Tomm

Are you sure you can't get it done on the NHS? Yes, it's your fault that it looks shit. But people do stupid stuff and end up in A+E every day needing treatment - I don't really see that this is so different? Worth a try anyway.

I concur.

It's called a hypnagogic hallucination and it's very common. I sometimes hear doors banging when I'm half-asleep and it sounds completely real. It's not a symptom of psychosis, you'll be pleased to know. It is, however, associated with narcolepsy (in a very small proportion).

I think people on TF should stop trying to play the role of cognitive behavioural therapist when they know nothing of the disease and its treatment. Telling people with schizophrenia to "snap out of it" would be laughable if it wasn't such a serious subject. All I will say is - Dave, I hope you find a good way to deal with your illness. What sort of things do you see?

Sounds like a good choice. Good clothing can turn a shite ride into a good one.

Apple has very rigid upgrade cycles - Every iPhone so far has been released in June/July on a yearly basis. You can more or less bet there will be an iPhone 5 in June / July 2011.

The iPhone interface basically hasn't changed for 3.5 years. It's been tweaked and improved but it's still essentially 4 years old. My theory is that Apple's engineers are constantly working on something new, a new/better interface. As soon as the competition catches up to the current iPhone, they'll up the awesome and release a killer new interface for everyone to get excited over again. It's taken nearly 4 years for Google / HTC to even come close to the iPhone. Perhaps that's wishful thinking.

Seriously?! Windows Mobile was compete toss. Sure it had the features but it was completely, utterly, horrible to use. The iPhone is a complete revelation by comparison - buttery smooth navigation and soooo much more polish. Just unlocking the phone is a pleasure. That's the one problem I have with the recent iPhone-a-likes (I.e. Android phones) - none of them have managed to achieve the same polish and smooth scrolling as even the original (3.5 year old) iPhone. However, I can see that there's certainly some advantages of the Android platform. I personally don't think there's better than the iPhone 4, though (granted, it's expensive). As for Windows Phone 7 - it looks good actually. I think it's pretty early stages for it, there are lots of important features missing (copy/paste) and I don't think I could get along with it just yet. Give it 6 months and see what happens. I do like the interface though - Kudos for Microsoft to actually taking the time making something look nice. The various information screens pulling data from everywhere (Facebook, twitter, emails, texts etc) almost make the iPhone's app-based system look a bit dated! Unless Apple change the interface soon, I think a lot of people will move over to Android / WP7. I just might, out of boredom.

I'll start by saying I'm far from an expert on this subject. But schizophrenia, or at least psychotic diseases are probably easier to diagnose than other (neurotic) mental disorders as there are various definable features which aren't open to subjectivity. Delusions (in the true sense of the word) and hallucinations just aren't part of the normal workings of the mind. It's certainly not a diagnosis that's banded around as much as, say, depression - which can be more subjective (although there are also strict criteria for this diagnosis, too). Schizophrenia as a diagnosis has a pretty big stigma attached to it - the idea that doctors use the term lightly is pretty absurd.

I should get something like those. I mean, I very much doubt they're impenetrable to water but they look as though they'd at least let less water in than my MP66. They ain't white though

Does the thing even work? I mean why on earth would someone sell a laptop with no hard drive or RAM? To answer your question, I'm pretty sure all you'll need is a copy of OS X and that'll have all the drivers required.

It's a known error - Something about needing to agree with the T+Cs. I'm sure google can answer the question better, but I believe the fix is to sign out of iTunes and restart the PC, then sign back into iTunes. It should ask you to accept the T+Cs and when you've done that it's all gravy.

I wouldn't worry about it at all. Oil will come out long before grit goes in. Replace the seals if you like, but if they were my forks I'd probably just make sure the oil was topped up and not dripping onto the disc...

You can get infra red remote controls for PCs really cheaply. You can set that to power off / volume etc. I bought a StreamZap remote control which will do everything you want. I've since started using WinLIRC which lets you customise the commands. Or DIY. Or if you have anything clever like an an iPhone you can often control the PC via that (wifi .'. no line of site required). Logitech Touch Mouse is the one I have - works flawlessly as remote keyboard / mouse but it lacks specific media commands (E.g. vol up/down, skip, power off etc). I believe there are others that have this functionality. On the subject of silent cases - it's sort of a misnomer. Cases don't make noise, unless they have a fanless PSU (which some do). But if you fill that with a high energy-consumption CPU and graphics, it will still need more cooling (I.e. fans) to avoid overheating. By far the noisiest component in my PC (which admittedly is 7 years old...) is the graphics card fan, and plenty of passively-cooled graphics cards are available now. If you think about it carefully and plan the best components, you ought to be able to make a computer nearly silent, but that would be a combination of CPU / GPU and case design.

Buying waterproof shoes doesn't really work, since any reasonably-sized puddle just lets water in over the top. Seal skin socks are one of my favourite bits of kit - They're completely waterproof but again, they only work until water goes in the top (but at least they can be pulled up past your ankle). There's a knee-length version as well, but I figure they might look kinda gimpy. If it's pretty cold I'll usually wear lycra bib tights, shorts over the top, a thermal base layer and a decent (I.e. 100% waterproof) jacket. That's kept me warm in almost any conditions, sometimes I'll put another layer on, and I've got some waterproof gloves which are awesome if your hands get cold. It doesn't keep your bottom half dry, but that's never really gonna happen. Endura make some waterproof lycra stuff but it's expensive. I suppose coupled with some knee-length sealskins under the tights, and a decent jacket, you might just stay completely dry. I doubt it though.

Yeah I read what you wrote, but he also said at least once that he didn't have audio out so thought I'd give him the benefit of the doubt - perhaps he has an OEM model or something weird. I don't really care.

I had a problem whenever I connected speakers to the front audio out on the PC - every time I moved the mouse the speakers would buzz, also every time the HDD did something, it did the same. It was something to do with the shielding of the audio connection, and when I plugged the speakers into the back of the PC, the problem went away. Doesn't sound like your problem but it might be worth considering.

That's not true if your monitor has no speakers or audio out. I have no idea whether his does...

Depends by what method you're using. If you have a known mass of oxygen, then it doesn't matter whether a molecule is bonded to another, it won't affect the mass. So in this case you would divide by 16. However, if you're working it out using the ideal gas equation from the volume of oxygen, you'd be absolutely correct in saying that each O2 molecule has a relative mass of 32 (I.e. divide by 32).

Is it the old style xbox 360? If so, just cut the surrounding off the audio breakout box. Like this: http://www.chadledford.com/?p=50 I have no idea if that still works on the newer models though.

Yep, unless the monitor has some sort of audio out. By the way, the word nerd is kind of derogatory. If you want help, you'd be better off asking for geeks

I got two deliveries today (one special delivery, the other one DHL). (fake 7 days late) Christmas is saved!

That better not be true. I need a parcel to arrive. Seriously you'll probably know more than me but tomorrow is just a normal Friday? EDIT: Wed 29 Dec 2010 Normal deliveries and collections Thu 30 Dec 2010 Normal deliveries and collections New Year's Eve Fri 31 Dec 2010 Normal deliveries. Saturday time collections from pillar boxes and Post Office® branches. Business collections by prior arrangement only New Year's Day Sat 1 Jan 2011 No deliveries or collections Mon 3 Jan 2011 No deliveries or collections Tue 4 Jan 2011 Normal deliveries and collections except in Scotland.

Willy up eh? Happy Birthday Mark.