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Ok i'll admit now i've not read 100% of this topic, only up to Toby's second post. But anyways, I'd just like to say, that when i was younger, i was quite the opposite of you Toby. I say younger, i mean when i was 15 - 18. I had loads of mates, i was always hanging about the streets, and i will admit i used to knock about with some troublemakers. I went to all the 6th Form Socials, I organised them back in 6th Form. I was drinking before i was 18. I was rarely in the house, even though i did have a playstation/internet or whatever. The one thing i did have, was respect for other people. ...I've never done anything like harrassing or taunting people, i've certainly NEVER done anything like Jester is describing, i personally think it's absolutely disgusting. I'm not a 'somebody' but i do look down my nose at scum like that. I actually caused quite an uproar on the bus not so long ago when some youths were firing spitballs across the bus, which resulted in me telling them to grow up (only being 20 myself) and another elderly man telling them they were 'the scum of the earth', in which i strongly agreed. They were really upsetting some elderly passengers and i was just filling with anger. I had no where to hang about, nothing to do but wander round with a group of mates, sit at the doctors, or down the front street...but i never resorted to all of this. What i'm trying to say is that i don't think it's about not having anywhere to go. It's about how they're brought up, what principles they live by, not being taught to respect others, not being taught to THINK FOR THEMSELVES. If someone is brought up to belive that doing this sort of thing is 'funny'...then...that's what they're going to do. I had one hell of an upbringing, i was taught right from wrong, i was punished for my actions, but i was also taught to think for myself and learn from mistakes. I really do hope you get this sorted Jester! There's just no call for it.

you in the mafia or something like?

I think we know what you mean! It's pointless uploading multi-megabyte pix to the web because they will take an age to display in a browser. That is unless you want to leave a high resolution version for folks to download for printing etc. You'll also eat up your member allowance in no time if you go over-the-top. No doubt Fourgee will give us the current guidelines - they change from year to year. But an easy way to find out what is usual is to go into the gallery and right click on the largest images available. The dialogue box should tell you about the image, including the file size. The server is clever these days, and produces the smaller sizes and thumbnails without you even noticing. The best tool to resize depends on what format you are using; what operating system; and whether you are prepared to pay, and how much. I'm more familiar with Linux utilities than Windows. But assuming nothing came in-the-box with your camera a Google around for free image editors will produce a result. A good free image viewer for Windows almost ten years back was Irfan (a guy's name). I'm sure he's still doing it and that it has some editing capability for popular formats. Photoshop and Fireworks are amongst the ones many pros use, but they cost! You'll often hear that something has been Photoshopped - meaning messed with. On Linux you'll get what you want for free. <fanfare> A really user-friendly Linux is Ubuntu.

I still can't believe this happened. Well done Sian

i had the same problem turns out my extention cable was faulfy so i plug the router strait into the filter then phone socket and speed came back wireless should run fine just plug router direct to wall socket

So why should it be off for everybody because one person didn't like it?

sorry for your troubles jester.. i have read your post and evry reply that followed..after lots of thought and wondering how i may be able to help i have come to the conclusion that you are up !*!@# creek mate. if i were over there i would drop by and we could have a chat and maybe crack some heads in the process. things in ireland are handeld the old ways and seem to work the best. i have always tried to live a honest and peaceful life. tried to stay away from trouble and for years this has been good for my karma. i still try to always be good...as i was taught by good parents. i was a right tramp in my young days and probably no diferent to the kids giving you the hassle. no diferent at all. kids have to grow up some kids take longer than others. from my own personal exp i can pinpoint the exact moment of change. we have all heard the story of " they are all hard when they are in a gang "..get them their own.. ect ect.. and we all know this to be true. well heres a true story for you..last year i was having similar probs..wont go into to much detail as its getting late but the jist is that after loads of hassle, little help from the law i bought a baseball bat from argos (13 euro ) and beat the living !*!@# of the worst offender all the way down the street. in front of all the neighbours and made sure the whole village got wind of it. hammered him to !*!@# and left him in the gutter. went home and waited for the law..waited for two days and still no cops. the whole place was buzzing.. i felt great..massive adrenaline rush. now no one fecks with me..not even the cops. been here for twenty years and seen the troubles come and go....listen jester..cracking heads is bad for your karma but good for your soul..(was for me anyways ) however if a peacefull solution could be found it would be better for all concerned.....fact of the matter is ..lets say..your 45 years old. you might have twenty good years left..too much stress will give you a heart attack..too young for that..dont waste any more time..just do what you would like to do and deal with the concenquences later.. trust me jester..what feels good is right..just go for it.. .. and i mean that most sincereley..wonky.

Toby,,, your right theres no facilties in Bedlington , apart from the community centre which is just another drinking place really, I suggest you get a driving licence as soon as possible and leave,. I think this post was more concerned about the little Rat offspring who'd only pick a book up to hoi through your window

I have to say, im trying to get my grandad set up on Sky's base broadband, thats 2BMps (4 times as fast as yours) for only £5.99pm without skly talk, otherwise its free. I used BT for a while and it was terrible, sorry to break it to you, but they have you hoodwinked... if you dont want to change, call BT up and tell them that if they do not increase your download speed then you will be moving to another ISP. We did that and they offered us an upgrade from 2 to 8 MBps for half the price. BT is known for this AND their bad line quality. Seriously, new ISP needs to be on christmas list ;-) Toby

Ok, this is from the point of view of an 18 year old lad, from Bedlington, who is still curently in Bennies 6th form. Jester, my advice to you is a mobile phone or even better, a video camera, when they come again, try and catch them on camera. the more identifiable features you can get, the better. About the 'lack of things to do' issue; i have to completely agree that there is nowhere for me to go and 'hang-out' with my friends. Ill admit, im not perfect, but iv had a bloody good upbringing. Iv been punished at home, and i have to say, it has worked becuase i understand what i have done wrong! I have been wrapped in a protective blanket all my life. Iv had alcohol at home since i was about 12, but it was strictly monitored by my parents, 1 can of lager, then no more. they wouldnt let me watch a damn 12 rated film untill i was 13, the first internet connection we had, used parental controls to stop me from doing 'whatever i wanted'. I am an only child, therefore iv learned to be quite lonley, and how to cope/entertain myself. Most of the kids causing problems, i can almost guarantee will have siblings, rivalry and the like causes most of the problems. Then when a sibling moves on, they are left alone, meaning that they rely on their friends to kee them entertained. Iv never been very sociable with kids my own age, infact, i only have 2 close friends who i will make an effort to see, most of the time, i entertain myself on my computer or playstation playing games. EVERY NOW AND THEN, i have a friend in the house to have a game on the playstation, very rare because my prents like their privacy and iv only ever had 1 sleepover! My being alone hasnt helped me socially, i dont hang around with a group of friends, i dont even attend the 6th form socials which are held even though i can legally drink. As i was growing up, if i had a centeral place where i could 'hang out' and somewhere where my parents will believe i am safe, i would have been alot more comftorable in groups my age (i can cope with older people no problem). So now, the only regular socialisation is at school which i only attend for my lessons and over my damned computer just becuase i had nothing to do! Infact, the most fun I had in bedlington was Tommy turning on the christmas lights. May i point out that Bennies provided the band and equipment for that, as well as some trusted 6th formers working to keep the peace? The question raised about Bennies is what can they do to solve anti social behaviour? i know for a fact that if the 'kept me in detention' i would refuse to turn up. Outside of their gates is WELL out of their control. the FULL issue here is parenting and i think that i am the perfect example of that. Im sick of being the minority, walking down the front street with all the grannies glaring at me just because of my age... i have done nothing wrong, and i am sick of being tarred with the same brush. These are groups of 10-15 people who cause the problems, we are not all taboo'd. Again, to Jester who is the main victim (that we know of) listen to what Symptoms said They WANT a reaction from you, iused to kick a football against a garage door when at my grandparents, ill point out that i had the garage owners permission, however the noise disturbed some of the people in the houses around the area, they came and complained and we were able to say 'and what can you do about it?' (this was a good few years ago mind, in the summer holidays when i was BORED, with NOTHING to do except play outside with my friends, no computers/playstations ect.) Once again, it comes down to the fact that we have nothing to do! you mentioned morpet earlier, they have a damn'd park to play in, things which can entertain them in some way shape or form. Anyway, i just figured that this opinion from someone who has just left the age group could be an important part of the discussion. I feel for you Jester, i really do and if there was something i could do to help you, i would do it! Toby

What was said was that 90% of 'climate researchers' believe; how one defines a climate researcher i'm not sure, but it's safe to say the spread among those who do agree is varied. This is a particular bugbear of mine - not that climate change (note the non-use, these days, of 'Global warming') is happening, for it is, but that we, the human race, are solely responsible for it. Logically, we can't be, for without going into the details here - I don't have them to hand admittedly - the figures simply don't add up. Schoolkids these days are being fed the line that leaving a light bulb on at home kills a polar bear; it might if its a new fangled low energy one and the poor bear eats it, but otherwise it's !*!@# . I'm a known and hardened skeptic - i simply don't believe the !*!@# we're being fed.

And well done to Tommy; seen today giving high fives to lucky school pupils.

One word ... !*!@#

Ah, the monkey, rockin' da m.i.c! Proper belta man. Or, a load of nonsense that assists in the anti-social behaviour of drug-fulled fake burberry cap wearers. hmmm.