Nigel: Yep but will Ubuntu see the grey area as HIS part of the partition or do I have to format it later and mount it as a logical disk (another HD..)..? I have to look into it, plus I haven't got PM need to dwload it first... :(
Lox
- Mon Oct 31 23:05:01 2005

 Rob: Glad you've got PHP, what are you going to do with it? Are you going to take Tom up on his MySQL offer or are you going to use flat files?
dsp
- Mon Oct 31 22:20:34 2005

 Travis: Sounds suitably scary! My kids are both now asleep after running round the living room dementedly waving bats at each other!!! Time for me to relax now...!
Nigel
Oswestry, .. - Mon Oct 31 20:52:24 2005

 Lox: Yes. Depends on what tools you have with you though... For safety I would resize the Windows partition using Partition Magic 7 or 8. Just resize until you have a large enough "grey" or spare area at the top of your HD map (where I expect the Linux partitions to be) between the two O/S's. I'm not sure which utils Ubuntu comes with, but SUSE I'm using has a nice graphical equivalent to PM7 I can use to resize... For the console look into : parted, fdisk or sfdisk if you have them. Scary though!!!
Nigel
Oswestry, ... - Mon Oct 31 20:50:32 2005

 Nigel: Yep I am using Linux all the way.. Shame that I have made a small partition for it, now I am running into space problems... Is there a way to increase a partition stealing some space from the windows one?
Lox
- Mon Oct 31 20:41:06 2005

 I dunno if it is the curse of Montezuma, but I woke up at 4 AM, and it's now 4,57... Needless to say that I am rather pissed off, having to work all day and beign already tired. I think that the body waked us up at the most unconvenient time, I have to agree with an earlier post, as a matter of fact the swimming pool at this time is closed and so is the gym... Tomorrow I will probably "dowload" the usual sleeping pill before going to bed!
Lox
- Mon Oct 31 19:56:06 2005

 Nigel: Nice! My kids are a vampire slayer and some sort of demonic creature. I'll get some pictures posted tonight or tomorrow at the latest. I'm actually only really swamped as opposed to ridiculously swamped today.
Travis
- Mon Oct 31 19:53:05 2005

 Of course we care Sheri - but being decent sorts around here, are not keen to point out a fellows shortcomings! (I have enough of my own and the guys and gals are kind enough to tolerate me, so...) Travis: My kids are both dressed up as witch and warlock. I brought plastic bats home for tea! What a scream!!!! :)
Nigel
Oswestry, ... - Mon Oct 31 19:43:41 2005

 eW lla nkow wtah its lkei usnig a kyebardo thtsa lal.
tom
- Mon Oct 31 17:40:31 2005

 If you need a mySQL database Rob, I can sort access out to mine accross the net. Won't be fast that way, but possible...
tom
- Mon Oct 31 17:35:48 2005

 Good point Mad mumsie. By the way, rereading my post, I realised I made a spelling mistake. "Fed up" instead of "Fade up". Couldn't anyone correct me on that ?! Or you just couldn't care less about what I write...
Sheri
- Mon Oct 31 17:35:42 2005

 Lots of activity on the board...Happy Halloween, all. Going to grab a bite to eat.
Travis
- Mon Oct 31 17:23:46 2005

 dsp, Well look at that. After all this time, it's got php 4.3.2 on it. It's not joyful 5 but it will do. Yes. Hurrah! You'd have thought I would have checked. Thanks dsp, off home to eat some humble pie.
Rob Lang
- Mon Oct 31 16:58:26 2005

 Sheri: Mrs Sheri!!!
Mad Mumsie
- Mon Oct 31 16:46:17 2005

 Sorry about that - I don't think our servers are too good at the moment!
Nigel
Wrexham, ah-hem - Mon Oct 31 16:45:55 2005

 It seems Amazon's web-sites have been down all day... Coo! They say it should be back up now but I can't find co.uk... Then a "pundit" states the IP addresses all start with the same location... Wonder if they're housed in Florida, which has just been hit by the latest hurricane... All makes you wonder strange convoluted things!
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Mon Oct 31 16:42:52 2005

 Hi Rob, we don't have telnet access to the box. It is hosted on a shared Windows box with IIS. Have you tried uploading and executing a PHP script? It might be available. If that does not work I'll have a go creating a maison sub-domain (robsphp.maison-de-stuff.net) that uses linux, that will definately support PHP.
dsp
- Mon Oct 31 16:40:36 2005

 I know I sound like a broken record but is it at all possible to get php running on the server. I am happy to do it if I could get hold of some telnet access. Does anyone have an email for the ellisboy? I might see if I can do it remotely!
Rob Lang
- Mon Oct 31 16:32:43 2005

 Nigel: Yeah I spotted amazon probs today. I thought it was something I'd done. Glad it wasn't my fault.
dsp
- Mon Oct 31 16:29:26 2005

 Wow Tom! She'll soon be growing then! Abi is doing really well, she sitting up now and is really switched on and interested in everything.
dsp
- Mon Oct 31 16:28:17 2005

 It seems Amazon's web-sites have been down all day... Coo! They say it should be back up now but I can't find co.uk... Then a "pundit" states the IP addresses all start with the same location... Wonder if they're housed in Florida, which has just been hit by the latest hurricane... All makes you wonder strange convoluted things!
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Mon Oct 31 16:27:01 2005

 I'm fade up with perspective drawings and topographic maps. As I previously said, I should be a gigolo and have plenty of sex with rich widows. What the hell prevents me from doing so... ?
Sheri
- Mon Oct 31 16:16:42 2005

 How is Abi doing? Lucy is growing like mad... she's on 5oz bottles already. Dominic was never such a hungry horse!
tom
- Mon Oct 31 15:24:33 2005

 John: I think you may be onto something about 4AM being 'hardcoded' into the human mind. I think that its one of the human brain's factory settings. It seems to be Abigail's default waking hour.
dsp
- Mon Oct 31 15:21:03 2005

 I always find flying West fine and East a b1tch.
tom
- Mon Oct 31 15:16:04 2005

 I checked the post this morning and no Microsoft Software CD's yet John.....
tom
- Mon Oct 31 15:15:22 2005

 Lorenzo - hmmm it's 2 for you is it? I would try to explain it based on your "natural" time zone - e.g. GMT for me, and GMT+1 (CET?) for you... but it doesn't quite work out to a two hour difference in that direction. Beside 4-something in the morning here isn't realy meaningful - it does not correspond to either the time I would normally wake up in Japan or in the UK... and it certainly isn't daylight here or anything at that time. The only conclusion I can draw is that 4-something in the morning is designed as the most inconvenient time to wake up, and it is my body trying to teach me a lesson.
John
- Mon Oct 31 15:10:59 2005

 Lox: Are you browsing using your Linux laptop while in Japan? Or does the hotel offer free facilities?
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Mon Oct 31 13:29:16 2005

 John: I have a similar jetlag affliction, the only difference is that I wake up at 2... Maybe this phenomenon is affected by time zones as well? It's nice to have a jetlag companion!!
Lox
- Mon Oct 31 13:27:51 2005

 As Dartagnion might have said: "All four one and four for John!!" Hurrah!
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Mon Oct 31 13:02:48 2005

 Yay! I've done the absolute standard jetlag thing of waking up at 4-something in the morning (it is 4:45 AM here). It doesn't seem to matter which countries I travel between, I always wake up at 4-something... I think this phenomenon needs a word for it.
John
- Mon Oct 31 12:46:06 2005

 No Telly, no radio, no cd player. Just a couple of packs of cards. It did get a little rowdy at times.
Mad Mumsie
- Mon Oct 31 12:33:02 2005

 Mumsie: by the way... was there a telly or not?
Lox
- Mon Oct 31 12:28:03 2005

 Mumsie: What kind of cadets are they? I mean a TV at camp? I hope that you whipped him/her then forced the whole team to march for 10 miles "so that they learn not to ask daft questions"...
Lox
- Mon Oct 31 12:27:28 2005

 Are you able to blag the cadets with: "Yes, there's a gas-powered telly in hut x / tent y." etc. ?
dsp
- Mon Oct 31 12:08:03 2005

 Comment of the week had to be "Isn't there a telly". No sunshine, you have to make your own entertainment.
Mad Mumsie
- Mon Oct 31 11:54:54 2005

 Needless to say, my accommodation was somewhat more luxurious.
Mad Mumsie
- Mon Oct 31 11:53:59 2005

 Hi everone.. I am back from an hard day of work.. legs hurting, throat on fire for too much bullshitting...
Lox
- Mon Oct 31 11:52:13 2005

 GOOD MORNING EVERYBODY. I'm back from the wilds of Somerset and a weekend in Devon. Weather was mainly good and all the cadets enjoyed the caving and walking. The cadets stay in the Wessex Caving Hut, which is actually a purpose build brick building, centrally heated and good cooking arrangements.
Mad Mumsie
- Mon Oct 31 11:50:02 2005

 Hi dsp - good move! I know what you mean about shopping - for anything - these days! Well, I've been training newbies once again! Is there no end to our turn-over? Why have I been here so long? What's wrong with me? (Don't answer that!) I had a pleasant weekend, despite the weather, downloading, trying then buying various shareware software items for my MAC. Really enjoyed this for some reason... :)
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Mon Oct 31 11:42:44 2005

 Morning everyone, hope y'all had a nice weekend. Nigel - I've not been looking at cars yet, I absolutely hate doing that. Its worse than clothes shopping. I'm cruising around in Clare's car at the moment.
dsp
- Mon Oct 31 10:02:00 2005

 Morning all! Five-past-nine and just too much work and people and information to take in... :( I need coffee.......
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Mon Oct 31 09:05:43 2005

 Right then I'm off to bed now (I think it is 11 something here, but not really sure. No doubt I won't be able to sleep tonight due to jet lag and will go into HQ tomorrow to meet lots of important people like a zombie... Oh well!
John
- Mon Oct 31 07:19:18 2005

 I think I am 8 hours behind the UK here so does that make it 9:30 ish in the evening?
John
- Mon Oct 31 05:37:47 2005

 Lox - the trip was OK I guess, a bit bumpy, but not too bad. I have just been to a supermarket, and am now sitting in my senselessly large hotel room (bigger than my appartment in Tokyo) with a bottle of Corona beside my laptop... I am not actually sure what time it is though!
John
- Mon Oct 31 05:36:39 2005

 Nigel: We just all turn our clocks back 1 hour in the fall. Not a big deal, really. Like I said previously, Arizona does not do it so within the same time zone, there are now two different time scales going. That's strange. Each time zone in the us (4 in the continental US) are now treated as if they're 1 hour earlier.
Travis
- Mon Oct 31 00:41:10 2005

 John: Good trip? I told yout that the time difference would kill you!! :) Done the Tokyo-NY last year, I was shattered....
Lox
- Sun Oct 30 22:30:04 2005

 Yes John, it's all very confusing! Not least because in the UK we have GMT and BST, while software companies call the general habit of changing clocks DST, as it's a worldwide phenmenon. Then there's the different time-zones... even in one country! (Travis: can you shed any light on how it works in the US? Is it just a case of divisions east to west?)
Nigel
Oswestry, ... - Sun Oct 30 20:26:00 2005

 Interesting you should mention DST - I've just arrived in Seattle and lots of the shops were an hour late opening! This has been especially confusing as I was on a plane during the changeover, coming from a country which doesn't have DST to one that does - and given that they're either side of the international dateline the time difference is senseless and it is hard enough at the best of times to work out where you are!
John
- Sun Oct 30 19:46:09 2005

 Travis: Yep, we do in the UK. So we got an hour extra in bed this morning... Downside of course, is that it's now later than usual for feeing the kids and they're getting restless... :)
Nigel
Oswestry, ... - Sun Oct 30 17:43:40 2005

 Hi dsp! You been out looking at cars?
Nigel
Oswestry, ... - Sun Oct 30 17:29:16 2005

 So, how many of you participate in daylight saving time? We do...well, most places in the US do. It's strange. A friend from Arizona (midwestern US) said that his state doesn't do it. Makes for some strange situations.
Travis
- Sun Oct 30 17:28:10 2005

 Hiya everybody!
dsp
- Sun Oct 30 16:33:04 2005

 Ciao everyone, met John today, he says hello to everyone! Unfortunately it was a rather brief meeting.... Will put pictures soon, as for now you'll have to do with the one on the blog thing... :)
Lox
- Sun Oct 30 13:54:19 2005

 Morning all! Well what a miserable start to the day in Western England - pouring with rain... :(
Nigel
Oswestry, MAC - Sun Oct 30 10:35:50 2005

 Will post something tonite... :P
Lox
- Sun Oct 30 07:02:10 2005

 Good morning-afternoon-evening-night everyone. John, Lox, any pictures of your brunch ?
Sheri
- Sun Oct 30 06:04:33 2005

 I have just said goodbye to John, it was great to see him again, shame that it didn't last!
Lox
- Sun Oct 30 02:39:07 2005

 Shri: Well there's a lot of appearences to it.... But I like when I travel it makes me feel alive, better than the office...
Lox
- Sun Oct 30 00:25:57 2005

 It's earlier than you think... Right? Clocks... OK? (This changing of time-zomes BST/GMT is going to confuse our friends in other parts of the world right now!) Goodnightall...
Nigel
Oswestry, ... - Sun Oct 30 00:15:59 2005

 :-)
dsp
- Sat Oct 29 22:44:27 2005

 "Oh Mr Song Writer..."
dsp
- Sat Oct 29 22:44:05 2005

 Sei un uomo molto impegnato, Lox ! What a businessman... ;-)
Sheri
- Sat Oct 29 18:33:39 2005

 Incidentally I have realized that is now 2,30 AM and I MUST force myself to beD!
Lox
- Sat Oct 29 18:24:03 2005

 Shei: I will be travelling until the 20th of November, 3 different countries, Jap, Korea and Taiwan...
John: It's EXTREMELY cool that we can hook up like that, but I cannot hide a certain disappointment as I was planning something more "entertaining" than brunch, involving alchool and general gaijin mess :P The time spent in Hiroshima last time was absolutely GREAT! :)
Lox
- Sat Oct 29 18:23:33 2005

 So Lox, how long are you staying in Japan ? Enjoy you brunch with John. It would be nice to get some pictures of you both.
Sheri
- Sat Oct 29 17:52:04 2005

 Which reminds me - Rob - did you see the message about me bumping into Cat the other day.... in Tokyo....?
John
- Sat Oct 29 16:45:01 2005

 Yep I guess it is a small world in a sense, in that it's actually a big world but we don't tend to use very much of it. When you bump into someone you know in a big city in another country then maybe you shouldn't really be that surprised. If, however, you were in a rowing boat in the middle of the Pacific and bumped into an old school friend, then maybe you do have cause for being a bit startled.
John
- Sat Oct 29 16:44:31 2005

 Small world
Sheri
- Sat Oct 29 16:28:44 2005

 Right, so Lorenzo and I have arranged to "do brunch" tomorrow... I can't help but think how it's quite cool in a way, that as Lorenzo and I jet about between three different continents, our schedules are able to coincide and put us both in the same city at the same time, even if only for a few hours.
John
- Sat Oct 29 16:22:44 2005

 I assume you got my email then Lorenzo... We've only just had dinner, believe it or not, even though it is getting on for midnight... Maybe I am still lurking around somewhere on the wrong timezone as well!
John
- Sat Oct 29 15:49:47 2005

 Ciao guys! Yes I slept most of the afternoon, will call ya soon John!
Lox
- Sat Oct 29 15:09:06 2005

 Mind you, I don't blame him, I slept for most of the first two days I was in Japan!
John
- Sat Oct 29 12:17:59 2005

 Well I guess Lorenzo is still sleeping off his jetlag then....?!?!
John
- Sat Oct 29 12:17:31 2005

 And to give the more simplistic, modern viewpoint, the idea is "Neat Stuff!" As a consequence of course, I'll now spend a couple of hours searching for this piece of software (and another I have which is just a painting programme which only outputs ASCII text images), start cursing the lack of organisation in my library system, and generally get hot under the collar because I can't find it... :/
Nigel
Oswestry, ... - Sat Oct 29 11:07:02 2005

 The prospect of a revival of ASCII art intrigues me. If you'll allow me to play at being Melvyn Bragg for a moment, then it is interesting culturally as it is an artform which only exists because of the shortfalls of a medium. I.e. if transfer speeds had been faster and/or storage was larger/cheaper, it would never have come about - people would have just used bitmaps instead. So in a way these are the cave paintings of digital art - what existed before proper canvas and brushes were available.
John
- Sat Oct 29 10:51:29 2005

 Hi all! Well it just so happens I think I have an (MS-DOS) image to ASCII converter in my software "library" somewhere (obviously it is not actually used these days :/ ) I'll see if I can find it...
Nigel
Oswestry, ... - Sat Oct 29 10:33:41 2005

 OK Lorenzo I have just emailed you with our contact details - if you wake up before midday tomorrow (!) and there is some way of fitting us into your schedule then please give us a call!
John
- Sat Oct 29 07:54:29 2005

 Well if by any chance you have five minutes between now and midday tomorrow (Japanese time) it would be really cool to meet up, even if it is just five minutes... Chie and I are completely free the rest of today so we could come to wherever you are... Tomorrow I need to get on a train to the airport from Shinjuku just before midday, so perhaps breakfast or brunch could be a possibility? Chie's mobile is still the same as before if you remember it (I'll mail it to you now as well just in case).
John
- Sat Oct 29 07:40:15 2005

 Hio guys I am in Japan now!!! Gotta go to bed I am completely destroyed by jet lag... :(
Lox
- Sat Oct 29 06:34:33 2005

 Does anyone else remember the heady days of ASCII art? I recall vaguely that I once attempted to write a program that would turn a bitmap image into a work of ASCII art... Anywho, Rob's textual humming make me wonder if it might be possible to create an MP3 -> text convertor. I bet you could get really good compressiont hat way too.
John
- Sat Oct 29 02:34:05 2005

 Rob, nice. I can hear those tunes in my head so well, even before the name is given. Love it.
Travis
- Fri Oct 28 22:37:27 2005

 That's OK Rob.
tom
- Fri Oct 28 16:14:01 2005

 And I thought I was immature...
Sheri
- Fri Oct 28 15:57:37 2005

 dsp, correct! Killing in the name. Nigel, lol!
Rob Lang
- Fri Oct 28 13:46:44 2005

 Is it "Killing in the Name" ? or literally "The Other One" ?
dsp
- Fri Oct 28 13:40:34 2005

 Who let all those sheep in ?!?!?
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Fri Oct 28 13:28:14 2005

 Not quite, dsp It's "The other one". Sorry tom.
Rob Lang
- Fri Oct 28 13:05:14 2005

 Turn it down a bit. Some of us are trying to work!
tom
- Fri Oct 28 12:52:29 2005

 Ooo, is that Know Your Enemy?
dsp
- Fri Oct 28 12:07:35 2005

BAAAAAA!
BAAAAAA!
BAAAAAA!
BAAAAAA!

dunk dunk dunk dink dink dink dunk dunk dunk dink dink dink dunk dunk dunk dink dink dink dunk dunk dunk dink dink dink *tish*

dunk dunk dunk ba-da-de-da

dunk dunk dunk ba-da-de-da

dunk dunk dunk ba-da-de-da

dunk dunk dunk ba-da-de-le-da!

dunk dunk dunk ba-da-de-da

dunk dunk dunk ba-da-de-da

dunk dunk dunk ba-da-de-da

dunk dunk dunk ba-da-de-le-da!

dunk. dunk. dunk. dink. dink. dink. dunk. dunk. dunk. dink. dink. dink. dunk. dunk. dunk. dink. dink. dink. dunk. dunk. dunk. dink. dink. dink.

......

Rob Lang
- Fri Oct 28 11:38:41 2005

 Oh yeah, slip of the, um, non-lizard fingers there.
tom
- Fri Oct 28 10:14:10 2005

 Tom: Did you mean to say 'bad English'? Or did you mean 'lizard fingers'?
dsp
- Fri Oct 28 09:49:27 2005

 Just because they have poor English doesn;t make them a spammer. I mean, we still tolerate John... ;-)
tom
- Fri Oct 28 09:01:41 2005

 Morning all! Travis - let's hope for some nice, useful indescretions (work parties are always good for that!!) Oh, and do we have a spammer who has actually *read* the site?
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Fri Oct 28 08:43:56 2005

 It`s realy nice pictures of Florence and south of France. Like at the site http://lifeinter.net
Peter <info@lifeinter.net>
Ukraine, - Fri Oct 28 05:55:54 2005

 Having a Halloween party tomorrow. "El vino will flow. Bleah." "Boss and team leader in drunken night out shock horror."
Travis
- Fri Oct 28 05:02:48 2005

 Bed.
tom
- Thu Oct 27 23:06:43 2005

 Skype. Using it? Add me.. tom_rowan
tom
- Thu Oct 27 22:47:04 2005

 I hope you get to shock 'em through the keyboard.
tom
- Thu Oct 27 22:46:35 2005

 Hmmm, I'd noticed that ... Good point though "What if I don't want to interact." It's ok comparing it to a 15-year old modem (?) and dismissing it, but I guess the largest number of internet surfers out there are "voyeristic" (in a nice, acceptable way, of course) Getting vacarious pleasure from watching someone elses life... Actually having to interact may not be the point. But what do I know... :/
Nigel
Oswestry, Appling - Thu Oct 27 22:25:53 2005

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/4382626.stm
tom
- Thu Oct 27 21:49:20 2005

 All in the interest of data safety and longevity, of course... :)
Nigel
Oswestry, ... - Thu Oct 27 21:44:18 2005

 Dare I say it, perhaps we should, um, back each others up?
tom
- Thu Oct 27 21:07:52 2005

 Tom/Travis: True - 40gig is a little too big for my 512MB Shuffle !! However the idea is that by recharging the iPod Shuffle you also change the songs on it automatically or using rules, while keeping the main body of music on the HD. Yes, the Nano is colour screen and all. Looks superb, but again, not 40GB !! Most of my MP3s are now saved to CD-Rs for storage - my whole music collection in MP3 on just 3 of them! :/
Nigel
Oswestry, ... - Thu Oct 27 19:46:03 2005

 some truth... http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/
Travis
- Thu Oct 27 18:24:12 2005

 I've heard talk about an iPod Nano...any truth to this rumor? It allegedly uses flash memory, too, but can hold more than a shuffle.
Travis
- Thu Oct 27 18:23:22 2005

 I only have a iPod mini, to be honest. I haven't had it skip at all, it fits _easily_ into a pocket, can hold around 1000 songs, and I've only got 209. I can't imagine that there are 1000 songs I'd want to hear with any regularity to be honest.
Travis
- Thu Oct 27 18:22:36 2005

 Coolio.... but no space for my 40gig!!!!!
tom
- Thu Oct 27 17:09:36 2005

 No, the Shuffle is flash memory (as is the new Nano). Basically it looks like a (very stylish!) USB Key drive. Charges/updates just by plugging in to a USB socket.
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Thu Oct 27 16:48:12 2005

 Doesn't the shuffle have a harddisk then? I'd be nervous about jogging with one.
tom
- Thu Oct 27 16:29:28 2005

 Hmmm. One place you *don't* want any feedback...! Travis: Yes, I'm relatively new to MP3 players and got an iPod Shuffle (being poor of wallet). It's only got a 3.5mm stereo output jack but it feeds pretty good sound quality to anything I connect it! My old MP3 player was a portable CD which got jarred and bashed.... Solid-state is good!
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Thu Oct 27 16:05:09 2005

 I'm liking it. It presumably has echo reduction technology.
tom
- Thu Oct 27 15:37:55 2005

 Nigel: Wasn't it "Audio Redundancy in Shitting Environments" (the first audio compression routine which works only in your bathroom, useful for Dsp for example)...
Lox
- Thu Oct 27 15:30:01 2005

 I just found out (I'm new to the iPod game) that a simple cassette adapter for a cd player can be used to play your iPod. I now have iTunes in my car as a result, without spending a penny more than what I'd already sunk into music. Very nice.
Travis
- Thu Oct 27 15:28:38 2005

 [At micro$oft.]
tom
- Thu Oct 27 15:16:36 2005

 Shhh. It's a secret project he's working on.
tom
- Thu Oct 27 15:16:09 2005

 Errr, back to John's music compressability - A.R.S.E = Audio, Redundancy, in Squashed, Environments.... Or something :)
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Thu Oct 27 15:04:18 2005

 Wow guys, how did you know?
dsp
- Thu Oct 27 15:03:47 2005

 You mean that dsp has NOW "one hand in his pocket"?
Lox
- Thu Oct 27 14:53:37 2005

 The one file I don't appear to have is Rolf Harris doing Alanis Morrisettes "one hand in my pocket". I know that dsp has this... and I want it.
tom
- Thu Oct 27 14:43:29 2005

 It works out at a whisker under 40Gig as I used Variable Bit Rate (VBR) with a minimum of 128Kbps. This is some 720 albums (actually directories, so this will include singles) and 6692 tracks. On random it's awsome. :-)
tom
- Thu Oct 27 14:42:22 2005

 I have around 9500 different songs + around 100 cds... I wonder how long of a playlist is that... How do you calculate it?
Lox
- Thu Oct 27 14:25:04 2005

 Ouch! Same for Mike Oldfield then... Boy-bands, Girl-bands...
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Thu Oct 27 14:13:02 2005

 You'd think if you had a lot of music in a similar genre it ought to compress better so long as it is kept together as a group. Wherever songs sound similar in some way you should be able to benefit from this redudancy, and store repeated characteristics just once instead of many times. In this way a set of Status Quo albums, for example, ought to compress to alomst nothing.
John
- Thu Oct 27 14:05:13 2005

 That's gotta be about 30GB of music. Am I right? That's one hell of a play-list ... I'd be interested to see how GrumpyPLayer handles it. Sadly, it's not finished yet (I'm still working on magnetic windows). Soon, maybe?!
Jimmy
- Thu Oct 27 13:52:14 2005

 You cool dude!! That's a lot of music!!! -- On a slightly different tack... I was doing a download last night and when I started the connection was a bit slow. Good old WinXP came up with a helpful estimate of download time: "2 days 3 hours..." Needless to say I tried again later when it took about 6 minutes... :/
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Thu Oct 27 13:05:14 2005

 I just added all my MP3s to a playlist. It recons 21 DAYS 15 hours of music!!!
tom
- Thu Oct 27 12:48:54 2005

 Or dance. On the boardroom table.
tom
- Thu Oct 27 12:47:33 2005

 Just laugh out loud for no reason every once in a while.
tom
- Thu Oct 27 09:50:20 2005

 Morning all! Know what you mean Rob... Guy next to me just walked off and left his phone ringing (a strict no-no in this business) so I called out - in the heat of the moment - "You daft b*gg*r!". Needless to say everyone seemed to stop and look at me, including the offending chap! Still, I think I'm thought of as a bit barmy so it fits with my image... :)
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Thu Oct 27 09:31:37 2005

 It was indeed Rage Against the Machine's Bulls on Parade! If you read it out loud, it comes easier. :) I was just singing along and someone was looking at me rather oddly.
Rob Lang
- Thu Oct 27 09:09:26 2005

 Rob- I give up ... what's the tune?
Jimmy
- Thu Oct 27 09:06:57 2005

 Morning everyone!! Tomorrow I will be flying around the globe, and hopefully Saturday (Japanese time) I'll be able to resume posting. How are you all today? I have a meeting scheduled with half of the company to discuss about the move that we are going to have next year, I am sure that it'll be VERY AMUSING.. :P
Lox
- Thu Oct 27 09:01:18 2005

 Rob, that charming ditty you were hummin textually earlier, it wasn't by any chance a bit old the old RATM now was it? It is like the intro to the song which starts with "The microphone explodes, shattering the mould..." - I think that is Bulls on Parade isn't it?
John
- Thu Oct 27 04:40:36 2005

 Rob: If it's a human going to the doctor, then it likely ends in a $10 "co-pay" and our insurance picking it up. Dogs...well, that's different. Big Fen seems to be doing better today.
Travis
- Thu Oct 27 00:37:30 2005

 That reminds me of a song:

There goes an Italian with beans in his hair,
beans in his hair,
beans in his hair,
That rascal Jon Ellis put beans in his hair,
beans in his, beans in his hair.

He'll become quite irrate due to beans in his hair,
beans in his hair,
beans in his hair,
Then swap sides at half time due to beans in his hair,
beans in his, beans in his hair.
etc
John
- Wed Oct 26 23:49:44 2005

 Mmmmmmm Timmy boy, you are doing it again!! Wasn't it "Dandruff Stricken Person" ?
Lox
- Wed Oct 26 23:24:08 2005

 Dead-sexy-person, hu? A triffle pretentious I should say ;)
Sheri
- Wed Oct 26 19:02:17 2005

 dsp stands for dead-sexy-person I'm surprised you had to ask
dsp
- Wed Oct 26 18:25:44 2005

 Lox was very angry then half-way through waved a white flag and tipped Macaroni cheese into his own shoes. Crazy days.
dsp
- Wed Oct 26 18:23:40 2005

 And what means 'dsp' ? Initials for what ?
Sheri
- Wed Oct 26 16:59:47 2005

 Dsp: Yeah, that makes sense. Can hear it now and imagine the whole scene. By the way, what happened next ? Did Lox retaliate (Return of the Empire) ?
Sheri
- Wed Oct 26 16:58:21 2005

 Rob: At first I thought your tune was the Darth Vader theme synonomous with Angry Bean-hair Lox. No I realise it wasn't.
dsp
- Wed Oct 26 16:36:15 2005

 Rob. Oh I see! Nice tune...
Sheri
- Wed Oct 26 16:21:00 2005

 Sheri, no, I was singing along.
Rob Lang
- Wed Oct 26 16:13:11 2005

 Lox, I meant YOU.
Sheri
- Wed Oct 26 16:09:23 2005

 10 marks for guessing, T-Boy. Most of my medical visits have ended in a persciption and the visit costs nothing. I have private insurance too - if I need any specialists.
Rob Lang
- Wed Oct 26 16:08:50 2005

 Lox, I see I've got nice memories...
Sheri
- Wed Oct 26 16:08:25 2005

 Rob, are you ok ? Not getting a head cold, are you ?
Sheri
- Wed Oct 26 16:06:51 2005

 Dsp. About the 'other message board'. Ok, fair enough ! That was, I believe, a perfect example of the renowned and abstract British sense of humour. Impenetrable to us, poor cartesian continentals...
Sheri
- Wed Oct 26 16:03:05 2005

 The bill wasn't HORRIBLE. It was $129, including the antibiotics...all for a 20 minute visit. I've had larger bills at the vet. I also like the clocks idea. I also like Rage.
Travis
- Wed Oct 26 15:29:12 2005
*tish*

DA-DAR DA DA-DAR DA DA-DAR
DA-DAR DA DA-DAR DA DA-DAR
DA-DAR DA DA-DAR DA DA-DAR
DA-DAR DA DA-DAR DA DA-DAR
DA-DAR DA DA-DAR DA DA-DAR
DA-DAR DA DA-DAR DA DA-DAR
DA-DAR DA DA-DAR DA DA-DAR
DA-DAR DA DA-DAR DA DA-DAR

*wah wah waka wah wah waka waka waka*
*wah wah waka wah wah waka waka waka*
*wah wah waka wah wah waka waka waka*
*wah wah waka wah wah waka waka waka*
Come wit it now!

Rob Lang
- Wed Oct 26 15:14:42 2005

 I remember now!!! Yes it was bad! Took me ages to get them all off my hair... And now I can see Tim's face frozen in a mixture of total amazement, hands covering the open mouth, half a way through an uncontrollable fit of laughter but trying to wait what my next move would have been.. (which was going for a shower in silence I think)...
Lox
- Wed Oct 26 14:50:14 2005

 Imagine beans in all that hair of the old Lox hairdo.
Rob Lang
- Wed Oct 26 14:44:06 2005

 Lox: You didn't leave him much choice. I think you were angry because he was sat so close to you whilst eating and said something like "why don't you just tip the beans on my head?"
dsp
- Wed Oct 26 14:35:31 2005

 John: Any chance of implementing it..? Or were you beign just sarcastic?!
Dsp: They weren't that scolding!! Though I can't remember why he did it... Gosh I really didn't remember of that occasion at all!!!
Lox
- Wed Oct 26 14:19:53 2005

 Yes, I really like this clocks idea...
John
- Wed Oct 26 14:08:40 2005

 Talking of sick animals: my neighbour's cat has almost choked to death on a bone which (apparently) came from my bin. Now this is the neighbour who I really detest- so while I don't enjoy the suffering of any dumb animal, I was very pleased to hear that the vet bill was huge. Har-de-har, har!
Jimmy
- Wed Oct 26 14:04:42 2005

 Lox: I also remember the time when Jon Ellis poured scolding hot baked beans over your head. Oh we laughed all the way to the burns unit.
dsp
- Wed Oct 26 13:56:16 2005

 Sorry your dog is a big rough!! (wocka wocka wocka)
dsp
- Wed Oct 26 13:55:14 2005

 Travis: Might I add another bad side of the story? The emergency vet might have been hideously expensive (they are here in Italy)... On the bright side you have cerainly spent a "different" night out!
Lox
- Wed Oct 26 13:49:50 2005

 Grr. It's 7:47 am here. For the 2nd out of 3 nights, I slept like crap. I ended up taking my dog, Fenris, to the emergency vet last night. Turns out it's just a sore throat and fever. That's the good news. Bad news is I'm tired and cranky.
Travis
- Wed Oct 26 13:48:32 2005

 Dsp: Not to mention the Yikes incident....
Lox
- Wed Oct 26 13:48:31 2005

 YOU BASTARD!!! :D
Lox
- Wed Oct 26 13:48:11 2005

 My favourite was when we used to 'fake' phone calls from Lox's mum and make him run down four flights of stairs to get the phone. Then he would storm back upstairs shouting 'bastards!!!'
dsp
- Wed Oct 26 13:15:21 2005

 Sheri: Dsp is a master at pulling legs, I have experienced myself quite a bit of practical jokes and stuff like that!! :P
Lox
- Wed Oct 26 12:38:54 2005

 Only joking Sheri, there's no other message board. I was just pulling your leg.
dsp
- Wed Oct 26 11:51:25 2005

 What's the other message board ?
Sheri
- Wed Oct 26 10:29:09 2005

 Morning all! Well the Internet server has been down here - until just now, so Im slow getting going! Weather started grey and wet but seems to be brightening from the north (dsp's direction!) A good chance of gloom though later, I believe. Breakfast was Weetabix and tea... Lox: Yes the word-time clocks would be a great idea!
Nigel
Wrexham, .... ooOOOoo ... - Wed Oct 26 10:22:18 2005

 PROPOSAL: Guys why don't we put on the message board 4/5 "clocks " to show the times of the countries where we live in?
Lox
- Wed Oct 26 09:52:45 2005

 Ciao a tutti! Unfortunately I am pretty much in the same conditions as Rob... Crappa day today
Sheri: I don't have any breakfast usually but I guess caffellatte and biscuits is the standard... Though I prefer bacon and eggs...
Lox
- Wed Oct 26 09:51:18 2005

 Morning all. In over my eyeballs at the moment. Urgh.
Rob Lang
- Wed Oct 26 09:28:46 2005

 Sheri: We're all busy chatting on the other message board.
dsp
- Wed Oct 26 09:05:08 2005

 Oh yes, much better than the few previous days. Its damp with a drying breeze with just a suspicion of autumn and a gentle threat of light precipitation.
dsp
- Wed Oct 26 09:04:41 2005

 (Perhaps I should talk about the weather. Yes, good idea.) Hum... Fine weather today, isn't it ?
Sheri
- Wed Oct 26 08:34:24 2005

 What's going on ? Where is everyone ? Helooooooo ! John, Tom, Travis, Nigel, Mad Mumsie, Lox ? Am I being ostracized ?
Sheri
- Wed Oct 26 08:29:19 2005

 E come si fa la colazione in Italia ?
Sheri
- Wed Oct 26 07:05:34 2005

 My fellow Anglo-Saxon neighbours probably enjoy a large bowl of fine porridge (yuk!) or a couple of greasy sausages with scrambled eggs.
Sheri
- Wed Oct 26 07:03:30 2005

 It's 8 o'clock here in France, 7 in Great Britain, 4 p.m. in Tokyo and 1 a.m. in Texas.
Sheri
- Wed Oct 26 06:57:10 2005

 Morning all ! Or good afternoon for some ! Or perhaps good evening, I don't know ? Oh well, whatever, hello everyone.
Sheri
- Wed Oct 26 06:45:54 2005

 What's all this Cyber John business about?!? I am still alive and well and not in the least bit metallic! Besides, CJ has comitted a cardinal error of judgement in attempting to suggest that he has replaced me - that last post occurred after midnight (Japanese time), when surely any self respecting robot would be asleep, or perhaps recharging. I therefore conclude that this robotic imposter is in fact not in Japan at all!
John
- Tue Oct 25 23:48:17 2005

 Lox: I've always found it peculiar how long films and the like "require" before being released in other countries. Strange business.
Travis
- Tue Oct 25 22:55:07 2005

 Travis: Unfortunately I'll have to wait 23987576 years before seeing it in Italy, unless I download some episode off the net...
Lox
- Tue Oct 25 18:48:33 2005

 Cyber John: Welcome. All: Anyone seen the US version of The Office? It's actually becoming pretty funny. It's not as diverse as the original, as there's less tension between the Dawn and Tim character (different names in US) and the boss has just shown his first touches of being a human worthy of life.
Travis
- Tue Oct 25 16:47:52 2005

 What Cyber John (CJ) hasn't told you is that he was designed by Sony and is using a Mac.
tom
- Tue Oct 25 16:47:31 2005

 Love your site. Please to visit my android site.
Cyber John
- Tue Oct 25 16:07:41 2005

 Cyber John: Welcome!
Darth Gates: Your powers are weak old man!
John: You must post a picture of the office... I DARE YOU !!
Lox
- Tue Oct 25 15:59:02 2005

 Ha! Maybe we are getting subtle hints at some new technology in development!!! I like words like "infraction". I instantly thought of 3/37ths and thought how "in" that was compared to all those "out" fractions like 1/8th and 1/16th. So passe !!
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Tue Oct 25 15:19:32 2005

 I like Cyber John. Much more polite.
tom
- Tue Oct 25 15:11:41 2005

 I'm sorry. The other John Hawkins no longer exists. He has been replaced, due to an infraction at work, by me, a humble android. How may I serve you?
Cyber John
- Tue Oct 25 14:59:56 2005

 What about Seattle Grunge? There may be some good night clubs or concerts.
dsp
- Tue Oct 25 14:59:14 2005

 Nigel - I think actually you may be right, although it may not be the most exciting sounding thing in the world, probably my best course of action is to try and enjoy the great outdoors a bit whilst I'm there, rather than drinking myself into oblivion to pass the time. Having flown over a lot of the countryside around there, it did look very nice.
John
- Tue Oct 25 14:47:01 2005

 Does anyone else think that the Dead Parrot (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4370106.stm) was slightly amusing?
tom
- Tue Oct 25 14:28:06 2005

 Will you be sleeping well while you're there? Or will you be (shameless) Sleepless in Seattle?
tom
- Tue Oct 25 14:26:58 2005

 Send us a copy of all the 'well known' software CD's...
tom
- Tue Oct 25 14:25:26 2005

 Sorry, that did sound a bit lame, didn't it? :/
Nigel
Wrexhanm, ... - Tue Oct 25 14:16:42 2005

 Well I seem to remember one of those "Holiday" programmes waffling on about the scenery - I take it being up north towards the border there's plenty to see... There's bound to be a "Frazer" museum... You could develop a taste for exotic coffees (id you haven't already) as I believe Seattle is meant to be the coffee-capitol etc... ermm....
Nigel
Wrexham, .... calls, calls, calls... - Tue Oct 25 14:08:40 2005

 So, as of Sunday I have to spend three whole weeks in Seattle - what the hell am I going to do with myself there? I have scoured the web, but have found very little in the way of nice bars etc there. At least not nice in the way I understand it (i.e. either lots of history or lots of whisky). Any suggestions?
John
- Tue Oct 25 13:52:26 2005

 As they would say in Monty Python's Life of Brian - "You Luckeee, luckeee, luckeee......." !!!!!!
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Tue Oct 25 13:25:25 2005

 My new PC is fairly new and pokey but nothing that out of the ordinary - I think it is a 3.6 Ghz or some such. It has a nice screen with it though. Yes I suppose on the software side provision is quite good, I can just have anything I want basically.
John
- Tue Oct 25 13:10:28 2005

 Nope - in the office.
tom
- Tue Oct 25 11:24:19 2005

 Hi Rob! Tom: Who is 'we'? Do you mean you and Sarah?
dsp
- Tue Oct 25 10:33:41 2005

 So, John, how's it all going?
Rob Lang
- Tue Oct 25 10:32:57 2005

 We use smartcards to log in.
tom
- Tue Oct 25 10:18:50 2005

 Tom: True! - Now as I sit here am I the only one wondering what John's new PC is like? How powerful, what software is installed...? Network security? Here, we all have swipe/smart-chip cards, passwords, log-in names... The paranoia goes on... I assume "there" is even worse...
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Tue Oct 25 10:01:55 2005

 Hmmm... we havn't heard anything from John since his first (and last?) post.
dsp
- Tue Oct 25 09:27:36 2005

 Alcohol is to blame for lots.
tom
- Tue Oct 25 09:02:30 2005

 Morning all! Good man, John! Glad to see independent spirit shining through on only the second day! Travis: Ahhh. The weekend just gone was the anniversary of my "first met, drunk, propping up the bar". Seems to have lasted though!
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Tue Oct 25 08:54:27 2005

 Hawkins. Your actions have displeased me. Prepare to be run through with a light sabre.
Darth Gates
- Tue Oct 25 08:13:14 2005

 Hello everyone. Now, who's Evil Alice ? A regular, I suppose. Never heard of her though. I love fresh meat...
Sheri
- Tue Oct 25 08:00:31 2005

 I'm going to be brave and try posting a message from work, let's see if any alarm bells go off!
John
- Tue Oct 25 04:21:19 2005

 Nigel: Nah. Just the mention that some of us are married. :)
Travis
- Tue Oct 25 02:21:02 2005

 Nice one, Travis! Is it an anniversary, or something, made you mention it?
Nigel
Oswestry, ... - Mon Oct 24 22:42:53 2005

 Married for 7 years. Can anyone (other than Mumsie, I'd imagine) compete?
Travis
- Mon Oct 24 22:33:36 2005

 Lox/Jimmy: I once wrote a script for a sketch comedy show about that...
Travis
- Mon Oct 24 17:51:34 2005

 Jimmy: That depends. I think he is also in gay animalism. You know horses, elephants, sloths...
Lox
- Mon Oct 24 15:30:47 2005

 John- I'd avise against becoming a gay pornstar. I tried that for a while, and it's not as fun as it looks!
Jimmy
- Mon Oct 24 15:08:41 2005

 Some of US, that was... Mmmm "Freudian Lapsus" there...
Lox
- Mon Oct 24 14:19:36 2005

 I forgot about you Alice! Some of them even got wives!!! Shocker!
Lox
- Mon Oct 24 14:18:56 2005

 You lot need girlfriends.
Evil Alice
- Mon Oct 24 14:11:45 2005

 Given the sheer number of them, it's never unlikely to bump into one of Rob's ex girlfriends.
Travis
- Mon Oct 24 14:09:29 2005

 Tom: Let me correct you : A GAY porn star...
Lox
- Mon Oct 24 14:00:52 2005

 Yep. He's going to be a porn star.
tom
- Mon Oct 24 13:57:14 2005

 John- what is the job, though? Is it video-related?
Jimmy
- Mon Oct 24 13:07:33 2005

 John: NICE! Did you already show your powress by installing Linux? Saying that WS is crap and that explorer is buggy?
Lox
- Mon Oct 24 12:43:27 2005

 Fantastic. I love it when I read something that makes me spit my tea out. Its a rare treat.
dsp
- Mon Oct 24 11:56:32 2005

 dsp: Making me laugh out loud is not allowed in a call-centre environment... I'm getting funny looks now!!! :)
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Mon Oct 24 11:52:41 2005

 Nigel: Yes I remember that you-know-what about the you-know-who who worked for you-know-where that took a you-know-what of a you-know-what and ended up in a steaming pile of you-know-what.
dsp
- Mon Oct 24 11:50:54 2005

 John: Though you can't say, I can't help sitting here wondering at the amazing tools you'll get to play with over there... (feel free to delete my message if I go too far here!)
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Mon Oct 24 11:44:37 2005

 Hey, dsp. Do you remember that link I posted a while ago, to the chap who got fired from ... er... we all know who!... for updating his blog with photos of certain non-PC type computers being delivered there...? I think blogging might be ok as long as it doesn't mention... er.... ummmm... you know!
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Mon Oct 24 11:42:01 2005

 John: Wow! That is really unlikely!! Did you punch her in the face?
dsp
- Mon Oct 24 11:35:14 2005

 Utterly Amazing!!!!! The world is smaller than we think...
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Mon Oct 24 11:34:08 2005

 Oh, oh, oh, I almost forgot to mention - in a fit of extreme randomness I bumped into one of Rob's ex girlfriends on my way into work this morning... and not the one who is Japanese and therefore quite likely to be in Tokyo. Do you all remember Cat (Dappy)...? Apparently she is on holiday in Japan for a week or two, and just happened to be waiting for a bus outside the station nearest to my office. How exceedingly unlikely is that?
John
- Mon Oct 24 11:25:03 2005

 Jimmy, I just started work for a "well known software company" in Tokyo - it's the job I've been applying for the last six months or something!
John
- Mon Oct 24 11:22:33 2005

 John- I must've missed it ... where are you workling? What are you doing? What is this new job?
Jimmy
- Mon Oct 24 11:19:48 2005

 Did they mention about blogging?
dsp
- Mon Oct 24 11:03:55 2005

 Just got back after my first day of gainful employment. Wasn't that bad, they seem like a nice bunch. Spent most of the day setting up my PC there. Going out for a few drinks to my favourite whisky bar now!
John
- Mon Oct 24 10:59:05 2005

 Morning all! Ay Jimmy, the night doesn't seem to have ended here either... :(
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Mon Oct 24 09:44:45 2005

 John I hope your first day is going well and that you've not been the victim of any nerdy first-day pranks. Such as go to the warehouse and ask for a copy of SQL Server 2008 (mnphff)
dsp
- Mon Oct 24 09:24:56 2005

 Good look Travis.
dsp
- Mon Oct 24 09:20:29 2005

 Say Hi to Bill San.
tom
- Mon Oct 24 09:12:41 2005

 Who turned the sun off?
Jimmy
- Mon Oct 24 08:04:56 2005

 For the non-Japanese one, good morning!
Lox
- Mon Oct 24 07:51:08 2005

 John: Again besto of luck! I completely miscalculated the time difference there!!
Travis: Break a leg for your exam too!!
Lox
- Mon Oct 24 07:50:42 2005

 Best of luck, John. Time for me to head to sleep...it's nearly midnight and I've re-read my Greek passages twice now. Have an exam tomorrow. Bleah.
Travis
- Mon Oct 24 05:58:17 2005

 Right then, well, errr... for the first time in over seven months, I'll be off to work then!
John
- Mon Oct 24 00:18:34 2005

 Actually no I am still in my flat, haven't left for work yet! Just having a traditional Japanese breakfast to try and get into the spirit of things - miso soup, rice and umeboshi... Unfortunately as I opened the fridge to get all the various bits out the beer was there staring at me. I resisted, but really, it wouldn't be that bad would it - as far as my body clock is concerned it is still Sunday night!
John
- Sun Oct 23 23:28:37 2005

 John: By the time you read this you'll be already back from the day's work, that is if you can't connect from work, but I doubt that you'll do it during the very first day!! How was it then? I am sure thta you found the crammed train a novelty!! :) How's the caffeine trip going?
Lox
- Sun Oct 23 23:22:01 2005

 Yes your'e absolutely right Nigel, I'm going to be doped up to the eyeballs on caffeine all day! They've got three offices in Tokyo - I will normally we working in the R&D type place which is a bit out in the sticks, but for my first day I apparently need to "enrol" or something like that at the main office, which is right in the city centre. I haven't been there before, only to the R&D place, so not sure if they have any facilities for food and drink... however in order to get there I will walk past approximately 200,000 coffee shops, so I'm sure I will be fine.
John
- Sun Oct 23 22:44:01 2005

 Ah, John... I suspect you may have to rely on Caffeine for the rest of the day. All that nodding, smiling and handshaking... At least they won't expect any coding or technical stuff. Is the Tokyo branch like the, er "campus"? A small office? Maybe you could get breakfast there...
Nigel
Oswestry, ... - Sun Oct 23 22:11:08 2005

 ...for Christ's sake it isn't even Monday in the UK yet (it is 6AM here)! I woke at 4 and couldn't get back to sleep. I mean, where is the sense in that? 4AM here means 8PM the previous day - which time zone has my body clock decided to latch on to that would make me wake up then...? It doesn't make any bloody sense.
John
- Sun Oct 23 22:01:27 2005

 So is anyone else about to start a new job after only 3 hours sleep? Isn't jetlag brilliant?!?
John
- Sun Oct 23 21:59:23 2005

 Ah, thanks for the conformation! Yes, Sarah's travelled to see her friend who's a teacher... So far she says everyone has been so kind (she's an extraordinarily nice person herself, mind you!) and she's revelling a bit in her "novelty value"! Been into local schools and been introduced to the children etc. Loves it all!
Nigel
Oswestry, ... - Sun Oct 23 18:12:55 2005

 Yes Nigel, Akita is somewhere North of Tokyo -I haven't been myself though. I think it is right down the end of one of the shinkansen lines.
John
- Sun Oct 23 17:00:21 2005

 Hi all. Well I'm just back after having dinner out at a local hostelry with some of our in-laws. All very pleasant! I didn't have to drive either - which is always a treat for me!! Weather has been sunny, but is now overcast and threatening! -- John: My niece is in Japan at the moment (for three weeks) but her stay in Tokyo was brief. She headed north on the Shinkansen (?) for four hours then a smaller local train. Does Akita sound right? I'll have to get the atlas out!
Nigel Alefounder
Oswestry, The dining room table - Sun Oct 23 16:31:48 2005

 dsp: It is...or maybe the classification is semi-dry. You can purchase in pub/bars, restaurants (but not for take out), and can drive just outside the city to purchase. Fortunately, I live about 5 minutes from the "strip" where all of the alcohol is.
Travis
- Sun Oct 23 15:51:27 2005

 Wel.. good. Now, on to important matters. It's cold today.
tom
- Sun Oct 23 14:05:59 2005

 Brit bashing ?! God forbid, no ! It's part of your charm and I love it !
Sheri
- Sun Oct 23 13:59:46 2005

 What's with the Brit bashing?
tom
- Sun Oct 23 13:47:28 2005

 You often hear statements like this on the radio: 'Tomorrow it will be cold, cloudy and foggy; long periods of rain will be interrupted by short periods of showers...' (George Mikes, How to be a Brit, 1946)
Sheri
- Sun Oct 23 12:13:04 2005

 Example for bad weather: Nasty day, isn't it? Isn't it dreadful? Vile weather, don't you think? Pretty rotten, I'd say. Fancy such a day in July! Rain in the morning, then a bit of sunshine, and then rain, rain, rain, all day long. I remember exactly the same July day in 2003. Yes, I memember too. Or was it in 2002? Yes, it was. Or in 2004? Yes, that's right...
Sheri
- Sun Oct 23 12:08:23 2005

 In England, you must be good at discussing the weather. Example for good weather: Lovely day, isn't it? Isn't it beautiful? Isn't it gorgeous? Wonderful, isn't it? It's so nice when it's hot, isn't it? I adore it, don't you?
Sheri
- Sun Oct 23 12:01:33 2005

 Yep, she has a temporary job for a month starting this week, which could lead to a more permanent position. It's an office type job, but has something to do with a hotel.
John
- Sun Oct 23 11:35:13 2005

 Does Chie start a new job too?
dsp
- Sun Oct 23 11:25:10 2005

 Thanks all for your best wishes etc! I imagine tomorrow will consist largely of "Here's the toilets, here's the coffee machine..." etc. Tim - in response to your questions, yes I am in Tokyo now, but Chie will not join me here until Tuesday (just to confuse matters, she has randomly gone to Malaysia!).
John
- Sun Oct 23 11:19:43 2005

 In France, when someone is about to start with a new job, or sit an exam, we say 'merde' to him, meaning best of luck. So John : merde !
Sheri
- Sun Oct 23 11:08:26 2005

 GO JOHN, Kick some ass!!
Lox
- Sun Oct 23 10:35:46 2005

 Yawn! Morning all! I second that, John. All the best!
Nigel
Oswestry, ... - Sun Oct 23 10:24:29 2005

 Hiya John. Best of luck tomorrow (or later today?). Enjoy the free fruit and sodas. I hope you get some interesting and challenging projects to get your teeth into. Are you actually in Tokyo now? Is Chie with you?
dsp
- Sun Oct 23 10:19:39 2005

 Hello all, I'm in Japan now, just got my internet connection sorted out (had to buy a cable, etc). Will start work tomorrow (which is coming a lot sooner here in Japan than it is over there in the UK).
John
- Sun Oct 23 09:48:25 2005

 Good going Travis! But I thought your town was dry?
dsp
- Sun Oct 23 08:57:39 2005

 Wait for it...my wife brought home some wine coolers. I've found some independent horror movies on IFC and I'm trying hard to finish off a 4-pack in one hour's time. 2.5 down in 35 minutes.
Travis
- Sun Oct 23 05:22:28 2005

 Bah! Nothing Halloweenish to do. I'm disgusted. Not even any good movies on television.
Travis
- Sun Oct 23 02:32:59 2005

 Tom: I may be missing the point here, but could you use a tool like WinImage to "poke" the files into a standard empty .iso CD image? This is pretty much a standard - unless the Virtual CD driver you are using, uses a different format... :)
Nigel
Oswestry, Having fun... - Sat Oct 22 21:35:32 2005

 Yes, but there is rock solid like shale and rock solid like granite!
tom
- Sat Oct 22 19:37:35 2005

 ANyone got a virtual cd writer for windows?
tom
- Sat Oct 22 19:31:31 2005

 Sheri: Nothing exciting, got fed up with half of the Swiss population (the nearest Ikea is in switzerland), will write something later!
Tom: Any news from Ubuntu? How's the install going?
Graf: What do you mean by more stable? My very little experience of Linux tells me that it's rock solid, maybe it's hard to use but I never had an error so far... Mind you I do only very simple things...
Lox
- Sat Oct 22 17:21:20 2005

 Tom: Notice OpenSolaris is being given away on the cover disk of the latest Linux User magazine... Interesting! Plenty of scope to get runlevels confused!
Nigel
Oswestry, ... - Sat Oct 22 16:32:42 2005

 Graf: Nice find! Looks interesting! Debian Sarge is certainly stable.
Nigel
Oswestry, ... - Sat Oct 22 16:31:02 2005

 Lox, tell us about today's shopping. What have you bought ? Left another comment on your journal.
Sheri
- Sat Oct 22 15:02:00 2005

 For what it's worth, I've given up on changing linux distros, and returned to the old faithful Debian. Great find of this morning is http://www.mt-daapd.org/ - which lets you play mp3s off your linux box using iTunes, which is pretty neat.
Graf
- Sat Oct 22 13:23:19 2005

 Morning everyone!! Going to the street markets today!
Lox
- Sat Oct 22 12:16:56 2005

 I've said it before and I'll say it again: You out there, Kev?
Nigel
Wrexham, Working on a Saturday!! - Sat Oct 22 09:06:18 2005

 Morning! Let me be the one to clear the page!! We don't want "Pupkin" round here, do we?
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Sat Oct 22 09:03:52 2005

 Sheri: sorry it has taken so long...I just did a master's in philosophy and I'm doing a second one in classical studies. I'm both a student and an instructor. I lectured last year and will again next year. This year, I am basically just grading work for a mythology class and a class on ancient egypt (far from my interests).
Travis
- Fri Oct 21 23:12:22 2005

 Pumpkin: No it's not, I find it shoddy and generally nasty!
Lox
- Fri Oct 21 22:09:31 2005

 cool site.
pupkin <pupkin@mail.com>
text, text - Fri Oct 21 21:32:40 2005

 Well, that's me done for the week. Off to Somerset with 12 cadets next week. Hope it stays dry. Have a good weekend everyone.
Mad Mumsie
- Fri Oct 21 16:58:44 2005

 Jimmy: That would also be a good name for a band.
tom
- Fri Oct 21 16:57:48 2005

 Lox: Close - ATC
Mad Mumsie
- Fri Oct 21 16:41:17 2005

 Tom: SAS ?
Lox
- Fri Oct 21 16:23:20 2005

 ohgodtheyrewearingberets
Jimmy
- Fri Oct 21 16:22:46 2005

 I cut my own hair with clippers these days. Grade 3 all over. Fits under the hat/beret nicely.
tom
- Fri Oct 21 14:25:42 2005

 dsp- short back and sides? That's a bit butch for you, isn't it?
Jimmy
- Fri Oct 21 13:52:26 2005

 Now, Lox, that's an interesting piece of conversation... Pity I wasn't there.
Sheri
- Fri Oct 21 13:32:44 2005

 Is that hair there everywhere?
tom
- Fri Oct 21 12:32:51 2005

 Had the most amusing pieec of conversation just now.. Was eating a pizza with a colleague of mine and Marta, another colleague joined and ask how was it feeling to have (quote) "600grams inside you".... I started laughing right away of course, apparently she wanted to say "how does it feels to have 600 CALORIES inside you" ... Nice! Endless jokes about "things inside you" erupted of course.
Lox
- Fri Oct 21 12:09:26 2005

 Dsp: You talking about hair there?
Lox
- Fri Oct 21 12:07:16 2005

 That's a good name for a band.
tom
- Fri Oct 21 12:03:58 2005

 Hi Jimmy - short-back and sides today please.
dsp
- Fri Oct 21 11:13:13 2005

 Jimmy: I put my quid on ..... Acronymous!
Lox
- Fri Oct 21 11:03:16 2005

 Or would some bright spark have called those chips: bgb's instead. Erroneous?
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Fri Oct 21 11:01:26 2005

 If the field of digital signal processing had been invented by a bloke whose initials were DSP and he'd called it "DSP" after himself (but made up the long name afterwards so it had a sensible meaning), would he be eponymous synonymous acronymous?
Jimmy
- Fri Oct 21 10:13:41 2005

 Jimmy: I've always been synonymous with mixing up my acronyms :/ -- Morning all, by the way!!
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Fri Oct 21 09:03:54 2005

 Friday Hurrah, visit this weekend from Bethan. Safe Journey John and good luck on Monday.
Mad Mumsie
- Fri Oct 21 08:24:37 2005

 G'morning... Friday!!!!!
Lox
- Fri Oct 21 08:20:35 2005

 Nigel- no. In that case dsp is an acronym. However "dsp" is used as a *name* when posting disparaging comments about my car (and indeed about me). That's what makes him a BGB.
Jimmy
- Fri Oct 21 08:15:42 2005

 John: Have a good flight and good luck on the new MS job!!
Lox
- Fri Oct 21 07:35:15 2005

 Travis, what's your job ? Are you studying or lecturing ?
Sheri
- Fri Oct 21 07:25:33 2005

 Good luck, John!!
Nigel
Oswestry, ... - Thu Oct 20 22:31:39 2005

 Sorry for not posting for a bit, have been staying at my brother's the last few days where internet connection means dialing up... This will probably be my last post from the UK, and maybe for quite some time! I am flying to Japan tomorrow and start work on Monday. Ought to have a decent internet connection in my new (temporary) flat in Tokyo, so hopefully will be able to get back up to speed with internet things from Saturday onwards.
John
- Thu Oct 20 20:57:36 2005

 Jimmy: So if I open up my DVD player am I going to find a neatly-folded M&S large-size girly-shirt at the centre of operations?
Nigel
Oswestry, ... - Thu Oct 20 19:05:51 2005

 Happy day in my academic schedule. I'm now traslating Iliad book 6 (almost finished), Oedipus (choose your spelling and epithet), and Horace's Odes. Other than the Horace, it's quite excellent reading.
Travis
- Thu Oct 20 18:42:46 2005

 My goodness, look at the time, bye everyone till tomorrow.
Mad Mumsie
- Thu Oct 20 16:48:52 2005

 Hi Sarah, long time no chat! How's it all going. Is she a good baby and how is Dom taking to her. Nice to see another woman on the site, its got very nerdy just lately, all cars and computers. It needs lightening up a bit. I wonder where dsp's mum is?
Mad Mumsie
- Thu Oct 20 16:47:40 2005

 Hi all, hope you're all well. A bit out of touch as to what everyone has been up to but when I've got a spare minute between crying, feeding and changing nappies I'll try and have a read through the message board. I'm sure that Tom has informed you all of our new arrival - Lucy. She's doing really well and seems to be a constant feeding machine. Graf - thanks for the card, say hi to Hester for us. It would be nice to see you guys soon.
Sarah
- Thu Oct 20 15:53:12 2005

 Sorry Jimmy, the initials aren't the same!
Mad Mumsie
- Thu Oct 20 15:51:20 2005

 Everybody knows that names like "dsp" are synonymous with "Big girl's blouse".
Jimmy
- Thu Oct 20 15:35:57 2005

 They might do Lox. The only Mandriva I tried was the 2005 Limited Edition version. It's nice and crisp too. Being French it's also a bit more "European" than most!!! :) I did an install though, on an NTFS system.
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Thu Oct 20 15:19:10 2005

 Nigel: I didn't use the live cd, I installed it re-partitioning the ntfs hd on the laptop... I wanted to try it our first but I don't have an adsl so downloading the other cd was too much of pain... I want to try Mandriva on a lvice cd though (if they do it this way)...
Lox
- Thu Oct 20 15:15:48 2005

 Forgive me if... at the risk of "teaching Granny..." etc., yes EXT3 is one of the more stable - and recent - file-systems. Works very well. As long as the installer reformats and sets an appropriate swap-file partition (there was probably one there from Debian anyway - say 512MB-2GB) all should be fine. Remember you can always boot to Linux using a live CD distro (as Lox has done) and check things from there... Debian-based systems usually don't fall over often, in my experience...
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Thu Oct 20 14:40:28 2005

 dsp: Is there no difference between the Jetta and Passat? I've seen several Passats over here, but I confess that I haven't looked closely enough to see if it's different from the Jetta. Still, great car.
Travis
- Thu Oct 20 14:31:42 2005

 My Ubuntu installation is definitely using Ext3, but I'm not sure if that's standard or whether it was using that because that's how it was formatted before (I used to have debian, but it was so broken I decided it would be easier to start again than to fix it - the ubuntu installer reformatted the partition though).
Graf
- Thu Oct 20 14:20:59 2005

 Cheers Lox. Hmmm. Should be ok co-existing on a dual-boot then and not cause Nautlius problems... KDE, kconquerer and all that jazz copes fine too...
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Thu Oct 20 14:11:25 2005

 Nigel: I think it's EXT3... Graf: Thanks for the explanation, didn't know it had a name... :P
Lox
- Thu Oct 20 14:02:34 2005

 Graf: Just a thought... Which files system does Ubuntu default to? Is is EXT3, REISER etc?
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Thu Oct 20 13:32:46 2005

 You see, this is where I'm tempted to joke: So Nautilus comes with a bun too ?? Wow, that's progress! A cup of coffe and we're made!!
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Thu Oct 20 13:16:56 2005

 Nautilus is the Gnome file browser thing that comes with ubuntu.
Graf
- Thu Oct 20 12:27:29 2005

 Graf: Nautilus? The thing that impressed me of Ubuntu was that he configured itself perfectly for the domain that we have at work. Windows needs "human intervention" to do it, Linux did it by itself in the boot sequence...
Lox
- Thu Oct 20 12:05:33 2005

 Funnily enough, I installed Ubuntu last night, but Nautilus keeps crashing so I'm not too impressed so far. It found my NForce 2 ethernet port ok though, which used to be problematic, so it gets bonus points for that. Might try Gentoo tonight.
Graf
- Thu Oct 20 12:01:25 2005

 Sheri: I like to be Italian when it suits me too!! It must be a common feature of people who lived abroad for quite some time!!
Tom: Marvellous!
Lox
- Thu Oct 20 11:33:38 2005

 MM: A universal logo for the Linux O/S.
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Thu Oct 20 11:29:46 2005

 Yes Mad Mumsie, I'm from Belgium all right. But, as I said, I live in France and I'm a frog by adoption (actually, I'm French only when it suits me).
Sheri
- Thu Oct 20 11:28:15 2005

 How did penguins get into the picture. Not that I mind, being a penguin sort of person.
Mad Mumsie
- Thu Oct 20 11:23:42 2005

 Sheri: I thought you came from Belgium.
Mad Mumsie
- Thu Oct 20 11:22:45 2005

 The logo would be a penguin waving a white flag....
tom
- Thu Oct 20 11:22:33 2005

 Nigel: Actually could be an Italian Distro name.... Though I guess that it would switch onto the windows kernel half way through the boot sequence.... (I am trying to anticipate the usual comments!)
Lox
- Thu Oct 20 11:07:30 2005

 Shocking indeed. How insolent and such a lack of respect for our elders ! But you know, I'm a frog... (which explains everything)
Sheri
- Thu Oct 20 10:55:32 2005

 I'm shocked...! So is Chianti and new type of Linux distro?!? :)
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Thu Oct 20 10:25:25 2005

 Mad Mumsie. Two new hips, hu ? Too much 'boucing' in your life, I guess... :)
Sheri
- Thu Oct 20 10:24:19 2005

 Sheri; Oh yes - two new hips and I'm raring to go.
Mad Mumsie
- Thu Oct 20 10:12:48 2005

 Lox. Oh yes, chilled champaign. You know what happens to nipples when in contact with cold liquid...
Sheri
- Thu Oct 20 10:02:59 2005

 Tom: Is it (Ubuntu) better than Mandriva (if you tried it)?
Lox
- Thu Oct 20 09:56:37 2005

 Mad Mumsie. Ah, but you still sound spry to me...!
Sheri
- Thu Oct 20 09:54:53 2005

 Sorry everyone! It's just that I have been victim of a vicious spam attack on one of my e-mail accounts and I spent half day yesterday sorting all the mess out.. .:P
Sheri: AHA! Chianti? Champaigne maybe? :D
Lox
- Thu Oct 20 09:54:31 2005

 I was surprised how much space there is in the sw.. we get two kiddie seats, a double buggy, the dog (lurcher) and all the kit required for both kids (toys etc) in comfortably. The non sw als has a huge boot.
tom
- Thu Oct 20 09:50:58 2005

 Sheri: Old enough to be a grandmother, so watch it!!!
Mad Mumsie
- Thu Oct 20 09:47:00 2005

 Tom/dsp: The 307 looks niiice! Guy at work here has one and it's a lot bigger than I expected (compared to the 206 for example). Your mpg, Tom, is good for a 1.6/2.0.
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Thu Oct 20 09:46:57 2005

 Cough... Splutter!!! Sheri: You're so badddd! Tom: Ubuntu - how are it's wireless drivers? Have you discovered yet? All the distros I use seem to lack good wifi. Lucent/Orinoco always seem ok, but good Cisco or broadcom, even Linksys sometimes, seems to evade me... (I don't like recompiling kernels if I can avoid it!)
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Thu Oct 20 09:44:38 2005

 Don't know. How old is she ? ;)
Sheri
- Thu Oct 20 09:44:11 2005

 MM will kick your ass!
tom
- Thu Oct 20 09:41:21 2005

 Nigel, talking about women, we don't have many female correspondents, do we ? Is this blog almost exclusively a male thing ? Ahrr, nothing moves me more than a pair of nice supple, warm and yet firm breasts with crispy little nipples... Delicious with a glass of Chianti ! Tss tss tss tss tss tss...
Sheri
- Thu Oct 20 09:24:00 2005

 Sarahs is a 54 plate (oct 2004), mine is a 53 (Jan 2004)
tom
- Thu Oct 20 09:23:51 2005

 BTW, this was posted using Ubuntu 5.10. Very easy to set up, based on Debian, so you have apt-get to install packages. Yup - quite impressed. It's quicker than Fedora on this old Compaq Armada E500, which is good. It detected everything fine and browses MS networking shares really easiy. 9/10 so far!
tom
- Thu Oct 20 09:23:14 2005

 What year 307 is it Tom?
dsp
- Thu Oct 20 09:21:21 2005

 The 307sw has a new HDi 1.6 engine, meaning that it has loads of power and does a fair few MPG. The average (according to the computer) is 47MPG, but I usually get more on the motorway. Either way, we get 550-625 miles per tank. It costs about 52 quid to fill... Mine 307 does about 500 miles per tank on the same sized fuel tank, but it is a slightly older 2.0 HDi.
tom
- Thu Oct 20 09:19:55 2005

 Temper, Lox, temper. Take a deep breath !
Sheri
- Thu Oct 20 08:57:20 2005

 Travis: Nice looking car! Bound to be solidly built too.
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Thu Oct 20 08:52:24 2005

 Do you know? I was just wondering where I could buy three-tonnes of potassium fluorosilicate. Amazing, the internet, isn't it?!?! :/
Nigel
Wrexham, worketty-work - Thu Oct 20 08:50:35 2005

 Language Lox!!
Mad Mumsie
- Thu Oct 20 08:31:08 2005

 Marvellous now we have more fucking spammers breaking our balls! Bloody Chinese, too!
I wish your sodium would implode in your ass, barely killing you, letting you bleed slowly so that you are conscient of you dying but you cannot do anything bout that!
God I hate these people!
Lox
- Thu Oct 20 07:42:45 2005

 What a spammy mess. Travis: In England, that model is sold as the 'Passat'
dsp
- Thu Oct 20 07:40:46 2005

 sodium fluorosilicate, potassium silicofluoride, potassium fluorosilicate, magnesium fluorosilicate, calcium silicofluoride , calcium fluorosilicate, zinc silicofluoride, zinc fluorosilicate, zinc chloride , sodium fluoride , arsenic, arsenic trioxide arsenic oxide , white arsenic , arsenous , arsenous oxide , arsenous acid, arsenite, arsenolite, magnesium chloride etc. TEL: 0086-411-82827218 FAX: 0086-411-82810866 Email: lnjc@21cn.com Http://www.china-fluoride.com
lianchun yang <lnjc@21cn.com>
dalian, asia - Thu Oct 20 07:28:45 2005

 talc, brucite , dead burnt magnesite, caustic calcined magnesite, magnesium oxide, magnesite (magnesium carbonate), fused magnesia, saponite, chlorite, talcum etc Best regards. Lianchun Yang. China haicheng pin yang talc mining co., ltd. Tel: 0086-411-82827218; 82903218 Fax: 0086-411-82810866, Email: lnjc@21cn.com http://www.talc-talcum.com
lianchun yang <lnjc@21cn.com>
dalian, asia - Thu Oct 20 07:26:19 2005

 Sorry, this message was too big.
lianchun yang <lnjc@21cn.com>
dalian, asia - Thu Oct 20 07:26:03 2005

 wollastonite, fluor, fluorspar, fluorite, calcite, calcium carbonate, calcium fluoride, barite, barytes, barium sulphate precipitated etc, Looking forward to your cooperation in near future. Best regards. Lianchun Yang. China jilin shanwei wollastonite mining co., ltd. Tel: 0086-411-82827218, 82903218 Fax: 0086-411-82810866 Email: lnjc@21cn.com talc8888@sina.com.cn http://www.china-wollastonite.com
lianchun yang <lnjc@21cn.com>
fluorite, asia - Thu Oct 20 07:24:56 2005

 wollastonite, fluor, fluorspar, fluorite, calcite, calcium carbonate, calcium fluoride, barite, barytes, barium sulphate precipitated etc, Looking forward to your cooperation in near future. Best regards. Lianchun Yang. China jilin shanwei wollastonite mining co., ltd. Tel: 0086-411-82827218, 82903218 Fax: 0086-411-82810866 Email: lnjc@21cn.com talc8888@sina.com.cn http://www.china-wollastonite.com
lianchun yang <lnjc@21cn.com>
fluor, asia - Thu Oct 20 07:24:44 2005

 wollastonite, fluor, fluorspar, fluorite, calcite, calcium carbonate, calcium fluoride, barite, barytes, barium sulphate precipitated etc, Looking forward to your cooperation in near future. Best regards. Lianchun Yang. China jilin shanwei wollastonite mining co., ltd. Tel: 0086-411-82827218, 82903218 Fax: 0086-411-82810866 Email: lnjc@21cn.com talc8888@sina.com.cn http://www.china-wollastonite.com
lianchun yang <lnjc@21cn.com>
wollastonite, asia - Thu Oct 20 07:24:15 2005

 wollastonite, fluor, fluorspar, fluorite, calcite, calcium carbonate, calcium fluoride, barite, barytes, barium sulphate precipitated etc, Looking forward to your cooperation in near future. Best regards. Lianchun Yang. China jilin shanwei wollastonite mining co., ltd. Tel: 0086-411-82827218, 82903218 Fax: 0086-411-82810866 Email: lnjc@21cn.com talc8888@sina.com.cn http://www.china-wollastonite.com
lianchun yang <lnjc@21cn.com>
dalian, asia - Thu Oct 20 07:23:53 2005

 Nigel: It looks like this http://www.automobilepic.com/images/volkswagen_2003_jetta_4sa.jpg
Travis
- Thu Oct 20 02:42:55 2005

 That's me done... Goodnight all... :)
Nigel
Oswestry, ... - Wed Oct 19 23:40:56 2005

 Lox: Ah yes, there are problems with the dspBot. Unfortunately it will be offline until further notice - it was hosted on a server in the engine compartment of the Freelander. I hope to have it back online soon. I'll let you know when :-)
dsp
- Wed Oct 19 21:53:02 2005

 Aw, now Sheri... You've got to admit things improved once we started talking about oggling women!! ;)
Nigel
Oswestry, ... - Wed Oct 19 20:11:33 2005

 Cars, cars, cars. Computers, computers, computers. Cell phones, cell phones, cell phones. Boring, boring, boring.
Sheri
- Wed Oct 19 18:22:54 2005

 Dsp: Technical problems with dsp bot... I have sent some pictures to that address that I use to upload from my workplace but it seems that the pictures have not been uploaded, though I never got an error message at work... something strange going on ?
Lox
- Wed Oct 19 17:39:35 2005

 Dsp: The women have dark green clothes now as they are more in touch with the present Autumn/Winter trends... :P
'part from that it's all correct!
As for the question about getting things mixed up it's not possible, but it would have been nice to see the reaction.. !
Lox
- Wed Oct 19 17:15:41 2005

 Nigel: Wow!! Bonus points for keeping trophy wreckage!! I was in my own blissfully ignorant world listening to music.
dsp
- Wed Oct 19 17:08:44 2005

 dsp: I don't know about your breakdown-truck, but I remember seeing this black Peugeot 206 in my rear-view mirror screeching towards my Toyota, brakes locked, waiting for the whack! and thinking "I'm gonna need a new car..." Her car fell apart, but mine survived! I think of it as a bit of a trophy now!! :)
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Wed Oct 19 17:01:06 2005

 Lox: have you ever got the . and the , mixed up on purchase orders with humorous consequences?
dsp
- Wed Oct 19 17:00:35 2005

 Lox: To complete the mental picture, do you drive up and down tiny windy streets beeping your horn in anger whilst oggling women in slinky red dresses with big hair on scooters?
dsp
- Wed Oct 19 16:59:54 2005

 Dsp: As for keeping cars forever... Dunno, I am planning to change mine in a couple of years, but that depends a lot on the actual usage... I use it VERY rarely...
Lox
- Wed Oct 19 16:52:57 2005

 Dsp: No mistake there, in Pizzaland we use "." instead of "," and vice-versa... I forgot to switch to "UK mode".. :P
Lox
- Wed Oct 19 16:51:27 2005

 Nigel: My car was paid for and my plan was to keep it forever. All that has now changed :-(
dsp
- Wed Oct 19 16:43:50 2005

 Nigel/Lox: The smart thing to do is buy the hybrid car when it is one year old (if you can get one). But, presumably they will hold their value really well.
dsp
- Wed Oct 19 16:42:58 2005

 Jimmy: Everyone knows that an MGF is a girl's car. Are you a lady hair-dresser?
dsp
- Wed Oct 19 16:41:40 2005

 Lox: You have your decimal points and your commas mixed up.
dsp
- Wed Oct 19 16:41:14 2005

 Lox/Graf: There you go! If your car can do 70mpg, Graf, the Prius may be morally good, but it's bound to cost more to maintain over time as it is more mechanically complicated..!
Nigel
Wrexham, brain hurting.... - Wed Oct 19 16:04:20 2005

 Lox: I was thinking along the lines of - how long would I own a car that I could do 80000 miles in? And, how long would it take to pay off £15000 (at a guess this is the minimum for a Prius in th UK as in the US it is $22,000 - plus our car-tax...) if I bought the car new? Remember my present car is paid for... When my car reaches the end of it's economical life I would, perhaps, then see what price difference exists between hybrid and conventional... Does this make any sense...? :/
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Wed Oct 19 15:56:42 2005

 I'll have to ask Hester (Mrs. Graf) what MPG we actually get out of the smart, but in theory it's 47 Mpg in the city and 70 Mpg on the motorway. Makes filling up the Seat Leon a bit of a shocker though.
Graf
- Wed Oct 19 15:21:22 2005

 Why 117? Does it means that your car costs 11.000 pounds?
Lox
- Wed Oct 19 15:07:39 2005

 (By the way I did my calculations in long-hand on a scrap of paper, inbetween calls... precision might be off... :/ )
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Wed Oct 19 15:05:31 2005

 You are correct Lox! That is my point. I would love a Prius - or similar hybrid, but as the car costs a large amount of money it has to repay itself by cheaper running. My dodgy maths seems to imply I need 117mpg to break even over the 80,000mile life of this car. (Why is this too high for a hybrid? Not sure. Surely they can aim for this. How many MPG does Graf's wife get?) Then I have to off-set other running expenses..... Which is a great shame as I love the idea.
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Wed Oct 19 14:59:58 2005

 Nigel: I have started to make some calculations... Your earlier post inspired me!! Please tell me if there are wrong passages!

You worte that Prius is a a 65mpg car, while yours is a 45mpg one. Assuming a decent "life" of 80.000miles (after which you'll probably change it), over that distance you would consume 1780 gallons with the 45mpg car, and 1230 gallons with the hybrid. Assuming that 1 liter = 90,2 pence, 1gallon = 3,41 pounds, which turns our to be a saving of 1870 pounds on your fuel bill (assuming that prices do not rise, which is wrong to start with). Point is, any normal car above 13.000pounds becomes economically unfeaseable (I am not taking into account models or anything, it's a mere calculation on the main purpose of a car, which is to get you from A to B)...
Lox
- Wed Oct 19 14:41:37 2005

 Good points Lox. Personally, I'd love an electric car, it's got to be the way to go. Just need one that can do 40+ miles a day. My paid-for 1.8l Toyota is big but still manages 35-45mpg, depending on how I drive it. Investing in a £15k+ Prius would take a long time to repay... Travis: a VW Jetta, eh? Is that the Golf with a boot/trunk? Or is this some different beast?
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Wed Oct 19 14:15:57 2005

 I recently have begun payments on a 2002 or 2003 (I honestly don't remember) Jetta. It's a car I've dreamed of owning for years...only problem is that I am pretty unskilled with manual transmissions so I'm "stuck" driving our 2001 Grand Am while I learn the Jetta. Either way, an upgrade over my '89 Dodge Aries.
Travis
- Wed Oct 19 13:55:38 2005

 Nigel: Well you have to think that it's hybrid, great for low consumption (the electric power re-charges while you run on fuel) and it's ecological. Think that oil prices are going to go higher, which means that fuel is NOT going to be cheaper. In the long run (let's say at least 5 years) a car like this might prove a money saving investment. Moreover you are allowed to travel in traffic restricted areas (in Italy there are many)...
Lox
- Wed Oct 19 13:43:10 2005

 Lox: Going back to the question you posed before... Yes, we do seem to have at least one hybrid car in the UK - the Toyota Prius. I saw one the other day and wondered what on earth it was. I've just checked the Toyota website and they say it does 65mpg from a 1.5l engine. Not as good as would have thought though...
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Wed Oct 19 13:23:47 2005

 Nigel: Yep, pretty much... I am not very good at doing it, but I am learning!
Lox
- Wed Oct 19 13:14:55 2005

 Sheri/Lox: Perhaps a good phrase for this would be "biting your tongue" ? Graf: And no rust either - being mainly plastic!! Yes, they seem very fast. One overtakes me most morings.
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Wed Oct 19 13:10:53 2005

 The smart car is fun to drive, but not great for motorway driving - it's a bit light so it can feel like you're getting blown about if it's windy. It's surprisingly quick though - it's great fun bombing down country lanes in summer with the roof down.
Graf
- Wed Oct 19 12:51:33 2005

 Sheri: Interesting point... Actually I have a similar problem at work where instead of talking to a colleague of mine that seems to have something against me, I hold back, a bit because of fear a bit because of pride. In the end crossing the Rubicon (to use an expression of Caesarian memory) it's the hardest thing to do... Pride, self-esteem, sometimes I think that it's good to hold on it, compromising is good, but not always...
Lox
- Wed Oct 19 12:51:25 2005

 (I'm an opinionated bugger today, aren't I?)
Jimmy
- Wed Oct 19 12:41:20 2005

 Graf: nice smart-car! Are they OK to drive? The fuel consumption is meant to be really low ... how low is that exactly?
Jimmy
- Wed Oct 19 12:40:22 2005

 Modeo?! Yuck! I drove one of those for about a week. As I drove along, I couldn't stop noticing the radiator-wires built into the windscreen as a de-mister. It drove me mad- I never want to get into a Ford again! Get an MGF instead- there are no mod-cons, very little boot space, no rear seats for kiddies and they go *BANG* occasionally ... but at least they're fun (and honest).
Jimmy
- Wed Oct 19 12:38:13 2005

 Cars ?!! Is it all you can talk about... ?! By the way, I have a Ford Focus and I'm very pleased with it. Waiting for my grandmother's demise to get a Porcshe. Maybe I should give her a little push... (you know, in the staircase)!
Sheri
- Wed Oct 19 12:17:44 2005

 Lox, Nigel. It means that our silly self-esteem blinds us, poisons our mind, our faculty of reasoning, and keeps the fire of discord burning. Sometimes, to solve a problem in terms of relationship, one has to hold back, to ‘swallow’ his pride and ask himself : « Now, pride apart, what would I do ? What would be the smart thing to do ? »
Sheri
- Wed Oct 19 12:06:44 2005

 Cool cars, Graf!!
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Wed Oct 19 10:24:18 2005

 Dsp: I am going to ask advice on Peugeot to my mate who's a mechanic at Peugeot. He's always VERY CRITIC of the cars that he represents, so he could be a good advisor (under the technical point of virew).. Gonna call him now!
Lox
- Wed Oct 19 10:18:58 2005

 Damn - I'm not in the Peugeot gang with the rest of the cool kids. I've got one of these:- http://www.bohemiannight.co.uk/graf/leon.jpg and the wife's got one of these:- http://www.autoseuromart.com/FT_Cabrio/E14.jpg Neither of which are probably very practical if you've got a small child.
Graf
- Wed Oct 19 10:08:44 2005

 VW campers are good.
Rob Lang
- Wed Oct 19 09:49:23 2005

 Or is that "Porsche"? Yes, think it is...
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Wed Oct 19 09:45:09 2005

 Don't go for a Porcshe Boxter... My brother has one and seems unable to stick to a speed limit - so the boys in blue keep telling him.... :/
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Wed Oct 19 09:44:28 2005

 The 407sw looks good - a bit like a wide mouthed shark - but I'm not sure whether is has more boot space than the 307sw..? If you get a 307/407 try and afford the a SE rather than the S. Mine is an S, Sarah's is an SE - much nicer alloys, stereo, climate control etc etc etc...
tom
- Wed Oct 19 09:44:07 2005

 dsp: Alex and Mat have a Mondeo and are very happy with it.
Mad Mumsie
- Wed Oct 19 09:24:52 2005

 Thanks for the tips!!
dsp
- Wed Oct 19 09:14:12 2005

 I do like the idea of using the money to buy two smaller cars, instead of one. That way, if one breaks I have a spare.
dsp
- Wed Oct 19 09:13:58 2005

 Great advice everyone. Interesting that so many of us are driving around in Peugeots (I count 4, Jimmy, Lox, Tom and Sarah). Oddly enough I was thinking about getting a 406/407. The hire car I'm driving at the moment is a Mondeo, that's really good too, and bloody quick compared to the Freelander which was a bit of a tractor.
dsp
- Wed Oct 19 09:13:18 2005

 Sheri: Je ne comprend pas! Morning all! The way things are going on British roads I think we should all get Hummers!!
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Wed Oct 19 09:05:21 2005

 Jimmy: small cars are not an option when you have a small child - believe me, a transit van would be a better bet, and it doesn't get better as they get older either. We have just got a smaller car (previously a Volvo estate) a Ford Focus, which is VERY nippy, economical, parts are cheap(ish), reliable, according to Which and we are very happy with it.
Mad Mumsie
- Wed Oct 19 08:58:32 2005

 I've got a Peugeot 307 and Sarah has a Peugeot 307sw. We went for HDi diesels. The 307sw is a GREAT family car - in fact, it can convert to being a 7 seater of you buy the extra seats.
tom
- Wed Oct 19 08:35:48 2005

 dsp- Here's a thought- you can get a perfectly good Mazda MX-5 for 2000-3000 (if it's a "Eunos" import). So you could buy two, and then you and your Mrs. could race each other up & down the motorway!
Jimmy
- Wed Oct 19 08:28:12 2005

 Sheri: I am completely lost... Never been good at philosophy unfortunately... :P I hope that you are ok though! What happened with your neighbours in the end? Made the old hag a cake?
Lox
- Wed Oct 19 08:19:18 2005

 Dsp: What does a write off mean? Does it mean that they are going to give you the hypotetical worth of your car in cash? I have a Pegeout 106, but if you have the money maybe you could look into the 206. Either than that, Japanese might be a good bet (quality/price)... Do you have hybrid cars already in England? You do a lot of travelling might save you some quid in the long run...
Lox
- Wed Oct 19 08:16:54 2005

 dsp- buy a small, 2nd-hand Peugeot. I have an N-reg 106, and I'd gladly recommend a Peugeot to anybody. It has started first time every time. Nothing has ever broken (except for normal wear-and-tear i.e. brake pads needed replacing). I've had it a couple of years, and it's passed both MOTs without fault. I've owned quite a few cars, and it's the only one to have passed an MOT faultlessly, ever. The build quality is really good and, although the engine is only a 1.1, it has a lot more "Go" than other 1.1 cars. For 5500 you could obviously get something far newer and spanglier- just remember to look at Peugeots!
Jimmy
- Wed Oct 19 08:08:55 2005

 Hi everyone. Philosophical moment of the day. Que ferais-je si je n’étais pas si con ? What would I do if I were not such a stubborn dumb-ass ? A question which many can answer to. Answer, but not ask ! There lies the problem : The answer is often evident, but we simply fail to ask ourselves the question… !
Sheri
- Wed Oct 19 08:00:47 2005

 Have you heard about the new instant win game in specially marked boxes of Polident? You can win from $25 to $10,000 instantly. Btw, I¡¯m working on this promotion on behalf of GSK, feel free to check out the details at www.polident.com
goddess_michiko
- Wed Oct 19 04:22:17 2005

 Strange thing happened...I sent a friend of mine here to pry her trade and she is finding that she is now blocked from the site. She's from a very poor country in Africa that is only eleven strides wide...they have only one natural resource there, viagra.
Travis
- Wed Oct 19 00:30:00 2005

 I guess it depends how attached you were to the Freelander (?) I bet it felt more secure than a standard car type. You'd want to replace like-with-like? Didn't you recently fork-out for some expensive tyres? Get a claim in for them too if possible! I finally got a cheque from Direct Line in settlement of my last prang - which was a full year ago! But this was because the other party messed about. I'm back to par now - but my car was repairable...
Nigel
Oswestry, ... - Tue Oct 18 23:13:41 2005

 Yeah, its one poorly car. I went to collect my stuff out of it today. Took some pictures, but I'll not be posting them tonight. They've decided its a write-off, I've been haggling with their man tonight, but I think I feel a letter coming on...
dsp
- Tue Oct 18 22:51:16 2005

 Aaarrgg! So the verdict is a bad one then, dsp?
Nigel
Oswestry, ... - Tue Oct 18 22:46:30 2005

 Ahhh... Yes, looks interesting! I suspect you're quite right - Fat32 is all-round more reliable if you're moving data about than NTFS. Still, what attracted me to the two distros I mentioned was probably the fact they have the facility built-in. Obviously only useful if you're dual-booting with an NT!! Good luck with the feed!!
Nigel
Oswestry, ... - Tue Oct 18 22:45:48 2005

 Can anyone recommend a decent car for about £5500? Mine's a write-off!
dsp
- Tue Oct 18 22:42:55 2005

 Must go and feed Lucy...
tom
- Tue Oct 18 22:29:49 2005

 http://linux-ntfs.sourceforge.net/rpm/ I have used this with sucess, though.
tom
- Tue Oct 18 22:27:09 2005

 Nigel: I prefer to create a Fat32 partition for sharing data between the O/S's. My real data is all on a server which can be reached via Samba *and* NFS. USB Sticks are also a good way around it.
tom
- Tue Oct 18 22:26:16 2005

 I'll let you know how it goes. I have to say that it's been painless so far. But I feel way out on the loop.. I'm an OS control freak I guess. I'll be pleased if I can get a really usuable replacement for Windows for Sarah.
tom
- Tue Oct 18 22:24:29 2005

 It's going well so far. I stuck in the CD and, as this is a laptop that will wholly be for Sarah, I used the default 'splat everything' setting. It's installed and rebooted. Now it's doing a second install of packages (83%).
tom
- Tue Oct 18 22:23:04 2005

 For what it's worth, if you plan on using a dual-boot system, go for one that reads and writes to NTFS without having to use an intermediary. SUSE / Xandros - there's certainly a free version of the latter available. Tom, you're into Red Hat / Fedora, does that one r/w NTFS ?
Nigel
Oswestry, ... - Tue Oct 18 22:22:01 2005

 Added a new FISH recipe Here... Hope you like it!
Lox
- Tue Oct 18 22:07:41 2005

 Tom: Could I ask you a favour? Could you give an "unexperienced user point of view" comment as well? I have never tried other distros of Linux and many people are telling me that Mandriva might be a good choice... But how can you tell which one is better? Ubuntu auto configured itself rather quickly, I cannot say that I am disappointed... but maybe there are better ones...
Lox
- Tue Oct 18 22:01:08 2005

 Funilly enough, I'm setting up a laptop for Sarah using Breezy Badger... I've never tried Ubuntu before (downloading the ISO now), so I'll tell you what I think.
tom
- Tue Oct 18 19:51:17 2005

 que?
Jimmy
- Tue Oct 18 17:57:37 2005

 No actually I am still on the Hoary one... Badger will come next!! :P
Lox
- Tue Oct 18 17:09:23 2005

 Ah, no. I'm wrong. It must be Breezy Badger!!! Well done Lox!
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Tue Oct 18 16:09:59 2005

 Ahhh... Warty Warthog, not Hoary Hedgehog!!!!!
Nigel
Wrexham, ... - Tue Oct 18 16:07:13 2005

 This message is posted with the Ubuntu Distr. 5.04 (though I have now seen that 5.10 is out...)
Lox
- Tue Oct 18 15:47:44 2005

 Today I have SUCESSFULLY installed Windozz and Ubuntu on the same laptop, having to use some old knlowledge of partition that I had from DOS! :) Now downloading FFox and TBird :P I forgot to make the fat32 partition to swap files between the two though... I'll try to do it later, if I can...
Lox
- Tue Oct 18 15:04:49 2005

 If you've been banned you get a message that says: "We have ignored your message... thank you." I presume that its one of John's.
dsp
- Tue Oct 18 14:54:15 2005

 Dsp: Mmm dunno really... The FAQ says so but I am not convinced so I decided to remove the prefetch. As for the spammer IP, GOOD JOB!! Every time someone connects, in case he's on the banlist, does it get a strange page, blank page or a selection of random insults?
Lox
- Tue Oct 18 12:26:31 2005

 I've added that IP to the boardbanlist.txt hopefully that should do it. If you are reading this Ms Spammer... go away, nobody like you.
dsp
- Tue Oct 18 12:04:31 2005

 According my detective work, our daily message spammer's IP address is: 216.195.34.165 I think I might try to block it.
dsp
- Tue Oct 18 12:00:20 2005

 How can it know what a URL is going to do on the server?
dsp
- Tue Oct 18 11:50:48 2005

 Dsp: On a second thought I disabled the prefetching business and kept all the rest (pipelining, max connections and so on)... It says on the faqs that it doesn't prefetch action buttons and so on, but it is a security threat I can see that clearly...
Lox
- Tue Oct 18 11:14:44 2005

 Ooops. I meant to add "with humorous consequences" to the end of my last message.
dsp
- Tue Oct 18 11:14:16 2005

 Dsp: Mmmm you are right... I didn't think about that, though on my windows installations I always disable the prefetch options and functionalities... I'll get rid of it! BAD EXTENTION! BAD!
Lox
- Tue Oct 18 11:10:36 2005

 Hi Lox. I am dead against pre-fetching. I think this kind of technology is sponsored by web server and bandwidth suppliers. If everyone pre-fetched content just incase they wanted to look at it, the web would grind to a halt. Also, a note of caution, if you look at a page that contains command URLs that perform actions (such as Delete or Add To Basket) your pre-fetcher will go and pre-fetch that URL on your behalf.
dsp
- Tue Oct 18 10:50:57 2005

 Dsp: Ciao Tim, what do you think of this extension? It's improving my surfing a LOT. It seems a rather clever utility... http://fasterfox.mozdev.org/
Lox
- Tue Oct 18 09:59:22 2005

 Jimmy: Maybe it was a RAM not a dog...
Lox
- Tue Oct 18 09:16:53 2005

 Thank you for explaining that Jimmy. English is a strange language isn't it!
Mad Mumsie
- Tue Oct 18 09:06:49 2005

 Diana: This is NOT an interesting site, it's actually quite dull. I suggest visiting www.deathtoallbloodyspammers.org for a very interesting site.
Lox
- Tue Oct 18 09:04:59 2005

 I was in the car. The dog was not. Once I'd hit it, I got out. On discovering it wasn't dead, I got back in again. It wasn't until much later that I discovered the dent. Bastard animal.
Jimmy
- Tue Oct 18 09:03:41 2005

 You have a very interesting site... Please visit my site buy viagra
Diana <andys@freedom.com>
usa, - Tue Oct 18 08:28:03 2005

 Dsp: is RCS a new standard or is just another yikes thing?
Lox
- Tue Oct 18 07:53:14 2005

 Lox: WELL DONE! Congratulations on you RSS feed. Imagine what Really-Complicated-Syndication would be like.
dsp
- Mon Oct 17 19:50:17 2005

 Hi Lox, Sorry, I haven't been much talkative lately. I devote a great deal of my time to my studies, and what is left of it to my wife and kid. About the wine thing, I'll go to a great wine fair by the end of the month. It takes place in Lyon. I'll take pictures and write something about it. About your book, I haven't had a chance to read it yet. Mea culpa. But I will consider it as a priority this week.
S