Thanks :-). Fritz.

I am not a Yahoo mail user. So I cannot verify this. However, the intent of using a CAPTCHA, some difficult to read character recognition test, is to differentiate you from potential automated software. Since it is relatively hard for automated programs to figure out those characters, my guess is that Yahoo feel like it will reduce spam sent from their users using this technique.

A good example of this would be the file like objects used in Python. In various modules, you can use file like objects for different input/ouput operations.

For instance, take the pickle module: http://docs.python.org/library/pickle.html . It provides object de/serialization. It requires a file object for loading or dumping object. If you were to use an old tape component where there is no built in mechanism to access it, you could create a Tapefile class simply by specifying the few methods required by pickle. It could look like this:

class Tapefile():
“A tape file”
def __init__(self,params):
#various initialization for tape access
pass
def read(len):
#use special methods to access tape
pass
def readline():
#use special methods to read a whole line on tape
pass
def write(value):
#use special methods to write on tape
pass

You could than pass a Tapefile object to the pickle module and it would simply work. The pickle module do not care if it has a file object or another object pretending to act like a file. As long as it has the right methods, it will work.

I tend to think that our societies have evolved and are evolving in a way that is good for most people.

I am not an environmental expert but I think plastic bags used as one-time disposable objects, they way they are mostly used here in Canada, are a treat to the environment. A plastic bag tax would considerably reduce that usage pattern.

Incidentally, what is a plastic bag tax for? Politicians in the UK have admitted that plastic bags don’t pose a significant threat to the environment other than being unsightly, but they want to implement the tax anyway, “to send a message”. The message this sends to me is that I don’t have the aesthetic freedom to simply not mind a few plastic bags drifting around. Instead I am compelled to throw a bit more cash down the central drain, in order to make me behave in a way which is, by somebody else’s standards, more pretty.

Unicode is not young (early 90’s) and it’s still not used in many cases. It’s sad…

Getting used to the basic Get Latest, Check Out, Check In is quick. It is probably a matter of minutes. If you happen to have a conflit, the conflit resolution workflow can take a little while to get used too.

If you have to use Work Items in the process, that takes a few hours if you have to use all the panels.

I hope it helps.