Huguenot

To get it exactly right for you for 5 numbers in 50 and two in 9 5/50 = 0.1 4/49 = 0.0816326 3/48 = 0.0625 2/47 = 0.0425531 1/46 = 0.0217391 2/9 = 0.2222222 1/8 = 0.125 Multiply them altogether and you get 1 in 76,275,360 *snaps the fingers* That's da bizniss boyz, read and weep

Right not quite guys. In reality the odds are better because you don't need to get the numbers in any particular order. For example, you could say that the 'first' number out of the bag doesn't need to be 1 in 50, because you could have chosen it as one of your other numbers. So a simpler interpretation would be that the first number only has to be one of your chosen six (sorry actually 5, but I don't do euro, so assume this is still relevant and continue) - e.g odds of getting the first number are 6 in 50, and the second number 5 in 49. In reality it's not this simple: you'd need to exclude the possiblity of having got the first number wrong etc. In mathematical terms it's easier to calculate the odds in a gamble of this sort by multiplying the odds of NOT getting it and subtracting from 1. The calculation of 1 in 76m is near as dammit right, David's was the closest, but strictly speaking a co-incidence rather than a reflection of appropriate mathematical strategy. I have a tedious qualification in double mathematics. The reason you wouldn't buy 76m tickets in the hope of gaining the 113m, is because it wouldn't prevent several other competitors also getting the right result. In this situation, because the other guy would still have won as well, getting the winning ticket with a 76m gambit would have split the 113m, with a net loss of 19m euros. Not a great idea.

I don't think it'll get to Saturday :'(

*press* *press* Nothing's happening. *press* Nothing's happ... what, who are you? What's that in your hand? What? No? NO... NOOO ... *hiss of cooling metal*

After much consideration of the evidence... Snark (as with sneer or snerk) seems as much to do with the physical expression of distaste as it does any other words. The 'sn...' is associated with a reaction to a bitter or inedible food, and difficult to do without an Elvis impersonation. The '...ark' sound is associated with vigorously expelling unwanted matter and clearing the gullet. For me the most persuasive root of the word is from 'nark' meaning unwanted interference or annoyance, which was a nineteenth century alternative spelling of the gypsy work 'nak' meaning nose. As in 'you nosy git'. As with most abusive terms, it's lost its original meaning quite quickly because most people aren't especially grammatically rigid when they're being rude.

firstmate being reasonable and thebeard in abusive personal post related to property shocker. Please stop attacking people, it's embarrassing. Really. I take it people have seen the 'internet+anonymity=idiot' cartoon? Surely? How old? It would take a spectacular lack of intellect to find this behaviour impressive. If people aren't sure how to tell if their post is being personally abusive, the word 'YOU' is a dead giveaway. I pity the torrent of abuse that's likely to follow.

Can you still do train to London Bridge and Jubilee to Bond Street? Quite quick if I recall correctly?

Knowing the craving public bodies have for endless research, I can' imagine anyone missed up the chance by making decisions based on hunches. Someone somewhere's got a map of the final proposed solution. Can we have one of those?

I've flown the 380 a couple of times. The most noticeable contrast was that I kind of got used to aeroplanes 'leaping' into the air after V2, that doesn't happen with one of these elephants.

Any place has got good and bad bits. Singapore's worst places are Boat Quay and Clarke Quay - the purpose built tourist venues by the business district. Evens so, they're only as bad as Canary Wharf and those naff little buffed-up warehouses round there. London's dreadful if you spend the night in a Wetherspoon. etc. etc.

Neither does any other political discipline. I'm afraid that there's just as vigorous a craving for domination in the violent solutions that you advertise AfN. All the talk of class war and brick throwing has nothing to do with freeing the proletariat, and everything with the ascendancy of your own mob. Frankly Stalin didn't have a great rep, and it wasn't him who created in the environment in which he flourished. The tragedy will be your broken heart as the gang that you elevate toss you to one side once you've put them on a pedestal. At that point, you'll think Nunhead in 2009 wasn't such a bad place to be.

Something swinging right along?

Mean spirited? Possibly. But I'd argue that it would take some delirious flower tossing hippy to imagine there's lots of colonials out there risking their lives for the Queen because they think our society is built from clouds and perfume. ;-)

The challenge is that both of you are interpreting the course of events through intelligent design. It makes rash assumptions about both the capability of politicians, and the capacity of the infrastructure to carry out those wishes. I'd argue that there is neither the capability nor the wit at senior political levels to do anything other that what the grand mass of population would like to see done. The outcries over the financial debacle, like the Iraq war, and like Princess Diana before it were the flagellant flappings of culpable guilt. To be Imperialist you need a population that is acquisitive, racist and jingoist.

Alan's a bit extreme, but does have a point. You can't just let in the Gurkhas, you have to let in the family too, and they're extended. Mebbe 100,000 to 200,000. They may be over in a snap of your fingers. Also there's no evidence the Gurkhas fought for the Crown, more for the cash. Being a mercenary doesn't mean you share the culture, beliefs and secularism of the UK. Quite the opposite if Mark Thatcher's anything to go by. Nepal's got a squiffy little civil war running at the moment with fundamentalist Maoists. You would be daft to imagine that the convictions of the combatants evaporate when faced with McDonalds. It may of course all be fine, but it would be unreasonable to think that's a given.

The band would be doing alright if there weren't all these people stealing their music and pretending they're doing it as some sort of social statement about freedom. If free marketing of their music is a good idea then let them choose to do it, rather than be robbed. I don't like touts either, but it's because I'm against monopolistic cartels, not against the price. The problem with touts is that when they get it wrong, you get an empty venue and thousands of fans sat at home.

In six years in ED I never saw a fight in the EDT - t'would indeed be a dark day in paradise when this happens regularly. :'(

The world gets crazier... Visitors to our cluster housing are to have their temperature taken on arrival, and if they're over 38 celsius they'll not be allowed entry. By which time they'll have infected the doorman, who presumably is allowed entry, and of course the residents who they're visiting.

"I fear that they have undermined any case homo sapiens may have for being just that little bit more on the ball than homo floriensis" Chortle.

Conceivably if people will pay 500 quid for a ticket, then the ticket is by definition worth 500 quid. If the band are only getting 50, then it must mean the band are under-selling them? I'd sack the manager. If the band are doing it out of the goodness of their hearts, then why do they charge at all?

That's a real shame. Most of the fun was thinking these apprentices were genuine idiots. I accepted that editing was going to exaggerate for our amusement, but not actually subvert it. Theatre works on a principle called 'the willing suspension of disbelief', but the willing bit is lost if the tasks are a set-up. To know that the whole thing is a performance really takes the gloss off. This deserves a good attack of camberwell-gate.

Quite AfN, good to have you onside for a change. It may surprise, but justice isn't played out to the mob. I don't think justice was about to be identified in this situation if the incriminated party was being asked to incriminate themselves (part of our legal system), but the involvement of the public and media has demonstrated the depths and strength of our society. We're not in the same state as we were thirty years ago, and it's something to be proud of. The policeman won't be subject to the judgment of fundamentalists from Nunhead, who'll come to conclusions by watching telly, and then march the streets with pitchforks and slaughter the accused, his family and friends. That's also something to be proud of. I think that society's request for an independent jury must be predicated on the fact that they haven't made up their minds before they enter the court. They should hear and view the evidence and make up their minds at that time. I can understand that the prosecuting lawyers would be concerned that existing TV footage would prejudice that situation. Essentially AfN, it means that too much coverage will prevent justice. Something I'm sure you're keen to avoid.

Now now, charliecharlie it's not as simple as that. My natural inclination would have north as top and south as bottom, but it's rarely so consistent. For example where do they fall in east-west roads? And where do they lie in culs-de-sac? The LL situation is self-evidently a conundrum, because the compass solution is at odds with the elevation. Likewise the 'top' of the elevation is at the 'middle' of the stretch of road: LL goes well beyond the Plough to the South Circular. Pre. 21st century, local custom (and poor map reading skills in a blue-collar workforce) had it that the 'top' of the Lane was at the southern end. Post urban migration, unacclimatised blow-ins with a moderate grasp of global geography (of which I'm one) didn't find the answer naturally, and rarely traveling beyond the Mag concluded that the EDT was indeed the top. There is an answer, but it requires cultural flexibility and class mobility. ;-) Yes, I'm joking.

Agreed the Millenium exhibition was appalling, one of the Tories worst ideas ;-) I'm pleased to see that Labour managed to take it off the taxpayer's hands and create a business environment within which it could succeed.... ::o

It's only summer in the northern hemisphere! We'll look after it down here until you're good and ready in September ;-)