Harry Potter and the pointless wait in a queue

I don't really understand fanboys. I can comprehend how some people will queue for over 6 hours to buy something that is of extremely limited stock - tickets to one-off gigs, possibly meeting someone you idolise, etc.

What I don't comprehend is people waiting over 48 hours in a queue for something that is not intending to go out of stock, where you will not get anything extra for your wait, and because you have been sleeping 'rough' for over 2 days means that you'll either not concentrate the first time you attempt to enjoy it or have to go home and sleep before you start, which negates the point of that long wait in queue because you could have just popped out and bought it the next morning.

For I have a copy of the latest Harry Potter book, for less than Waterstones was selling it, and I purchased it without going out of my way in any shape or form. Which leaves me begging the question - why camp out outside a bookshop for days where all they are holding is a midnight opening with no extra bells or whistles, when you can spend days doing far more exciting things and then wander into a shop and buy it?

Also, I do not comprehend some 'technology-savvy' users who download photos of a stolen copy of the book and then copy the whole thing out (which would take hours of their time), when they could buy a copy for about 2 hours worth of work in a exceedingly low-paid job.

On a side note though: I was a little gutted that people who camped out for a PS3 in London got £2000-worth of LCD TV. Shame that the console itself depreciates in value faster than a stone, and that I have no intention of getting one until they are almost dead in the water anyway (read: a good couple of years).

Oh dear, Tim won't be happy.

Delphi has been listed in the "12 Coding Languages that Never took off" on one of the leading developer sites:

http://www.softwaredeveloper.com/features/ghosts-in-machine-071207/

Along with it are ColdFusion, VMRL, SMIL and 'brainf*ck'.

I have probably now lost my faith in UK religious leaders

Floods are judgment on society, say bishops:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/01/nflood201.xml

According to senior Church of England bishops, the floods that ravaged the UK over the last month are 'God's judgment on the immorality and greed of modern society'

One bishop even said that they were due to 'laws that have undermined marriage, including the introduction of pro-gay legislation'.

This is in defiance with the fact that this ravaged land also included farmers without insurance who's crops have been destroyed, people who are ecologically positive, are heterosexual and do not live a particularly extravagant lifestyle. It's almost like saying that God smites people who have done nothing wrong.

This kind of stuff really gets my goat. It's bad enough that people in high positions can be so unethical as to spout this gibberish, but they are completely ignoring the fact that the Church of England was created as a way of breaking marriage vows by one of the most decadent and morally perverted kings in history, Henry the Eighth. I pity this arrogant, bigoted, closed minded bunch of incompetents for believing what they were saying is just and true to what their Church is grounded on.

I hope you all get flooded, you bastards.

Interesting fact of the day: Why onions make you cry

Some of the stuff in onions contains sulphur. When you cut an onion, the cells which contain the sulphur are broken apart, triggering enzymes which release the sulphur as a gas.

When this suplhur reaches your eye, it reacts with the water in there to make sulphuric acid.

Which stings. Lots. In turn, this makes you cry - turning you into a big sissy.

The only proper solutions are:

1) Chill the onion - this can prevent the enzymes from going off.
2) Use a sharp knife - this can reduce the amount of damage to the cells.
3) Have good ventilation.

Ah, the wonders of Open University freebies.