Polaroid Saint

Baz, I cant answer all your questions as I don't have the time to be honest, but rest assured I don't think you have any serious issues. I guess your iTunes library is already registered? In which case pay 20quid or whatever and join match. All your legit files and also others will be copied into cyberspace and can be copied back to your new PC. Google music manager is a nice quick free option too. Impossible to know if your 'e drive' is broke or not. Windows Key + R, type devmgmt.msc to get device manager.

Sorry Pap, I didn't mean to be so antagonistic! Yes, I think that is a nice way of putting it, 'we approaching things from different levels of abstraction'. To be less vague, in fact specific, the latest project I am working on is a low cost (sub $100) PC for SEND children. Based on a fedora Linux distribution with a custom built (designed, printed, soldered and assembled from scratch) physical interface (basically a keyboard with knobs on) and a custom GUI. It was interesting you mentioned Clear Type before, as a major challenge has been to produce a font and colour scheme that works across multiple disabilities. Honestly, (and I know it could be deemed very sad) I get as much enjoyment out of each little improvement, as I used to get trying to push another single BHP out of an A Series block on one of my old Minis!

Ooh. Crikey. Really touched a nerve there haven't I? I really did not mean to infer geeks were perpetual man children, merely using 'you kids' as a term of an endearment as I am not 'down with the kids' and I don't play games on my PC, like the sad old man I am. It really wasn't meant as a dig. However, please don't think just being "a gamer" makes you a geek either, it doesn't. I appreciate there is a crossover but not everyone playing MMO RPGs is a geek and not every geek 'spends their time' playing games. I would of thought someone who does do pretty much what you say – printing and soldering PC boards from scratch, writing code from nothing and then getting the two to work together (amongst loads of other lesser and greater bits of 'tweaking' just as you suggest) is at least as much of a geek as s/he who wants to play SkyRim while looking like a Goonie. But if course, you find the suggestion 'boring' so maybe it's even geekier...!? Look, I am guessing you work in IT so there is a bit of professional pride that has been hurt here, with the suggestion you are 'out of date', I take that agreement back, you clearly know your onions and it was only meant a light bit of ribbing on a forum. Please believe me when I say I actively encourage all forms of nerdiness and geekdom: I wasn't trying to put you or gamers down; Personally, I just wish young people were more interested in Kernels than Generals and SPIs than FPS..!

Fair dos! Not picking on you Pap; however when you mentioned and suggested Dell – that is when I think anyone REALLY into IT would have groaned and felt their hearts sink. Each to their own and all that, but that's why the comment of 'out of date it manager' seemed so apt to me. Sorry! I think I was trying to say : unless you are a professional in need of a high end machine, or an enthusiast looking to play games, you simply don't need a top, or even mid, range Laptop these days. If someone comes on a footy forum asking what laptop to get then it is fair to assume that they are neither a professional IT user or an enthusiast. You are right to be suspicious of my 'don't play games on a PC' : I am one of the weirdos that would rather spend a day building and tweaking the hardware and OS on a PC than shooting zombie aliens (or whatever it is you kids do on your games).

Ssshh, that's our new kit!

Nigel Adkins made my life better. Simple as that.

Hehe. Harsh but true. I deal with plenty of IT managers that are entrenched in old Wintel (or in awe of Apple) that simply don't get that most users need the internet and nowt else these days. I can easily match any creative output on Mid range Laptop as I can on a little Samsung Chromebook. Except high end creative stuff like Adobe CS which really needs a high spec laptop anyway. And games, but then I don't use my PCs for gaming I have a PS3. (ooh, except Total War which is brilliant but ancient).

Aha, I am also an avid collator of football shirts. Spreadsheet n all. Marvellous. Last count was around 60 unique shirts, excluding Saints and England.

I do love this board. My first thoughts were - "yes, adidas, my brand of choice, probably still now, as it was when I was a kid" (donthelookcuteinhisadidatracksuit) "Hmmm, Hummel style strips across a plain red? Why not, whatever, its adidas" And "Look at the terrible rendering of that graphic, someone's slipped on the 'save for web or devices' slider there." (Although I do quite like the blocks of black - tres moderne.) Come on here, and read the exact same thing from you lot. Nice. UTS

The refurbished Envy for £450 is a steal. I would try to avoid windows 8 personally (it's the windows LiveID requirement and Metro that I hate, plus the extra four clicks to do anything in settings is a right pain for techies), but this is a great price.

Gaming? On a laptop? Defo need to spend out on a device with dedicated Graphics card and high end processor (i5 equivalent). You might be lucky and get one for 600-700 squid. If you are not gaming, then you could easily spend under £300 for a very serviceable laptop running one of the new low-consumption processors (eg the Asus s400 available for £249 on Amazon). Google user? A Chromebook is all you need. Bit of a learning curve, but once established it is perfect for all but the most demanding of tasks. All for £220.

Support for the bear continues to flood in... "I don't understand Southampton without Bear in the future and I think the reality is Bearsy has created everything we see at Saintsweb now." And "He is vital to my future. Who was Pochettino before Bearsy brought me to this club?"

Spurs fans seemed more interested in praising Saints players (or ex saints players) than cheering on their own team. Was oddly enjoyable until they scored. (Was sat with Tottenham fans). Good day out, was very pleased with boys, despite the result. I am naturally a pessimist so its squeaky bum time for me. But the lads I was with, All yidos*, were full of praise and thought saints were one of the best teams they'd seen this year. Also, Mayuka looks quality, IMHO. *I can say this. I am Jewish. So that makes it okay, okay.

This is how it feels, by the Inspirals, is one of my favourite songs of all time. So I love this. The Carter USM version is the best though.

Cheers Hypo, that's more like it... ...Seriously though, I feel it is an interesting parallel to draw; both countries' nuclear capabilities and treatment of citizens. Do I think North Korea should implement systemic imprisonment and supression of its own people? No of course not. Do I think the USA should either? No, no I don't. Do I think North Korea should have The Bomb? No, of course not. Do I think the USA should have The Bomb? No, no I don't either. I believe in complete nuclear disarmament without prejudice. I believe in freedom of action, movement, speech and ownership. I believe that a bully should never be allowed to win - be they the little g!t with the sh!tty stick or the biggest bully with the thickest fists.

Hey, I wasn't saying US's labour camps were any WORSE than DPR's, but they DO exist (and contain a higher proportion of the country's 'incarcerated labour' than the North Korean, FWI). That was the only point I was making. Prison/labour camp; it's all semantics if the legitimacy of ones incarceration is in question, surely? I used a cheap n quick wiki link as I didn't feel the need to push it any further as the information regarding the immoral and illegal aspects of the US penal system are easy to find both online and, yes, in books as well.

Really? That is exactly what I thought the US does have!? http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_States

^This. Although I don't mind nicking a bit of a religion for a laugh, like Christmas and that; socially I do not want the 'stigma' of being married.

There's a pleasant surprise... ...Despite the argumentive prose, the two post above see Turks and FC, seemingly, in total agreement! To wit; reduced regular ticket pricing would require a cultural change beyond any one club, but alas a cultural change isn't on the cards anytime soon. It's also a bit like the Catch22 in regards to public transport - if more people used it, it would be cheaper, but it can only get cheaper if more people use it. And so on.

Me likey.

At last we are getting some crosses in. Was beginning to think they were banned under the new system.

Something like that. Its a farce really; as I am sure ex footballers and ex bankers both have terrible taste, all peach marble and (possibly not working) gold taps.

Perhaps if the Echo were to run an exclusive 'before' and 'after' photo-set of Frannie's house; then we could see how much it was 'trashed' or whether in fact the renovations were 'an improvement'. Purely aesthetically, like. That should clear up the whole mess.

Ah yes. More the sort of accent of someone who was educated in England and spent most of their working life in Switzerland, no?