What exactly do you mean by 'stops' – what's it doing at this point? Has it turned itself off ? Has it beeped at you (and if so how many times)? Can you get to the bios setup?

I'd be inclined to disconnect the drives – and mebbe memory too – and see what happens – as it boots it'll beep to tell you what's missing (RTFM/google).

Is there no sticker on any of 'em saying the (input) rating ?

Sidis do have a wide fit version (the megas, I guess), but yeah, the standard fit is a bit narrow

Sidis stretch a bit, or at least the lorica does (do they make 'em in anything else?) Apart from keeping a little bit of room right in front of your toes they probably ought to be a close fit.
They'll last bloomin years too.

IMO you can't generally go wrong with Asimov/Clarke – must admit I haven't read much recent sci-fi. Interesting to see Demolished Man get a mention, that was one of my favourites (tho' I found another Bester – Golem100 a little disappointing, mebbe that's just me…)
Snow Crash is well worth picking up, if not for the corny joke about 'listening to reason'…

>I have 2700 mAH batteires with totally different run times for example

Bear in mind that there will be some process variation on manufacturing – although they may have diffent runtimes both may well be exceeding the specified capacity (= runtime) but to a differing degree.

Re mAH – it's a measure of capacity (if you looks at the units, it's current x time) – eg a 2700 mAH battery/cell may provide 2.7A (2700mA) for 1hr, or half that curent for two hours, or a quarter for 4 hours, or twice that for a half hour – in each case current x time is the same.
Tho' that's not *quite* correct, the 2700mAH rating will be at one particular current, and it won't be a linear tradeoff (eg at one extreme you're not gonna get 27A out a battery for 1/10 of an hour, and at the other extreme with a very low current draw from the battery, it'll self-discharge before delivering the rated capacity – rechargables go flat left on the shelf)

Re visibility – I'm probably not the best person to answer 'cos I try to pick my routes to miss out nastier stuff (including more extreme hill starts, getting better at 'em as my low-speed balance improves tho'). I look ahead even more than I do normally, and try to time my entrance to lights and roundabouts to avoid having to put a foot down. I find I also have to 'take the lane' earlier than I would normally to accomodate my timing to lights or a give-way line, else some c*ck overtakes and takes up my slowing/idling distance, dispite the fact that they're gonna get stuck behind the car in front anyway.

Re filtering – this is the guy commuting in London on a Hurricane from Hyda Park corner:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=lsmike#p/u/37/sWp4SQYaEsU

FWIW, PT announced tomorrows date last december ! – quite possibly there's not been plugging of the tour for the last 6 months, if it's sold out.
Must admit I'm not a *huge* PT fan – I prefer the more metallic end of prog – but did fancy seeing 'em for a full gig at least once – I enjoyed seeing 'em at Download a few years ago, so looking forward to tonight.

There's probably a decent chance of having a good sound mix too, rather than everything turned up to 11 😉

I should hope so for 220 quid !

If anyone's still reading…

>The long chain was a bit inelegant for me

Pretty much the nature of the thing – unless you go for a fwd drive machine (probably all v low):
http://www.raptobike.nl/

And if you fancy some carbon fibre pron:
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j211/PoiterH/Petes%20Bikes/VK2/VK2Sml.jpg

One thing about bike weights – many are about 16kg or (a fair bit) above – the one difference (other than perhaps the Barchettas) are the Challenge SL/SLII variants, carbon fibre booms/swingarms and thinner wall tubing, which weight more like 21-26 lbs:
http://www.challenge-recumbents.com/publichtml/index.php?language=en&selection=superlights-en

I think the Challenge Furai (one of the bikefix links above) has a normal (less dingable) frameset with the option of a carbon boom and light ally or carbon seat.

The Challenge stuff isn't too bad pricewise – I bought my speedmachine for about 2k a few years ago, same build's nearer 3k now I think.
My s/h Hurricane was about 600 quid, tho' one in better nick would be more like 900. If buying something else s/h and knew what I was after I might consider looking at Dutch websites or recumbent shops, there's far more for sale:
http://www.ligfiets.net/markt/
http://www.marktplaats.nl/index.php?url=http%3A//kopen.marktplaats.nl/fietsen-en-brommers/fietsen-ligfietsen/c458.html
(ligfiets = recumbent in Dutch)

I forgot to add before – I bought a recumbent 'cos I can't ride a road bike any more – if my bars are too low my neck goes into spasm.

Not quite – actually going to see Porcupine Tree at Hammersmith tomorrow.

But I'll be seeing DT at Wembley on saturday 🙂
Pity it's not the Hammersmith Odeon tho', far better venue. (Must be about 24 years since I saw a band in the Apollo 😮 )

*waves*

Another recumbent rider here..I think the term 'bent' is more of a US-ism, due to the connotations this side of the pond. One other site of interest – bentrideronline.com – even sells shirts with 'bentrider' on, I bet that'd go down well if walking past the pubs at chucking out time…

It's worth trying quite a few different types (lwb/swb, ass/uss, trike), 'cos you might get on better with one than another. Re DTek – the guy was kind enough to let me have a go on quite a few, late afternoon as a freebie over an hour or so – he also has a buy-but-return-as-a-hire-if-you-don't-like-it scheme.

I'd pretty much convinced myself at one point to get a Hurricane, new (don't see bikes with underseatsteer s/h in the uk) from London Recumbents. Couldn't quite convince myself of the seat, tho' in retrospect it's probably spot on. Actually bought a HPVelotechnik Speedmachine (bit of a misnomer, more of a touring lowracer) but which has a far more adjustable seat length, and plus a basic take on a Headshok at the front end which probably works a bit better than the (Challenge Recumbents) Hurricane. Both have rear susp., but it's more for avoiding big shocks up your spine rather than improving handling.

Since then I've bought a s/w Hurricane too, but I need to get used to the tiller steering again (it's USS on the Speedmachine) – the rear disk caliper dumped it's load recently, so it's gonna get a BB7 a a replacement..

You're definitely given more room, on the whole, even if it is only the 'wtf' factor. My head height's slghtly less than that of a driver (ok, apart from those in **** tractors) – tho' the route/time I commute is chosen so I can avoid filtering. Not that it isn't possible, there a guy that's posted his commutes into London on youtube, and he rides a Hurricane whci ha is lower still. I'm lacking a little confidence in starting off next to large things with paintwork to scratch, so I'll be leaving filtering for a while.

One thing about trikes – tadpoles are great to ride(two wheels front, one rear) 'cos they can handle like go-karts, and climging hills there's no issue about toppling over, from going too slow – plus you can start again relatively easily if you stop – likewise pulling away from lights. But your head is a lot lower, so a bit dangerous to filter on, plus more easily missed but drivers coming towards/turning across you – but that'll all in IMO, having not ridden one in mch traffic.

Google is your friend :p

amongst various stuff from searching for 'automatic chord transcription s/w' is this:

http://www.daccordmusic.com/eng/product.php?idProduto=42

IIRC CK strongly recommend getting the headtube faced so the upper and lower races are parallel – I imagine the argument *may* be that there's less slop in their bearings and so the fit's more crucial. Tho' a lot of bike shops probably don't bother facing headtubes either, unless you ask.
(Or mebbe they do, since it's common now to face BB shells for external bearings..)

I think it depends what you're trying to buy, but I'd agree there's so much BIN/trade that it's not what it was.
On the other hand, my OH's bought lots of clothes – Laura Ashley, Monsoon etc – for next to nothing, so there are bargains to be had elsewhere..

Our A4 Avant (1.9 Tdi, 03 I think) is on about 150k now – clutch at about 120k (motorway miles – used to be my OH's company car), new wishbones(cos of integral bushes) at about 140k – but not that expensive if done at an independant (it's just a nuts n bolts job, nothing too tricky). Not sure when the last set of pads were fitted, but probably ought to put new front disks on 'cos they're getting lipped – pretty sure they're the originals, neither of us are that hard on the brakes.

Electrics occasionally get confused about whether the odd bulb has blown, that's pretty much the only issue.

We used to have to top up the oil from time to time (low level warning light seems pretty accurate), but since my OH's stopped doing 120 miles a day we haven't need to touch it.

Headlamp bulbs are a bit of a fiddle to change on the A4, but once you know how (and have a long enough torx wrench) it's a 15 minute job, as opposed to 30-60 quid in the dealer for a 2 quid bulb 😮
Dunno if the A3's the same, there was a useful pdf about it on the vwaudi forums.

We've got a couple of decent audi specialists round here for servicing – still ain't cheap but a bloomin' site cheaper than Audi…

I'm 5'10 (31" inside leg) with a 19" '03 (decent price s/h off a 6ft mate who was going travelling).
Length's fine but more seatpost flex would be nice. It's no huge deal – but given the choice I'd go for a 17".

>But the belittling of "the trades" is completely unfair, it IS a skilled job and it DOES take practice and experience to do it well. Almost every job could be taught to monkeys given enough time and patience, it doesnt detract from its worth. What should be said is that if you can do it without being a pro you're quite skilled, not that the pros are not skilled.

Agreed, but some of 'em don't help themselves – even the better/more diligent ones – they'll do 95% of the job correct then do something bloody silly on the last 5% 'cos it's quicker or more convenient or they've got their stupid head on.

Some examples – our previous house, various tradesmen:
relaying concrete at rear of house – one pooling patch nr house wall (probably rushed 'cos it was getting frosty);
new bathroom – great job, then bloke grouts round bath (which falls out within a few months of course) – and he was pretty decent (and he also had a story about he or his mate hanging some internal glazed door upside down !). But a 15 minute job if he'd done it correctly to begin with.
Assorted refurbished+new sashes (and this company has a good rep. and ain't cheap) – pretty good – 'cept OH gets them to then put brushed parting beads/matching h/w on sashes I'd refurbished 6 yrs before. Bloke makes **** awful mess getting beads out 'cos I'd carefully painted'em in (with the view of removing 'em – just needed a tap with a hmmer to break the joints). If I'd know I'd have had 'em out in half an hour. But a bit bloody late by then.

Current house – some of the flat roofing/flashing's bloody awful or been redone 'cos the original was so crap; some interior doors are flaking, god knows what they used for primer (mebbe had 'em dipped too?), painted timber cladding in front elevation stripped ok but given a wipe of hard filler (even filling a moulding) – result, whole lot's flaking in sheets.

Admittedly a cost issue but: not to mention the usual trick of boxing pipework in so that in the event of a repair you've got to rip the lot open (and hey, it's a job for the boys). Stopcocks around cisterns/snks are great..so long as they're not then tiled so closely they can't be reached (we're talking a 1/2"…)

And by way of comparison:
a workmate got in a *recommended* painter to finish some wordwork he'd already prepared and fired him after a day or so (at 100 quid a day) for being rubbish. (I guess recommendations are only much use if the person making the recommendation knows what a good job looks like). And whilst his kitchen extension was done pretty well, he had to get the guy that installed his boiler back in, to move it to where he'd *originally* marked it up to be. I think there may have been a similar issue with the electrician.

Another bloke – who'd have done it himself apart from the change in wiring regs/certification several years ago – has (hot-tub) building in garden wired up. Sparky fits boxes upside down (ie gland at top, with room around wiring) so *not* water/splashproof, has to tell sparky what the regs are, etc etc.

So perhaps that might explain why some us are expect the worst of tradesmen ! I've splashed out on a s/h scaffold tower to do some of my woodwork, even if I don't do the high stuff I now know what condition it's in and I'll get the the buggers to do a decent job rather than wave the glasspaper at it 😮

FWIW, my father was a builder/joiner/painter/decorator, and you could pretty much see yer reflection in our doors at home…

>completely useless post about how you should use google/look harder etc etc. c*nt

For good reason.

The accepted (n)etiquette for many/most forums *is* to search first (forum search/google etc) – the (noob) idea that you just lob in the first question that comes to mind may be treated with anything from sarcasm to outright flaming – or just ignored. In fact, this forum's pretty easy-going in that respect.

The point is to keep the 'signal to noise' ratio down – ie repeated posts of the same old shite don't need to clutter the board. In the same way there's a requirement on the STW classifieds to post items as a group, not singly. Posted singly, all the other posts slide off the bottom of the current page, and you have to go through several pages to cover just a day's ads, for example.

On many forums there are 'stickies' to cover the most common things – if STW had them, probably 'stuck seatpost' might be amongst them !

Oh, and calling someone a c*nt for simply reminding you to use google is a bit bloody rude. Grow up.

I wouldn't say the job security issue's a done deal – if you were only unemployed for a short period, maybe you're more empoyable than you realise. Having said that, it took my OH 6 months to get a marketing job in the education sector, she was getting worried about having to retrain for something else but she does tend to be doom n gloom merchant at times..

Things to consider:
Pension – I saw 'non-contributory' – that's not the same as 'final salary' – what's that worth ?
Holiday – presumably you get paid holiday as one, not t'other – that's typically worth a month's salary (might be more if it's government)

If you take the higher paid temp job, perhaps you ought to consider lobbing the extra cash straight into a pension pot
(This is also where my OH is *kinda* losing out, her contract ought to be turning into a permie job but the bloke in charge can never get his finger out, so she's not putting anything into a pension 'cos the permie thing has been overdue for months)

Re the practice manager – mebbe she has a chip on her shoulder or sees you as a threat – my OH's run into several people like that over the years, sometime they come round or find someone else to get a grump about. Then again, if there's a high turnover, is that practice manager part of it?

Again, re security, I'm not quite clear – is the (13k less) government job actually a permie one, or just leading to a permie one ? – and is there any (relative) guarantee of that ?

Oops ! – got a bit carried away playing guitar upstairs..then remembered why I'd powered up the pc 😮

Got me a standing ticket for wembley 🙂 – just! – first time through it looked like there was no availability…

Grease ?

>build quality will be a cheap knock off

Not necessarily true at all – there's a huge amount of stuff produced in Asia/China that never gets seen over here – aimed at the Asian market – and much of it's well made. A lot of the 'big name' stuff you see is made by contract manufacturers in Asia that you've never of.

>it doesn't have anything like the OS or quality of an iPhone

There'll soon be more Android based devices available, it'll be interesting to see what happens to Apple's market share when they arrive.

Re Wembley – probably gonna go, some (non-metal!) mates saw 'em at Brixton a few years ago and I was kicking myself afterwards for not joining them.

Re places to avoid soundwise – well, it's a big shed, and I've found the sound there pretty variable, like anywhere else, but it's never been as bad as some gigs I've been to.
I guess standing, and being roughly in line with the mixing desk *might* be the best best.

Sounds like you only need a comedy 'tache to go with any of the above and you're almost one of the Village People….

>What difference does the amount of material left in the frame make to the post bending?

It's not so much the material left *in* the frame, more the additional length of material *outside* the frame – it's then a longer lever.

Scotts.

I've tried oats that are more solid/less flowery and they don't work so well in a microwave (unless you crush 'em in your hands a bit):

boil kettle
add oats to water in bowl+mix
let stand for a minute or so (so the oats absorb the water)
add a touch more water if needed, lob in microwave for about a minute

Excellent with a banana chopped into it, don't need any sugar

Re switzerland:
http://www.ch.ch/private/00081/00084/00134/00260/index.html?lang=en

It mentions 'tax sticker':
http://www.englishforum.ch/transportation-driving/7530-does-bicycle-need-licence.html

– but it looks like that's just for third party insurance purposes – and that 7 swiss francs (in 07) is about 4 quid.

There was an item on bbc breakfast news today – making Bristol the country's first official 'cycling city' – one interesting point (IIRC) was that 20-odd (?) years ago the level of cycling in Copenhagen was about the level it is/has been is Cardiff, at about 2%, now it's something like 50% – tho' having been there, it does seem like there's more room for cycle lanes.

I've just come back from hols in the Black Forest – Tubingen and Freiburg. Admittedly they're both university towns with the advantage of more space for cycle paths, but there were loads of bikes, and across the age spectrum – quite a few in the 50s or more were touring, too. I barely saw anyone wearing a helmet, apart from the occasional roadie or mtber.

P'raps I'm lucky where I live – nw surrey/SW London – you get the occasional twunt, and in a week of commuting mebbe receiving some abuse or being shouted at a couple of times, mostly it's dimwits that think you're going slowly 'cos you're on a bike pull a last moment maneuver.

Generally, yes.
Tho' a guy at work had something he'd machined, then assembled using some sort of low temp ally which did something funny (went black?) in the bath used to strip the oxide – probably something to do with that particular alloy. Quite unlike what's used in welding, tho'

Hmm..I had Stalker on pre-order for about 18 months 😮 – was a bit disappointed when it finally arrived. Mebbe the mods make the difference…

Don't forget to check out the demos unless you're sure it'll run – my machine (a little old now) just about runs some things ok(Doom3, Quake 4) but runs like a dog with the ET:QW demo, despite it being the same engine (iirc)

HL2 ought to run well on most things – another vote for the Orange Box. Portal's great fun, btw 🙂
If you get/install HL2, there's demos of other games available directly via Steam.

Cornholio, surely ?

FWIW, the sales bloke at my old company was an absolute deadringer for Butthead…thought it best not to mention it tho 😉

Great excuse for showing some metal..uh, huh, huh, huh…..

At work we had a bit of a bulk buy – including some 18% Tokyo – I'm saving mine for next time I see the notional father-in-law, can't imagine drinking a bottle of it on my own (tho' it is a small bottle..)

A bit more roadie, but:
probikekit
parker-international
gbcycles

I'd just go for whichever one's nearer my mouth and a cuppa 😉

Err…crikey, that looks pretty good – has sorted out all the fine pits ?

The other option is zinc-loaded stuff like Galvafroid, but the idea (iirc) is to use it on metal that has been cleaned – ie remove as much rust as possible – but *hasn't* been treated with phosphoric acid-type stuff (ie Kurust, Jenolite, etc). BTW – comparing the weight of a tin of Galvafroid with some of the other 'zinc-based' primers, it's a *lot* heavier, hopefully there's a lot of zinc in it 😉

There's some other stuff like Galvafroid, called Zinga :
http://www.zinga-uk.com/files/Competition%20Galvafroid.pdf
http://www.marineresourcecentre.co.uk/company_zinga.html

I'd be inclined to use one of those two, the fact that they're used on external/marine structures is kida telling. Galvafroid's what I've used on the window frames in our 20's house – I'll tell you in 10 years how it's worked 😉 It's also the same stuff my (notional) father-in-law used on their house 30 or 40 years ago, and reckoned it worked well.

Getting as much rust off as possible is still a big part of a decent result tho' – I've noticed with the phosphoric acid treatments that they're just turn surface rust black, but scratch it and the stuff underneath's still red. If you *can* grit/sand(etc) blast it, you'll get a longer-lasting result.

Buzz, you beat me to it 😉

>No, is it important? It's hardly a measure of fitness

tight hamstrings can sometimes be a cause of back/postural problems.

(Hands flat on floor..arms a bit bent if I'm warmed up. 46 btw)

Piccie showing the above, fwiw:
http://www.wppltd.demon.co.uk/WPP/Wiring/UK_telephone/uk_telephone.html