Tomm

They aren't going to undercut the 30d, surely? Maybe they would stick a pointless 10mp sensor in there, but they won't beat the 30d on other features (metering, high ISO performance blah blah blah). The 350's nice if you get on with it. The D50 is a nicer shape IMO, but the buttons are all in the wrong place. If your instinct is to go with the 350, get it. It's a good camera and takes some very nice pictures. I wouldn't worry about the "next big thing" or whatever, because you'll always be waiting. That's my theory anyway. For what it's worth, the Canon seems to come out on top of the D50 in most of the head-to-heads, but it's a very close call.

See if you can steal one of the old SLRs for a bit. How old are we talking here? If they're 25+ years old they might be a bit hard to get to work, but they shouldn't be too bad, and certainly good for practising "proper" photography skill like composition etc. People will tell you that you don't need an SLR for taking photos (and they're right) but I think holding an SLR makes you really want to take good pictures and they are much more "hands-on" than simple digital cameras. Try and work out how the SLR works and get a few films developed to see what's what.

Yes? [/reason why they don't have a post count for chit chat]

Funny you should mention those, because the Adidas Superstars (AKA (full) shell toes) are the best shoes I have ever ridden in. The sole is awesomely grippy and they fit better than a lot of skate shoes (although that is clearly very personal). Unfortunately you'll never know the joy of riding in them I don't really get on with skate shoes - they don't really offer much support and it's very easy to roll over on your ankle (maybe that's just me and my dodgy ankles), and they make my feet sweat like nothing else. They can be nice and grippy though - Vans Rowley XL2s spring to mind. At the moment I ride in whatever I'm wearing at the time - mostly random trainers or Merrell walking (ish) shoes. As long as they're comfortable and have a grippy sole then I don't think shoes will make that much difference. Although most people on here will tell you that skate shoes rock - but I'm sure it's more because they're fashionable than because they're actually better than Nike/Adidas/Reebok/whatever.

Yeah, when I came home from holiday it said my last visit was a few days earlier (which was impossible because I was out of the country). I wondered about hacking but then I thought "meh" and forgot about it and ate some biscuits.

Is there a status page on the router, that tells you whether it's connected to the internet?

Sorry Joe, I forgot to reply earlier. In all of this I'm assuming you have a decent branded router (not some shitty one from your ISP) and ADSL broadband via your phone (rather than NTL broadband or whatever). Can you log into the router from the computer. Depending on the make, you need to type an IP (often it's 192.168.1.1) into firefox and log into the router. (if it's not that, try 10.0.0.1, 192.168.01). Then you'll need to enter the router login/password which may have reverted back to default settings when you reset it (try admin/password, otherwise look it up in the manual). If there's a router setup wizard in there somewhere, you're probably best off doing that. If not, then you need to find the PPPoE settings and enter the details and password to connect to your ISP. That should get you connected. Post here if you're having trouble.

No, you can't. 12 month contract is minimum 12 months.

Surfing is one of those things I always wanted to learn but never got around to it - mainly 'cos I live miles from any waves, but still. Trailer was mad.

Good work Tom, job well done. Hope you enjoyed it

The Pete Wright original was. Then when Led Zepellin did a cover, Pete said he'd send Drasic around to rip off their fingernails with pliers if they released it as a single. True story.

Just for what it's worth I have that phone and it's nice. It phones people and everything. Battery life is really good (I can get away with charging it once a week sometimes) and it's nice to use. I occasionally use the MP3 player and whatnot, but I think like you say, after a while the novelty wears off and you just go back to using your iPod/Canon. I'd be quite happy with a simpler phone with none of the features, but you can't really get one that isn't a few years old and fairly chunky. So new phone it is. On the other hand, it feels fairly robust and has taken a few drops by myself. Can't complain

Yeah, the only extra ones I watch (besides BBC1, 2, ITV, C4 and 5) are news 24, and occasionally E4 and BBC3. I get about 80 channels, but half of them are shopping channels or ones you have to pay extra for.

People forget that they have to sort it out, and they only have 15 days, so they end up paying the full amount...

I have a friend who does geology. He does no work, and gets to go on holiday all the time (to study, of course...).

Surely Albert was the fifth musketeer you tard? My mustache in that picture looks like an eyebrow. In real life I just get a feint stubble mustache/bit in the middle of my chin that doesn't reach anywhere near my sideys... Like this.

Seriously, the best way to look older is NOT to grow a shit bum-fluff moustache. I shave every other day, otherwise I look like a musketeer.

5200s are pretty terrible - probably not much better than what you have, certainly not worth the money. When I "upgraded" from the onboard (nForce 2) graphics to the 5200, performance went down. So I sold it and got a 9800Pro. If you can stretch to one of those or a 6600le or something, that would certainly be better than a 6200 which is pretty basic.

Am I being thick - What happened to the Leeson? And does it ride compared to the old Leeson? I need a new 24 frame at some point...

If you saw some kid in a wheelchair with no arms or legs, dribbling, with half his face burnt and the other half covered in spots... Would you keep looking? Probably.

Do other USB things work - Pen drives etc?

Might be worth reinstalling your motherboard's USB drivers, see if that helps. Uninstall everything first and install the USB drivers again, then the player's drivers again.