Vista needs to fart. Is it OK if Vista farts?
Dec 13, 2008
I've had a few PC problems recently. The *very* expensive HP laptop that I purchased just 4 years ago contracted a virus a few months back and since then I've had constant problems. I thought I'd mostly eradicated it, but no, it decided to come back and wreak havoc.
It was a banker trojan (I'm not swearing - that's what it's called). It's the type that steals your bank passwords and sends them off to Russia. It was quite clever though - thoroughly infecting key system files and replicating itself all over the place. It even had the courtesy to delete all my system restore points, prevent automatic updates, turn of *all* virus scanners and totally remove any hope of an internet connection via Internet Explorer.
To add insult to injury, there was very little known about it on the net, and although I tried as hard as I could, I couldn't get a definitive method for removal. So, I thought I'd have a go myself.
I knew which system files it infected, so I killed them off in safe mode, expecting to reinstall them from the OS repair CD. I knew the system wouldn't reboot - these files were critical you understand, but I'd pre-empted that by setting the BIOS to boot from CD first.
The only problem was that I hadn't banked on the CD drive being US.
When the final realisation of "we're screwed" dawned on me I zipped into town and came back 36 minutes later with a shiny new desktop. Deakie and I just can't operate without a PC - it's sad I know - but I even had to pay for the new box on a credit card (something I never do) because I couldn't get to online banking to transfer some funds to my current account.
As is the way with the computer world, things move forward, or rather backwards as it appears to be in this case. I've now got Vista. I've never had it, never seen it, but I thought I'd give it a rumble. Immediately after the OS install, I checked the event viewer. There were 58 errors and 3,387 notifications! As soon as it connected to the internet it downloaded 45 updates! The downloads continued today...
It also has some annoying habits.
"Vista needs permission to do xyz. Is it OK if vista does this?" It asks this a least 1000 times a day, usually because you've had the audacity to run a program!
"You do not have permission to do this. Would you like permission?" Hang on, I'm a bloody administrator. I should have permission for everything. And what's the point of telling me I don't have permission if you'll then grant me permission as soon as I click the 'I want permission button'?
"Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close. Windows is locating the source of the problem. No problem identified. Internet Explorer will now restart". WTF? Fancied a coffee-break did you?
I've had every Microsoft OS since DOS. XP was by far the best they ever produced, with NT coming a close second. Vista is looking to be fairly low on that list as far as things are shaping up.
But boy, is it pretty! 
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- Latest reply: Dec 14, 2008
Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink...
Mar 27, 2008
Well, it was inevitable. Everyone said it *could* happen, the media said it *would* happen, but the Government said it would *never* happen.
Tomorrow sees the first of water cuts, island-wide, for Cyprus as it struggles to cope with a severe water shortage.
The reservoirs and dams are at 15% capacity after yet another scorching summer and desperately dry winter. That's the fifth year in succession, so we've run out, or (more accurately) we will.
The island-wide population of approx 800,000 swells to 3.5 Million in the summer months, all demanding showers, baths, swimming pools and constant water on-tap. Predictably, the Church called upon the masses to pray for rain each time the three-day forecast suggested the possibility of a downpour and then rejoiced in the power of 'God' when 'miracles' happened. 
We've had approximately 8 or 9 days of rain so far this winter in the Famagusta area - we need at least 2 months of constant rain to fill the reservoirs. It ain't gonna happen.
Daytime temperatures increase week-on-week. Admittedly, April can be wet, but last year I saw 2 days of rain in April and this year I expect the same, or maybe less. By May, forget it - it won't rain again until November.
The previous Government vetoed calls for more desalination plants to be brought on-stream. We are surrounded by water, but they said that this plan of action was totally unnecessary considering the winter-deluges in 2004. 'The rain will fall, and God will provide' was the attitude taken. Stupid arses.  The new Government are quick to pass blame but fail to admit that they backed the previous incumbent and his 'weather predictions'.
So there we have it. In each 48-hour period, we will be supplied with (potentially) low-pressure, desalinated water for a maximum of 8 hours. That's as much as the system can provide. Tenders have now gone out for the construction of a mobile desalination plant, but that won't be on-stream until October at the earliest. Horse, gate, bolting, springs to mind.
Meanwhile, the Cypriots continue to hose their driveways and patios 2-3 times per day. Their grievance with dust almost borders on obsessional. A survey in the last week suggests that 20% of the population are unaware of a water-supply problem! Quite simply, it's staggering, but it does reflect the BS capabilities of recent Governments in blinding the population to the real truth.
Not that the water-cuts will make a huge difference. Everyone, and I mean everyone, has a 500-1000 litre tank on the roof. That'll do me and my wife for 48 hours easily. And when the water comes back on it'll all fill back up. Where's the water saving? All it'll do is make 20% of the 'Ostrich' population now aware that water is scarce and then they might only hose the drive and patio once a day instead of three. Oh, and it'll probably introduce some gut-wrenching bugs into the empty pipes that will multiply and swarm while the infrastructure lays dry.
You wait till the media get hold of it. Vomit, shit and gunge from every orifice will be reported, because Cyprus has no water.
We are in for an interesting summer...
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Should I come back to h2g2?
Mar 16, 2008
Here's a quandary...
Deakie has been pottering around here for months - pretty much soon after we moved to Cyprus and got the broadband hooked up - but I've kept myself busy with the house and all the decorating that goes with it.
Tonight, I find myself here after *sheer boredom* with other t'internet places and the convo's look as interesting as ever!
Re-sub? Or give it a miss?
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- Latest reply: Mar 20, 2008
I'm not one to gloat - but I will...
Aug 27, 2007
It's 2.07am in the morning. It'll be around 3.00am by the time I finish this post, I'm sure. I'm sitting here under my newly-built pergola with the laptop on wireless-broadband and power-coupled to the new outside socket I installed today. (For an hour I was *totally* free from cables, but then the battery started to die.)
It's cooled to around 30 deg C now - still quite warm, but the religious quaffing of Strongbow  is cooling me down. I can hear the crickets and the cicadas singing and the full moon is the strongest and brightest I have ever seen.
Petunia (our stray cat) has been to visit twice tonight. She's been lavishly fed on ham and chicken for the past few nights. Tonight saw her fed on a Kite-Kat pouch. She never complained. After the second one, much, about being hungry.
I'm sweating and I'm in shorts. I'm also smoking a small cigar. This place is just so peaceful and tranquil. I'm sure it'll never see a smoking ban.
I had reservations about leaving Portugal. I was sure that Cyprus wouldn't offer me the beauty and the serenity that we had there. How wrong I was.
All the difficulties that *I* suffered there, like the language and the culture, have just melted away. The Cypriots are kind, loving, people - with families at heart. They are *extremely* mad though.
In short, I'm happy. Blissfully happy. And I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.
I'm also gloating, and loving my life, my wife and everything that I do.
Unfortunately, there is no room at the inn. I've fully booked it. 
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- Latest reply: Mar 22, 2008
U13 on pre-mod. How funny is that?
Feb 21, 2007
Somethings in life just make you chuckle.
I can't pretend to have been around in the early years, but I've read a bit about this place in my time, and I fully understand that Mark Moxon was one of the guiding forces that helped sculpt this whole landscape and make it what it is today.
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Anyone else grinning?
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- Latest reply: Jun 6, 2007
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