I saw an advert on a bus in Notting Hill this morning. It had a picture of a capsule pill with the word knowledge written on it and then a list of things it cures - HIV and Hopelessness being two of them. I tries to remember the website address but can't recall it. I think it was for an amnestyesque organisation. Anyone have any clues?

23:32 / 31.05.04

QUESTION: Does anyone know where one can get married by an Elvis impersonator in the northeastern US? I'm not really keen to fly the whole family out to Vegas.

23:48 / 31.05.04

Are you really getting married? And by Elvis? That ROCKS. Congratulations Sally!

Hurrah.

I think you may find you have to go to Vegas though.

***

Thanks for all the flowers info, and I am sad no-one has a cunning secret wilderness place for me to camp.

New Question

Please may someone talk me through the whole effect/affect thing? When is it effect? And when is it affect? I find not knowing this affects me greatly since I can never be sure I am using either of the words for the greatest effect.

.

09:23 / 01.06.04

Affect/ effect, from The Guardian Style Guide:

"exhortations in the style guide had no effect (noun) on the number of mistakes;

the level of mistakes was not affected (verb) by exhortations in the style guide"

Guardian Style Guide

From The Times Style Guide

"as a verb, to affect means to produce an effect on, to touch the feelings of, or to pretend to have or feel (as in affectation); to effect is to bring about, to accomplish. If in doubt, always consult the dictionary"

Times Style Guide

Q) So talking of style guides, can anyone point me in the direction of some other authoritative UK English style guides? I've got the Times, Guardian and BBC News ones so far... Thanks!

.

09:27 / 01.06.04

Neither of those were very clear, were they? So to recap:

You affect something, which produces an effect. If an effect was produced, then you affected it.

I think that's right anyhow. If a more hardcore grammarian wants to correct me, please do.

10:40 / 01.06.04

If an effect was produced, then you affected it.

Well, you might have effected it – if you brought it about rather than merely influenced it.

18:35 / 01.06.04

And if you act as though you effected something you didn't, that might make you affected.

01:35 / 02.06.04

how can i find out how many police officers there are in the city of chicago? *swivels head toward internet-master grant*

Less searchable M0rd4nt

09:13 / 02.06.04

We're on page six now and I still can't get internet on my Linuxified laptop. Which is irksome.

That´s not my question tho'. My question is about Flash.

I am trying to make a Flash animation where little eyes bob about in front of a garden backround. I have got pictures of eyes on my hard drive. However, when I try to import the picture of an eye into Flash, it comes in a rectangle of white background that I can't get rid of. I've tried every bloody tool in the toolbox and I cannot seem to seperate the eye from its rectangle.

I do not want the rectangle of white background. I just want the eye. Do you hear me, you obnoxious piece of software? Just. The. Eye. JUST THE EYE!

ONLY NICE THINGS

09:23 / 02.06.04

Hoom - is the image a JPG, by any chance? It sounds like you need to make it a GIF with a transparent background... using Photoshop, maybe?

Less searchable M0rd4nt

09:40 / 02.06.04

Yeah, it is a JPEG, so that'd probably work.

Except I don't have photoshop. *weeps with frustration*

ONLY NICE THINGS

11:27 / 02.06.04

Download a 30-day trial? email it to me? Short-term solutions both, I realise...

Alternatively, our next question is does anyone know a good free image editing site that allows you to turn JPEGs into GIFs and remove the background?

12:17 / 02.06.04

Praying Mantis, you could always go to the website of the City of the Chicago Police Department and download their 2002 Annual Report, or look at the statistics page.

12:54 / 02.06.04

Ref: Elvis impersonators.

I bet Memphis probably has a few, and it's a lot closer than Vegas, AND you could swing by Graceland.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

13:34 / 02.06.04

Werl, I do have the GIMP over on the Linux box, so all may yet be well. I'm sure that it will allow me to make transparent GIFs.

17:32 / 02.06.04

Sally Dammerung: QUESTION: Does anyone know where one can get married by an Elvis impersonator in the northeastern US? I'm not really keen to fly the whole family out to Vegas.

Best solution: get a willing friend (you're involved in theater, aren't you?) to get ordained by the Universal Life Church and do the ceremony for you.

I'd do it, but I don't think I'd make a good Elvis (except for the sideburns), and my life is all baby, baby, baby now.

------
praying mantis: Grey Area covered my back on that one already.

19:04 / 02.06.04

Mordant - have you tried Modify - Trace Bitmap. This converts raster images to vectors so the white background becomes a separate object that you can select and delete.

10:52 / 07.06.04

Where do the terms "right wing" and "left wing" (describing political inclination not bird limbs) come from?

its not for a project or nuffin, just a random bus thought

pointless and uncalled for

12:37 / 07.06.04

The Houses of Parliament, like many old buildings are divided into wings.

I can now see the lightbulb illuminating above your head.

12:46 / 07.06.04

But surely the wings are for the Commons and the Lords respectively? It would make more sense for it to refer to the sides of the Commons, though that would presuppose that the right- and left-wing parties always stayed in the same places, which seems implausible given that administrations change...

12:47 / 07.06.04

This seems to be the most widely-accepted derivation.

pointless and uncalled for

13:07 / 07.06.04

Wings of the Commons and Wings of the Lords.

I wasn't aware of the origin of the wing system but certainly understood that it is a convention (left and right being neatly arbitrary in this instance).

I ws just too lazy to answer properly.

.

13:08 / 07.06.04

Can anyone find me the website for Mother, the london ad agency (assuming they have one)... Google-fu has failed me.

18:15 / 07.06.04

Is there anywhere in Britain that is fairly out of the way, lovely, and 'free' land?

I think that Scotland is generally quite tolerant of free camping, but I can't be more specific than that - certainly, some of my friends have free camped here, without any trouble, and there's a lot of wide open space that doesn't seem to belong to anyone (and is gorgeous).

., I used to swear by the Economist Style Guide if you're still looking!

.

14:09 / 09.06.04

I will love forever anyone who can tell me where I can buy a large poster version of this (or any) 'holtzbrinck web map'

http://www.aalab.net/projects/maps/images/dyndiaholtzbig.gif

as also featured in the book 'Mapping web sites' by Paul Kahn and Krzysztof Lenk

14:16 / 09.06.04

Not quite the same thing but there's something similar on thinkgeek.com, not what your asking for but you might like it anyway?

11:18 / 10.06.04

The one man band

Was it an international phenomenon, or limited to Britain? I'm talking about the geezers with cymbals between their knees and a big bass drum on their back. Was it even common in Britain? (For all I know there might only ever have been one or two).

Fetish clothing and BDSM as a scene - the history

What's the earliest example of fetish wear? And when did rubber start being worn for fetish rather than practical purposes? When did BDSM become a 'scene', or a market for mags etc. I have a vague notion the rubber outfit business started in the late 50s some time, and the bondage business earlier, but I'm sure I'm entirely wrong.

11:35 / 10.06.04

.: Mother (or Mother Ltd., as it's sometimes referred to) doesn't seem to have a web-presence. You could always try calling them to make sure: 020 7689 0689. Or send an e-mail to their general info address: mother@mother.ltd.uk (and no, there's no website under that url). Seems a bit weird for a company like that not to have a website.

13:45 / 10.06.04

The one man band

Was it an international phenomenon, or limited to Britain? I'm talking about the geezers with cymbals between their knees and a big bass drum on their back. Was it even common in Britain? (For all I know there might only ever have been one or two).

I've seen one at Malory Square docks in Key West (I blv he was American) and I *think* in New Orleans, although maybe not. Actually, no, it was just in Key West. This is not all that conclusive, though, since buskers & street entertainers from all over the world do the do there.

13:52 / 10.06.04

Grey Area: .: Mother (or Mother Ltd., as it's sometimes referred to) doesn't seem to have a web-presence. You could always try calling them to make sure: 020 7689 0689. Or send an e-mail to their general info address: mother@mother.ltd.uk (and no, there's no website under that url).

I used that address as a search term in Google and, indirectly, found this homepage for Mother, at http://www.motherlondon.com.

It's not terribly useful, but there it is. Had to show off a little.

.

15:55 / 10.06.04

Well, thanks for finding that site grant, I knew that had to be one... Shame it's so BLOODY USELESS!

Thanks also to Vincennes for the Economist Style Guide (too many hours spent reading style guides now - it's addictive!) and Bear for the lovely Thinkgeek.com

By the way, I answered my own question earlier about the missing record shop in Fulham - I ventured out there the other day, and it's now an estate agent. A sad day for vinyl, but a mystery solved

22:10 / 10.06.04

Vincennes, thanks for that. Scotland is a little far away from me for a sudden camping urge but it's still good to know for longer term holiday type things. I guess I am going to have to resort to lurking on camping websites, which is a slightly scary prospect only akin to lurking on rambler sites.

Question: In Spain there is a town called Olula Del Rio. But I've looked up 'Olula' and it doesn't appear to mean anything specific in Spanish. Am I wrong, and does it actually mean something? Like 'Stupid Fuckwit' maybe?

BTW, I send everyone who answered my flowers question virtual bunches/growing baskets depending on the preference specified.

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