A lot of Open Source is bankrolled by big corporations. IBM and Novell, for example, have put a lot of investement into FOSS.

Almost everyone in Netherlands can read English, and the majority can also write and speak it to a decent level. So you don't need to be worried about the language barrier.

I'm pretty sure that copyright law here is similar to the US, so you can just email them and tell them to either remove the picture OR apply with the terms of the licence.

Only this isn't going to kill them...

> Believe me, as a German who usually writes
> EXACTLY how it's pronounced, with a few
> exceptions, English sure was an odd written
> language to learn..

My opinion stems from my experience of learning dutch. Which is very similar to German. It was kind of an 'eureka' moment for me: a combination of the lax grammar from English and the spelling from dutch (or German).

The dutch correct their spelling every year. Then they increase the complexity of the grammar to help placitate the grammar nazis.

Planning on learning German next (inspired by buying a new VW, which came with a German-language manual & onboard computer!). I understand that the grammar is really complex, but I understand that there's a simplified form. Would it be considered rude/bad if I just concentrated on learning the simplified form?

We should change the spelling of words in our language so that they have (and keep) a connection with the pronounciation of said words.

Convention over configuration, but for our language.

> I'm thinking there's a market for a shop that sells actual foodstuffs modelled on some of the Lush products.

Yeah, like speciality fudge or something.

Don't think that the ingredients are that different, either. Replace the oil with butter, and add a bit of sugar :)

Their coconut soaps fantastic.

Goes great with a bit of icecream and and grated dark chocolate.

> Ah how you must want the BBC

Don't worry, the quality of the BBC's output is going downhill at record places.

The Wikileaks news coverage was closer to Fox News than it was BBC News circ 2005.
BBC One is now 24-7 cooking, property, reality or any combination of the three. Preferably with dancing.
BBC Two seems to be repeats of BBC One, plus snooker or darts.

BBC Three and BBC Four are where the quality content is to be found.... so the BBC have decided to close them to cut costs.

> History: just because ours doesn't appeal to you doesn't mean we don't have any.

No, it's not interesting. I'd assume that you're not going to go out to study the dutch royal family cira 1600, or the daily lives of the anglo saxons. Not when you can go see three massive pyramids a short flight away.

It's not that it's not interesting because it's not my history. I'm not indian, but I want to see the Taj Mahal. I'm not Egyptian, but I've seen the Pyramids. I'm not Jordanian, but I've stood above the gates of Petra.

In comparision, American's history is much more recent, and much less based on monuments. The Space Program, the Micro computer, the atom bomb. Now they're interesting. It's just that there's not a lot to see of it that you can't see closer to home. Except, possibly, a live shuttle launch.

Ok, you could argue that Manhatten is a monument. Sure, there are some amazing feats of engineering there. But a lot of modern cities have copied it, and some (Dubai) have outdone the feats. In ancient times you would have just conqueured those cities and flattened them. Thankfully that's not likely to happen.

It's just that we only have a finite amount of time, a finite amount of money, and a finite number of vacation days.

So, if your interests are world history and nature then there are far better places to go.

Now, if your interest was theatre or modern culture, then there's no beating the US. New York in particular is a fantastic city for art lovers, and the broadway productions are the best I've ever seen (or at least better than what I've seen on the West End).

Wildlife: again, you'll actually see see more amazing things in South Africa, the Amazon or the far east than you'll ever see in the US or Europe.

Wildlife is better the further away it is from people.

I'd not go to Europe for the wildlife. There are too many people. What's left is small. Similar to what you can see all over the world.

I'm pretty sure that you'd stand more chance of meeting a Grizzly or a Moose in Canada than you would in the US. The lower population density means we've killed less of them.

Well, I did forget something.

The Natural History Museaum in New York was fantastic.

DINOSAURS!

Must be the best collection of bones in the world?

> through european cities and over small roads in the countryside

As a European, and someone who has driven in a number of cities here (Birmingham, London, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Amsterdam, Utrecht, Antwerpen, Brussels, Reykjavik, Paris just to name a few) and abroad (ZA & NZ) I can tell you that driving in our cities isn't fun. Except for at like 4am, you're not really driving. You're parking. Just a little bit faster.

I guess that the large US cities are much the same? We've not driven there, yet. Actually, we've hardly even visited the country yet (no history and no unique wildlife, and that's what we travel for).

New Zealand and South Africa are nice to drive in, especially New Zealand. No traffic (compared to Europe), good roads, and mountains. Heck, New Zealand is just all kinds of awesome.

Iceland is also great fun in the winter. Snow, no traffic, dark the whole time. Plus mountains. It's also somewhere I could see myself living. It's just so clean & quiet.

..to dampen the blow to the stock price... smart..

Nah, the language is great. Especially the idea of fixing the errors every couple of years. It ensures that the spelling has at least some connection to the pronounciation. Though, they should go further. For example, drop either IJ or ei. Choose one and use it everywhere ffs.

> my when dutch/belgians don't

my dutch/belgian friends don't.

Unlike the sane, phonetic spellings used in dutch, the english persist in spelling philosophy with a ph at the start as well as near the end :)

Not trying to be a spelling nazi, but it bugs my when dutch/belgians don't correct my spelling mistakes when I'm using their language. Because if it's not pointed out, you don't you've made a mistake, so keep on making it.