47 Today!
BTW, this is one of the first photographs taken on the new IXUS 85 ;-)
Well, not a great start to my 48th year… My back is killing me this morning! Not sure if it was the golf, or the gardening yesterday, but either way its no fun getting older!
Took longer than I expected, I thought I had a dual X86/X64 version of Vista, but mine was x86 only! So, I have borrowed the MSDN subscription copy from work for testing.
I have installed Vista Ultimate, but without using the Product Key, so I have about a month to play with it before it expires, but that should be long enough.
The HDD I used was actually a 250GB unit, so plenty big enough to install a few applications as well for a more complete appraisal.
Initial reaction? Well all the hardware works, so drivers are no longer a major issue, performance seems to be just ‘a tad’ slower than the x86 version, but that may be down to the fact of it’s running on a slower disk drive. When it was first installed it was really slow, but that was sorted by installing the latest graphics drivers (GeForce 7 series) from Nvidia’s web site
The BT HomeHub2 arrived this week, and installation was just about as simple as it could be.
The main PC was back on the Internet, with no obvious changes in minutes.
The Laptop within a further 10 minutes (I had to change the security on the router from the default WPA/WPA2 to WEP as that is the only thing the laptop understands) Signal strength is now 5, was 4.
Amy’s PC took another 10 mins to install the Belkin 802.11n USB dongle, and get connected. Her reported connection speed has doubled from 32 to 64 mbps, and the signal strength has increased from ‘1 or 2’ to ‘4 or 5’
Conclusion – Result!
managed to play 9 holes at Himley today, at the end of the round my foot was rather sore, but not painful. So it seems that it’s just about healed.
The golf on the other hand, well it showed that I haven’t played for almost a month! The only good thing to take away from the game, was there were no ‘truly awful’ shots, just a lot of ‘not quite good enough’ ones. The putting was terribly too, three or four on every hole. The alignment was quite goo, I just could not judge the weight of the shot.
I have been reading with interest the every increasing numbers of people running X64 Vista as an everyday work machine, and am now ready to give it a try.
One reason, is that I hope to upgrade/Replace my existing machine in the next 6 months or so, and as I would like to fit a lot of memory into it, X64 is the way to go… But only if it runs OK for me…
Plus, apparently, the next version of Photoshop will be available in a X64 version…
So, I have found out my old 80GB HDD, and am going to install a copy of X64 on that drive in my existing PC, install a few of the basic ‘Essentials’ on it (Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Office 2007) and run it as a test for a few days.
I hope to do that sometime over the bank holiday weekend ;-)
BTW, seems the reason that X32 cannot see all of the 4GB of RAM you install, is that the “Total” address space is 4GB, so the more memory you have on your Graphic Card(s) the less RAM you can actually use… Thought it was odd that a 32 bit OS couldn’t read 4GB of RAM!
After a little shopping around, I have just ordered my IXUS 85 from Amazon.co.uk and a Canon soft leather case to suit for the grand total of £179.
There were a few cheaper places, but they were either small sites that I don’t have any experience of, or larger name sites charging £7 to £10 delivery! In the end Amazon was only £3 more expensive, and is the same as the “in store” jessops price – Without a case.
Should be here early next weeks – Bloomin Bank Holidays!
Just had a call from Sky, and have taken advantage of a half price MUTV subscription for three months at £3 per month.
Seems the channel has just re-launched… so time to have another look, before cancelling again mid November ;-)
I am currently using the BT Homehub that came with the BT Broadband service, and whilst it has it’s flaws, it is easy to setup and works just fine… except that Amy’s wireless connection couldn’t be further away from the router, and still be in the house. She has a pretty poor connection speed, and it does drop connections occasionally.
I had been looking out for a suitable alternative, especially as the 802.11n draft boxes are pretty stable now, and was quite pleased to see that BT now offer a ‘new’ Homehub 2.0 which is in fact a 11n device.
It should be delivered early next week, so I need to get a 11n USB dongle for Amy’s PC over the weekend… Looks like I have to start researching all over again :-(
Can be found on my website
The first lot are from Alex’s SCUBA diving lesson, the few remaining ones are all I managed to take before the camera died!
In more ways than one!
1) Yes it’s been almost three weeks –again- since my last entry.
2) Just back from a weeks break at CenterParcs in Penrith.
3) Managed to break my digital camera (The compact not the SLR!)
4) Managed to break my toe!
For #1, I have no excuse except that I am lazy, totally pre-occupied with watching seasons 1 to 6 of Highlander on the PC, and am generally a boring person with not much to say, but #2 meant I had no PC/Internet access for 7 days, so a valid reason there for at least a portion of that time.
WRT #3 Whilst away, my Nikon compact digital camera ‘just stopped working’… It’s a little over two years old, and after taking three pictures, the forth attempt sounded the shutter release noise and then just suffered an apparent total failure! The lens stayed out, but no amount of poking, forcing, disconnecting and replacing the battery had any effect on it! Looks like it’s time to replace it, and the current favourite is a Canon IXUS 85 – (Anything between £160 and £200) it’s a 10 MegaPixel camera with Optical Image Stabilisation and Face Recognition. (See Steve’s Digicam Review – lt is known as the SD770 in the US). Originally I was looking at a IXUS 82, Similar but 8Meg and £30 cheaper, but this seems to be some sort of ‘Jessops exclusive’ so I may well go up a model and be able to shop around.
Finally #4, working my last shift before breaking up for a two week break from work, I managed to kick (very Hard!)the corner of a metal filing cabinet with the little toe on my Right foot. A trip to the hospital was inconclusive, it was definitely not dislocated, may be just badly bruised, and was possibly broken.
If bruised, would be better in approximately seven days, if broken about three weeks. No treatment, just pain killers.
That was on the 9th, it’s now the 19th, and I still have a slight limp, and cannot wear trainers for more than an hour or two!
So, a week at home, and I can’t even swing a golf club – Oh Bugger!
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | HOLE |
| 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | Par 35 |
| 4 | 5 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 56 |
10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | HOLE |
| 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | Par 34 |
| 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 49 |
That’s a total of 105, and most of the damage was done on just three holes (3,5 and 7)
Well, Amy has managed to spend £50 of her birthday money already, and it’s not till December!
Once it was announced that J.K.Rowling would be releasing “The Tales of Beedle the Bard” in December she was excited, when she realised that it would be released on Dec 4th, the day before her birthday – she was hyper. Then when she saw the ‘Collector Edition’ package from Amazon – well….
Offered Exclusively by Amazon (Available in Limited Quantities)
In December 2007, J.K. Rowling unveiled The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a very special book of five fairy tales illustrated by the bard herself, embellished with silver ornaments and mounted moonstones. Amazon was fortunate to come into possession of one of the original copies, and it was our privilege to share images and reviews of this incredible artifact. Now J.K. Rowling is giving millions of Harry Potter fans worldwide cause for celebration with a new edition of The Tales of Beedle the Bard (available December 4, 2008) and Amazon is thrilled to exclusively offer a luxuriously packaged Collector’s Edition designed to evoke the spirit of the handcrafted original.
Tucked in its own case disguised as a wizarding textbook found in the Hogwarts library, the Collector's Edition includes a handwritten version of J.K. Rowling's new introduction, as well as 10 additional illustrations not found in the Standard Edition or the original. Opening the case reveals a velvet bag embroidered with J.K. Rowling’s signature, in which sits the piece de resistance: your very own copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, complete with metal skull, corners, and clasp; replica gemstones; and emerald ribbon.
