Peter's Blog 2003/11

Saw 'Elf' at the cinema.

Saw 'Elf' at the cinema. Didn't fall asleep although I was tired and the film was a bit slow. The comedy could have been a little broader.

Showed Bisi the broadband and even she could see..

Showed Bisi the broadband and even she could see how fast it was. Showed her how easy it is to shop and she became more interested.

Sent email to DVLA asking how Bisi can get a photo..

Sent email to DVLA asking how Bisi can get a photo licence ifshe has not known anyone in this country for 2 years. My guess is that she can't.

Right now she is giving my mother a hair cut. It is coming out interesting.

Rushed out and bought 'Origo' broadband router, a..

Rushed out and bought 'Origo' broadband router, a DLink ethernet card and a network cable. Router is some cheapie taiwanese thing, they didn't have any 'name' brands.

Installed card and got blue screens so I ripped it out, put the old one back in, reconfigured it for RJ45 and it just worked.

Fiddled with router for a while and eventually things sprang into life. I think the secret with this lot is to wait patiently for the DHCP and stuff to automatically get IP addresses and suchlike.

Connection seems very fast, faster than at work. downloaded 18M jpluck setup while typing this, 100k/s sustained.

Also downloaded Bonsai and Daynotez to get the desktop version working here at home. Typing this on home pc.

Tech support man reckons my problems are due to..

Tech support man reckons my problems are due to having a VIA USB chipset and says I should use ethernet. Modem has RJ45 connector so I need a router or a swapper.

Nose is red raw and flaky from the cold.

Nose is red raw and flaky from the cold. Looks hideous. Not sneezing much, cold is going nicely. Skipping gym to sort broadband out. May go this evening but I doubt Bisi will feel like it.

Rented 'Maid in Manhatten' from place next to Tesco. I fell asleep but Bisi enjoyed it. Chick flick, not very original.

Registration server still timing out.

Registration server still timing out. Sod it, going to bed.

Installing broadband.

Installing broadband. Software asks for a 7 digit PIN and mine is 8 digits. Talk to NTL and he talked me through using 62.253.162.131 via IE to register. Sitting here trying to register but it keeps timing out.

Tried to put sound card back in pc but it refuses..

Tried to put sound card back in pc but it refuses to work. Lost the driver disk. Bodged it to work by pointing it at files that were already installed. Motherboard sound refused to work as well. Win2000 did usual job of saying hardware was installed and working but not allowing me to use it.

Men are outside right now fitting broadband so I'll put the full capabilities of a 1Mb connection on the case.

Still awake and fiddling with the palm.

Still awake and fiddling with the palm. The best toy I have bought for ages.

Quick launch almost has a useful feature: you can access an applications menu through it without extending the Tungsten. This is good for apps that don't display their menu's to save screen space. I say almost because it is under a submenu and not so easy to get at.

Can't sleep.

Can't sleep. Decided to try using the QuickLaunch feature of ZLauncher instead of Switch5. Biggest problem was getting the drag-and-drop in ZL to work: have to tap for about 1/2 second and drag quick before the context menu appears.

Sky Plus box is playing up.

Sky Plus box is playing up. Playback of recordings is terrible. I think it is the hard disk (hunch). I can stick a new disk in and get more capacity as well. Have to research this when I get my new broadband connection tomorrow :-)

Natara Bonsai Outliner, 1st Impressions:

Natara Bonsai Outliner, 1st Impressions: I like it. Far slicker than Progect & ShadowPlan. Very good import & export, desktop tool is less hacky than SP & the licence allows me to use it at work & at home.

19:01:

19:01: Mum's new dishwasher = 450*550

* 16:17:

• 16:17: Cable men coming a week friday: because phone is being transferred I have to wait 7 days.

• 16:41: Must get USB storage thing. All clients have them.