Rydra

Capping on internet connections of any sort IMO is ridiculous. It will kill half the media apps currently available. Want to watch apple trailers on your ipad? You'll get about 3 before hitting your peak. listen to last.fm or similar? maybe a week if your lucky. If you use your iphone as a sat nav.... don't go on a long journey, cos streaming google maps is going to eat it too. 500mb for £35/month is appaling. needs to be at least 3 times that much to be reasonable, in an age where data usage is going UPWARDS, reducing caps to limits that better suit 10 years ago is a horrible idea, and after being with 02 (and BT before that) for 12 years, I will now probably change to orange; at least that way i can get cheap cinema tickets to make up for it.

I fall between the categories into the i don't care list. I enjoy playing football, and have done since an early age. It's fun, energetic, and takes some skill. But after I broke some bones while playing for a youth team, and then spent several months standing on the sideline watching my friends play football, I lost the ability to get interested by coloured specs on a flat screen poking a "Bag of wind" about while some guy has to talk incessently for 90 minutes, because noone can make out who the players actually are. I held a football party a while back, when they did the internet-only feed for the england game; i was the only person at the time of everyone i knew that had networked their house properly, and had a big and stable enough connection to handle it. And I enjoy watcing the football with a few friends... Especially as I have a South African friend, sporting events can be good fun to watch (Cricket, rugby, football....) due to the fun banter. But i don't go in for packing 800 people into a place that should only hold 50, getting riotously drunk, and yelling at a screen that you haven't been able to distinguish anyone on for the entirely of the game. I am considering getting a TV antenna for my TV upstairs, and sticking it on my TV in my study, while I play something else, so i can say I "Watched" it, and take the piss out of whichever side we happen to be beating/beaten by at the time, since I have friends all over the world on Teamspeak and IRC who I can exchange banter with.

This, or leave your number with one person you trust in the school, and failing that, the LEA should be able to support you in dire need, otherwise what are they here for!

I have had jobs where I had everything from jewelry screwdrivers to chisels, hammers, drills and coarse files! Nowadays, I have a mobile kit, and a large kit I can bring if required. Pocket kit: Swiss Army knife - one of the mid range ones, not the real mini pocket ones. scissors, knife, and a couple of screwdrivers, plus tweezers!. 16GB USB Stick - Has a set of all the regular stuff I need (AV installer, software I'm installing/reinstalling recently, diagnostic tools) Mobile kit - IDE+SATA external USB caddy CD-ROM drive Good-sized hard drive Sainsbury's Toolkit; has a bit of everything you want Full kit (in addition to above) Network cable - 1-2m, and a 5-10m cable in case you need to go a long way to test the socket USB cable VGA cable DVI convertor USB card reader Converter kits to convert most things... Netbook or laptop USB Bootable memory stick with slim client Portable hard drive with a swathe of ISO's for all that we use. Soldering kit Spare router

There is another option, and i know some schools have done it, others don't like doing it, but it is an option... Buy out of the annual licensing. the cost is 1.5x the annual cost, but would leave you with a full system, for 12k, and no costs next year, with minimal disruption. As a middle ground, buyout the windows licenses, and the few office licenses you require, and dump the rest for Open source solution. I have been in a similar situation here, where we have outdated or missing information for MS licensing, and a reluctance to pay the annual costs to upgrade to new versions. There has been a suggestion to move to Open source solutions, but the honest answer is I am not trained to support them, I have no experience in supporting them, and as such I cannot recommend us using them. I am now considering moving to Open Office as a middle ground, but I would prefer to use MS office, as that is what I am used to, and what all the high schools use in my area. The consideration needs to be not just the "now" but the future costs. The costs of training yourself and your other technicians, possibly paying for training for the ICT teachers who have to learn a new system, and then the costs involved in hiring future Technical staff, as people trained and experienced with Linux tend to command much higher salaries than their windows counterparts (There are less of them, therefore higher competition on them!). The Technician/engineer job's I see coming up that request linux technician experience command some £10k more than I currently earn as an average, the average being around the £30k mark for technicians, more for manager level experience. And I'm not just talking about "I know how to install it" But using it client and server side, fault finding and being able to support others in using it. Also worth considering, is issues with software compatibility, and Printer drivers; The engineer from my photocopier manufacturer informed me that their print drivers do not support 64 bit Server OS's! Some of the other kit would just be a nightmare to get working correctly. I hate to add further weight to what is already a troubled situation, and though it is possible, and there probably is some school(s) that have done this, but it is a very drastic option in my opinion, and one that can be worked around in other ways. I hope what I have said is of some use.

My old job, i either ended up with stomach trouble or migranes at least once a month or two. Since my new job that i've been at 5-6 months now, i've not had a single migrane, not one, no stomach troubles. I knew my boss was bad for me, now I'm (technically) my own boss (being the NM and one man band) I seem to get along with the boss better. I at least argue less, and somehow ended up doing less work, but achieving more!

I did similar to others, did some lessons (aka, do the stupid things that kill engines and bodywork) in an instructor's car to start with, then went driving with my mum, and stuck to 1 driving lesson a month or so, with a cram session just before the test.

I took 3 attempts at the Theory test (i passed the hazard perception all 3 times, and missed the pass mark on the questions by 1 point on the first two attempts! Damned questions on trams, trailers and caravans...) and must have had 20 odd lessons at £20 a go. Passed the practical driving test first time. I'm also the only person I know to have passed first time, and NOT write off a car within the first year of driving And the instructor makes all the difference. my wife's first instructor was awful, and used to shout at her when she did something wrong. nervous and crying are not good ways to learn to drive. My instructor mostly just swore at me, and in the 20 odd lessons i took, maybe 3 or 4 were the hour promised. One lesson, just before my test, i paid for an hour, and was told "I have a wedding to goto, do you mind if we cut 10 minutes short, i'll give you the time back next week's lesson?" To which i agreed. He cuts 20 minutes off the lesson, and then finishes 15 minutes early on the next lesson. Hence why i only paid him for half on my final outing (for the test), and when he complained, I told him if he wanted the money, he could come to my house and request it from my parents... He never showed.

Sunny here today, little overcast and windy though. Black Trousers, Black Shirt, T shirt on underneath, and by choice Then again, I wore a fleece out too while at lunch, and will probably be wearing a jumper tomorrow morning I'm one of those who wear's jumpers in the summer and a t-shirt in the winter!

Battlestar (fictional spaceship) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia # Galactica # Pegasus # Columbia (two battlestars bearing this name are known to have existed) # Atlantia # Triton # Valkyrie # Mercury # Solaria # Athena # Yashuman # Vortex (seen on a report given by Dualla to Gaeta during the attack) # Uned (seen on a report given by Dualla to Gaeta during the attack) # Erasmus (seen on a report on Adama's desk when searching for a new CAG) # Night Flight (seen on a report on Adama's desk when searching for a new CAG)

Ask the 4000 call centre operators that lose their jobs, as they are told a whole swatch of business model specialists and programmers get jobs, and a computer is now doing their job. This principle of "automating" the lower level jobs is all well and good, and im sure it will result in the costs moving from A to B, and possibly reducing. But if we automated everything, Then about 1% of the world would be employed (to keep the machines running), and the rest of us would be out of a job. Think already how so many of what we do in lives are already run by computers, and how many more could be automated. -Shops; already seeing self service checkouts. -Cars already almost drive themselves, you just have to keep it on the road, and tell it to turn when your sat nav tells you to -Support lines; most customer support is automated already, and the move towards 'FAQ's and teaching the end user to be more competent is already happening. Half of your household services (water, gas, electricity, telecomms, media) is controlled by computers for how, where when etc. Your car was probably only handled by a person as it was driven from the assembly line to the storage centre. Jobs over the years have become more and more automated, with the 'person' behind those jobs moving from the hard labourer, to a computer programmer or analyst. It might be a step in the right direction for the 'end consumer' but not for the hard labourer who has only done that work for the last 25 years.

65 years later, we still fly an avro lancaster bomber, spitfires and hurricanes. There is also one or two Vulcan bombers lying around still airworthy. To see these wonderful craft never fly again would be a travesty. I'm glad someone is doing it! I will however laugh like hell when the pilot of concord goes to tip his wing over the london main olympic stadium, and pips the throttle past the sound barrier at low altitude

When having dinner.... Beer to start with, usually a lager such as Kronenberg 1664 or Becks Vier. White wine with the starter Red wine with the main White or Rose with the desert. If it's a 'proper' meal where we then sit and eat other things like cheese board etc, I'll switch to port, followed by a brandy, which will normally last me a good hour or more. Out for a night, I don't remember, it's been a year since my Stag do (beer, beer, and more beer), and I cannot remember the last time before that I went out on the town for a night, it's been far too long. At the weekend I just made a dent in the wine i bought during the week, with a couple bottles of red drunk over the course of 2 nights.

Since it comes out at the weekend, I am re-reading for god knows which Nth time Terry Pratchett's Going Postal. I have the complete works of Discworld, and 2 of them are hand signed by Terry himself. Terry Pratchett's Going Postal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For those who missed the news, it airs on sky starting this weekend!

Collectormania MK is on this weekend, Patrick Stewart doing some signings, hopefully I'll get one, but if the cue is too long I'll consider it a dodged bullet! Then out to do some shopping, followed by dinner, and a movie! (Edit, clicked too early!) Then it's a bit of housework which has been neglected due to finishing my degree assignment, and maybe a BBQ with a few mates if the weather is good one night! Other than that, the usual geek fest spending hours on end playing online games!

It might make me leave the house a little bit more, that's for sure! Anyone know, when you get the unlimited card, how do they tie the card to you? Do they make it into a photo ID style card, or just a name on a ticket, that I might for example be able to pawn off to someone else when they goto the cinema?

Also don't forget that all speeds are relative. Travelling at or above the speed of light is not as such time travel. What you are in fact doing, is arriving at a place before what you have left has reached the destination. It's a bit like firing a bullet, and being able to out run it. The physics of moving matter from one point in space and time, to another point in space and time is infinately complex, and beyond our current understanding and abilities. (Consider that the earth spins on an axis, while orbiting the sun, which is in an orbiting galaxy, which probably orbits some other large body, in a universe that is ever expanding... So even if you worked out a way of moving back in time, to then reappear in the same spot would be like threading the head of the worlds smallest needle, while drunk, blindfolded, and riding a teacup ride that is in fact free-falling from 50,000 ft, with one hand tied behind your back.)

I looked at the unlimited ticket for cineworld, as I have 3 cinema's within reasonable distance of me, and 2 of them are cineworlds, not sure what the other is, never been there. But my problem is, there will be one month (like now) with half a dozen movies i'd like to see, then there probably wont be any more for 2-3 months. The scheme is minimum 12 month contract. November/december tends to be a good movie time too.

Is it just me, or do movies go from the cinema far too damned quick now! I really wanted to see Kick-Ass in the cinema, but have been rather pre-occupied since it was released on 26th March. I thought that it'd be fine, maybe a few less showings than normal... But it looks like it barely stayed out for 8 weeks, as there is no sign of it in any cinema near me anymore! I swear when I was younger that you didn't have to see a movie in the first 48 hours after it was released, cos it seems to be going that way now.... and I'll wait 3 more months for the DVD no doubt. While I'm here, what movies out atm, or coming out soon are on the 'to watch' lists? For me its: Kick Ass (buggers....) Robin Hood Prince of Persia Iron Man 2 The A Team Karate Kid (probably wait for DVD)

i used to read tomshardware, and I use it now for review/comparisons between equipment, as I like the fact they cover a multitude of items within the tests, from use of office products, to old/new/different games, and benchmarking. BUT, I've found it's reviews unreliable now, and too much spin on most of them. When you get so big that companies send you free stuff, i think it clouds your judgement on wheither an item is suitable or not.

I have just had a very strange query from a teacher, who is filling out a lengthy document, and apparently the document will not allow her to spell check. Other documents are fine, but this one specific document has stopped it! Anyone know where you even turn that setting on from, i've never heard of it. And where do you turn if off again?

nephilim: I live in the Dunstable/Luton area, which if I'm right isn't too far from you. Fancy meeting up for a beer, get you out one night this week? I'll be going to MK at the weekend with my wife; Collectormania is on, and a few movies I wouldn't mind seeing in the cinema if you live further afield than I realised... But I feel for ya. Relationships are a bitch when they don't run smoothly. Drop me a PM if your up to it!

If I ever get my house sorted, I might start myself a home brew. Got all the barrels and jars pipes etc, and there's a wilkinsons down the road from me. Anyone recommend a better place to buy the stuff from with a little more choice? I quite fancy a light ale, something akin to Summer lightning... A little bit hoppy.

What I would like, is all of it in a nice neat document, with a clearly marked folder on the network somewhere labelled appropriately as templates, documents etc. What I would EXPECT, is some outdated paperwork that doesn't really describe anything useful, a sheet with all the critical passwords on that half a dozen people now know the details of, and LOL at the idea of documented GPO's!

Hah, just see here for inspiration...