http://www.techsupportforum.com/blogs/ Tech Support Forum is a free computer support center for everyone. From Microsoft to Linux we support it all. en Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:58:05 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.techsupportforum.com/cwd/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.techsupportforum.com/blogs/ http://www.techsupportforum.com/blogs/179478-englishpaul/137-probably-best-kept-secret-pharmacy.html Fri, 10 Apr 2009 13:46:16 GMT I discovered recently something truly revolutionary. Very simple. Probably very old. But very very useful. And unadvertised. Remember all those times, as a kid, where your mum had to hold you down/ bribe you/ both to rip off your old plaster. She would tell complete lies like it wont hurt if... I discovered recently something truly revolutionary. Very simple. Probably very old. But very very useful. And unadvertised.

Remember all those times, as a kid, where your mum had to hold you down/ bribe you/ both to rip off your old plaster. She would tell complete lies like it wont hurt if you do it quickly.
Well, faced with starting to do the same with my daughter, I thought I'd ask the pharmacist if they had anything to help. I mean, perhaps nail varnish remover might help?
Well it turns out that hidden away in most pharmacy counters is a great product called Zoff. It is probably best compared to the kind of wipes you get at KFC for cleaning up afterwards. It is a set of wipes containing an alcohol solvent that if you wipe on a plaster, it dissolves the adhesive. So with a bit of patience, you can get plasters off with no pain and no horrible after residue.

Now why this has not been advertised to the masses is beyond me. But I will spread the word to ease the pain of many children everywhere. ]]> EnglishPaul http://www.techsupportforum.com/blogs/179478-englishpaul/137-probably-best-kept-secret-pharmacy.html http://www.techsupportforum.com/blogs/179478-englishpaul/130-innovative-solutions-yesterdays-problems.html Sun, 08 Feb 2009 13:50:42 GMT I read today that the former flagship French aircraft carrier is sailing into Teeside to be dismantled having been turned away from other countries for being too toxic. In Teeside it will join 4 US navy warships that were too toxic for other countries to want to dismantle. All this reminded me... I read today that the former flagship French aircraft carrier is sailing into Teeside to be dismantled having been turned away from other countries for being too toxic.
In Teeside it will join 4 US navy warships that were too toxic for other countries to want to dismantle.

All this reminded me of a trip I did as a kid to Sellafield. They were intending to set up a centre to take all the high grade nuclear waste that other countries didn't want.
Well, I don't know if this came to anything. (I do know that the rest of our nuclear industry research is so run down that any new generation of UK reactor will be French designed and built).

It seems that Britain has found quite a niche in solving the disposal problems that yesterday's industry has created. And perhaps this is an enormous growth industry. Because industrial developments always produce unwanted consequences whether it be asbestos that is impossible to burn and deadly to breath; or plastics that are versatile materials, but will remain for ever; or fertilisers that increase hormone levels in our rivers. ]]> EnglishPaul http://www.techsupportforum.com/blogs/179478-englishpaul/130-innovative-solutions-yesterdays-problems.html http://www.techsupportforum.com/blogs/179478-englishpaul/124-end-user-licences.html Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:00:00 GMT What the ..? I gave up reading these long ago. I mean its not like you have a choice. You either sign up and use the software, or try to return it for a refund. But I had heard that I could downgrade vista on the same license, and I wondered if I could partition a 32bit vista along side the... What the ..?

I gave up reading these long ago. I mean its not like you have a choice. You either sign up and use the software, or try to return it for a refund.

But I had heard that I could downgrade vista on the same license, and I wondered if I could partition a 32bit vista along side the 64bit version if I could borrow the disk. So I started reading.

I have always been proud that our legal system protects people's rights and guards against corruption. It evens things and is (or should be) fair handed.
But heck, how much ground is being taken by legal concerns!
It is one thing to protect your financial interests as a company, but after reading the Vista EULA (or most of it!) how much have we as individuals given away to MS?
I can't be bothered to look it up to cite it, but there is a clause where MS reserves the right if they don't like a program you have installed to cripple all their programs on your computer via the internet.
Now I don't use my computer to copy things I shouldn't, I don't run evil programs, I don't use programs to run evil. I have nothing to hide.
Yet I find myself strangely worried at how much power MS and the like have. Its not like most of us can choose something else. We are locked into windows by convenience, training, availability and many other things.
So at what point does MS have not only an influence on our life, but also a dominance over it?

How did a legal system, meant to defend the truth and be just, turn into a protracted web of minor details and clauses?
You see, the upshot of this is that you can fall foul of rules that most people would find difficult to understand. So instead of defending the powerless, it is actually serving to trip them up.
And don't even get me started on the eroding effects to society of private litigation. ]]> EnglishPaul http://www.techsupportforum.com/blogs/179478-englishpaul/124-end-user-licences.html http://www.techsupportforum.com/blogs/179478-englishpaul/123-new-computer.html Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:19:54 GMT I have waited to get a new computer for quite a while now, and over christmas my existing laptop took a turn for the worse. I could accept the fact that the case plastic was slowly cracking. I learnt to accept the fact that the DVD drive was unpredictable. But when my daughter managed to snap the... I have waited to get a new computer for quite a while now, and over christmas my existing laptop took a turn for the worse.
I could accept the fact that the case plastic was slowly cracking. I learnt to accept the fact that the DVD drive was unpredictable. But when my daughter managed to snap the headphone out socket (with 3 input/output jacks, I'd hoped that I could reroute the main sound to one of the others... but no); and when the left click on the mouse pad thing stopped working I decided that it was time to hit the sales.

So having been bewildered by the choice, I eventually found all that I wanted at a price that I wanted to pay.

The thing is, instead of being ecstatic with my superdooper new machine, I find myself bogged down in the drudgery of making it do what my old one did.
Adopting Vista for the first time is a pleasure. Not. In fairness, it is easier to set up than I remember anything else being. But its all different. And Microsoft has changed all the programs.
So when I couldn't find outlook, I discovered that it is now windows mail. But then I discovered that some of my HTTP accounts wouldn't work. So I downloaded windows live mail, and a whole host of other stuff which also probably does the same jobs as other things that are already installed.
I also spent ages trying to undo all the helpful gadgets that the manufacturers put on that do exactly the same as other things, and just mean that you don't need to open the start menu when you want a program.
And I also suspect that google is taking over the world, as it seemed to be installed just about everywhere.

But on the plus side, my superdooper machine was now ready to fight cancer (and altzheimers, etc.)
Well that has been like pushing water up a hill with a fork.
By the way, I do recommend folding at home, but perhaps its better to start with the easy programs rather than the beta stuff for multiprocessors.
So, in the last few days I've rekindled what basic knowledge of DOS I once had. What on earth is DOS doing in vista? It is like popping the bonnet (hood) of your car to find a steam engine beneath!

I've found that Vista 64bit seems to only open a 32bit DOS window. I've seen that you have the option to run dos as administrator... what on earth is that? Reminds me of an unwise foray into the world of Linux I once took.

I've also realised that I don't know the difference between an application, a process and a service; and now all 3 are listed in the task manager.

I've had a blue screen of death! That never happened to me in XP. And I would like to point out that it was while installing Norton, not a Folding at Home beta.

So all in all, I'm a little fed up with my new computer. But that is the price of progress. ]]> EnglishPaul http://www.techsupportforum.com/blogs/179478-englishpaul/123-new-computer.html http://www.techsupportforum.com/blogs/179478-englishpaul/117-plastic-glass.html Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:55:53 GMT I love my country, but there are some things that are out and out daft. In my childhood, fizzypop used to be sold in glass 2l bottles that carried a redemption value when taken back to the shop. They were then reused. We also had a milkman, who delivered to almost everybody, and milk was... I love my country, but there are some things that are out and out daft.

In my childhood, fizzypop used to be sold in glass 2l bottles that carried a redemption value when taken back to the shop. They were then reused.
We also had a milkman, who delivered to almost everybody, and milk was delivered in glass bottles that you had to rinse and return (although no financial incentive was given)

Now recycling of glass is to crush it up and make it into new glass. That can't be cheaper than reusing surely? All reusable fizzypop bottles have now been succeeded by plastic. Most milkmen are now only a memory.

And yet, though the drinks world has moved to environmentally unfriendly plastic; most alcohol is still sold in glass bottles. These are non-returnable.
But the worse thing, is that people drinking in the street often smash their bottles, and I have had to watch my toddler learn to walk on paths where if she fell she would not get a graze, but embedded glass.

Talk about getting things 100% wrong. ]]> EnglishPaul http://www.techsupportforum.com/blogs/179478-englishpaul/117-plastic-glass.html http://www.techsupportforum.com/blogs/179478-englishpaul/115-human-nature.html Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:33:09 GMT Today, while lying in my bed desperately trying to delay getting up, Radio 4 had a news item on sperm donation. I was still drifting in and out of sleep, but I believe the gist was that not enough people are donating sperm any more (I didn't hear if that was due to donors going down (no pun intended) or to demand for fertility assistance going up).

The issues are complex. Its not just persuading men to stand up and be counted (pun intended), but also that the law was changed in the recent past to take away anonymity from the donors.

But here's the rub (no pun intended): If man at his most basic level is programmed to pass on his gene pool, then why the problem?
The continuation of the individual's gene pool has been implicated in everything from extra-marital affairs to fundamental evolutionary principles.
But what could be easier for a man? He donates sperm, he spreads his genes without the usual consequences of needing to provide for the offspring. It is, in Darwinian terms, a perfect situation.

So is there more at play here? Does social man need, not only to father, but also to socialise his offspring? Is the drive for offspring a declining goal... and if so have we 'grown out' of evolution?

And if its more complex still, and most things with people are: If men are so worried about meeting offspring that are biologically tied to them,
is this the indication that cloning would never be individually accepted? You would never want to meet another you.

Or perhaps its more hidden than that. Perhaps it is all on a higher level. Perhaps as man is naturally declining in fertility, there is also a hidden higher sense that we must not redress what nature is doing. ]]> EnglishPaul http://www.techsupportforum.com/blogs/179478-englishpaul/115-human-nature.html http://www.techsupportforum.com/blogs/179478-englishpaul/114-bonnets.html Sun, 09 Nov 2008 23:33:46 GMT My thought for today: Am I the only person that finds parking newer cars harder? I think it is probably a European thing, and is the consequence of safety. I vaguely remember that cars now have a specification to limit how much damage they cause to Mr Bloggs if they hit him while crossing the... My thought for today:
Am I the only person that finds parking newer cars harder?
I think it is probably a European thing, and is the consequence of safety. I vaguely remember that cars now have a specification to limit how much damage they cause to Mr Bloggs if they hit him while crossing the road. This has meant that instead of the old high bonnets that you could see while driving, cars now have really low bonnets that you can't see. So I find when parking that I don't know where the front of my car ends.

If I must have a pedestrian friendly bonnet shape, then I wish manufacturers would bring back the old concept of a motif that sticks up at the front, as it would be quite a good visual marker. ]]> EnglishPaul http://www.techsupportforum.com/blogs/179478-englishpaul/114-bonnets.html http://www.techsupportforum.com/blogs/179478-englishpaul/113-eco-vandalism.html Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:40:21 GMT Yesterday, after having my truck towed through a muddy field, I contemplated how deep the furrows were. It occurred to me how funny it would be to have a few packets of seeds in my pocket which, if discretely sown, would provide a colourful and mysterious addition to the field sometime next... Yesterday, after having my truck towed through a muddy field, I contemplated how deep the furrows were.
It occurred to me how funny it would be to have a few packets of seeds in my pocket which, if discretely sown, would provide a colourful and mysterious addition to the field sometime next spring.

Now, in my case it would prove a good way to loose the contract next year, so I didn't.

But next time you're at a festival that gets a bit muddy; take a few packs of seeds and discretely sow as you move around. It would put plants in some very interesting places! ]]> EnglishPaul http://www.techsupportforum.com/blogs/179478-englishpaul/113-eco-vandalism.html http://www.techsupportforum.com/blogs/179478-englishpaul/111-welcome.html Wed, 05 Nov 2008 11:42:20 GMT Having given much thought (:laugh:) to it, I have decided that it is better for the masses if I detail many of my ponderings in a blog and not inflict them on a forum. And what better day is this! Obama is crowned messiah of america. Or at least that is what the McCain camp were warning.... Having given much thought (:laugh:) to it, I have decided that it is better for the masses if I detail many of my ponderings in a blog and not inflict them on a forum.

And what better day is this! Obama is crowned messiah of america. Or at least that is what the McCain camp were warning.
But, to an unread Englishman, I have no idea as to when Obama will be installed, and no idea of the power he can actually yield.

If its like Britain, then even with the masses on his side to drive through new ideas, it will be quite a while before we see change. In fact I wonder if we will see results from the LHC before we see results from BHO!

The thing that most stands out today, however, is McCain. How can someone who is so gracious in defeat run such a nasty campaign? I sometimes wonder if the tail is wagging the dog. But if the dog can't control its tail, should it be retired off or put down?

Being highly skilled at finding the bad in any good, I can't help but ponder on Palin. Her campaign seemed to be sliding into the darker side of predudice. And for a woman, who saw no wrong in wielding her power to depose an enemy of the family, to run a campaign focused on predudice... Well, I wonder how long before we have a new head to the far right. In Britain I would say the BNP, but I don't know who the far right are in the states. But if you stir up hatred on predudice and then thrive on the outcome; if you present yourself as the figure to solve the problems; if you are happy to bend your powers to manipulate those you don't like out of office; at what point are you not the leading star of the far right?
So I am glad that Obama won. And in part because of Palin. Hopefully unity will be the outcome in America. But I am worried by the support Palin got. How long before there is a strong base for the far right? If Obama fails in one term, will we see unthinkable alternatives coming to the mainstream? How much further would the job market need to sink for the call against foreign nations to ring out? How low do people's finances have to drop before there is a witch hunt?
And if I was to take this thought to the pinnacle of pessimism: If black Obama is holding the reigns when it all collapses into deep recession, how many people will find themselves blaming the blacks for the mess?

I never think we are far away from ugly times. But I do see the possibility of very ugly times ahead.

Not that I am always pessimistic. With BHO could come a surge of optimism on the international markets. It could bring a resolution in Iraq and perhaps Afghanistan. It could spark fresh dialogue about world trade, global warming, and even international injustice. It could lift many out of working poverty, and reform all that which is unjust.

Yet while we look to pin blame on someone, we will fuel prejudice. And with the political campaigns as they have been, is there now more or less prejudice?

Oh well; we have 4 years to wait and see! ]]> EnglishPaul http://www.techsupportforum.com/blogs/179478-englishpaul/111-welcome.html