Info and forum posts by 'matchday'

RE: Where can I get an English to Czech phrasebook

You could try a bookshop!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1858286646/qid=1052054314/sr=2-3/ref=sr_2_3_3/026-8754314-5287652?tag=myrev09-21

RE: Anyoneperson who pruchas with cable, sky, freeview, DVB tv, in fact - Everyone,read this please.

Some colleages at work tell me that if you plug a USB tuner into your laptop, then plug the flylead from a hotel wall socket into the tuner you can get all the channels they offer (including the rude ones) for nothing.

Is this working on the same principle?

I never tried it myself.

This item was edited on Thursday, 1st May 2003, 20:01

RE: Shopping in America

Thanks for all this it`s really useful.

RE: Ronaldo, we love you........

So he`s probably from Manchester

Pioneer HC50QL DVD Package £270

On Bargain Crazy

http://www.bargaincrazy.com/bcrazy/catalogue_shortcut.asp?search%5Fcatno=OA4512&mscs_sid=97S283X2GX4P9N3D7HW7LK4R5S7PE6K0

So it won`t last long.

This item was edited on Wednesday, 23rd April 2003, 19:45

RE: Welcome my child. Confess your sins.

I found the following on the Radio 5 "606" message board today,

Not my own but priceless!

"I feel I must apologise to a Wednesdayite I met on Monday - my behaviour was terrible.

In the aftermath of our well deserved win over Leicester I went out for a few Bank Holiday beers. The mini pub crawl ended at the Hogs Head in Sheffield city centre where I sat out enjoying the sunshine, drinking a pint of Caledonian pale ale and listening to the scores come in. About 5.00 as I was getting ready to go home a chap in a Wednesday shirt came up to me and asked how the Owls had done (he had been watching the snooker at the nearby Crucible theatre and therefore did not know the scores). Now I don`t know why but for some reason I said that they had won 3-0 and that Stoke had lost. His face was a picture of delight and we spent a few minutes discussing their much improved chances of survival. He went off a happy man.

I feel really guilty about this now - he seemed a nice bloke and genuine fan. I can only imagine his disappointment when he found out the real scores. So whoever you are - sorry. It wasn`t me it was the beer talking! I hope that Wednesday do well next year, I hope that Hendry wins the snooker (your favourite player) and I hope that you don`t recognise me one day in the future."

Shopping in America

I`m going to the USA and Canada next month with the family, i`m not planning to buy anything in particular. Though my wife and daughter are deliberately travelling light in anticipation.

I don`t want to waste loads of time comparing prices. So can anyone suggest good cheap chain stores we could check for DVDs and computer products?

Also having seen the problems people have with getting DVDs through customs I`m a bit worried about the excise duties that could arise on the things we buy. I`ve tried to get an explanation from the Customs website but it`s as clear as mud.

What i need to know is

- Is there an import duty even after you have paid local sales taxes in the USA and Canada?

- Does it apply to everything?

- Does it apply to idividual items or every thing you buy of that type ( so for example if I buy 10 DVDs @ $20 would they be taxed as one item @$200?)

- Do customs attempt to enforce duty on unpackaged "used" goods. I ask that because I would be very tempted by a Palm Tungsten T for around $300. If I dump the box before I pack would customs argue if I claimed it was used.

Sorrry if this is all a bit obvious but it`s a long time since I last travelled outside the EU.

RE: `Millionaire` Trio found guilty

"There`s burglers and pedophiles being set free by the courts nearly everyday, and yet tax payers money is being wasted on a trio of con artists."

Have you got any examples of convicted pedophiles getting set free? I was under the impression that the courts dealt quite firmly with them. They never seem to avoid lengthy prison terms here in the North East.

The previous post seems to miss the fact that a small but important part of the legal process is its duty to make us feel good about being good. Cases brought to serve this need do no measurable good for any one involved. They simply develop a useful feeling of schadenfreude in the law abiding majority.

If I'm right that puts a strong pressure on the CPS to provide a few trails every year that are nothing but entertainment, (A bit like the failed Ken Dodd and Lester Piggott tax frauds cases.)

This trial cost me about 2p (I'm an average earner, there are 30 million taxpayers in the UK million, the trial cost £500,000). That`s well worth it to see a bunch of thieves and liars get their just deserts. The fact that they are smug and middle class and will probably loose their homes and livelihoods simply adds to my merriment.

I know that`s a sad indictment of my values but I'm also sure it`s vital to creating the social order we all need to survive.

"schadenfreude SHAHD-n-froy-duh, noun:
A malicious satisfaction in the misfortunes of others."

RE: How much council tax are you being charged?

£1400 Band D here in Newcastle. I suppose thats because most people don`t have to pay.

RE: Regardless of your stance on the war, are you worried by the seeming incompetence of our allies?

I should have mentioned that I remember it well because a couple of days later an A10 killed 9 of our soldiers in a friendly fire incident.

I was sickened at the thought of the pilot celebrating his success in the same way.

RE: Regardless of your stance on the war, are you worried by the seeming incompetence of our allies?

This might be an urban myth but I think I remember reading that USAF pilot are routinely issued with Amphetemines before embarking on combat missions. A bit like the British Navy`s rum ration.

It seems likely that would assist them in the courage department but severly impair their judgement.

Has anyone heard something similar and if so is it true?

One of the most alarming things I heard in the last gulf war was an interview with some American pilots who had been using thier A10s to blast dozens of Iraqi tanks (and presumably vapourise the occupants). They where whooping with delight as they described the scenes they witnessed.

I remember comaparing this to Interviews with British pilots who tended to emphasise how scary it all was.

Then again with our allies flying in the same skies perhaps they had good reason to worry.

RE: Blair views

I think Blair is a good man who has simply been corrupted by power and a misplaced vision of his own impotance. His ministers, our MPs and ourselves as voters are to blame for that.

It happens to most of us at one time in our life. When I was 10 I thought that playing well at centre half would make me a good centre forward (it simply left a big hole in our defence).

Unfortunately it happened to Tony when the world rather than a junior school needed restraint and humility.

He promised the Americans he could tame Europe and he promised the Europeans he could tame America. He ended up holding the s**tty end of two sticks at once. Quite a feat!

I can`t see him surviving. The when the horror of house to house fighting in Baghdad becomes apparent the press, parliament and the people will turn on him and Robin Cook will rise phoenix like from the ashes of the government.

Lets hope that the world sees that as punishment enough for the rest of us.

RE: Iraq : is history repeating itself ?

Never mind US history repeating itself what about our own.

The Americans might have no experience of fighting in Iraq but we have and so really have no excuse.

Britain took over 500 casualties at al-Nasiryah in 1915, the very place the Americans are bogged down now. We were then the greatest military power in the Middle East just as the Americans are now.

In my view the turning point in this war was the quite incredible stupidity of the Americans raising their flag over the first town they captured. At that moment this became a traditional war of conquest rather than a war of liberation. It turned the vast majority of Iraqis against us in defence of their oil.

The ten minutes that flag was flying probably added ten weeks or even months to the war.

This item was edited on Saturday, 29th March 2003, 20:59

RE: Names for a Baby boy

The best advice I can give for a boy or girl is to go out in the street and shout your choice at the top of your voice. If you find yourself feeling stupid its the wrong name.

Thats how my boy was spared Orlando.

RE: Palm handhelds - which is the best to get?

I`ve have a Palm IIIXE a IIIC and my wife has Handspring Visor Platinum. Colleagues at work use Palm M105s. No one has seen a need to upgrade to the modern generation ( M125, M130, 505, 515, Tungsten)

The reason, I suspect, is that PDAs are great:

organisers,
notetakers,
address books,
ebook readers,
e-mail readers, and
Avanto Go clients

and thats about it. Spreadsheets and Wordprocessing are possible but not pleasant experiences. The same goes for games other than Tetris.

To do all the things that Palms are good at you need 8mb, a monochrome screen, OS 3.5 or above and nothing else.

I think the older battery powered Palms ar by far the best for these jobs. Ask anyone who uses them in real life especially on the move. No one want to lug around a power supply, an International adaptor and a docking cradle to charge the thing up, it defeats the idea of a palm top being all you need. Unfortunatly that rules out all the modern Palms including the the Zire and my IIIc which is gathering dust.

That leaves you with the M105, which is tough and practical but has a small screen and of course there are all the Palm IIIXEs on Ebay.

In my opinion the nicest option are the battery powered Hanspring Visors. My wifes Platinum is faster than the equivilent Palm (the IIIXE) and has USB for fast data update. A pair of Alkaline batteries should last you about 6 weeks and with twelve AAAs selling for £1.50 its as cheap as chips to run. I think the Visor Platinum became the Visor Neo and that might still be available.

This item was edited on Tuesday, 25th March 2003, 20:49

RE: Subwoofer Help Needed!

Yes!!!

But MJ Acoustics supplied the cheapest crappiest lead you could imagine with my Pro 100.

I was more interested in stereo, so most of my budget went on the lead for that.

This item was edited on Friday, 28th February 2003, 22:11

RE: Subwoofer Help Needed!

I use IXOS 1081. Its cheap from Hi-fi Junkies and sounds fine for cinema effects. I`m not sure the neighbours would apreciate something that went even lower than this!

http://www.hifijunkies.co.uk/shop/results.tpl?action=full&cart=3255286935292313&--eqskudatarq=668

RE: Toshiba sd110e vcd hack

After extensive research of my own, the best advice I can offer is to sell it on e-bay and use the proceeds to buy something else.

I`m keeping mine because the picture and 5.1sound are flawless.

I`ve tried some of the media that is supposed to work eg White Label Samsung 8x and find that it doesn`t.

It could be that the multiregion firmware makes a bad situation worse.

This item was edited on Wednesday, 12th February 2003, 22:16

RE: looking to buy first home cinema kit

One thing to bear in mind if you plan to use your existing speakers is the hi fi stereo quality of the AV Amp.

If you are going to use your existing speakers with something like the Sherwood. I doubt that it will sound anywhere near as good as what you have now.

Thats why i went for Nakamichi, in terms of AV gizmos it was pretty primitive but as a hi fi stero amp it sounded better than what I had.

That also why i suggest that a decoder/amp and compact 5.1speakers is often a better bet than the full AV receiver route.

As i said before you don`t miss the sound you never had. The neighbours will certainly thank you for it and it will take less space.

The problem for me is that the cat is out of the bag and i`m hooked on tight, earth shaking bass and an overall sound quality to die for.

The best place on the net for advice on this sort of thing is hifijunkies.co.uk. Friendly people and cheap for Mission stuff which is miles better than Eltax imho.

RE: looking to buy first home cinema kit

A few words of warning before you start on the AV Amp route.

It`s hard to stop!!!!!!!

I got a Nakamichi AV8 from Richer Sounds for £199, bargain? Not really.

I sounded so good in stereo that I knew I need some more Kef Q15s to match the 2 I already had. Thats £200.

A Q 95 centre speaker was another £120 secondhand.

An Mj Acoustics sub was another £600, ( believe me you just can`t help yourself )

another pair of speaker stands was £70

A rack to put it all on £170

Cables were another £100

If only I had gone out and bought a complete, compact Sony 5.1 system for £3 or 400.

I wouldn`t miss what I`d never had.

I`d have half my front room back.

And i wouldn`t be itching for a 42" plasma screen.

Take it from me the road to hell is paved with cheap AV amplifiers. But it sounds very lovely indeed.

I`m also convinced that richer sounds sell AV amps cheaply so they can cash in on all the other things you need with them. Miles of cable for a start.

Umax DVD Player inc. 5.1 Surround Sound Speaker System £83.55 inc

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=40616

I am thinking of buying this kit to give my daughter a DVD player and my son set of 5.1 speakers for his Xbox.

Can anyone tell me how you connect speakers like these to an Xbox.The Xbox worked fine plugged into my Av Amp over Christmas using a optical cable and the Microsoft RGB adaptor. Unfortunatly its been banished from the front room.

These seem to be the speakers

http://www.yamada.com.tw/avspk/hifi-563.htm

And this seems to be player

http://www.yamada.com.tw/dvd/dvd-2100.htm

This item was edited on Saturday, 11th January 2003, 17:22

RE: Umax DVD Player inc. 5.1 Surround Sound Speaker System £83.55 inc VAT

I v`e been doing a bit of digging.

These seem to be the speakers

http://www.yamada.com.tw/avspk/hifi-563.htm

And this seems to be player

http://www.yamada.com.tw/dvd/dvd-2100.htm

At this price its almost obscene no wonder Dixons` profits are going through the floor.

The only problem seems to be S-VHS rather than SCART connection

This item was edited on Friday, 10th January 2003, 20:56

Umax DVD Player inc. 5.1 Surround Sound Speaker System £83.55 inc VAT

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=40616

What`s the catch?

RE: Someone please convince me that I need a subwoofer !

I`ve just bought an MJ Acoustics 100 Pro and a I agree with everything thats been said before about his type of kit. Its musical and so powerful you just can`t hold your feet to the floor at times.

It is a very dear though. Not only does the box itself cost £600 but you also you have to add in the cost of cables. The one MJA supply is rubbish so even with the £299 Pro 50 you are looking at about £70 for the decent high and low level connectors you need.

The point is of course is it worth it?

IMHO you should save up and wait.The great thing about a British Sub Bass system (REL especially) is that it doesnt loose its value. (Like a VW) That means that even secondhand you are paying a high price, but when you part with your cash most of your investment is intact. Sony and Yamaha may be OK but I bet they will be worth less than half what you pay in 6 months time.

The other thing is that British kit sounds wonderful, not just for movies but for music as well. If you opt for a cheaper alternative you will always know that it could be better.

RE: "Stereo" Bass

I think i`m right in saying that MJ Acoustics suggest that 5 Pro 50s is the way to go. At £300 a piece thats only £1500.

You would probably need something bigger for LFE channel however.

I`d imagine that some x-box games would sound pretty awe insipring on that kind of kit.

RE: MJ Acoustics V REL

Thanks Neil

If you don`t mind me asking how big is your room?

It strikes me that as the Pro 100 is essentially 2 Pro 50s in one bigger box I might be able to get away with a Pro 50 at half the price.

If that isn`t enough I could just get another one.

MJ Acoustics V REL

I`m gong to be adding a subwoofer to my system

4 x Kef Q15s
1 x KEF Q95

Nakamichi AV8

Marantz CD 6000 Ki CD Player

and an XBOX

The sysem is mostly for music but the idea of Games as well as DVDs in full 5.1 is attractive.

I was thinks about a REL Strata but the people in Sevenoaks Hi fi suggested that MJ Acoustics PRO 100 is as good for less. (£700 in wood)

I had never heard of MJ Acoustics before and just wanted a bit a reassurance before I spent my cash. Given that they both sound amazing, I am worried about reliability and resale value in an unknown brand.

ER

Why can`t you get it on DVD?

RE: Asylum seekers.......Do they realy get all this?

I`m not a liberal pinko and like everyone else I'm intimidated but violent ill mannered people who I don`t understand, but...

We are happy to go to the Mediterranean every summer ignore the local customs, drink ourselves stupid and f**k in the street. I know that's not all of us but i`m sure you get my point.

We are a nation that walked uninvited into a quarter of the world, made them speak our language and stayed until we chose to leave.

We are also a nation that has exported millions of our own to Australia, America and Africa. Helping ourselves to land and resources belonging to other people.

So it`s a bit shortsighted to complain if a few thousand people from the rest of the world decide to return the favour.

I`m sure the reason most asylum seekers come here is simple.

1 They speak our language better than any other.

2 No one needs to prove their identity to get a job.

3 We are just about the only country in Western Europe with a plentiful supply of low paid unregulated jobs,

4 and many employers prefer staff with no rights and an interest in not complaining.

I`ve never been convinced on the benefits argument most asylum seekers have to pay a lot to get here and are much more interested in a getting a job to pay the money back.

The best way to get rid of asylum seekers is to:

1 Encourage immigration of skilled workers we really need e.g.: teachers, doctors, engineers. (Many of these people are rotting in asylum centres or flipping burgers while they wait to be processed.)

2 Give all of us and everyone with a right to stay an identity card. Make it the law that you need to produce the card to get a job.

3 Send people who employ workers without an identity card to prison for a long time.

4 Finally have an established processing centre for everyone who wants to enter the asylum and immigration system. The Falklands Islands for instance.

I bet very few people would endure that lot for a passport to income support.

Like anyone else I hate my taxes being used to give people a free ride but if people are willing to work and there are jobs for them to do I think we should be happy to have them stay.

RE: Jungle took the MONEY!

I don`t think we should be too hard on the people at Jungle even those in their HQ!

From the look of the site it seems they are closing down and many will be going on the dole just before Christmas.

It may be important to us, but i can`t say i`d feel inclined to offer a good standard of service to people picking over the carcass of my job.