St Landrew

Before you completely condemn the catalyst converter, have you had the Lambda sensor checked..? If that's faulty the engine management could revert to another program and the emissions could be changed.

Well at least it makes a change from the everlasting [bloody hell, will we never stop singing it] father's gun.

I suspect they were typical football fans to ex-spurs/opposition player chants, which almost certainly means they were to some degree offensive. I'm sure he just thought of his £umpteen000 per week and and saved the last laugh for himself.

Apart from the fact that investors don't make money from football, which is a biggie, I think Ashley could do worse than buying Saints. I'd be very pleased too, if he showered half of the money on us that he has on Newcastle Utd. And I think Saints would make him very happy too.

My favourite has SFC featured as one of the teams. It doesn't seem the same after that.

Correct. The mistake is buying XP Home in the first place. It has to be validated within 30 days to continue to work. Microsoft assume an XP Professional disc/OS will be installed on more than one computer, and just issue as many licences as required, and it works straight from the off. I've never heard of anyone upgrading from Professional to Home. Let's face it, it's a downgrade. The best advice I would give, would be to suggest you take XP Home back to the shop where you bought it, and plead with them that it was a mistake, and that you really wanted **XP Professional. I'm assuming the reason you're having trouble with the current disc is that it is either a cracked version, or the disc is scratched, or the licence key is missing. Anyway, pay the extra few quid and consider yourself lucky the vendor took XP Home back. Places like Novatech, for example, will not accept returned software. **Get the OEM version and say.., a memory stick [that should cover the OEM requirements] and you won't pay huge money for the OS. Failing all that, you'll just have to reinstall.

Btw Dog. You can be a bit of a puppy at times. The little ditty... blokes do it, babies do it... was a play on the song Let's Do It, Let's Fall In Love, by Cole Porter. In it there is the line, birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it. Let's do it ... Look it up. Here, I've saved you the trouble. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gB5Cz0TYd-g Modern Alanis Morrisette version with an Avengers video. Not bad either. The lyrics have been changed from the original. Everyone has freely changed them over the years.

You're probably thinking of How2, and not the original with, Bunty James, Fred Dinenage, Jon Miller and Jack Hargreaves. I reckon you'd have to be over 40 to have seen that. It was actually a very good kids programme considering it was regional [originally Southern] TV. Here's from a slightly later era [though not How2] with another female presenter. Check the spelling of Fred's name:

Well bugger me. Hat's off to Casey Stoner. No excuses [he is carrying an injury], and just explained his race. And then he agreed Rossi was a worthy champion. Come back all I said about the man and his whinging. When the chips are down, he's honest and forthright. One day, without a doubt, he will be World Champion again: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/motorbikes/7640347.stm Roll on Phillip Island.

I always find this shedding jobs sort of thing rather amazing. I don't think I've heard of more than one or two managements in companies who have ever considered going to the workforce and asking them to take a pay cut, including the management. That way they all stay and all tighten their belts, financially. But no. Mostly, it's a case of people ducking their heads and hoping the axe doesn't fall on them. Then they wave goodbye to their so-called friends from work, and heave a sigh of relief, while the new unemployed face very unsteady futures.

Bloody idiot. If you're going to do a high speed wheelie, at least do it on a known straight country road, with no blind turnings. Or not at all. The last thing motorcyclists want is to wake up car drivers from their traffic jam slumbers with this kind of stuff.

Why would I want to get my PC fixed by those idiots..? I fix PCs. On the subject you are unfortunately referring to, I did fix a PC for someone about 10 years ago, and it did have content on it. Right on the desktop. Not illegal in any way, but it made me wince somewhat. :-&

Funnily enough, I'm at a relative's house at present and looking at this via the very same board, which I donated a few years back.

Surely all this female denial is a leave over from the practice being unlady-like..? Blokes do it. Babies do it. Even Apes, Monkeys and Dolphins do it. Let's do it. Let's... err... no. Getting slightly carried away there.

Yep, I'm finally selling it. It's been a brilliant servant and never let me down, being either a consummate long distance cruiser, or comfortable around town. It's having to make way for something a little more practical, and a motorcycle. Here are a few details. 1.8S in dark gunmetal [sorry, can never remember the colour's name] 12 months MOT No tax [OK, today is the last day, so it will be SORNed]. 134000 miles on G reg [1990]. 26-28mpg urban, upto 40+mpg on a run. Galvanised body and minimal rust Upholstery in super condition Electric windows Factory sunroof Power steering Very good 6 speaker Audi standard sound system Audi alloy wheels with 2 new tyres and 3 tyres in good conditon. Just last week it flew through its MOT without a caution. Yesterday it ferried my cousin to Stroud in Gloucestershire - A34/M4 there, and country lanes back. We put £40 in the tank, there's still a tenner** in there, and we didn't hang around. My odometer read 206 miles after all the to-ing and fro-ing. Work it out. There are no rattles or leaks, no clicks or pops. It starts every time and stops excellently. Obviously, there is the odd tiny ding in the bodywork, but no dents or major 'key' scratches. It will be advertised elsewhere, but if someone fairly quickly offers me what I'm asking for, or very near, it won't be. I'll pop up a photo or two later if wanted. PM me if interested. £450 ono. **EDIT: Just looked at the fuel gauge. There's actually around £20 left in the tank. Sorry about that. I was just too dammed lazy to check earlier.

Watched James May's Big Ideas last night. It was fun, and a good filler until TG returns. Thought he'd certainly get around to suggesting an autogyro for everyday/man transport in the end, but he didn't. Strange omission as, unlike a helicopter, which he cast doubts against in his programme, autogyros don't push the laws of physics to their limits. Perhaps they're not weird enough.

OK, well I've had ZERO PMs for passing on your good wishes to Ron Davies, so seeing as I stickied this old thread for that very reason, I'll unsticky it now. I'm not bitter..

For me it's completely the other way around. When playing PES I can sense the little moves, weight of passes and shots, from when I used to play football for real. Even the original version had some of that sense. For all it's graphics, logos and players, FIFA just feels like a computer game that just happens to be football. PES every time. Oh, and deespite that fact that I always feel I'm going to enjoy these football management games, whether I'm successful or not, I end up loathing them.

The fact that the CPU takes instruction, i.e. that the OS starts to load up, means that it is functioning, othewise the system wouldn't probably get past the POST. It does appear to be hugely overheating though. So, several things to check here: 1. Power cable - whether or not it is dodgy, swap it with the monitor cable, or another kettle type lead, that you're confident about. 2. The power supply may be spiking. I would normally just substitute to check, but I appreciate people don't have spares lying around, so you'll have to trust this for a while. Perhaps when you've checked other things, you can come back to this and minimise the strain on it by disconnecting devices like DVD drives, etc.. 3. Fans and Heatsinks. The CPU heatsink and fan must be working absolutely efficiently. Check that you can feel a blast of air against your fingers when it is turned on. Make sure the heatsink is completely dust free. Here's where it is probably a good idea to have a basic check of the condition of these components, and to check on the state of the CPU itself. Have some replacement CPU paste standing by..! If the dismantling requires motherboard removal to release the heatsink, then it's probably a good idea to vacuum the heatsink and fan first to remove all the dust, and then check. If you get an improvement, then you can decide for yourself whether it's worth going the whole hog. 4. What is the temperature inside the PC box..? Is it cited next to a radiator..? Is it on the floor, and do you have pets and/or long pile carpets..? Odd couple of questions, I know, but they do add up. Check for clogged other fans, and their efficiency too. 5. Check the BIOS for advanced settings that may encourage excessive heat through work, or if you have a PC Health or some such area within the BIOS, check that the fans aren't being minimally powered to save energy. Btw, DSM. Unless you have a good reason for leaving your desktop on all the time, I'd switch it off when not in use. There is an argument that all the heating up and down ages components, which is true, but nothing ages components like continuous work. And a PC that's turned off for 2/3rds of it's life is 1/2 the age of one that is turned on all the time. Without question, all the ancient computer curiosities [20 years and over] I've come across that power up without hesitation have had a damned easy life by being turned off when not needed. As mentioned before, I do a lot of checking by substitution. Often it is easier and faster than getting a test meter out of its box, and a motherboard/other manual alongside. It could be one of several things, but if you just take logical steps, I'm sure you'll come across the answer.

Well you missed mine too. And I am soooo thankful..!

Congratulations Ponty. Alonso drove superbly. He was throwing that Renault about like it was part of him, and he was loving every second of it. By comparison, Raikkonnen stuffed his car into the wall with a real basic [for an established leading F1 driver] error. The more I see of him, the more I think he isn't the real deal, despite being World Champion. Without traction control, he's positively mediocre in a very fast car. He could do with a couple of seasons in a Honda to see whether he can help to improve it. Frankly, I doubt it..! Massa showed he isn't really the complete driver either, by putting his car into the barriers and then giving Adrian Sutil nowhere to go but to stuff his car - or was Massa just getting out of the way..? I wonder what the race stewards would make of that..? Not a good weekend for Ferrari then. Perhaps that's no bad thing, as it helps to redress some sort of moral balance to the results from the past few races, and people can lay the Spa decision to bed, if they want. And as I thought it might - Singapore showed that a street circuit can be exciting. That's the best race I've seen from any street circuit I can think of, including Monte Carlo [which I personally think is boring as f***], and blew Valencia into the weeds. That venue should stick to MotoGP, something it does brilliantly. Maybe it was because it was night time in Singapore. I don't think so though. Good race.

Not a brilliant race overall, but a great one in patches. Stoner and Pedrosa went off like scalded cats, with Hayden, Lorenzo and Rossi in pursuit, as the rest of the tail were quickly dropped by a few seconds. There seemed to be an inevitability as Rossi got the magnets on [Charlie Cox's favourite phrase], and reeled them all in, one by one, until he was on the tail of Stoner, with Pedrosa just ahead, holding up the pair behind. Motegi, despite its width, is a very hard track to pass on due to the shape of the corners, and so Stoner had to do something he complained about when Rossi did it to him a few races back. He squeezed out Pedrosa by diving inside and then driving out to the outer part of the track. Concious of his close pass, he took his clutch hand right off the handlebar and waved his apology like he was leaving on a cruise ship, despite being cranked right over, doing around 130+ mph, and opening up the Duke. That took the sort of balls I don't have. The racer in Rossi noticed Pedrosa was slightly perturbed, and being the GOAT he is, slipped past the whipper-snapper before he got his wits back. Contrary to Steve Parrish's predictions, Stoner and Rossi set about buggering off up the track until they were on their own, while in the background, Lorenzo ate up the distance between him and Pedrosa. Stoner's Ducati was squirming about, trying to keep ahead, while Rossi was arrow straight and smooth, with his speed through the corners eating up the distance by feet, only for the Ducati to pull away. Eventually, under braking, anchors, legs in the breeze, Rossi dived inside Stoner into a left hander, and then pulled away. It then became a masterclass, showing what a fantastic champion Rossi is. To say he is something really special is a huge understatement. He's the best of all time. I can't see past him for next season either. Japanese MotoGP result: 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 43min 09.599secs, 2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati at 1.943, 3. Dani Pedrosa (ESP) Honda 4.866, 4. Jorge Lorenzo (ESP) Yamaha 6.165, 5. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 24.593, 6. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Suzuki 25.685, 7. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 25.918, 8. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda 26.003, 9. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Honda 26.219, 10. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki 37.131, 11. James Toseland (GBR) Yamaha 37.574, 12. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Honda 38.020, 13. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati 39.768, 14. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Ducati 45.846, 15. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki 55.748, 16. Toni Elias (ESP) Ducati 59.320, 17. Alex De Angelis (RSM) Honda 1:12.398. World championship standings: 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 312 points, 2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati 220, 3. Dani Pedrosa (ESP) Honda 209, 4. Jorge Lorenzo (ESP) Yamaha 169, 5. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Honda 136, 6. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 118, 7. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki 117, 8. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 115, 9. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Suzuki 96, 10. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda 95 Thank you Auntie Beeb.

A Saints reject, who has developed into a gutsy player of some quality. An example of which is here: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6o5RBc4W8A0 [2minutes 30 seconds in] and here's the reaction: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=QGHGbVrNcuk

Yeah it's nice to see Hull City doing so well. They're breaking new ground every day they're in the Premiership, as they've never been in the top tier before - yes, even the old First Division when football was only played in legend. If ever there was a division that needed freshening up, it's the Premiership. Frankly, I'd like the big clubs finding themselves all doing a Leeds Utd. It would be so healthy for competition. And Arsenal would break new ground themselves by actually being relegated for the first time in their history, and their fans would know despair for once. Very character building.

During the Premiership years, it was Le Tiss, and latterly James Beattie who took nearly all the penalties. Beatts was an excellent penalty taker because... guess what..? Matty gave him lessons. Surely there's a lesson to be learned in that..!