5-element

I did renew on their website. And no, I won't fax anything. I am now looking at different forums where people are confronted with exactly the same thing. Some do send their ID, others don't. From what I am reading, Nexway seems a bona fide set-up. Apparently (take with pinch of salt), if you refuse to fax ID, then they just cancel the order and do not take the money.  Famous last words. The question about WHY I have Kaspersky is that for years, I had great, free AV (AVAST, AVIRA, I think the last one was Avira, until a year ago. Then I got some really, really dreadful malware (Smart Fortress one week, then the following week, the famous "virus de la gendarmerie" = both extortionist viruses, and in both cases I had to take my PC to the shop to get it disinfected since I couldn't do a thing with it - no safe mode, nothing. Apparently there are some very nasty malwares and you need special software to get rid of them? Anyway, at that point, the guy in the shop only charged me half for the second problem, saying how unlucky I was, and he suggested then that I get Kaspersky - which, naturally, he sold me [:D] - and I have to say that since then, fingers crossed, no more invasion of the body snatchers. Well, until now that is. It might be in the end, that Kaspersky is the greatest malware of them all!!!! I have now sent a short email to Nexway to say that no, we won't fax any ID, for obvious reasons, and that we are very surprised to be asked for it! I'll see now if I get any reply to that! Looks like I might get back onto AVIRA...hum... in any case, thank you Clair.

For reasons I won't go into now, a year ago I acquired Kasperky AV. Now it is time to renew, and every day when I boot up I have a warning to let me know how many more days are left on the licence. Finally I filled in the form for renewal, including banking details to pay by card, and was told I would receive an email so that activation can be carried out. Several hours later, I receive the email (addres is [email protected]) telling me that to complete the deal and proceed with activation, I have to fax a copy of passport or ID card or driving licence. I have always been told I should NEVER send such details. Does anyone know if it is OK??? Is Kaspersky really Kaspersky? Of course, it is claimed that the money has not yet been taken, but... I just rang the computer shop which sold me the Kaspersky AV package, and they don't know as they do not deal with Kaspersky by internet.... (Mr 5-E is not too pleased, as it is his plastic I used...)[:'(]

[quote user="NormanH"] "All as bad as each other" perhaps [/quote] That seems close, but not quite such potent imagery as in French. Does it mean that there is no need (or tradition) for such powerful expression in English? I doubt it. Perhaps Christine or Clair or someone else will come up with an even better translation. [:P]

"Y en a pas un pour racheter l'autre!" I used to love that expression - seems so appropriate for politicians!

[:D]

Poisson d'avril?

I agree Chancer, this 60-second advert nearly lost me. Still watched it. It started very well, then focussed on 2 areas of particular interest for Beziers:  first, bullfighting, and then wine growing and vineyards - both topics I don't really relate to - I would have liked much, much more on Beziers-town. [:(]

Lovely photos, congratulations also from me about your impressive way of dieting and about the results. I find that Beziers is probably at its best at this time of the year, while most of the rest of France is still shivering, It is the oppressive summer heat there which I don't like so much. But in spring, and late summer/autumn, it's gorgeous!

Thank you so much for the link. I'd planned to watch it yesterday and then forgot all about it, now I can see it, great!

Thank you Norman, you're a doll. [:D]

Betty, your post is a huge source of relief to me - I, too, find this "damned if I do, and damned if I don't". On the one hand, I remember a friend of mine being deeply, deeply offended when I corrected her once we were in a restaurant and it was clear the waiter did not understand her French -  she sulked and sulked and told me how mortified she was. I correct Mr. 5-E's French all the time, which is not always judicious or conducive to harmonious marital relations.[:D] as he thinks my expectations are unrealistic. On the other hand, I find it incredibly tedious when anglophones who are learning French insist on speaking French to me - and trying not to offend, I just switch to English (trying my best Sloane accent) - after what is usually a very short time, we all revert to English and can actually have a decent conversation. But with my bilingual friends, I find it so relaxing to just go back and forth between the 2 languages, we can have a lot of fun that way, I love that very special kind of communication. However, thank you to those of you who expressed your dislike of  being corrected the wrong way or at the wrong time. It is helpful to hear, as I must be guilty of insensitivity sometimes, must be a little more careful.

... and on the other hand... (sorry for the clumsy dead link.[:(]) http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/the-poor-spend-all-the-money-isnt-it-obvious-8553643.html?fb_action_ids=10151646850711874&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map={%2210151646850711874%22%3A138831219629439}&action_type_map={%2210151646850711874%22%3A%22og.likes%22}&action_ref_map=[]

[quote user="Hoddy"]I'm surprised we don't see even more of it given the poor provision of toilet facilities for women. Hoddy[/quote] Pity there isn't a "like" button, you are so right Hoddy... I'd always much rather find a toilet, but when there isn't one,  it can be a life saver to open both front and back car doors, and crouch in between the two. Let them who have oversize bladders cast the first stone.[:D]

Thanks for the reminder, Clair. I had absolutely no idea!!! Amazing the kind of things that can slip your mind...[8-)]

(as I was saying - but I have had a lot of trouble with posting lately, so it didn't "catch!): So I will say it again, second attempt: Ha ha ha, Norman, trust you to be the first cynic to uncover the pot aux roses! A bit obvious, innit?

The Sausage is back!!! (must be the thread on processed meat that did the trick).

Cramps are also thought to be due to magnesium deficiency, or a calcium/magnesium imbalance. I, too, eat quite a lot of salt and my BP is usually through the floor. Venison, miam miam! I'd better go and remind myself who Hilda Baker is - without looking, I'd say "Coronation Street" but I might be wrong, as I mix up those soaps.

[quote user="Chancer"]I dont touch merguéz and other saucisses these days as if you weigh them before and after cooking whilst you lose a lot of fat (if grilled) and water, often 50% +  its therefore cheaper per kilo to buy chicken breast, a crazy situation and shows you just how much money the industrials make out of us. [/quote] Ah but that is for industrial merguez sold in supermarkets. My butcher makes his merguez, and they give practically no fat at all, or water, when grilled. No comparison with the grande surface ones. Chancer, it is ischio-jambiers (from "jambe")... I do love your phonetic French, it is so colourful and made me smile. They are the muscles on the back of the thigh, opposite to the quadriceps in the front. Don't know what they are in English.

Ah I see, so it is the nitrites and nitrates which are the bad guys this week. Not just the bad fat. [:'(] So you can choose between heart attack/AVC (with transfats) and cancer (with nitrates). Sausages have got both. Ahem. I wonder if merguez and chorizo count as "sausages" ? ( sadly, I know the answer) Thanks Norman for that article.

I haven't read the report, so don't know - but surely, processed food is much, much more than processed meat! It is where all the transfats hide - in biscuits, cakes, so-called ice-creams, chocolate, fake cheese for pizza, anything with palm oil like peanut butter, etc... Charcuterie is a funny one. For instance, "rillettes d'oie" is very fatty. Yet, it appears that just like duck fat, goose fat is actually good for you, cholesterol-wise. (I heard that once, and it is my excuse, as rillettes d'oie is my indulgence[:)]) - so in that sense it is better for you than  most cheese! Today I finished some Picard meatballs that were in the freezer, and looked carefully at the ingredients, as I was convinced that there was dodgy stuff in there. And maybe there was, but to the 48% beef - from France, apparently, as if this was a garantee of anything! - there was quite an amount of TVP added (textured vegetable protein, i.e. probably soja). So, strangely, this may be a case of a processed food ("meat")which is not too bad i terms of trans fats since TVP is vegetarian/vegan. I agree with you Chancer, about the weight and fitness too!

Frecossais, I really have to press the "like" button for this one!!! LOL! In any case, it took me 30 seconds of looking at the word "Givenchy" before I realised what was wrong. Givenchy does seem almost right, doesn't it? No wonder you picked it!

OK, here is another article on the same topic maybe this one works!  http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/sep/16/insects-arachnids-future-food

I believe there is much research to try and predict "foods of the future" - how can the planet sustain the world population, how to cope with protein shortage etc?? Insects seem to be very high on the list. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18813075 I have personal interest in this, as I have always believed that even if I had the athletic qualities required, I could never make "Koh-Lanta" (a rubbish TV programme) where people are stranded on a tropical island and have to undergo a series of tests and competitions - one of them is, inevitably, to eat live grubs in large quantity. I thought I could probably cope with grilled grasshoppers and grilled scorpions, but not with big white  grubs like cockshafer - the kind we find in compost heaps http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18813075 something wrong with this link, first I can't make it live, and when I can, it doesn't lead anywhere, sorry!!!

I am pretty sure that many French people have no idea what une desserte is. And, Norman, it could have been worse. At least you didn't attempt to eat the furniture. [:P]

[quote user="woolybanana"].... de m'avoir corrigé...  ?[/quote] Ah ah! Bravo WB, once a language teacher, always a language teacher. Sweet 17 will hate us both, now. [;-)] and be sorry she started this!