tyme Posted June 2, 2003 Report Share Posted June 2, 2003 but smoking and drinking tend to go hand-in-hand. i have tons of friends who don't smoke normally, but when they drink, they smoke. "so-shall-i" (social) smokers i see you smoking, so shall i. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted June 3, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2003 Cannonfodder: Personally, I wouldn't go to a non smoking bar/coffee place. What you are missing is that if you smoke regularly, you are addicted to a drug harder to break than coke. Banning people from doing it isn't like banning chewing gum in Singapore. Like many drugs it is after the intial period a negative effect. You smoke to feel normal not to get a hit. I'm not arguing that smoking is a good thing but those who ban smoking in open air public places are really infringing the civil liberties of those who have chosen to smoke. Whereas it might be inconvenient for you to get a smell of smoke as you walk through a park not being able to smoke leaves the addict in far worse mental shape. Its totally out of balance! If it wouldn't affect business then why aren't there more non-smoking bars volunterally? However this isn't really the point! I did quit for two years but in all that time I never felt free. As a non smoker you are missing the feeling of dread I have when boarding a plane scheduled for a one hour flight and hoping not to be stuck on the tarmac. You can't get it but suffice to say on the occaision I was on a plane which looked like it really might have to make a forced landing all I could think about was just put the thing in the nearest field so I can have a F* cigarette. Smokers are already pretty much stopped from doing lots of things, I had two patches and a nicotine inhaler to see matrix reloaded! That the first time Ive been in a cinerma for a long time.... Yes it sad! but think what it means to have the last places taken away, places where you aren't really damaging other people (like a park). Yes it smells a bit but so does horse shit when you tread in it or should horse riding be banned in Central Park too? British airways did a big study with a outside consultancy for lots of $$$$$ to investigate why cases of air-rage have increased while they have decreased the amount of alcohol they serve! Big surprise, its nicotine addicts getting nervous/irritable/whatever... Akll they had to do was ask ... I'm certainly not against promoting giving up smoking but FORCING people is an infringement on their liberties. Ban advertising .yeah Like tyme I'm careful not to smoke around kids. If a friend quits I will support them not make fun of them but if anything banning me from more and more places just makes me less determined to quit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aRTee Posted June 3, 2003 Report Share Posted June 3, 2003 About the system: it must be quite rugged if in the same place/room you also serve alcohol. Howabout xstations from whatever hardware, or at least a logon server? Or don't you want to keep track of the time that one and the same person uses a system? Xboxes could well do the trick. Have you checked for sponsoring of displays (15inch tft all around or so), local shops or producers (philips, lg, samsung, sony)..? Maybe you won't get them for free (surely not), but they may give you their 'insider' price (the price that their own personnel must pay), which can be quite a bit cheaper than even the cheapest shop. Make sure the guests can send SMS messages for free to any french operator. They will have to be able to SMS their friends who are on their way that they are waiting. BTW, I lived in Paris for almost 3 years, no smoking bars?? or places with no alcohol?? Yeah right. Anyway, about smoking: recent research in Switzerland (where they smoke more than in France or the Netherlands, though possibly not as many 'funny' cigarets as in Holland (or maybe they do..) has shown that non-smokers actually consume more and tip more. My take: smoking should be allowed, but air refreshment systems should make sure the annoyance is kept low. Even smokers agree that the bad smell of their clothes is disgusting..... Have a side that is smoking, another that is non-smoking, and good air refreshment, so that non-smokers can happily join smokers without too many problems. I'll post more if more ideas come up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted June 3, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2003 Thks ArTee. I'd though of it in the past but dismissed it. The machines will be put away at night and we were trying to get TFT's behind plexiglass so we can put advertising (sic) or live video direct onto the screens. I was looking at XBoxes - let M$ subsidise me. How to you get the Composite Video onto the TFT's though, any ideas??? Goes back to the thread about a standard PC for distribution... Mainly, how much modification would i need to do of the bootable CD... Could mount homes on a server and reassign anything that needs /var I guess. Back to smoking :-) I have a friend works for a cancer charity in Paris who was telling us (locals at my local) that French smoking related deaths are lower than the UK.) I was absent and got dragged in as someone to check it out and he's not only right but its MUCH less than the US. Quite why/how it works I don't know but those are the official WHO figures! Like you say, everyone in Paris smokes....:-/ perhaps I shall one day be one of those that donj't again but I hope I don't become a hypocrite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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