Info and forum posts by 'bassman_uk'

RE: How good are you at recognising computers of your past! (quiz)

I got 9. I don`t know whether to laugh or cry :/

RE: For Sale: Maxtor 80GB External Hard Drive!

I`ll take the both of them

RE: For Sale: Maxtor 80GB External Hard Drive!

PM sent
;)

RE: Who else has to pay to work?

I have to pay for the GTC (General Teaching Council) annual fee, because I choose to work in a state school. :/

I think they should be paying us danger money for working in there 8) :D :p

RE: Well it`s John Terry

Budum *tchhhhhh*

RE: Secondary School Laptops

Again, at our place they have thin client systems they give to the pupils who are the worst off, and they sign an agreement, get free broadband, a 17" tft and a thin client box, all from Sun. Look very nice. And guess what? we can`t give them away!! Free broadband, and free comping equipment (Stuff is from Sun, but runs XP from server)

I agree that it shouldn`t be essential for a pupil to have a laptop at school. Think of all the power sockets you`d need, or if you lost your charger ;)

RE: Secondary School Laptops

Quote:
Quote:
I have never seen a school make good use of free alternatives like OpenOffice (much to my dismay) and the majority of staff I have encountered looked lost when I showed them what it can do. I have successfully converted some of my tech-savvy year 10s onto it though as they really couldn`t afford to buy a legit copy of office, and had a higher Moral stance than me
(spellings corrected)

I also always recommend OpenOffice to the kids - an awful lot of them want to work on stuff at home but don`t have (for example) PowerPoint, I show them OpenOffice and where to get it from and loads have come back to me really happy with the results.

You would have to correct the spellings, being a teacher :P But distinguish between a spelling mistake and a typo ;)

Our school is in the first round of BSF so we are planning at the moment what systems we use, and we are being pushed down the Microsoft route by the planners. I really get downheartened because I am sure that more and more we will come to use Open Source sotware in everyday life, and our kids won`t be ready for it.
Homework on line is something that should be a luxury, not an essential. We have options to do that, but depending on where the kids are at school and the catchment area will determine on whether online homework will be successful or not. Our catchment area is extremely poor, and the kids are more likely to have a laptop if it has been stolen rather than bought, and £16 a month is money lost on beer rather than money well spent :)

RE: Secondary School Laptops

The best thing that you can get your child to use at Secondary School (if they will allow it!) is a USB drive, the larger the better.
Remember, kids break things. They throw them around, leave them on wet florrs/muddy fields when playing footblaa/chatting with mates etc.
other kids also steal things, because they have value and they can sell/swap them outside of school for anything that they like.

Personally, I don`t think that it is essential to have a laptop for school. If kids need to work on computers, then there are ICT suites thats schools have. Considering my school is now purcasing laptops for staff that are under £300, and ultra small form factor comps with 20" TFTs for just over £300, I would suggest that some schools are trying to pass the costs on to parents to save money. Computers are essential at home, but not in the classroom. If you want to spend money, at least find a copy of Microsoft Office, as I ahve never seen a school make good use of free alternatives like OpenOffice (much to my dismay) and the majority of staff I have encountered looked lost when I showed them what it can do. I have successfully converted some of my tech-savvy year 10s onto it though as they really couldn`t afford to buy a lefit copy of office, and had a higher Moral stance than me :P

RE: What Can I Do Now?

As as already been said, find out who else has access to the lighting box and take it from there. I wouldn`t have thought the lighting box would have been opened without adults present, ours certainly isn`t.

As for claiming, it is always down the the schools discretion. We suffered a break in last July, and it was touch and go as to whether I was going to be covered for my personal possessions. As it is, I am still waiting for replacemnts/cash, so again it can be a lenghty process.

Your culprit is someone who has a key to open the lighting desk up.

RE: Any body still playing FEAR multiplayer online ?

Quote:
not often you get a top shelf game for free (legitimately lol )

Tell me about it! I wonder if it will work on my set up. Don`t even know what graphics I`ve got. Oh well, I like the idea of a free game, and never done gaming on a PC!

BTW hows your mini coming along?

RE: Any body still playing FEAR multiplayer online ?

where can i get it for free?

RE: The Teaching Fraternity...

Head of Music and Performing Arts in Coventry

RE: bassman_uk A quick Mac Mini question :)

Thats a shame about the CPU, but as you remembered the Golden Ebay rule, there`s always another one that will come round the corner at the right price!

I await your updates with anticipation :D

RE: bassman_uk A quick Mac Mini question :)

I still think you`re far braver than me, but I`m less experienced at fiddling witht hings by the sounds of it :D
The memory was simple enough from what I remember, and you`re right, I`d forgotten about the wifi signal, although I think I`ve put that down to where I moved my router to, although I am having mega probs with it, well I was until I downgraded the firmware!
At least you`ve sussed the wifi problem on yours though. Sounds like your ready for the next upgrade stage, and that I am defo interested in :)

RE: Any musicians offer some advice

I`m a bass player by trade, but can play a little guitar too. I picked up the Squier Acoustic Pack from tescos the other week, absolute bargain at £39.99, shame its not at that price now!
Its a fantastic starter guitar, feels really nice and easy to play. Its steel strung, and comes with a cheap case, pitch pipes (to tune the guitar), plecs and a strap, along with a book that shows you how to play some easy chords.

Listed at £79.93 now, but still a good price and decent quality.

Failing that, go for a Yamaha F310 here. Its £74.99, but I`m sure you could have a hunt and see if its ay cheaper. Yamaha are also quality at this price level.

RE: bassman_uk A quick Mac Mini question :)

Heya

Still here, but mainly lurking now!

Right.............. down to business!!

I used a demo video from You Tube for instructions as to how to open the mini up. I went out and bought a 99p putty knife - I got one with a flat edge too (this helped when I got the knife in flat - eventually!!)

The main difficulty is getting the knife in. Once the knife is in, its plain sailing!

The trick I used was to force the rim away with on old credit card or something like that, just enough so that you are able to get the knife in.

If you follow the video, you will have no probs. Mine is back together, unscathed looking as sexy as ever!

I have to say, the memory was straightforward - unclip the wifi/bluetooth module (only one, but can`t remember which!) and flip the dvd drive forward to get to the RAM slots.

One thing I thought when i opened it up was `I`m glad I`m only doing the Ram!` - the rest of the stuff looks pretty difficult, but obviously its do-able!

Good luck with the upgrade, and let me know how you get on!

This item was edited on Saturday, 31st May 2008, 23:15

RE: Boing Boing!

As will Adrian Chiles, and the other 50,000+ fans who will now be remembering who the last team to get promoted and win the FA Cup in the same season were 8)

Boing Boing!

FINALLY.................... The Beeb give us a slot on TV, and we don`t disappoint. Has been said many times before, the Albion guarantee goals, and round after round in the FA Cup we`ve been passed over. Shocking really!!

Big well done to Bristol Rovers - they gave us a game, but we were just professional about the game after the upsets yesterday.

Its just another day at Wembley :)

RE: Office 2008 - Mac

Can I assume I can get it from the usual places? ;)

Office 2008 - Mac

Anyone used this yet?
If so, is it worth having over Office 2004?

Awaiting your views/experience/opinions on this :)

RE: To the MAC Guru`s ;) Recomend me some software

Ogster.................... sorry mate just checked it now, been hectic :(

Thats fine, whatever you need to do with them, I`m just grateful for them :) I can sort them out over here :)

Sorry for not getting back sooner to you, I blame the kids (and work :(( )

RE: To the MAC Guru`s ;) Recomend me some software

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i will be putting ram in, the only reason i havn`t gone upto 2 gig yet is i`m cautious to crack it open before the warranty runs out & as i say, it does everything i need it to perfectly well, it`s only when i run it in mac Os that i struggle with it it actually runs XP & Vista much better than an equivalent pc, i`m guessing the closed driver set is the reason, but nice all the same

I upgraded mine in warranty, and TBH its not that bad. A long as you`re cautious and follow one of the instruction vids on You Tube its simple. I`m cack handed and can`t do delicate things to save my life, but this was easy. Just make sure you buy the right putty knife (99p from Wilko did me!) :)

RE: To the MAC Guru`s ;) Recomend me some software

They`re buggers aren`t they? :(

I`m sure my mini would run with well, upgraded it to 2gb ram, and running 2 250gb Minimax`s for extra HDD expansion.

Will check my mail now - feeling all excited :D lol

Did you have to make any Bios or firmware changes to your slot loader when installing Tiger? i only ask cos I know before putting Jaguar on, I had to check that it was running a specific version.

RE: To the MAC Guru`s ;) Recomend me some software

Chris........if you decide not to use your upgrade to Leopard, I know someone who would gladly buy it from you for his Mac Mini ;)

Also, where did you get your `evaluation` copy of Panther? I`ve also got a G3 500 Imac slot loader, but with a cd, and can`t find anything torrentwise to upgrade with.

RE: Help Emergency Dentist

There`s one in Nuneaton, a bit far away from you but not too far - Camphill Dentist. They take on NHS patients and they do emergencies too. 024 76394571

If you can, ask for Ravi to see you. Top Guy!

RE: Looks good for a £300 laptop

defo a clearance item - check the £xxx.97 price. The 97p thing is always an indication thats its rarer than nun in a brothel!

RE: Looks good for a £300 laptop

Not available for home delivery. Also couldn`t find anything in a 50 mile radius of me in the Midlands. Good luck if you can find it in stock - seems to be a DSG group `special` - advertise at a cracking price, but we may only have had one of these for sale in some remote part of the country! ;)

Sat Nav with built in speed camera detector

not sure if this is the right forum, so apologies if I am in the wrong place....

A friend at work has asked me to advise her on a Sat Nav. She wants it to be able to detect speed cameras, not using the software that you can on most of the Sat Navs, but like those Road Angel things, but built in. It also has to have a speedo built in, but I`m pretty sure that most will tell you the speed you`re travelling at don`t they? She also wants it to be either TomTom or Navman.

I`ve had a quick look on the net, but can`t see anything that would do this.

Do they actually exist, or is she putting me on a wild goose chase?

RE: Sony Bravia 32U3000 - Any good?

TBH I thought the 3 year warrantee thing was good, as they were offering that on the LG too, but its only good if they can supply the goods. Plus it seems very strange because those warrantees are around £150-£175 from other retailers. It smacked to me of a scam like that Beko 32" LCD for £100 from last month. I may be wrong, but better to be safe than sorry.....

I`ll have a look at Pixmania. Cheers for that :)

RE: Sony Bravia 32U3000 - Any good?

LOL

Thats the company that Ive just cancelled my order with because they are shoddy. Very bad communications, and no apology for no contact since 12 November to say they were out of stock or order status. They only answer the phones when they can be @rsed and didn`t seem to care when he told me that my order might not be fulfilled.

Good price, but absolutely shocking Customer Services.
If anyone knows of any good companies then shout out - i know you lot can be as fussy as me ;)