Are you a cell phone Junkie?

Take this simple quiz and find out.

• Your personal monthly cellphone bill is:

1. <$20.
2. $20-40.
3. $40-70.
4. $70+.

• You go over your minutes…

1. Never.
2. Occasionally.
3. Sometimes.
4. Always.

• You find yourself with nothing to do. Do you:

1. Relax.
2. Look for something to do.
3. Wonder if there’s someone you can call.
4. Pull out your phone and go through the address book.

• Your phone runs out of juice and dies: Do you:

1. Rejoice at the prospect of a distraction-free day.
2. Shrug your shoulders and get on with your life.
3. Look for the nearest charger or grab your spare battery.
4. Panic.

• Your phone goes off in a public place. You don’t recognize the number. You…

1. Hit the mute button and let them leave a message.
2. Ignore it and let them leave a message.
3. Answer it while leaving the room.
4. Answer it – it might be important.

• You use your phone while driving…

1. Never.
2. Rarely, and keep the calls brief.
3. Often.
4. All the time – that’s what it’s for!

• How many people are in your phone’s address book?

1. <10.
2. 10-20.
3. 20-30.
4. 30+.

Scoring: Add up the numbers of your answers and grade yourself as follows:

• Less than 10: You are a paragon of discipline and self-control
• 11-16: You are reasonably well-behaved.
• 17-20: You are a heavy user, but you are not addicted… yet.
• 21+: You are a fully-fledged cellphone junkie – seek professional help.

Danish Pizza guy jailed for “racism”

A Danish Pizzeria owner has been jailed… for refusing to pay a fine, which was given because he refused to serve French or Germans out of loyalty to the US…

• Last time I looked, a storeowner was allowed to serve whomever they wished.
• Refusing to serve Frogs and Krauts French and Germans is not actually "racism"… though it may be discrimination.
• While I admire his stance, it is not right to take out your dislike for a country's policies on individuals from that country.

Perhaps a better way to make his point would have been to display something that showed his support for the US… and let the customers decide.

Rachel’s Tale

"Rachel" is a London Tube survivor. She was on the King's Cross train in the carriage where the bomb went off. This is her story.

My favorite quote: "The fear is leaving me and the sense of pride is growing, proud of myself for holding it together, proud of all the people who helped, proud of London, my adopted city. We're going to put on one hell of an Olympics after this."

Accessing an unsecured wireless network is a felony?

Here's the story: A Florida man parked outside someone's house and connected to their (unsecured) wireless network. As a result, he has been charged with a third-degree felony.

Here's the question: What crime has actually been committed? "Stealing" something that has apparently been freely given away?

There is a reasonable expectation that the homeowner should have known enough to ask the right questions, like "Can anyone else access my network?" If he could not secure the network himself (it's not exactly difficult) he should have known who to ask.

Here's a parallel: Leave your front door unlocked and go on vacation. When you return home, your house will almost certainly have been burgled. Now try to claim on your homeowner's insurance. Odds are your insurance company will refuse – and rightly so – on the grounds that it is reasonable for them to expect you to lock your door. The only crime that I can see here is loitering… with intent to access the Internet.

I say punish him for what he has actually done, not for what he could-have/should-have/might-have done. The law does not exist to protect fools from the consequences of their folly.

Unfortunately we live in an age when possession of a crowbar or lock-picks is viewed as evidence of intent to commit a crime, whether of not any crime has actually been committed.

A bad day for London

Bombs went off in London today.

But for the grace of God, I would be in the middle of it.

It appears that the terrorists think that they can scare us out of Iraq by blowing up a few bombs, that they can influence the course of a country by killing some civilians.They couldn’t be more wrong. Memo to Al-Q: Check your history books.

• This is a nation that stood alone against the might of a heavily-armed Germany and prevailed.
• A nation whose 700-plane Air force swatted out of the sky a German Air force that outnumbered them five to one.
• A nation that Irish extremists tried to bomb into submission… and failed.

And you think you’re in with a chance?

As they say over here in the US, "bring it on". This is not Spain, a nation of cowards that can be scared into voting for the quisling with a few threats and one well-placed bomb.

To quote Churchill, "You do your worst – and we will do our best"

A good day for London

The good news: The 2012 Olympics will be held in London.

The bad news: Try getting a cheap airline seat…

Here’s how the voting went:

Round 1

• London 22
• Paris 21
• Madrid 20
• New York 19
• Moscow 15 (Eliminated)

Round 2

• Madrid 32
• London 27
• Paris 25
• New York 16 (Eliminated)

Round 3

• London 39
• Paris 33
• Madrid 31 (Eliminated)

Round 4

• London 54
• Paris 50 (Eliminated)

And then there were eight…

Sandra Day O’Connor steps down from the Supreme Court. And the fight to choose her successor begins.