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Okay, I'm not even sure what point I'm making here, but I guess what narks me about the whole "creative work = discovered information" argument is that it implies that if I write something creative I haven't made the world a better place by creating something that didn't previously exist, but...

Why? (I'm not being argumentative - I'm generously curious about your reasoning).

So it's mine if I want to say no-one can read it... but it's not mine to sell? I suppose what I'm saying is that I either own the work or I don't. Whether or not I own it is a matter of opinion, but if I own it then I think I should be able to set preconditions like, only myself being able to...

Okay, perhaps that was a bad example. I suppose what I'm saying is that if I write a story, I have a really strong emotional feeling/belief that I own it. I don't see it as "information" that I "discovered", I see it as a "thing" that I created. Now that's regardless of the law. That's just...

Same here. A lot of people have had a go at me for not doing Critical Miss anymore, but the fact is that I make my living as a computer programmer with all writing being done in my spare time - which I prioritise according to what I most feel like doing. I must admit that I was pretty...

If I kept a diary, and said that it was *my* diary, and that I didn't want anyone else to read it - would you find that offensive?

Yes. Gaelcon. In my humble opinion, the greatest convention in the world. :) http://www.criticalmiss.com/issue9/greatestcon1.html

Maybe in a pizza restaurant, perhaps. But if you've just ordered takeout pizza over the phone and a guy on a moped delivers it in a cardboard box... well people would think you were mad if you did anything but eat it with your hands. :)

Minor quibble (don't disagree with the thrust of what you are saying): I was under the impression that no-one died in the Mercury test flights (certainly none of the seven Mercury astronauts died, although Gus Grissom - after flying successfully in Gemini 3 - was later killed in the Apollo 1...

There's a nice example of a US-UK Usenet flame war here which erupted due to a misunderstanding of the meaning of the word "geezer" as used by a British poster. (This was where I first learned that the word has a subtly different meaning in the US).

Sodomy has a different meaning over here (I've been confused in the past when reading US news articles in which oral sex is described as "sodemy"). In the UK I believe they are both very specific legal definitions (someone please correct me if I'm wrong): * Sodomy is anal sex between a man and...

You mean women do it too! :eek:

Yeah, Peanuts always used to confuse the hell out of me for that very reason when I was a kid. I could never figure out how Charlie Brown's mum was able to slice jelly (i.e. jello) into thin enough strips that you could put it in a sandwich. (Nor could I understand why the hell you'd want to...

Didn't Wesley once tell Angel to "stop being such a wanker!" (For the benefit of non-Brits, wanker = someone who masturbates). I always wondered whether that would have been allowed on American TV if it were a native phrase. Did you ever hear about the continuum spanning roleplaying game...

Well off the top of my head (apologies for any duplication) you have: Note: These are in the form UK = US. Where I'm not sure of the US word I'll put it in question marks or just explain what the UK one means. Where I don't think there's a UK word, I'll put a description in question marks...

And because of that, we sometimes end up with different words. i.e. In UK English you have: Programme: A thin booklet, or a "segment" that you watch on a TV (i.e. a TV programme). Program: A sequence of instructions on a computer. Disc: A flat, circular object. Disk: An item used to store...

There's a hilarious moment in a documentatary about a 1960s Bob Dylan tour of the UK where, at an after-gig party, he angrily approaches a fan who he (mistakenly) thinks has just thrown a bottle out of a window (the manager has come to complain) leading to an exchange along the lines of: Dylan...

Shagging's a home run.

Whoa! You are correct when you say that being arrested for a crime does not make you guilty. That's why people are using phrases such as "suspected terrorists". You should assume someone is innocent until evidence is presented in a fair court to prove their guilt. But when you say, "I hope...

Like Morrus said, degrees in England are usually three years (I believe that in Scotland they are typically four years). However, it's very common nowadays for people to take what's known as a "gap year" after finishing school (at 18) and before going to University, which they usually spend...