MrMat

Don't just go with a Nikon. The best advice I can give is go to a local camera shop and have a play with all the brands. After having a go with a few, you should feel a preference to one or the other. Might be the size, might be the shape, the menu system, the button layout etc. I never got on with Nikon, didn't like the menu system or the layout etc so i went with a Canon. Eventually got frustrated with having a large SLR so moved to a Sony Mirrorless. Honestly there's really very little difference between cameras these days in terms of image quality, resolution etc.

Yeahh maybe give them a miss for now then

Yeah it can do. Generally the only really stimulants in them is caffeine so it really depends on your caffeine tolerance really. You drink much coffee? If i train later, like 8 or so, i don't have any because i won't sleep but then again, i'll struggle to sleep if i have a cup of tea too late in the day. I like them, they're great for a kick up the arse however, the downside to that is it becomes harder to train without it.

I've been using Huel for a few months but ran out recently so back to cheap whey protein which i get from Bulk Powders (chocolate cookie nom nom). Currently i just use their standard whey which i mix with milled oats, makes a nice easy shake with carbs and proteins. To be honest though, there's not much difference between the brands these days really. My mate uses MyProtein and there's no real difference in price or quality. The only other supplement i use is a decent pre-workout but i like to try different ones. I've currently got ProSupps Hyde which is strong as hell lol, it's 400mg caffeine per serving so certainly wakes you up. I've tried loads of different ones like NoExplode, MyProtein, Bulk Powers (they do about 3 different ones), Mutant Mayhem etc.

Yeah definitely. For me, it made a massive difference. Some guys i train with didn't notice quite the same difference (maybe i'm sweatier, i dunno) but for the couple of quid it costs, it's certainly worth a shot.

Agreed! There are so many people that don't seem to understand how to use lifting equipment such as straps, belts, wraps etc. With all the resources that are available these days, there's really no excuse in using your equipment incorrectly. My biggest pet hate is lifting belts. It seems that most people either don't know or simply misunderstand the point of belts. I use (and love) a lifting belt but again only when I start getting into the upper reaches of what I can lift. Firstly they don't actually provide very much support to your spine at all, they don't 'hold you' in and they don't help you lift more weight unless used properly. They are designed to help you create and maintain abdominal pressure by giving you something to push against. Engaging your 'core' by creating abdominal pressure will make your stronger throughout the lift and strengthen the muscles that support your spine. If you can comfortably wear your belt for your entire workout then it's not tight enough and is more than likely doing nothing at all. Agree about the gloves too. I used to wear them, mainly because I saw everyone else wearing them so thought they were needed. Nowadays I never wear them, my hands have toughened up so they never really hurt and if I need extra grip i'll just use chalk. The only real downside is that my hands are mess of caluses etc but I have no plans to become a hand model so I can live with that! I'm the same. Belt for deads, squats and overhead. Yup I use liquid chalk. It makes a mess if you touch stuff before it dries and it can really dry out your hands BUT it's great. It's improved my grip strength loads as I don't need strap when pulling heavy.

Haha, knee wraps! Wrap them tightly around your knees during heavy lifts. They give support to your knees which helps to reduce the chances of injury etc and can actually help you lift more (due to their elasticity). My plan is to only use them when I hit about 85-90% of my max weight on squats and leg press. Then i'll wrap allowing me to either go heavier, or just get more reps out of the weight. It should help me get used to being under heavier loads and, eventually, should help me get stronger.

Finally got around to ordering some of these: I'll be finding out how they feel this afternoon

Ahh dude that sucks! On the plus side though, with first loss out of the way the first victory will taste even sweeter!

I'm more of a fan of Supertraining; 'Supertraining DOT TV, the strongest gym in the west'. It's Mark Bell from Bigger, Stronger, Faster fame. It's a great channel with lots of good information, and they don't take themselves to seriously. They also get some ace guests who really know their stuff (Ed Coen, Pete Rubish, Brian Shaw etc). It's been my 'go-to' channel for improving technique on Bench, Squat and Deads. Ahhh the pullup! Used to be my mortal enemy! Up to 3 sets of 6 - 8 now though

Ahaha I wouldn't go that far but thanks man You should squat! Squats are great once you get used to them and can have a real knock-on effect on your other lifts. Try recording yourself if you're worried about your Deadlift. If you're anything like me you'll feel like a bit of a pleb filming yourself but honestly, seeing yourself from the side really helps to spot any poor technique etc. I didn't realise how much my hips shot up until i recorded myself and then made effort to correct.

No updates in here for quite a while now! Over the past few months I've been focusing on losing a bit of weight while trying to maintain/gain strength. So lots and lots of compound lifts for me! Training schedule has become: Monday - Heavy Bench (sets of 3), usual auxilary chest work Tuesday - Heavy squat (alternating weeks - either sets of 3 or sets of singles), light deadlift and leg press Thursday - Heavy overhead press, usual other shoulder stuff Friday - Deadlift (same as heavy squat), light squat. Saturday - Arms There's cardio thrown in their sporadically too. My Diet has changed quite a bit too. Overall calories are down, less carbs per meal etc. I don't really figure out my macros, just try and be sensible with what i eat. So far, it's working well. I'm down from 16 stone 3 lbs to 15 stone 5 lbs and all my lifts have gone up (slightly!). Deadlift = 190kg Squat = 175Kg (180 is coming!!!) Bench = 125kg Overhead press (strict) = 80kg How's everyone else getting on? Progress?

But they aren't being tricked. The message clearly states 'This PC is scheduled to upgrade on: ****'. It's a statement, not a question. There's no tricking here. Why would you believe that simply closing this box would prevent this from happening? It's forceful yes and i don't agree with it as a tactic but it's certainly not misleading.

When you changed the Document Server to IP, did you change anything in your proxy settings etc? If the clients are having to go through a proxy to get to the Document Management it can really slow down SIMS boot times. If it's not the Document Server, it could be SIMSload. Easiest way to test this is browse to Program Files > SIMS > SIMS .net on the slow machine and run Pulsar.exe and log in to SIMS as normal. If SIMS loads quicker using this exe rather than the shortcut then the problem is with SIMSload and/or access to the SIMS Shared folder. If neither of those have any effect, then it's probably the server/SQL instance itself.

Or you just realised your smartphone has a soft focus 'adult entertainment' mode...

Unfortunately there isn't a way to facilitate this within SIMS. Attendance and Behaviour are different modules that aren't linked in any way. Can I ask why you're using numerical values in the register? Wouldn't it make more sense to just assign the behaviour points and then you can monitor poor behaviour through the behaviour module?

Same with my logitech GT! It's very, very annoying.

I've had it on Steam for quite a while now and have put about 20-odd hours into it. It's an ace game, probably one of the best racers i've played in a good few years. I've been using the old Logitech GT from the PS3 and it works a treat.

Bear claw? Rowarrrlll

Happy Easter everyone! During my days off i whipped the camera (and the Surface Pro) out for a few snaps. Surface Pro 4 Pen by Alex Matravers, on Flickr Earlswood Lakes - Solihull by Alex Matravers, on Flickr Earlswood Lakes - Solihull by Alex Matravers, on Flickr

HUEL!!! I'm having Huel with my diet, it's great. Taste is a bit off but the macronutrients are spot on so it's worth it. I got some some dirt cheap (bulkpowders.co.uk) basic chocolate Whey Protein. Three scoops Huel, one scoops Whey - tastes pretty good. Have this two times a day along with my usual diet of 3 proper meals and snacks just to add additional calories/macros etc. £50 is a lot but combine it with something else and you can stretch it out a little bit. Been using it since Christmas and my weight has gone up (yay!), weighing in at 101KG these days. Bit porky around the edges but strength has shot up too so pretty happy

Couple of new'er ones from me Rolo in the dark! by Alex Matravers, on Flickr An educated lady by Alex Matravers, on Flickr The lobby by Alex Matravers, on Flickr

For future reference, this will most likely be caused by either a missing SIMS.ini (C:\Windows) OR the SIMS .ini is missing the 'SIMSSetupsDirectory=' OR you dont have access to the SIMSSetupsDirectory route specified within the SIMS .ini. SIMS is basically trying to find the Setups folder to see if theres an update that needs applying before it runs. Another alternative (providing you plan to update this computer manually or via S3) is to remove SIMS load from the shortcut. To do this: - Right click the SIMS shortcut on the desktop - Select Properties - Shortcut tab - The target will read something like this: "C:\Program Files (x86)\SIMS\SIMS .net\SIMSLoad.exe" "C:\Program Files (x86)\SIMS\SIMS .net\Pulsar.exe" - Delete the first section so that it simply says "C:\Program Files (x86)\SIMS\SIMS .net\Pulsar.exe" - Click okay This will get rid of the error completely

Are we talking AM/PM Registers or Lesson Registers? Either way there isn't actually a report that does this (to my knowledge) but, providing you're looking at AM/PM registration and not Lesson Marks, you can create one using a macro enabled excel template. Create a pupil report with whatever you need and make sure you include the Reg Teacher. Then within the Attendance Marks sub report there is Recorded By. You can then do some wizardry within Excel to count how many times the recorded by is the same as the Reg Tutor for each child and the figure this out as a percentage.

Only a small reports, it's Capita's own 'Religion' report we were testing. We have actually identified a proxy issue this morning. SIMS login was taking an age as well, turned off the proxy and now everyone can log on in about 10-15 seconds which is ace. Not sure of the reason for that, passed it back to the school to have a look at the proxy etc. Hasn't actually resolved the freezes/crashes though unfortunately. They are using Discover but the file size isn't anything major. Couple of gig tops. Just double checked SQL and it is indeed set to compatibility mode 2012 (110). That not a bad shout, i'll have a look through all the reports and see if there's anything lying around that might be causing issues etc. Thanks all for the tips!!