mats

Backula and Amamanda are the biggies but I have no experience to offer.

Last line in error.log - the priviledge table is broke so mysql won't start. Have you seen the last answer in Answer : Bug#411672: mysql-server-5.0: Incorrect file format 'host' ?

Send him off to codeacademy.com to learn html and css. Then look at CMSs.

I've got a 160Gb slim, open to reasonable offers?

Amen brother. I'm knocking on the big 4-0 and haven't owned a car since about 2000. I can claim about 6 bicycles though.

I could draw the circuit on a piece of paper in about a minute, but instead will try to explain it... To protect the raspi, I would use an opto-isolated transistor like the venerable 4N25 - this means that anything bad that happens on the other side of the opto can't hurt the raspi. I would then use a transistor (or even 2, depends how much current the relay needs) to drive the relay coil. Not forgetting a reverse biassed diode across the coil to protect against voltage spikes when it is switched off. Failing that, I suspect interface boards will be 2 a penny in a month or twos time.

The OP was asking about programming on a Pi. I suggested a way of doing it. Its a debian system so you can take your pick of languages - it's just a question of finding ones that children will pick up easily.

Scratch runs on the pi and there are resources out there for it.

Spot on in terms of spending, attitudes and law enforcement. And probably other things.

Too late for me - sorry. On a different note, I've signed a number of petitions on that site and it seems to generate little but hot air and platitudes from government. On the basis of the weekends announcements on housing benefit, it seems you need to get the Daily Wail behind you if you want to change policy.

Hi James, I'm afraid I'm not really interested in other peoples servers. I am interested in your wordpress forms though. Can I ask why you use the paid-for gravity forms over the free wordpress form plugins? Are there features missing in the free versions or is there some other sublety? Which plugins have you discounted? Thanks, Mat

Looked at it and decided it was definitely not for KS1 or KS2.

£10pm goodybag works well for me.

Suitability for getting to work makes no difference whatsoever. You could buy a bmx, a childs bike, a trials bike or a unicycle if the bike shop will sell it to you under bike to work. Similarly, nobody checks if half the bikes use is going to work (as it's supposed to be). I use old low-value bikes for work / pub / shopping duties - wouldn't dare lock a shiny new bike at school regularly. If you want a new'un, bike to work scheme. If you're less bothered, I'd ebay - like that Giant.

They've done a great job cleaning it but the v brakes and what looks like a 7 speed cassette suggest it's pretty old. I'm no expert on forks but they look pretty elderly too. For £350 I'd be looking at a 2-3 year old hardtail, it's not enough cash for a fully bouncy.

You're right to avoid the siren call of full sus bikes - they're no good unless you spend £1000+. Most bike bits are easy to upgrade with the exception of the fork - £££ and needs the right tools to upgrade. The Vulcan looks like a lot of bike for £350 though. Re ebay bikes - I did it and bought a 'ridden twice, decided mountain biking isn't for me' bike and it's been great. It was a minter 3 years ago and certainly isn't now. I'd be very cautious about used bikes, as another poster said - there are plenty of bits that can wear out which you don't want to be paying to replace. If you know your stuff, local ads might be the way forward because you can inspect before handing over the dosh. Again, cycle to work can save about 30% if you have a nice employer and aren't planning to change jobs for 18 months. Can include kit too so panniers, repair kit, waterproofs, lock, lights, lid can all be added. Hth

Really simple. Like it. Mains charger (eg motorbike charger) to 12v leisure battery to 12v siren / beacon. 12v stats must be available. No mains isolation issues.

Starter for 10 - arduino ( / freeduino) plus a DS18B20 one wire calibrated temp sensor, driving a mains relay (via a transistor) which drives a flasher / siren / whatever.

It's disgusting really, passing the dying. And caused, as noted in the comments in that article, by people paying to get to the summit and consequently getting a 'damn the rest of you' attitude. Never happened before guided ascents became comonplace. Probably made easier by being one of the dozens of other people also passing the stricken.

Scratch is fine on XP - what's not working on 2003?

We also have an internal espresso box and it's default page is also http://10.x.y.z/espresso/primary_uk/index.html The old shortcut appears to redirect (on my mc at least) to the new one but I've also had some 'its not working' calls so I'm updating the shortcut. Cheers

For £4K5 you could get a trice which will do daft speeds just on leg power.

We've given staff kingston encrypted drives at one school. Some staff complain that they're too slow and want to use their old non-encrypted ones. At another school, they use truecrypt with a batch file to open / close the encrypted drives. It's down to the staff to actually use it instead of the little free space (deliberately) left on the drive. In both cases, I'm quite clear that they are expected to use the encrypted drive for data relating to the kids and the penalties for losing said data. It also covers my a$$ to a degree - I've given them tools and instructions on how to use them so don't come after me if they lose important data.

Agree - arduinos are great for getting close to the hardware, hacking (er, learning about) C and making tiny, low power circuits. A Pi is a much more complex horse for a different course. Be sad to see Arduino losing sales / penetration because of the Pi hype.

Fog won't image an ext4 partition because partimage doesn't work with ext4 (multiple sources). That means Ubuntu 9.10 onwards (according to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ubuntu_releases) fwiw.