Ray!

With the weather we had the other day, and if we get more of the same again this winter, I reckon it'll have a major effect on High Country access come summer. Our area alone, which didn't get the briunt of the rain and winds, had trees falling down all over the place and huge amounts of water flowing in the valleys, which will ultimately cause more erosion and landslips that haven't been repaired from the storms we had last September. The DSE is not going to go into the High Country to clear any tracks until summer and I wouldn't be surprised if they closed tracks early and once again keep them closed past the normal opening dates. Judging by what's reported here, things look worse than what occurred last year: http://www.theage.co...0605-1zucf.html Cheers Ray

It's on higher ground, so should be OK. Cheers Ray

ATI Radeon HD 4800 series. Cheers Ray

Tim Flannery, where art thou? The shopping centre at Traralgon where we often shop: http://www.news.com.au/national/showers-on-the-way-after-chilly-night/story-e6frfkw0-1226384111109 The valley between Mirboo North and Leongatha is like Lake Eildon. If the rains won't fall again, WTF is all this water coming from? Cheers Ray

I'm using a Dell XPS whatever, with dual 23" monitors (one Dell, one Viewsonic) and I'm able to run each monitor at it's native resolution with Windows 7. Not only that, both screens have been colour calibrated using an X-Rite screen calibrator, so that I can match screen colours to X-Rite calibrated print colours. Both screens display the calibrated colours. This is another thing that Linux cannot do. Cheers Ray

If you're referring tom the Unity interface in Ubuntu, it was only released at version 10 and became the default interface in version 11, I believe, and is considered the future of Ubuntu. However, it appears to be universally loathed by the Ubuntu crowd, which is why most revert to the older Gnome interface. Everyone talks about fragmentation, but it's most evident with Linux. That said, that's why iOS and Windows 8 are following similar pathways, in future, both OSes will deliver a similar, if not the same, user interface regardless of the device that you may be using. That is, for Apple users, you will see the same interface in iPod, iPad, iMac and whatever. The same applies to Windows phone, tablet, PC. They all want to have a universal OS that delivers the same user experience via apps. Linux is very, very, good, depending on what you want from it. I'm not disparaging Linux whatsoever, but it doesn't fulfill the requirements of the vast majority of computer users and it's being left behind rapidly compared to Apple, Android and even Windows (8 or whatever). Ubuntu, for example, has only about 2 million personal users worldwide (that's from the Ubuntu website), compared to the billions using Windows/Apple, and Ubuntu the most popular Linux derivative for personal computer use worldwide. Ubuntu version 12.04 does not support dual monitors with differing resolutions and provide extended mode at individual screen's native resolutions. I can run Ubuntu 12.04 with dual screens, only in mirrored mode, at the lowest screen's resolution, but not at the native resolution of each screen. It's a noted issue, but there appears to be no solution. It's a frustration for many Ubuntu users, but it appears that Canonical doesn't consider this an issue. Cheers Ray

Topher has made some outstanding videos on a number of subjects over the years. He has a style that is very engaging and with an ability to present things in a very easy to understand way. He's now made a video about free speech media regulation, which is a subject under parliamentary review at the moment: http://theforbiddenhistory.com/ Take the time to watch The Forbidden History of Unpopular People at the link. This might not appear to be an important or relevant topic to many people, but it is, it really is. And then you might watch other videos that he's made. Cheers Ray

There does seem to be a tangible difference in attitude. I posted a comment over there to help out someone who was considering buying a somewhat dubious Chinese tablet for navigation (not that I have anything against Chinese products, but this one was dubious). The main blurb from the web site spouted all sorts of words about included features, but when one read the specifications page, it clearly stated that these important features were not included. Now immediately someone ramped up and had a go me, rather than looking at the specs and main page and acknowledging a discrepancy. If the supplier can't get the advertising and specification pages in sync, then is it safe buying the product? I also said that, meaning in this particular example, I'd rather buy the Aldi tablet that's on sale now, which clearly did include important features. Once again an instant rampage against an innocuous suggestion that was not meant to highlight an optimum solution, which slammed the product and proposed a more expensive option. There was also the absolute opinion that a tablet must have a built in GPS, which is utterly false, useful yes, but not a necessity. That's the attitude that seems to permeate many of the threads. I'm not averse to a robust debate, but just shooting first and asking questions later, if at all, seems to be the way for many. It's why I'm loathe to respond to any posts, because it tends to beome a pissing contest from the outset. Cheers Ray

This truly made me laugh, the interface of the future: Cheers Ray

The hub wouldn't work, as it'd take up too much space and reside with my PC and just look out of place. As for a phone, I'd actually prefer one of those genuine, old style, wall mounted phones with the rotary dial etc. Cheers Ray

That's a good idea. It would sit nicely and look quite good where my current modem resides. if I'll have a look into that. Cheers Ray

A GPS is a bit of an expensive thing to pull apart and it's not going to really serve much purpose inside the house. I want to use the box for something that could serve some practical use in the house, but also perhaps be a talking piece. That's why I thought of the power supply, as the bits involved are pretty simple and it's not difficult to get bits and pieces fairly cheaply and it complements the OEM. But I just don't want to lock myself in, in case there's a better idea. Cheers Ray

It does seem to be very quiet lately. Cheers Ray

A DVD player mechanism, the tray, won't fit within the dimensions of the box. I thought of a camera, but I'm also considering finding an old bellows camera and converting it to a digital one. Cheers Ray

Yes, I know, but that's simply too easy. You could use a 19th century spitoon for the same thing. Cheers Ray

I believe that there's some good tracks around the Pyrennes, but I've never managed to get there. Little Desert used to be interesting (when wet), but I believe they've closed off a lot of areas, the same as Albacutya. Cheers Ray

That's not Steampunk! It has to be something functional that embodies 21st century technology, but wrapped in an 18-19th century cover (the Steampunk that I want to build anyway). Here's a Steampunk laptop that someone made: Or a Steampunk mobile phone: Cheers Ray

I could actually fit one of those micro-PCs in the box, but I don't know if I need another PC. A DVD player is too big for this box. Cheers Ray

Things appear OK now. The main thrust of what I wanted to do was change a minor aspect of my review to make things somewhat generic. Cheers Ray

That's the thing with diesels, it doesn't work that way. Cheers Ray

I've had this wooden box for at least 20 years, with the intention of doing something interesting with it, but have never found the right inspiration: I can't even remember where I got it from, but I do remember that it was an instrument box that housed a high voltage rheostat. The large hole in the front housed the dial and the two smaller holes either side housed the positive and negative terminals. I can't remember what the holes on the side or top were for. It didn't look the polished and aged Cherry Wood (that I think it is), as it was pretty shabby and cleaning things up was my first priority. But after that, it's just travelled along with our moves and not progressed further. Steampunk only came to my attention recently, so it's something Steampunk that it has to become. My current ideas are: 1. Power Supply 2. Hard Drive Housing It has to be a functional, working, device and not just an ornament, even if that's what it might end up being. The first idea is currently my favourite, as it would complement the Olympus Electric Macroscope I showed earlier and power the intervalometer, which runs off a 12V power supply. The box would be able to house a couple of 12V Li-Ion batteries that Jaycar sells and then it would need a gauge, switches and whatever else to give it that Steampunk look. The second idea is for it to house one or two hard drives (laptop ones) and for it to become a Steampunk NAS box, basically cannibalise and existing NAS and add whatever is needed to make it look Steampunk. But then I'd almost be committed to turn my computer setup into an equivalent Steampunk system to match. I don't have the skills or workshop resources to do what some of the gurus have done and a half-arsed effort is worse than none. The internal measurements of the box are: 100D x 120W x 140H; so whatever it becomes, components have to fit within those dimensions. Ideas are welcome. Cheers Ray

The easiest way to understand what happens when getting power out of a diesel is to start with a normally aspirated (NA) diesel engine ie non-turbo. First off, diesel engines do not have a throttle like petrol engines and with an NA diesel, air is not sucked into an engine, but is forced in by air pressure. At sea level, that air pressure is 14.7 PSI (atmospheric pressure). Diesels tend to ingest more air (oxygen) than they can burn and so to get more power, you inject more fuel, as you have excess oxygen to burn. Eventually, you will reach a point where you exceed the ability to burn more fuel and you start to produce smoke. Adding more fuel will create higher EGTs, but there is usually a reasonable safe balance. With a turbo engine, you are able to increase the air density ie get more oxygen into the cylinder, so where you started to run out of oxygen in the NA diesel, you can keep increasing the amount of fuel being injected and get more power. But eventually, you will again reach a point where safe operating parameters will be exceeded. But where the oddity lies is that turbo diesels won't necessarily run at highest boost under full load, and can drop down a fair amount in order not to lean out the mix too much (depending on how high a boost your engine is allowed to reach). Diesels generally tend to run lean and, when cruising, will often have faily high boost and fuel/air ratios down to 1:150 (but usually not so low), which is where you get that diesel economy. That's why at cruising speeds ie low load, EGTs will usually be at their lowest. It's a lot more complex than that, as there are many other factors involved, but that to me is the simplest way to understand what is happening with diesel combustion processes. Cheers Ray

Someone actually put in a $25,000 bid for that? Cheers Ray

I know that fencing wire is great for a lot of things, but using it to secure a chain and snatch strap? That simply beggars belief! Cheers Ray

I'm just a happy customer, so why not share the joy. Cheers Ray