What item(s) do you have to prevent yourself from buying at the grocery store?
Submitted by Places Unknown.
Meat, because I’m a vegetarian! That said, I do have to worry about manufacturers sneaking animal products into everyday items like Mars, Snickers, Twix or Milky Way bars. It can be difficult as a veggie working all that stuff out at first but you get used to it and everyone sets their own moral compass (do they eat fish, wear leather etc.).
On a side note, if any veggies stumble on this and want an alternative to leather shoes then I’d heartily recommend Vegetarian Shoes, they’re based in Brighton on the South coast of England and make great quality leather free footwear for men and women (not one person I’ve met has spotted that my shoes are not leather). They’re also really friendly and helpful, I once had an 11th hour requirement for shoes to attend a wedding and they arranged to have a pair of smart shoes couriered overnight so that I could look smart and still keep my conscience clean!
If anyone out there is a new veggie or is thinking about it, feel free to get in touch – it can be daunting at first and it’s always good to have someone to ask.
written by admin
\\ tags: mars, milky way, qotd, snickers, vegetarian, vegetarian shoes, veggie
How well does your name Google? Who are you up against? (Celebrities, etc.)
Submitted by Matt Blank.
The top listing on Google for my name is that of an escort girl based in Sydney, Australia (It’s not me, honest) which I thought was quite amusing. Some of the links further down are related to me and one is even my own website, which is nice.
written by admin
\\ tags: australia, escort girl, google name, qotd, sydney
What websites do you visit every day?
Submitted by Chez Michelle.
I’m an avid gamer, techie and current-affairs junkie so I check…
- The Gamercast Network – website for a series of podcasts and a brilliant good-natured forum as well.
- Eurogamer – great news site for games and a rare gem of European based news.
- BBC News – my absolute favourite news channel and website.
- Digg – a superb social news site, excellent for highlighting the quirkier stories as well as good solid tech news.
- Xbox.com – I have a 360 but don’t use it every day, I visit the site to see who’s online, read my messages and send messages to my friends.
That’s all folks.
written by admin
\\ tags: 360, bbc, digg, gamer, gamercast network, qotd, Video Games, xbox
Is it likely that the U.S. will have a female president in the near future? In your lifetime? Why?
I hope so, though I really (really) hope it’s not Hillary Clinton. I’m British and we’ve already had a female Prime Minister (though many would argue that Maggie had more balls than any of her successors). The Queen is pretty obviously a chick as well but we don’t get to choose her.
America is such a varied country that by the time you’ve chosen a president they end up being a bland widely appealing baby kissing mix of what each section of the population wants, which is a pity. I would really like to see America have either it’s first female and/or it’s first black president some time in the next 10 years, obviously there’s a possibility this time round so I’ll keep my fingers crossed – I just think that it’d be so dull if you had yet another classic middle aged white-boy in the oval office again.
We’re doing pretty well over here in Europe as Germany is currently led by Angela Merkel and Sergolene Royal is in with a good shot at the French presidency. The Council of Women World Leaders lists 11 currently serving female presidents, prime ministers and chancellors from countries as diverse as Ireland, Sri Lanka, Liberia and New Zealand so the other continents are doing alright too.
Even though I’m no fan of Hillary I’m a democrat by nature and I’d
still welcome the progress that a female leader would mean for the USA. The shame is that I doubt enough Americans are progressive enough for the vote either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama into office, even though they’re the favourites at the moment. Whatever happens I don’t expect it to affect policy, the last two white-boys you’ve had were markedly different (Clinton = awesome, Bush = ass) – it would just send a statement about America as a country. In reality, I think the best candidate might be Gore, he’s turned into a proper Climate Change Ninja lately and he seems to be pretty popular for it too.
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\\ tags: al gore, barack obama, climate change ninja, female president, hillary clinton, margaret thatcher, qotd, women leaders
Do you listen to podcasts? Are there any you’d recommend?
Inspired by Alex.
I love podcasts, they’re the best thing to happen to broadcast media since the web became popular back in the 90s. On average, I’m quite confident that I spend more hours per week listening to podcasts than I do watching television.
I’m not sure where I come down on the podcast vs netcast debate but I agree that a new name is needed. One thing that I’d love to be more widely known is that you don’t need an iPod to play podcasts!
My favourites are definitely the TWiT netcasts from Leo Laporte and the gang, they’re professional and informative. I love the discussion from the panel of This Week in Tech but I really think that awards should be give to Security Now, that show has taught me so much about IT security that I’m somewhat of an expert amongst my peers (and I do work in IT).
Other favourites are the Video Game Show from the guys at Gamercast Network, it’s informal but the guys really know their stuff and the last episode was so funny I was practically in tears. Another hilarous but informative show is the MeanDawg Top 5, each week the guys pick their Top 5 movies in a given category and debate eachother’s choices.
Oh, and as a final word – you can’t forget Ask a Ninja.
written by thirtyfootscrew
\\ tags: ask a ninja, gamercast network, leo laporte, netcast, qotd, security now, twit, video game show