It's possible that the father didn't grow up in the USA. I don't think we have Hard Lemonade in New Zealand. I didn't know what it was until I came to the US. For us Kiwis "lemonade" means something like Sprite of 7-Up.

The big losers are those companies with costs in EUR but sales in USD.

It seems unfair but EADS, the parent of AirBus, is being hit very badly because of the falling dollar. They're trying to get their suppliers to accept payment in dollars rather than Euros, something they are not happy about but may not have a choice. Boeing must be laughing all the way to the bank.

@zuzu "People use Real Player? Really? I mean, really???"

Well ... I like to watch English language International news and documentaries. BBC World, CNN International and Al Jazeera are the big three. None are generally available in the US via normal TV distribution (with a few local exceptions like BBC World on Cablevision in NYC). The Real Media stream is the only way to get BBC World online as far as I know.

I actually use Real Alternative but I still need to login using Real Player. It works pretty well hooked up to a TV but I do wish they would make it easier.

@zuzu "Shit! Someone had better tell all the television stations that rebroadcast BBC World!"

BBC World is a commercial channel intended to be broadcast around the world. I pay $5.95 per month to get it via Real Networks. Unfortunately there doesn't appear to be an alternative streaming source for it in the US. LiveStation beta carries it in other parts of the world but not in the US :-(

I remember reading years ago, I think it was in New Scientist, about a road in the UK where lots of mysterious breakdowns were happening. It turned out to be BBC transmitters close by. I think the signal was getting into the electronic ignition systems.

I also remember in a ham radio magazine years ago how someone new car wasn't getting the good fuel economy it should. It turned out to be the owner's ham radio transmitter messing up the engine management computer.

The "Cook Strait Cable" in New Zealand is DC.

I think another, perhaps the main, reason why DC is used for long distance transmission is to avoid the lines becoming a giant antenna. If my math is right, the wavelength of 50 Hz is 6000 Km. The behaviour of a transmission dramatically changes if its length gets close to a 1/4 wavelength.

The most ridiculous censorship I've seen recently is the British Comedy "Only Fools and Horses" which has been on my local PBS station. I thought there was an audio problem until I realized that the word or syllable "arse" (ass) was being blanked out, usually as part of smartass or tightass, to avoid sensitive American ears after 10 pm.

The show never has language worse than that so the thought of someone wasting time and presumably donors' money going through it to remove those words is a little hard to take.

Ross

My home area near Matamata, New Zealand has had its problems with this bug.

I remember mostly in the 1970's when several people died after swimming in some popular thermal springs. The strict rule from the government health department after that was to never put your head under the water. It was a bit scary for the locals to think about because kids had been diving and swimming under water there for years.

Here's a report from the NZ medical association. The last death was in 2000. It doesn't say there but I seem to remember that the guy who died in 1978 worked for the local town council and was there to take a water sample for testing and decided to go for a swim.

http://www.nzma.org.nz/journal/116-1187/712/

Ross