Peckris

It's actually politicians perpetuating the status quo through a combination of inertia and vested interests. The classic example of this is the land tax issue which has been kicked around for more than a century. More than one analyst has calculated that if land was valued and taxed according to (1) its location and therefore the services invested in it (the City of Westminster being the ultimate example) and (2) its yield towards the 'common good', no-one would have to pay income tax or National Insurance (and possibly VAT). Individuals working in offices would pay a tax on their home, but less than they pay currently in tax/NI, farmers would pay proportionately very little in relation to their land ownership as their land is productive. In contrast, 'buy to let' landlords, the Duke of Westminster, the Duchy of Cornwall, etc etc, would at last pay their fair share towards the society they live in and to some extent sponge off. The overall income from land to the Treasury would be greater than the current haul from taxation, but no politician will ever preside over its implementation. Why? Vested interests. That's where the true power lies. (And let's hear no more about people on benefits - all they do is provide headlines to help sell copies of The Daily Mail, and to boost Channel 5's viewing figures. They have no real power).

There is an iOS emulator that comes with XCode I believe but I'm not sure if you can run apps that you haven't created yourself with it. Android apps are just files with the extension .apk and I think can be loaded in the Android emulator without too much trouble but iOS apps I think are an apparently meaningless collection of files that aren't conveniently bundled together and aren't really designed to be handled outside of iTunes. But I don't have a Mac so I'm not entirely sure. Sadly, I think you're right. I have a yen to play Plants versus Zombies 2, which comes in all flavours - iOS included - but not Mac.

That 1868 proof is truly gorgeous ... though I suspect the contrast between red and brown (oh sorry - lustre and non-lustre ) would be much more noticeable "in hand".

Are you sending yourself up? There's a spelling error in your question. Chris is just pulling your leg.

Not anything worth getting excited about.

Some of the large silver from the 1940s are among the rarest coins you'll find anywhere in the British Isles.

They were buried ready-polished? That was kind of them...

NGC - "No Good Computer" (sharp intake of breath: "sorry guv, this has had it, you'll need a new one. Sign here.. and here.. and here..")

You're talking about that agreement (4 letters, begins with a T ) that's got a load of people up in arms. It will give corporations immunity from national courts and allow them the ride roughshod over not only ordinary people but governments who don't agree with them, too. If you see a petition online against it - sign it!

Are you sending yourself up?

Makes you wonder - if what Rob calls 'natural die degradation' is now so "desirable" and "collectable", then isn't it about time the 1961 'designer initials missing' halfcrown made a spectacular comeback?

Ah, but we're talking IBM mainframes here...

ah, that would be Paddy O'Eeyore, would it...?

You don't need a specialised macro lens - those are way too expensive for what you need. There are some superb compact cameras with macro modes : my Lumix FZ38 goes to 1cm, while my Lumix LX100 (a far better camera) goes to 3cm. You could pick up an FZ38 on eBay for under £100. Here's one for £70: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Panasonic-DMC-FZ38-12-1MP-Digital-Camera-Black-/131388348951?pt=UK_CamerasPhoto_DigitalCameras_DigitalCameras_JN&hash=item1e975b1a17 Obviously, to focus at 1cm, or even a bit further away, you need your light source close to the coin. You could instead use 'Macro zoom' mode, which allows you to focus close while the camera is further away, e.g. 1 foot or even 1 metre.

Me too. Working on dumb terminals attached to an IBM mainframe. I remember our project manager stopping me on the stairs in the late 80s and announcing proudly that each programmer now had ... wait for it ... TWO GIGABYTES! of virtual storage allocated. Collapse of stout party in utter amazement - 'gigabyte' up to then being just a notional extreme, like a googolplex.

Thought you'd like that one Peckris as a precursor to the cartwheel tuppence Indeed. Admiration has turned to jealousy! May I ask where you got that from?

"Frequencies open, Captain..."

Absolute beauty

That's because the hair is quite shallow

Whoever replies may also have the key to how you run iOS apps in OS X ?

does it say Made In China??

Oh, that's the common "woolies" type. Look out for the much rarer "fortnum" variety - slightly longer teeth (but the 'tooth test' is the surest way to be sure - bite the edge of it and you will soon know... )

I got some of those too! Decent milled edge on mine, can hardly get into the buggers without taking my nails off!Ah, depends on quality, as ever. I got mine from Dix Thorntons Webb... Why? That looks a unique and attractively themed collection.