Bowch's Blog tag:www.bowch.co.uk,2008-01-16://1 2008-05-10T09:43:36Z ɐıɹqɯnɔ ʇsǝʍ uı ƃuıʌıl ʎnƃ ɐ ɟo suoıʇɐʌɹǝsqo & sƃuısnɯ pǝʇɐnʇɔund ʎlɹood puɐ pǝʇuıoɾsıp uǝʇɟo ǝɥʇ Movable Type Personal 4.1 Sister's PC tag:www.bowch.co.uk,2008://1.475 2008-05-10T09:10:08Z 2008-05-10T09:43:36Z The elder of my sisters mentioned to me that she was thinking of getting a new hard drive for her PC because she kept on getting warnings about her C: drive getting full. I couldn't remember what motherboard she had... Bowch http://www.bowch.co.uk Belarc and bring me the results on a usb stick. From that information I was able to determine what motherboard she had and what hard drive she had, and then suggest suitable upgrade paths. She currently has an 80gb IDE hard drive which is partitioned into 2; 1 for Windows and Applications and 1 for Games. What I've suggested is that she moves all of her Games over onto a new larger SATA drive and repartition the 80gb as just a single partition and use it as her boot drive. She can get a decent Maxtor 320gb SATA drive for less than £40 and a good Samsung 500gb for less than £45. I suggested paying the wee bit extra and getting the Samsung. She also mentioned getting a DVD Writer; because she only has a DVD-ROM drive and a CD-RW drive. She can get a 20x Samsung DVD-RW for less than £15. Although she will be able to fit the new drive in without taking anything out I think it might be an idea to remove one of them; probably the CD-RW. She'd also mentioned previously that a lot of her games were failing to run thanks to a Direct 3D error. I took the opportunity to download the latest Catalyst drivers for her; she has an ATI Radeon 9600 Atlantis, and put them on the USB stick. I told her to install them when she got home and give me a ring if she had any problems. She later phoned to say that the installer had come up with an error whilst trying to install the Catalyst Control Center. It appeared that it thought it had a new version of CCC installed. I told her to just carry on and then reboot. When she rebooted the ATI drivers wouldn't initialise so I told her to go into Add/Remove Programs and remove the CCC in there. I then told her to go into the ATI install folder and just install the new CCC. It installed fine and we thought the problem was licked. However, after another reboot the graphics were still underwhelming so I suggested just reinstalling the whole driver set again over the current installation. After yet another reboot everything looked hunky-dory and her 3D games were working. As an aside, there's quite a number of people with AGP versions of ATI's graphics cards that are reporting errors whilst trying to start 3D games. AMD, who now own ATI, have a link to a hotfix on their website that resolves the issue. It's available from here. From my past experience with the errors I was getting prior to upgrading to my new motherboard and processor I think the problem is with nForce 2 motherboards. ]]> EMP Mail Order UK tag:www.bowch.co.uk,2008://1.474 2008-05-09T21:38:09Z 2008-05-09T21:52:22Z Scoot ordered some merchandise recently and handed me a copy of the catalogue he used. The company offer a wide variety of music merchandise such as t-shirts, long sleeves, hoodies and jewellry They can be found here.... Bowch http://www.bowch.co.uk here. ]]> Free Applications tag:www.bowch.co.uk,2008://1.471 2008-05-09T01:03:05Z 2008-05-09T01:07:28Z FreeApps.co.in is a website that lists a variety of free applications intended for a variety of purposes. I can heartily recommend Pidgin (or it's MacOSX equivalent Adium), Audacity, FileZilla, Firefox, Foxit Reader, Open Office, VLC and µTorrent. I'm actually going... Bowch http://www.bowch.co.uk FreeApps.co.in is a website that lists a variety of free applications intended for a variety of purposes. I can heartily recommend Pidgin (or it's MacOSX equivalent Adium), Audacity, FileZilla, Firefox, Foxit Reader, Open Office, VLC and µTorrent. I'm actually going to download Scribus; a free DTP package, and see if it's any good. ]]> Job Hunting tag:www.bowch.co.uk,2008://1.470 2008-05-08T09:20:00Z 2008-05-08T09:26:31Z I'm becoming really disillusioned with the entire job hunting process. It's been almost 6 months since I had my previous employment terminated, and in that time I've probably made close to, if not over, 200 applications and only had 4... Bowch http://www.bowch.co.uk I'm becoming really disillusioned with the entire job hunting process. It's been almost 6 months since I had my previous employment terminated, and in that time I've probably made close to, if not over, 200 applications and only had 4 interviews; 3 with the local NHS Trust and 1 with the neighbouring borough council. A lot of the applications I've made haven't even been acknowledged by the employer. I'm beginning to wonder if the prospective employers are even looking past the fact that I was fired to see what sort of qualifications and experience I can offer or if they're just looking at the fact I was fired and then dismissing my application out of hand. However, I will continue to soldier on. I still have a couple of applications out there; including 1 that really excites me. Sore Back tag:www.bowch.co.uk,2008://1.469 2008-05-07T18:39:30Z 2008-05-07T18:43:52Z I think I've just put my back out. My Dad was in the back garden in his wheelchair and ended up slipping backwards down the path and out of it. Luckily, he hasn't injured himself beyond one or two little... Bowch http://www.bowch.co.uk I think I've just put my back out. My Dad was in the back garden in his wheelchair and ended up slipping backwards down the path and out of it. Luckily, he hasn't injured himself beyond one or two little scrapes but he needed help getting back into his chair. I felt something give as I was helping him back into his chair and now any twisting motion causes pain in the lower left of my back. Superhero / Supervillain Tests tag:www.bowch.co.uk,2008://1.468 2008-05-07T12:14:47Z 2008-05-07T13:03:11Z You are Spider-Man You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility. Spider-Man 80% Green Lantern 60% Robin 55% Catwoman 50% Hulk 40% Supergirl 32% Batman 30% Wonder Woman 27% Iron Man 25% The Flash... Bowch http://www.bowch.co.uk
You are Spider-Man
You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky
and have great power and responsibility.
Spider-Man
 80%
Green Lantern
 60%
Robin
 55%
Catwoman
 50%
Hulk
 40%
Supergirl
 32%
Batman
 30%
Wonder Woman
 27%
Iron Man
 25%
The Flash
 20%
Superman
 20%
Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test
You are Mr. Freeze
You are cold and you think everyone
else should be also, literally.
Mr. Freeze
 54%
Venom
 33%
The Joker
 29%
Dr. Doom
 29%
Dark Phoenix
 28%
Poison Ivy
 27%
Lex Luthor
 21%
Mystique
 20%
Riddler
 18%
Apocalypse
 18%
Green Goblin
 16%
Two-Face
 16%
Kingpin
 16%
Magneto
 14%
Catwoman
 14%
Juggernaut
 12%
Click here to take the Supervillain Personality Quiz
]]> Toes: Healed tag:www.bowch.co.uk,2008://1.467 2008-05-06T08:40:00Z 2008-05-06T08:43:17Z I had an appointment with my podiatrist this morning; and as it turns out, it was my last one. She's happily informed me that the toes are fully healed and I don't need to dress them anymore. The bits of... Bowch http://www.bowch.co.uk I had an appointment with my podiatrist this morning; and as it turns out, it was my last one. She's happily informed me that the toes are fully healed and I don't need to dress them anymore. The bits of dead skin that are on top of the toe matrices will disappear over time. I'll still have annual check-ups with the diabetic podiatrist but don't need to visit my normal podiatrist unless something crops up. It feels weird just wearing socks with no dressing but I'll get used to it. Links For 05/05/08 tag:www.bowch.co.uk,2008://1.466 2008-05-05T13:55:00Z 2008-05-05T13:59:01Z Open Doors is another of those seemingly simple flash games that are a lot harder that they first appear. I'm stuck on level 13. Listropolis is a site that aggregates lists. The lists include such gems as The 10 Most... Bowch http://www.bowch.co.uk Open Doors is another of those seemingly simple flash games that are a lot harder that they first appear. I'm stuck on level 13. Listropolis is a site that aggregates lists. The lists include such gems as The 10 Most Sexually Unappealing Craigslist Postings, Superior Alternatives to Crappy Windows Software and 9 Outrageously Handy Websites Everyone Should Try. Blank Is Like Blank is a website of 'Analogies To Live By.' I especially like the 'Using a semicolon is like barbecuing' analogy. I'm off to cheer Newcastle United on this afternoon and then I'm off roleplaying this evening. Have fun. ]]> Zoostorm PC tag:www.bowch.co.uk,2008://1.465 2008-05-04T12:46:31Z 2008-05-04T13:08:42Z One of my friends has just bought a new PC through his catalogue. It's based on an Intel E2180 dual core processor and has 2gb ram, 250gb hard drive, 17" LCD monitor and comes with Windows Vista Home Premium pre-installed.... Bowch http://www.bowch.co.uk Oldblivion which purports to help get Oblivion running on older unsupported graphics hardware. However, it doesn't support the Shivering Isles expansion. I am going to pop round later, after the football, to try it out for him. ]]> Links For 03/05/08 tag:www.bowch.co.uk,2008://1.464 2008-05-03T08:15:00Z 2008-05-03T08:44:33Z These toilet signs are quite funny. Compulse is another of those deceptively simple-looking flash games.... Bowch http://www.bowch.co.uk toilet signs are quite funny. Compulse is another of those deceptively simple-looking flash games.]]> R2D2 DVD Projector tag:www.bowch.co.uk,2008://1.463 2008-05-02T10:10:00Z 2008-05-02T10:15:31Z I'm not the world's biggest Star Wars fan; in fact you could even say I'm not really a Star Wars fan. I enjoyed the movies for what they were but that's about as far as it goes. Anyway, after watching... Bowch http://www.bowch.co.uk NikkoAmerica for $2999. It's available in Europe for €2799; which equates to just about £2199, from ExclusiveStarWars.com. ]]> Down For Everyone Or Just Me? tag:www.bowch.co.uk,2008://1.462 2008-05-01T19:15:32Z 2008-05-01T19:17:47Z Cali Lewis mentioned a rather useful website in yesterday's GeekBrief podcast; Down For Everyone Or Just Me? is a website that enables users to check and see if a website is really down or if the problem is actually with... Bowch http://www.bowch.co.uk Down For Everyone Or Just Me? is a website that enables users to check and see if a website is really down or if the problem is actually with their own connection. ]]> Page2RSS tag:www.bowch.co.uk,2008://1.461 2008-04-30T23:39:42Z 2008-04-30T23:44:58Z Do you have a favourite website that you enjoy visiting but are annoyed that it doesn't have an RSS feed? This is where Page2RSS comes in. Just give it a URL of a website that doesn't have an RSS feed... Bowch http://www.bowch.co.uk Page2RSS comes in. Just give it a URL of a website that doesn't have an RSS feed and it'll supply options to subscribe to an RSS feed that it'll create for you. All the feed entries point back to the Page2RSS page first but it feels like a small price to pay for such a valuable service. ]]> Chelsea 3 - 2 Liverpool [4 - 3 Aggregate] tag:www.bowch.co.uk,2008://1.460 2008-04-30T21:15:00Z 2008-04-30T21:24:15Z Chelsea will play Manchester United in the Champions League Final in Moscow on Wednesday May 21st. The first half of tonight's game wasn't particularly inspiring; in fact I fell asleep during it. Liverpool played very poorly in the first half... Bowch http://www.bowch.co.uk Chelsea will play Manchester United in the Champions League Final in Moscow on Wednesday May 21st. The first half of tonight's game wasn't particularly inspiring; in fact I fell asleep during it. Liverpool played very poorly in the first half and Chelsea went into half-time with a deserved 1-0 lead thanks to a superb finish by Didier Drogba. The second half saw Liverpool play much better and Chelsea seemed to vanish. An excellent finish from Fernando Torres saw Liverpool equalize on the night and force extra time. The first half of extra time saw Chelsea have a Michael Essien goal disallowed for offside and then a mistake by Sammi Hyppia which gave Chelsea a penalty that Frank Lampard converted for a 2-1 lead. Another superb strike from Didier Drogba, after good work by Nicolas Anelka and half-time in extra time saw Chelsea leading 3-1 on the night. A trip by Didier Drogba on Sammi Hyppia early in the second half of extra time should have resulted in a penalty for Liverpool but the referee waved away the claims. A late strike by Ryan Babel with less than 5 minutes left pulled it back to 3-2 but Liverpool couldn't find a way to equalize. I would have preferred to see a Manchester United - Liverpool Champions League Final but beating Chelsea in Moscow will probably feel even better. Manchester United 1 - 0 Barcelona tag:www.bowch.co.uk,2008://1.459 2008-04-29T20:43:18Z 2008-04-29T20:54:10Z For the last 30 minutes I've been a bit of a nervous wreck; hoping and praying that Barcelona wouldn't get an equalizing goal that would take them through to the Champions League Final. Both teams played a lot of the... Bowch http://www.bowch.co.uk For the last 30 minutes I've been a bit of a nervous wreck; hoping and praying that Barcelona wouldn't get an equalizing goal that would take them through to the Champions League Final. Both teams played a lot of the game on the front foot and both sides could have scored a couple of goals. I've been a bit critical of Paul Scholes in recent weeks; I thought he'd been playing poorly and giving the ball away much more than he should. The goal he scored tonight forgives him of all of that. Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown were excellent in the centre of defence and Carlos Tevez was tireless all over the front line. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's second semi-final between Chelsea and Liverpool. I'd prefer Liverpool to go through but with an all-English final assured I'm not really going to be too bothered if Chelsea succeed and go through to face Manchester United in Moscow.