Piston ZA

As a previous Defender owner, I quite like it. Redesigning an icon was always going to be difficult, and impossible to please everyone. The looks aren't going to be for everyone, and I am on the fence with some of the styling details (especially the front end, but hopefully a bull bar and winch will sort that out). But, there is still a lot that I like about the new one though. If this thing is as capable and more spacious and comfortable (and more reliable ) than the old, I'm all for it. Maybe they should have just retired the Defender name, and called this something else, then there would be less bitching. The official reveal is in about an hours time, so will get more details then.

Agree, it was great that he did that. French is the official language, with Italian the second major language in Monaco From Wikipedia... Monégasque is the traditional national language of the Monegasque people (who represent only 21.6% of the total population[1]). It is a dialect of Ligurian, and is somewhat similar to Italian Standard Italian is also a major language in Monaco. Italian nationals make up 19% of the total population.[1]

I feel you. I struggled when they signed Vettel, but began to accept him. Hamilton, just no, never. But I can't see that happening now. Charles is well on his way to becoming their no.1 driver, so once Vettel leaves, I think they would replace him with a no.2 type driver. Also, if you look at how the Monza crowd react to Ham, Ferrari must know that it would not be a popular decision. I see Hamilton and Toto are having a good bitch session over Charles' defensive tactics.

BMW have an X6 painted in vantablack at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show https://www.motor1.com/news/367427/bmw-x6-vantablack-custom/

This article also points to over-fishing and corruption, although the killer whales and changing ocean conditions could also be contributing factors https://e360.yale.edu/features/shark-mystery-where-have-south-africas-great-whites-gone Fallows and his colleagues in South Africa’s shark tourism business think they have the answer. The culprit, they believe, is a long-line fishery that has been targeting smaller species of sharks, including soupfin and smooth-hound sharks, which are a favored prey species of great whites. The South African government has encouraged this poorly regulated fishery and has granted licenses to politically connected boat owners...

It is heaven on earth, and everyone should try get up there at least once in their lives. My wife and I managed a small lodge in the heart of the delta for one of the larger safari companies. It was incredible - for most of the year you could only get to the island by boat. On days we had no guests in camp, we would explore the islands on mokoro, go tiger fishing. Very fond memories. When the kids are out of the house, we plan on going back.

It's one of the few animals on earth that actually see humans as prey (if they can see you)

I believe crocs vision under water is pretty bad, the nictitating membrane over their eyes make it hard for them to focus, so that might explain why they are less threatening underwater (still wouldn't try it though). Different story when you are at the surface or on the edge of the water. I worked and lived in the delta for a couple of years, and it was the hippos that were by far the biggest concern and threat.

Lovely photo. But if you think that's crazy, there is a group of crocodile researchers that scuba dive with the crocs in the Okavango Delta.

Ha ha, that's happened to me, on more than one occasion.

That Ematic looks very good, and would be my choice if getting a new Android box now. Google Certified is a very important factor imo. I have the Xiaomi Mi TV S, similar price with similar specs to the Ematic and also Google certified, but it doesn't have the ethernet port and only has 1 usb. Cancelled our DSTV, but now watch through the DSTV Now App if need be. Most of our viewing is YouTube, YouTube Kids for the kids, Redbull TV for the mtb, and then I downloaded an App called TeaTV for all the latest movies and tv shows, so no need for a separate Netflix etc,. subscription.

Ha ha, only just. I only got to watch it for the first time last week.

Ha, brilliant, and apparently completely true. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thagomizer

I think Slowbee means the first pic, with the circle of trolleys around the car

Ja, didn't matter in the end, Pollard kept his nerve. But I can imagine the backlash if he did miss it, and also if something like that had to happen in a WC knockout game. Also I see there was a hint of Barrett stepping on the touchline in the lead up to the AB try. Haven't seen much more about that, so was probably not, but maybe should have gone to the TMO to check??

Hansen's response to this... basically everyone is doing it so what's the issue? https://rugby365.com/countries/new-zealand/all-blacks-defend-beauden-barretts-goalkicking-ploy But is was blatant from Barrett - waited for the ref to turn his back then gave it a good old nudge forward.

Did Pollard move the ball there or did the ref mark it? The ball was kicked from at least 5m closer to the touch line than the line from where the try was scored, so a lot more difficult angle.

I agree with Stretch, it should go down to who lost the least amount of wickets, but those were the rules, and they would've/should've known it before hand. I think the Kiwis actually lost it when Boult caught Stokes, but then stepped onto the boundary rope for a six.

Yes, it would also be on their clothes etc. (like the firefighters clothes that are still abandoned in the hospital and still has high levels of contamination) but once it has entered the body and the person has been washed down, they can't transfer it. "But once a person's skin and clothing are washed, his or her ability to expose others to radiation is eliminated, Caracappa said. "If they ingested or inhaled radioactive material and it has been deposited inside of them, there is no way that they're going to transfer that to other people." https://www.livescience.com/13444-radiation-exposure-contagious.html

Quite easily. I'm trying to find the article I read a few weeks back, that focused on the scientific inaccuracies. If I find it again, I'll post, but in the meantime here some other articles just from a quick Google search... https://culturacolectiva.com/movies/8-historical-inaccuracies-in-hbo-chernobyl https://www.cbsnews.com/news/chernobyl-disaster-how-accurate-is-the-hbo-series/ Also, the show depicts radiation as being contagious (like a virus) which it is not.

Started watching The Hot Zone last night. Two episodes in and hooked

It sounds like it. One of the online reviews I read/saw strongly hinted at this. Can't remember which one but the reviewer said they were not allowed to talk about it.

Apparently it was an issue with the mechanics radio, and remember it's quicker to get the wheel guns out than the tyres and still get them out of the blankets. But agree, can we have the rest of the races in Austria please.

Strategy hasn't been their strong point this season, that's for sure. However, wrt to the Vettel pitstop, apparently there was an issue with the radio communication to the mechanics, so maybe not entirely the teams fault? The call to go with softs was not necessarily a bad call, a lot of the teams were struggling on the mediums. And I can't remember them having to pit so much earlier than the other teams (Vettel and Bottas pitted at the same time). My sympathy with Ferrari lies in the fact that they have come so close to winning 3 races so far this season. 1 - Bahrain - a mechanical issue for LeClerc with just a couple of laps to go while leading (Ferrari have had very good reliability this season, and the only time in a race where it has gone wrong they happen to be leading the race. Merc has had quite a few mechanical issues, but they always seem to catch it in practice, not in the race). 2 - Vettel penalty in Canada which was very 50/50 and now 3 - the 50/50 no penalty on Verstappen. But yes, other times this season their strategy has been lacking, but it might have been more in desperation due to the performance disadvantage to Merc.

As much as I think Verstappen should've been penalised for the LeClerc pass, he did drive a phenomenal race. Can't remember, but didn't he lap his team mate?