Barker &ndash for instance there was at some point a short bitter marriage to a
Barker – for instance, there was at some point a short, bitter marriage “to a sailor” – but what is unlikely to change is the awe of other writers at her dedication to a life of fiction. Work always came first.But, let it be said, she was also a very kind and loving friend.Jane Gardam. The case of Ms Susan Wallace, who went down to her local with Igwig the iguana, has lessons for us all that go well beyond the blindingly obvious “do not take your iguana to the pub”. Ms Wallace, you may recall, has just ended up with a conviction for assault and causing unnecessary suffering – and not to the iguana.
Lesson 2, which is not altogether discouraging, is that men in pubs have a problem with rather large lizards sprawled across ladies’ backs, perceiving them as a threat.Precisely what the men found so threatening about the lizard was not actually disclosed in court. Was it his claws, his tongue, his colour, his reptilian mien, the mysterious smile on his face, or perhaps his female companion?Which brings us to lesson 3. When out alone in the evening, you can leave the mace, the pepper spray and the rape alarm safely at home. Just don’t forget the iguana – and steer clear of pubs.. Will the price cut be enough to persuade Britons to sign up for the broadband ‘revolution’ with as much alacrity as Americans or our fellow-Europeans?
The difference between dial-up internet access and a high-speed service that is permanently on is akin to that between a horse-drawn cart and a car, which is why there is usually no going back for people who have graduated from one to the other. So it would be churlish not to applaud the sharp price reduction announced yesterday by BT for its broadband service.Assuming that the internet service providers pass on most of the cut, an average monthly subscription should come down to around £25 from the £40 or so it currently costs. This is by any measure a swingeing cut, and makes broadband service in Britain as reasonably priced, if not cheaper, than its equivalent elsewhere in the world.
Whether it will be enough to persuade Britons to sign up for the broadband “revolution” with as much alacrity as Americans or our fellow-Europeans, however, is another matter. Germany already has 2 million subscribers, Britain fewer than 150,000.The wonders of broadband are not at issue. The technology allows the same line to be used for Internet access and telephone calls without either capability blocking the other. It enables audio and video files to be transferred almost instantaneously Whole films can be delivered in minutes. So why has Britain been so comparatively slow to adopt the new technology?The widely-accepted thesis is that high prices have are the main deterrent.