With the far more effective ICEQBE parser not working at the moment, I ran the frame 1 results through my own code concoction so you can all see how well you did... or in my case, didn't!

Big <S> to -ung-- for being CM this month!

Follow the "read more" link to see all of the results.

I'm not sure how this will work, because I wanted the company to state they will comply with the PECR regulations, not just pay compensation for the time of mine they've taken by sending spam. I wonder what will happen if they wont agree to that?

The story takes several different strands of life and weaves them together as a planet goes from quiet backwater to invaded warzone. By the end I started to get into the story but that was far too late for me to rate this as a book I'd read again. I think the the problem was the Italian theme. The whole society uses Italianesque words frequently and I found it hard work to understand and get into the story. At one point I considered leaving the book unfinished but I'm glad I did get to the end of it. Will I get book 2? I wont go hunting for it, but I'd read it if I had nothing else. Rootie Rating 1 out of 5 - it wasn't for me.

Players per Frame

Count of players in EMC (over all frames analysed)

Yesterday, I started a small claims court action against a company to have them pay for the spam they've been sending to email addresses I run. I didn't take this action lightly. I had asked them to stop by email, I had asked them to stop by phone, I had asked them to stop by Fax.

In the email, I said that if they send any more I will be charging them £50 per email. When two more arrived a month later I phoned them and they claimed not to have received my email, so I told them the content and I also faxed it. They promised on the phone not to send any more, but less than 24 hours later I got 4 more. All their emails claim not to be spam because they are sent manually... seeing as most of them come in the early hours of the morning, I can give them the benefit of the doubt by guessing they keep strange working hours.

The paperwork has gone, I'll post information here as time allows.

I'm sure he never reads here (does anyone) but fortunately for me he wrote a follow up! Charlie's War continues the story with our narrator and central character Charlie being sent across Europe to find our heroine Grace.

The detail is this story is just a good as the first (quite an achievement in my opinion) and Charlie makes new friends very different from his bomber crew comrades. He just about catches up with Grace, but this sure could do with a third novel so I can find out what happens. I don't want to tell you any more about the story for fear of spoiling it. Little things like the people he meets and the things they say that made me stay up to "wee small hours" and beyond just to find out what happened next.

How would I rate it? A close rootie rating of 5 out of 5. The first book was almost perfect, this book can simply be called Great!

.. in fact, it was so addictive I read it within a few days! Very different from the other Charles Stross books (it was set in present day, not far future), this Sci-Fi fiction referenced everyday things in a not so every day occult stroke multi-dimension stroke zombie sort of way, all the time staying within the bounds of a logic that kept it just believable enough...

Is this book right for you? Well, if, like me, when shopping for something to read whilst passing a supermarket you go for "New Scientist" over "What Car", then yes. You'll get some of the techy humour that sprinkled through the book.

About 2/3rds through I thought the story was coming to an end when all of a sudden a completely unexpected twist brought a whole new... erm, story. I'll not tell you what or how or why, that would spoil the fun if you get to read it. If you have read it, allow me to help you reminisce by saying "CCTV" and "concrete cows".

Despite my initial reservations over the title, this book gets a rootie rating of 5 out of 5

Je trouve une neuvelle (pour moi) musiciene - elle s'appelle ViRGiNiE est elle francais. J'adore cette music, seullement une guitar et voix. Plusieurs de ses chansons sont en Anglais aussi.

Ecoute sur l'internet:
http://www.virginie-music.com/

Ou peut etre youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjWJmc2te_w

For me, this is one of the better Sharpe series with one, important missing point. The last words of a Sharpe book traditionally finish with the title... eg. "Loup was dead, and it was over at last: Sharpe's Battle" but this one didn't. Funny how you get to expect certain things and miss them when they are not there.

Now I have a real struggle on my hands, figure out which Sharpe books I haven't read then find them in the second hand bookshops!

It's a story that has many threads of sub story within it and an ending so open I'm left in anticipation of finding out what happens to the cat. A good read, if a little hard work in places.

The boat ride had audio that couldn't be heard (I'm assuming there was some meaning to it), and involved getting very wet. So wet that as we got out two members of staff were drying seats for the next person. The saving grace was they were handing out cheap plastic poncho's, although they ran out after us so people later that day would have been using our wet ones. My impression would be the ride was designed by committee, the splash not big enough for thrill seekers, the other 10 minutes of floating not good enough to be of any interest (for entertainment or education).

Faggins Den is a children's play area, I can imagine it was packed when the place was full but while we were there it was comfortably quiet. Unfortunately only half a dozen chairs for waiting adults (with what I would guess is a capacity of 50 chilldren) but good fun for the children for a half hour at least.

The haunted house was a projection system of Dickens 'ghosts', the characters in many of his stories. It did have some interesting commentary on how the characters had come about though. As our group moved from one screen to the next, we missed the cue to move on and missed half of one presentation.

The Olde Curiosity Shoppe, was the gift shop on the way out. The normal array of theme park souvenirs, more modern shop floor area with plenty of room to expand and not very much of curiosity value.

Dotheboys school was probably more fun if there was a member of staff on hand to control the room. We wandered in, played a game of snakes and ladders on the touch screen desks with the children (they had to answer questions about Dickens novels to go up the ladders or to prevent themselves going down the snakes). Nicola got bored after 5 minutes and went to look at the touch screen on the 'teachers lectern', little did we know that one controlled all the others and she stopped all the other players in mid game and restarted their screens - Sorry everyone!

The Britannia Theatre was probably the most informative bit. It's a 3D glasses cinema screen and it gave a 10 minute run down of Dickens life and works. I didn't know he'd travelled so far - travelling for months and years at a time across Europe and America. At bit different to travelling now, in the 1840's the only way to travel to America was by steam ship - not a quick way of travel. Someone compared it to the 3D screens at Eurodisney and the like which have water, steam and vibrations. This is nothing compared to them, only the screen and no physical effects. I liked it, although I'd have liked it for it's content without the 3D glasses which gave me a little eye strain (Yes, I know, I sound like an old man).

So, one trip with the children is enough for me. I'm glad I went but I (pun alert) won't saying Please may I have some more (pun ends). Perhaps I had (another pun) too Great Expectations (how predictable was that pun!). The general decor, lighting, theme parkesque leaning buildings were all well done. There's a large central plaza which I guess handles space for hour long queues, the odd fictitious shop front and creative themed sign - all well done. As for value for money, it cost us as a family of four £40. That's OK I think, compared to Thorpe Park (£88) it's a shorter day so pretty comparable.

The children have asked to go back to the Canterbury Tales. It's an attraction in a converted church in Canterbury. We haven't been there for a few years so it will probably make an interesting contrast. Canterbury Tales is only £26 for a family, although that cost would have to be countered by running the gauntlet of shops with Rhonda. I guess the "Marks and Spencer" experience would double that ticket price....

I jest. Seriously, I'm still reading Dickens "A Tale of Two Cities". I first started it at the school library in "H" Block as a young teenager. Now, half a time later I have it on my PDA and am a good way into it. I find it a hard style to read (harder still on a PDA screen) but the story itself is .... satisfying. Not sure I can describe my feelings fully. Sometimes heart breaking, sometimes fascinating (the description of leaving Dover by horse drawn carriage), hard work to read but satisfying.

So is it worth visiting Dickens World? Yes, but if you're travelling a long way plan to visit the Chatham Historic Dockyard too.

Fantastic!

If you receive any spam from intellimailer, report them to the ICO (I have a contact there who has the case history, email me if you'd like the information) and please let me (and any readers) know how you get on.

By the way, the full list of domain names they used to send spam to me has grown a bit, so here it is in full:

intrer11.co.uk
intrer12.co.uk
intrer14.co.uk
intrer15.co.uk
(and checking whois, they're continuing to buy domains starting intrer for some reason. Note they haven't registered intrer13 yet, guess they're superstitious!)
intellimailer.org.uk
int-mailer.org.uk
emaileronline.co.uk
int-mailer-uk.co.uk
ukmailing-co.co.uk
uk-mailing-co.co.uk
emailer-online.co.uk
the-intelligentmailer.co.uk
kt8.com
mailing-software-uk.co.uk