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congrats!! ![Beer | [beer]](https://www.codeproject.com/script/Forums/Images/beer.gif)
I'll write a suicide note on a hundred dollar bill - Dire Straits
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Thanks.
"You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." --Zig Ziglar
The Second EuroCPian Event will be in Brussels on the 4th of September
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Today on my way home I noticed that the sun was setting in the north, rather than in the west. It isn't something I've ever noticed this far south. I remember seeing this a few times when on holidays in the Highlands - when sometimes it would stay in twilight for an hour but never get really dark.
So, why did I call it the "Gleam in the North"? It is the title of the middle book of the Jacobite Trilogy by D.K.Broster[^]
"You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." --Zig Ziglar
The Second EuroCPian Event will be in Brussels on the 4th of September
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At the moment I'm reading "Scoring Points -- How Tesco is winning customer loyalty" by Clive Humby & Terry Hunt with Tim Phillips[^]. It has some quite interesting (although high-level [read managerial]) ideas about sifting through customer transaction data.
Anyway, when Tesco set up their internet shopping channel (Tesco.com formerly Tesco Direct) they added a feature to help reduce the fustration of finding and selecting commonly bought items. The feature allows the customer to use, optionally, the loyalty card data to see what has been bought recently in-store and create a "My Favourites" section so you can pick those items quickly into your shopping basket.
From the book:
There was, and continues to be, a small problem with 'My Favourites'. Some customers felt uncomfortable when presented with the fact that Tesco knows exactly what they bought - It is too personal. Lanslay says:
A lot didn't have any problem, but we offered the box to give them a choice - if they didn't want us to we would not compile the list. But a bigger problem was when it revealed information that some customers might not have wanted to be revealed.
An early example was when Lansley was contacted by a Tesco Direct shopper. She had just received her 'My Favourites' list of products bought in the previous two weeks, and she was certain there was an error: The list contained condoms, which her husband can't have bought because he didn't use them. Knowing the list to be accurate, Lansley made a diplomatic decision that became informal policy afterwards: "I'm sorry" he told her. "There has been a corruption in our data. We will remove it."
"Whenever something like that comes up like this, we say we are very sorry and change it", he says. "I don't want to cause a marital rift when I can tell a white lie. Customers regard groceries as personal. The reveal a lot about you".
"You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." --Zig Ziglar
The Second EuroCPian Event will be in Brussels on the 4th of September
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Blimey, I am no privacy nutter but that is pretty bad. Reminds me of wives who demand their husbands show them their credit card statements every month.
regards,
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
South Africa
Ian Darling wrote:
"and our loonies usually end up doing things like Monty Python."
Crikey! ain't life grand?
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Paul Watson wrote:
I am no privacy nutter but that is pretty bad
I wouldn't say so - the book gives more details than I've quoted above.
According to the book that level of data isn't kept for all that long before it is aggregated in to a more anonymous form - after all they are collecting gigabytes of data each month. From what I understand, each quarter they send out a mailing to the Clubcard holders with offers for products they buy and some tempter for things they might like to try. After that mailing has gone out the data is aggregated and the individual level scanned item data is removed.
The "My Favourites" feature only uses the previous 2 weeks worth of data because it is very expensive in computing resources to keep that online instantly accessible.
Paul Watson wrote:
Reminds me of wives who demand their husbands show them their credit card statements every month.
That doesn't sound like a very trusting relationship to me. [Just to state the blindingly obvious]
"You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." --Zig Ziglar
The Second EuroCPian Event will be in Brussels on the 4th of September
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Still, if that wife had been a wee bit more switched on then she would have figured it out.
Or, imagine she stumbles across this article/book and realises "They are talking about me... AND MY HUSBAND! Henry!!! I am calling the divorce lawyer you condom using git!"
BTW, Meg is doing a good job of convincing me to visit Scotland and mentioned you are the friendliest Scotsman in the highlands. I am on holiday soonish and looking for places to go.
regards,
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
South Africa
Ian Darling wrote:
"and our loonies usually end up doing things like Monty Python."
Crikey! ain't life grand?
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Paul Watson wrote:
if that wife had been a wee bit more switched on then she would have figured it out
True... I still laugh when I think about that. Luckily that Lanslay guy was a diplomat. If I'd been fielding the call I would have probably said: "Yes that's right, they were purchaced from the Wilinghamshire store's petrol station at 10 past 6 last Friday along with fresh flowers and £25 of petrol.". To which she would reply "but that can't be, I was in Heningsham that evening and my husband was working late".
I remember doing my school project on the ATM system at the Bank of Scotland and one of the bits of information I'd picked up what the "phantom transaction" where money would just disappear from an account. I asked them about it and they said it was rare but it does happen. So I asked about other types of transaction (e.g. you could re-order your cheque book from an ATM machine) but there didn't seem to be any records of that happening. Now most ATM machines have built in CCTV so it records who is using the machine so there can be little doubt.
Paul Watson wrote:
Meg is doing a good job of convincing me to visit Scotland
Absolutely, I highly recommend it also  . When are you planning on taking holidays? And if you are looking for a friendly tour guide then I'd be happy to show you around also.
"You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." --Zig Ziglar
The Second EuroCPian Event will be in Brussels on the 4th of September
Can't manage to P/Invoke that Win32 API in .NET? Why not do interop the wiki way!
My Blog
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Two blog entries in one day!
The survey[^] this past week was on optimism/pessimism. One comment that was brought up was the glass half full/empty (and even the engineers' version that it was twice as big as it needs to be) got me thinking about something Jim Rohn wrote/spoke about.
He was commenting on learning, improving, sharing, and generally becoming a better person. One of the ideas he put forward was what if you had a glass that was full of water... Can it hold any more water?
The glass is full, to the brim, with water. Can it hold more?
What do you think?
The answer is "Of course!" Absolutely it can hold more water. But for it to hold more water you've got to pour out what is already there.
If you've never read/listned to Jim Rohn then you are probably wondering what this all means.
What he was talking about was that in order for you to grow as a person you've got to pour out what you've already got. You've got to share. And the big advantage of sharing what you've learned is that repitition is the key to success. So each time you share you are repeating what you've learned. So, while the other person benefits by learning something new, you benefit also by reinforcing what you've already learned so it locks in, it is more easily accessible, you can get at it more quickly... And because you've poured out, you can now add more water to your glass from the vast ocean of knowledge that exists out there.
This is in essence one of the best things about The Code Project: everybody wins. Not that people are in competition with each other, but because they are in competition with themselves. Always improving, always getting better.
"You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." --Zig Ziglar
The Second EuroCPian Event will be in Brussels on the 4th of September
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About three weeks ago I took my car in to Kwik Fit because of a rattling that sounded like it came from the exhaust. The mechanic had a look and brought me over to see the underside of my car also. He explained that he couldn't see anything that was wrong and the entire exhaust system was gas tight. He did say that the rattling sound was probably coming from a heat shield covering the catalytic converter but that it was sturdy enough. He then gave it a good thump just to show how sturdy it was.
He advised me that there was nothing that needed doing and the best thing for me to do was mention it to the garage that was going to do the next service.
So, off I went happy that nothing was wrong with my car.
Yesterday I was out doing a bit of shopping and on my way home I was sitting in traffic waiting to get on to the Forth Road Bridge (At the moment there are road works and it typically takes an hour just to get onto the bridge because of that). Part of the route is down hill so I switch off my engine and coast slowly at about 1 or 2 miles an hour with many stop-starts. During this time I hear a more tinny rattling that sounds more serious than I have heard before.
I pull in on to a farm access to see what could be wrong. And having a look under the car I see that something is part detached and is scraping along the ground. Now, I don't know much about cars except how to drive them and I figured that I hadn't called the AA (Automobile Association) out for a couple of years and it was about time they earned the money I was paying them. So after about an hour of waiting (luckily I had a book with me) the AA turn up and rips of the remainder of the metal that was scraping on the floor.
When the guy stands up again he hands me the heat shield that the Kwik Fit mechanic had assured me was robust only three week previously. I was assured that the car was safe to drive but that I must get it repaired properly.
Earlier today I took my car back to Kwik Fit to get them to have another look. The mechanic takes me under the car to show me the underside again and explains that there was nothing needing doing. So I explained about the heat shield falling off (just in case he missed that) and he said that the manufacturers said it was alright to drive without one and they regularly pull off about half-dozen heat shields every week.
So, I said what was it there for? My car is a cheap car, where the emphasis was more on price than anything else. Why, then, would the manufacturer attach something that costs them extra money squeezing their margins or increasing the price of the car? The mechanic had no answer and just explained that he had no idea why manufacturer put them there at all.
So, at the end of all that, I have a car with no heat shield under the catalytic converter. The AA said it must be replaced, Kwik Fit said it is fine without it. Who do I believe?
Next weekend I'll be taking it to another garage to get another opinion. On the positive side, at least it gave me an hour and 45 minutes to continue reading my book. (1 hour while waiting for the AA, and 45 minutes while waiting for Kwik Fit to attend to my car)
"You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." --Zig Ziglar
The Second EuroCPian Event will be in Brussels on the 4th of September
Can't manage to P/Invoke that Win32 API in .NET? Why not do interop the wiki way!
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The heat shield definitely needs to be replaced. They aren't put on for decoration purposes! The catalytic converter gets way hot (try touching it sometime after the car has been running a while) and putting a heat dissipater (i.e., shield) between it and the underside of the passenger compartment is only sensible.
Another thing I'd like to mention is that coasting down a hill with the engine off is illegal in some (U.S.) states. The reason is that the car (mainly the brakes) ceases to function when the engine is off.
"When I was born I was so surprised that I didn't talk for a year and a half." - Gracie Allen
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DavidCrow wrote:
putting a heat dissipater between it and the underside of the passenger compartment is only sensible
Actually the shield between the cat' and the passenger compartment is intact. It was the shield between the cat' and the road that fell off.
DavidCrow wrote:
coasting down a hill with the engine off is illegal in some (U.S.) states
Just as well I don't live in the States. I always make sure that there is always some mechanism to stop the car. A basic safety precaution for any mechanical device - Always know how to stop it. With the engine off and the disk brakes inactive (mine don't go fully inactive, although I do have to stomp on them really hard) I have two options. (1) The hand break [which is what I was using to slow down] and if that fails (2) put the car into gear and release the clutch.
"You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." --Zig Ziglar
The Second EuroCPian Event will be in Brussels on the 4th of September
Can't manage to P/Invoke that Win32 API in .NET? Why not do interop the wiki way!
My Blog
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Well, that's my sixth article posted, and after much procrastinating as well.
This one is my contribution to the competition to win an HP 4150 iPaq[^]. Even if it doesn't win, I feel that it targets an area of software development that is often forgotten, especially in English speaking contries. What needs to be remembered is that there are only 325 million people in the world who speak English as a FIRST language. That amounts to only 5% of the total world population.
"You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." --Zig Ziglar
The Second EuroCPian Event will be in Brussels on the 4th of September
Can't manage to P/Invoke that Win32 API in .NET? Why not do interop the wiki way!
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"It" being my new bio pic.
First of all let me show you my previous bio picture, in its full state, and by that I mean the size it was before I squashed it down to fit the Code Project 150x150 pixel limit on Bio pictures.
This old picture represented me around January, it was a new year and should have been a joyous time. I wasn't so thrilled at the time. I was still trying to push through the legal stuff that was left hanging after the break up of my relationship to my ex-fiancée (51 hours later it would have been ex-wife).
Let me explain a little about that. In that relationship I was emotionally smothered and suffocated. At the time I didn't see it, but looking back I was double checking everything I did because it was bound to be wrong. She couldn't focus on any single task, which at first seemed like a delighful excentricity - but employers really don't like that. She alienated my friends and had attempted to do the same with my family. I feel that only by virture of the fact that my parents saw what was actually happening did I manage to keep any at all. When things exploded, I found they were there for me, they were always there, they had always been there. They were waiting for me to abre los ojos (open the eyes)
The legal work should have been completed around September 2003, but wasn't until the end of February 2004. If it didn't work out I would have probably have had to sell my house - which I really didn't want because I like it, I like the space, I like having a garden, I like the location.
The old image of me has no expression - neither happy or sad, the eyes are half asleep. At that time I felt like a walking zombie. The bridge represents the crossing between two stages of my life.
I am now across that bridge. I am where I want to be. The new picture is of an area of Scotland that is very peaceful. I am alone in the wilderness.
Don't read anything negative in to that. In Pamela Stephenson's recent book "Bravemouth" she describes her husband, fellow Scot Billy Connoly, getting up in the middle of a dinner party to sit by himself in the grounds of their estate. She follows him out to see if he's okay and he come out with one of the most profound things I think I've read. "Being alone is not the absence of others, it is the presence of oneself"
Although in the new picture, I am represented all alone in the wilderness what it represents is me being allowed to be me. If you think about it, don't you do things when you are alone that you wouldn't do when others are around. Things like singing in the shower or dancing to music on the radio while your vacuuming the living room. The image of me is also brighter, happier, and joyful. I can be me again.
"You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." --Zig Ziglar
The Second EuroCPian Event will be in Brussels on the 4th of September
Can't manage to P/Invoke that Win32 API in .NET? Why not do interop the wiki way!
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Well Colin, I'm sorry that you went through that. However, I'm even happier (for you) that you are through that now.
Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
The old image of me has no expression - neither happy or sad, the eyes are half asleep. At that time I felt like a walking zombie. The bridge represents the crossing between two stages of my life.
Interesting. I never noticed the symbolism before (kinda sad because I took a class on symbolism this year)
Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
I am now across that bridge. I am where I want to be. The new picture is of an area of Scotland that is very peaceful. I am alone in the wilderness.
Good for you (isn't that the name of a song?). Being alone is sometimes very good. It allows me to think. How 'bout you?
Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
Although in the new picture, I am represented all alone in the wilderness what it represents is me being allowed to be me. If you think about it, don't you do things when you are alone that you wouldn't do when others are around. Things like singing in the shower or dancing to music on the radio while your vacuuming the living room. The image of me is also brighter, happier, and joyful. I can be me again.
Good insight. I am glad that you can be you (kinda stating the obvious). Singing in the shower is fun, and dancing to the radio while vacuuming is awesome!
Aaron Eldreth
TheCollective4.com
My Articles
While much is too strange to be believed,
Nothing is too strange to have happened.
- T. Hardy
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Aaron Eldreth wrote:
I never noticed the symbolism before
You need a reference for symbolism. For instance, in Europe and North America (and other English speaking countries) the thumbs up gesture is a confirmation, acceptance or agreement. Apparently in Turkey the thumbs up gesture would be the equivalent of sticking up your middle finger.
In this case, it was probably more subtle - you may have had to dig through my last few hundred posts to pull out the necessary information to make the connection. And who is going to go through that if they don't already know there is a connection to be made.
Aaron Eldreth wrote:
It allows me to think. How 'bout you?
Yes, I can often organise my thoughts better. But also brainstorming with others is good. Yes, I can brainstorm with myself because I am quite good at making random associations that sometimes curve back round and I see the same thing from a different perspective.
Aaron Eldreth wrote:
Singing in the shower is fun, and dancing to the radio while vacuuming is awesome!
Actually, I caught myself singing in the shower for the first time in ages about a month back. I went round with a big grin on my face for the rest of the morning when I realised the relevance.
As for the vacuuming, I don't go in for the full Mrs. Doubtfire (Robin William's version) treatment but recently I noticed that I do crank up the volume and have some fun with an otherwise mundane task.
"You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." --Zig Ziglar
The Second EuroCPian Event will be in Brussels on the 4th of September
Can't manage to P/Invoke that Win32 API in .NET? Why not do interop the wiki way!
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Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
Actually, I caught myself singing in the shower for the first time in ages about a month back. I went round with a big grin on my face for the rest of the morning when I realised the relevance.
From the look on your new pic, you still haven't stopped smiling 
Aaron Eldreth
TheCollective4.com
My Articles
While much is too strange to be believed,
Nothing is too strange to have happened.
- T. Hardy
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I have a new Bio Photo as of today. This is to reflect my brighter outlook on life than I had when I created the previous picture.
Many thanks go to fellow CPian Megan Forbes[^] who was kind enough to allow me to use one of her photos of Scotland[^] for the background. The photo is an eastward view of Rannoch Moor[^]
"You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." --Zig Ziglar
The Second EuroCPian Event will be in Brussels on the 4th of September
Can't manage to P/Invoke that Win32 API in .NET? Why not do interop the wiki way!
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Okay, what I am going to try and do is reverse engineer Serbian. What triggered this insanity? Check out this thread[^].
This is a bit like the French scholar Jean-François Champollion decyphering the Rosetta Stone[^]. Well, maybe not in that league - But if it works it will be an achievement for me.
The starting point are some phrases in Serbian that have the English translation next to them.
Sotona iz Redmonda == Satan from Redmond
Evo ti sajt jednog mog prijatelja, pa se raspravljaj sa njim do mile volje == Here is a web site of a friend of mine - you can discuss this issue with him as much as you wish
Satana iz Redmonda i njegovi dugi rogovi == Satan from Redmond and its long horns
This is Redmond == Ovo je Redmond
I am from Redmond == Ja sam iz Redmonda
I was in Redmond == Bio sam u Redmondu
I == Ja. However, in Serbian, I is often implicit.
So the above is my starting point.
?? iz == from
?? sam == a conjugation of "to be"
?? u == in
?? prijatelja == friend
?? -a -u on the end of a noun is connected with the verb tense??
?? i == and
"You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." --Zig Ziglar
Coming soon: The Second EuroCPian Event
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Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
iz == from
Correct
Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
sam == a conjugation of "to be"
Correct
Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
u == in
Correct
Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
prijatelja == friend
Almost correct - prijatelj == friend
Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
-a -u on the end of a noun is connected with the verb tense??
Not in this case. These inflections are connected with a word usage. Ie:
He is a friend - On je prijatelj
I see a friend - Vidim prijatelja
I tell it to a friend - Govorim prijatelju
Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
i == and
Correct
I am impressed, Colin. 
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May I join in?
I am also a linguist and I know a bit of Russian which might help me unravel some of these mysteries... 
Let's see
"on" = he
vidim = "see" (first person conjugation)
govorim = "speak/tell/talk" (first person conjugation)
Note: Interesting to see how it's first person singular, not plural... In Russian it's "vidim" for the "we" form.
"a" = accusative ending (direct object)
"u" = dative ending (indirect object)
I don't know if these change with different types of words, but I'm assuming they don't.
I have a symbiotic relationship with my computer.
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dacris wrote:
"on" = he
Correct
dacris wrote:
vidim = "see" (first person conjugation)
Correct, although I would rather translate it as "I see"
dacris wrote:
govorim = "speak/tell/talk" (first person conjugation)
Correct, with the same remark as above.
dacris wrote:
"a" = accusative ending (direct object)
Correct
dacris wrote:
"u" = dative ending (indirect object)
Correct
dacris wrote:
don't know if these change with different types of words, but I'm assuming they don't.
Actually, they do - it depends on gender.
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Nemanja Trifunovic wrote:
I am impressed
Thanks.  Although the real trick is if I can form a valid sentence myself.
Here are my guesses:
Vidim == I see
From Latin: Veni Vidi Vici - I came, I saw, I conquered.
?? -im == First person present tense verb ending
Does "Venim" exist? I come
Does "Vicim" exist? I conquer
?? -a on the end of prijatelj denotes my or mine??
?? I see my friend == Vidim prijatelja ??
?? -u on the end of prijatelj denotes it??
?? Ovo == this ??
?? On == He ??
?? je == a conjugation of the verb "to be" ??
"You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." --Zig Ziglar
Coming soon: The Second EuroCPian Event
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Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
Vidim == I see
Correct
Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
-im == First person present tense verb ending
Correct - although it can also be "-em" or "-am"
Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
?? -a on the end of prijatelj denotes my or mine??
No. It denotes an accusative use. In Serbian, it would be pretty unusual to explicitely mention "my" in a construct like this.
You can say:
"Vidim mog prijatelja" - I see my friend (my - mog), but in most cases you would say:
"Vidim prijatelja" - I see a friend.
Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
I see my friend == Vidim prijatelja ??
Correct.
Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
Ovo == this ??
Correct
Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
On == He ??
Correct
Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
?? je == a conjugation of the verb "to be" ??
I would say correct, although it is a little oversimplification.
Now, would you like to hear another interesting thing about Serbian? We use both Cyrilic and Latin alphabet. For instance, this is a Serbian site with Cyrilic alphabet:
Cyrilic Rastko[^]
and
this is the same site with Latin alphabet (disregard the text in pictures, which is Cyrilic in both cases).
Rastko Latin[^]
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Hi,
Nemanja Trifunovic wrote:
We use both Cyrilic and Latin alphabet
Any particular reason why? I'm guessing Serbia is at the crossroads between Latin text countries and Cyrilic ones. Is there specific groups who use one over the other, or is it all just personal preference?
From the links you gave me, a quick scan would suggest:
Promena pisma = Main Page
Promena = Main (I'm guessing that Promena shares the same root as the English word "promenant")
Pism(a) = Page (by elimination)
Pretraga = Search (actually I clicked this and I saw the Google logo)
BIBLIOTEKA SRPSKE KULTURE NA INTERNETU
Bibliotek = Library (I'm guessing because many european languages use similar words for library [or bookstore])
Kulture = Culture [seems almost universal in European languages that I've met]
Internet = Internet (Probably stating the obvious)
Srpske??
??Na = on??
Have you ever listent to Michel Thomas? I've noticed on his Spanish and French CDs he starts off on both with
It is = Es
It is acceptable - Es Aceptable
It is not acceptable - No es aceptable
It is not acceptable to me - No es aceptable para me
It is not acceptable to me that way - No es aceptable para me así
On the German he starts:
Is
It is
It is good
What is good?
Could you show me a sentence being built up in this way?
"You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." --Zig Ziglar
The Second EuroCPian Event will be in Brussels on the 4th of September
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