Info and forum posts by 'WRabbit'

RE: Babylon 5

NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do not watch "In the beginning" until after you have seen series 1-4 at least!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, that`s where it fit`s chronologically but it would spoil far far too much of the series as it flashes back and forward in time. DONT DO IT!

I`d go with watching them in the order they were aired - B5 The Gathering, then S1-5, In the Beginning, and I don`t think it really matters a great deal after that where the other movies and Crusade fit in.

(posted by Girders who logged on as the wife by mistake!)

This item was edited on Tuesday, 17th January 2006, 09:17

RE: Cancer project - anyone else having problems connecting to upload results?

The server is working again, but you`ll probably still see problems for a while as everyone is trying to access it to get new work units so we`re DDOSing it!

I`m going to turn off my UD clients over the weekend to let it calm down a bit and not contribute to the chaos.

--

RE: Tips for house selling / buying.

Get a friend you trust to give you an honest opinion - ask them to look at the place as if they were buyers. Alternatively if you want to keep your friends, get the estate agent to do it! Remember you will be paying the estate agent money to sell your house, so make use of them. Ask them what could be done to maximise the value from your house. Also get 3/4 valuations from different estate agents, but don`t just go with the one who gives the highest valuation. You want your house to sell, not sit on the market for ages. Go with the estate agent who you can work with, and who will make the best impression on buyers. Look at their schedules for other houses and see how well they`ll sell your house. As for value, go for a sensible average of all the estate agents figures.

As bowfer said remember the outside of the house. Lick of paint where it`s need there can work wonders. Even if you`re not a gardener a couple of pre planted tubs can brighten up a dull area. Pressure wash slabs or paving if it`s a bit manky.

Decluttering is good, but don`t be tempted to turn anywhere (room or cupboard) into a dumping ground. If you`ve got overflowing cupboards or bedrooms then buyers will think there isn`t enough storage. Same goes for any rooms that you don`t use for their original purpose. We`ve got a computer room in our 3rd bedroom, but if we ever sell a cheap single bed will get put in there to make it back to a bedroom.

Why are you moving? If a buyer asks never say it`s for a negative reason like your current house is too small, or too far from the shops. Always turn it into a positive - closer to relatives for example, or relocating to a different part of the country.

As for buying. Before even arranging a viewing for a place we`d take a trip to look at it from the outside. Summer evenings are great for this. You`ld then see if it was even worth looking at the inside. The number of places we scored off this list simply due to a little trip there was amazing - usually because of neds!

Never score off a house because of the wallpaper! Remember all decoration can be changed. However neighbours can`t - ask the seller and their estate agent about any neighbour disputes. They don`t need to volunteer information, but if you ask the question they`ve got to tell the truth.

--

RE: Here we go again - mobile recommendations please

Just in case anyone Googles for the problems I`m having with the 6630 here`s an update. It will probably only affect a small number of people who happen to have Line 2 with Orange, but you never know.

If you set a pin on your phone you lose the ability to switch line 1 to line 2 and vice versa. You can get round this by switching from dual mode to gsm and back again because this causes the phone to reboot without requiring a pin to be entered, so you get the ability to move between the 2 lines.

So why not just turn the pin off? Well if you do that then your speedial 1, or hitting listen when you get a new voicemail doesn`t work! You can only access voicemail by dialing 123. But you can switch between the 2 lines.

It`s with Orange now, so going by their usual track record they`ll fix it by November with a firmware upgrade. Now I know what causes it to play silly buggers I`m going to keep it - I can work round the problems. I do like the way the phone works, and the big screen (the 6600 spoiled me for that). I would consider getting a 6230i but TBH knowing Orange they`ll have broken that somehow too, and I`ll need to work out how to work round that!

--

RE: Here we go again - mobile recommendations please

I went for the 6630, but I think it`s going back. It`s a shame because I do like it, and it has some nice features. Most of the annoyances of the 6600 have gone (except the surname firstname SMS nonsense).

But
Battery life is appalling - need to charge it every day. OK I`m probably using it heavily just now as it`s a new toy, but even so.

Calls dropping out when it switches from 3G to GSM mid call.

I`ve got Line 2 from Orange (2 numbers on a single sim) and for some unknown reason the ability to switch between the lines just vanishes at various points. The only way to restore it is to switch to GSM, turn the phone off and on, switch back to dual mode and turn the phone off and on again. That`s sodding useless! TBH it`s probably Orange`s fault when they`ve played with the firmware.

All of the above would probably be resolved if I switched it permanently to GSM, but then I`d be back to GPRS for checking my e-mail. And if you`ve got a 3G handset...I`d be aswell just having the 6230i, but for the larger screen. Should have listened to Chris ;)

I`ve got to Friday to decide if I`m keeping it, and at the moment it`s not looking promising.

--

RE: Here we go again - mobile recommendations please

How are you finding the 6630? I can get it for free, or for the 6230i for £30 so I`m debating between the 2 at the moment.

Got the 6600 but it does my head in - fed up with texts coming in with surname firstname and how sodding slow it can be. Plus the fact that you can only have one voice tag per contact (the 6310i was better than that).

Don`t want to use 3G stuff - I presume the 6630 can just work as a `normal` phone?

Like being able to browse the web on the 6600 - I`d lose that if I went for the 6230i I think. What`s e-mail like on the the 6630?

--

RE: GPRS Problems Abroard

Is it a UK sim? Was it enabled for international roaming and international GPRS?

If it is a UK sim remember that you`re going to pay international GPRS rates when you do get it working and they can be pretty hefty. As my £80 phone bill from Canada last year will confirm :(

--

RE: Friday the 13th??? Thursday the 12th more like.....

I think you keep the same plate. The only problem you might have is insurance and selling the car as insurance companies/garages usually ask if it`s every been written off.

I think you can sometimes persuade them not to `officially` write it off, but not sure.

:) Yeah I`m kinda back. YGM.
--

RE: Friday the 13th??? Thursday the 12th more like.....

If they write it off as uneconomic you can usually buy it back from the insurance company. Might be worth it if you`ve just shelled out a lot on it.

They pay you the write off value (and don`t accept their first offer), you buy it back from them much cheaper and then pay for the repairs privately. Remember to get all your uninsured losses back from the eejit who can`t reverse.

--

RE: Orange abroad question

It should cost you your standard text rate to text him.

It doesn`t cost him anything to receive the texts.

However if you phone him it will cost him extra, but will cost you your standard call rate.

--

And he calls this art

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4412589

Lock the lunatic up - and if your car is one of them then claim off the git. >:(

Quote:
An artist who randomly vandalised nearly 50 cars as part of a project said today the owners should be happy they were involved in his "creative process".

Mark McGowan, 37, will display pictures of himself scratching the paintwork of vehicles in Glasgow and London in an exhibition this week.

He said he had "keyed" 17 cars around the Botanic Gardens in Glasgow's upmarket West End in March and 30 vehicles in Camberwell, south London.
--

RE: It`s a boy...

Many congrats to all of you!

Maybe we should have a baby forum? ;)

--

RE: Telewest 256 broadband is doubling in speed from next month

They are not upgrading the other services. They were all upgraded in December, but 256kb wasn`t.

There will be no download caps and upstream speeds will remain the same.

However later in the year they will be trialing 10Mb BUT it`s not clear yet whether they`ll launch that as a commercial product.

--

RE: Blueyonder webmail probs?

There`s 2 seperate bits of maintenance going on today (that`s what happens when you use Exchange in an ISP environment). I`d point you towards the status page but it`s broken too :(

Should be back up soon.

Other accounts are working ok as the maintenance is only on certain clusters - their accounts will be on different clusters to yours.

--

RE: How are you supposed to feel after the death of a loved one

Sorry to hear of your loss. Can only echo what everyone has said.

Thoughts are with you and yours.

--

RE: How are you supposed to feel after the death of a loved one

Sorry to hear of your loss. Can only echo what everyone has said.

Thoughts are with you and yours.

--

RE: help converting files

It will be an .avi file (hdtv=hi def tv cap and lol is a capping group). IIRC they usually cap in divx but can`t remember what they use for audio - maybe OGG?

--

RE: San Fran and Vegas Advice Rqd perleeez!

Depends what he likes :D

SF Must Dos
Alcatraz - try and do the night tour - very eerie. Prebook on line before he goes.

Coit Tower - fantastic murals by Diego Rivera and a great view of the City and Bay from the top.

If he likes wine look into doing a trip into Napa Valley or Sonoma.

We did a historic walking tour that took us round some of the Barbery Coast trail and through Chinatown. Very cheap and gave us a real feel for the history of the city.

Lunch on top of Macys at the Cheesecake Factory (with some Margheritas!) If he`s going shopping in Macys pick up the international discount card - it gives you 11% off.

Cheap clothes shopping. There`s a place called Ross (Dress for Less as the TV ads say) which is on Market Street. Picked up some real bargains there - Nine West handbag for $24, Sketchers for $19 etc. It`s a bit TK Maxx-y but better.

Visit the Sealions at Fishermans Wharf (FW is very cheesy but you can`t miss the Sealions).

Lombard Street and cable cars naturally - go to Lombard street early in the morning to dodge the hordes and do not try and get on a cable car at the weekend. Best again if you get on one just when they open.

Food wise there are tonnes of places to eat. I liked the Washington Bar and Grill - Italian and felt like you were an extra in the Sopranos if you know what I mean ;) There`s loads of Chineses (especially in Chinatown) and a lot of Mexicans, Asian fusion. We stayed at a hotel in Marina, and Chestnut Street had loads of nice places. Never ate in the same place twice. Where abouts is his hotel? Probably either downtown or Fisherman`s Wharf?

Got to visit the Palace of Fine Arts - Greek/Roman ruins in California

If he likes art galleries and museums there`s SFMOMA and the Legion of Honour.

Depending on how long he`s there for see about getting a Citypass as it gives you entry to stuff and also a 7 day MUNI Pass (transport system). Transport system is very good and you can get round the whole city really easily with it and a bit of legwork. Buy a MUNI map to get all the bus/streetcar routes and I`d recommend the pop-up map series for a pocket map.

--

This item was edited on Friday, 8th April 2005, 16:37

RE: BBC Brain Sex Test

50 on the male side (but couldn`t be bothered looking for a ruler so I skipped that section).

Better go and eat some chocolate to bring out my femininity.:D
--

RE: Customs Question

Books are both VAT and duty free so no need to worry.

For standard fiction I`ve not found a great saving once you put on the shipping cost, but for some computer books it worked out to be a lot cheaper.
--

RE: The April Fool`s have started already...

Took pity on him - well he looked like he was about to chuck the KVM across the room. But not before he`d disconnected everything and connected the mouse and keyboard directly to his main pc.

And then I told him I needed a CD burned and guess what the CD burner is attached to - that`s right! The other pc...

He`s calling us all the names under the sun and is now terrified about going for another fag break before midday ;) Serves him right for smoking, that`s what gave me the chance to fiddle.

--

RE: The April Fool`s have started already...

I`m currently sitting in the office watching one of my colleagues trying to get his PC to behave. For some reason his mouse and keyboard aren`t working...

...well they won`t as I`ve swapped the cables round on the KVM ;)

So far he`s:

Removed the cables from the KVM and put them back in again (but still in the wrong slots)
Taken his desk apart to check the connections at the PC end (apparently one was a bit loose and he thought he`d cracked it)
Rebooted about 6 times
Flicked through the kvm a couple of dozen times to see if that would help
Said some bad words

My boss and I are sitting trying not to crack up. Wonder how long it will take him to suss it!

--

RE: TV TOME-------

Yup fine here on blueyonder.

Edit: mmm I`d gone in via one of my bookmarks - the home page was quite slow to load when I went to it.
--

This item was edited on Thursday, 31st March 2005, 21:28

RE: Problem Starting Up A PC (One for the tecchies out there!!)

I presume there`s no beeps?

Might sound stupid but ...

No screen output, but is it booting up to Windows? Work blind on it and see if you can get it to shutdown using the keyboard that will show that it`s just the AGP slot.

--

RE: NPower Nightmare

We had hassle with Scottish Power and got Energywatch involved - it was sorted within the week.

Give them a call - http://www.energywatch.org.uk/

--

This item was edited on Tuesday, 29th March 2005, 18:08

RE: Looking for large plastic storage bins

Ta for that - I hadn`t thought of looking on eBay. It is more bag of compost size though - I`ll have a rummage and see what there is.

--

Looking for large plastic storage bins

Need to store some wildbird food in our shed, and I bought some in bulk as it was a lot cheaper than the wee bags I`d been buying.

I`m worried about attracting mice though - the stuff is in the heavy duty paper sacks so want to get some big plastic tubs to store it in so it`s mice proof.

Can anyone think of somewhere to get them? Possibly need to be airtight to stop the stuff getting mouldy. The storage boxes I`ve looked at the lids come off very easily, or have handle holes or are damn expensive.

Preferably very cheap.
--

RE: Outlook Express email URLs hanging PC...

When you click on the URL do you already have IE open?

After clicking open task manager and look at the processes. How many instances of iexplore.exe do you have running?

--

RE: ARGH JUST BEEN SUSPENDED BY EBAY

Not sure about the rights and wrongs of eBay and Region 1 DVDs but what *can* happen sometimes is that if you`re selling a Region 1 that isn`t out in the UK yet they cancel your auction as they think it`s a pirate - they seem to be unaware of different release dates.
--

RE: Asda Wine Bargain

OI!

:D

--