Ray!

Curious to know what the 'unknown' OS is, but despite all the hue and cry, Windows is still the dominant OS. Can you break down the Windows OS variants to see what people are using, and maybe even the same with IE? Cheers Ray

Here's an interesting set of figures showing the ststus of operating systems in use in the world: http://gs.statcounter.com/#os-ww-monthly-201106-201206 Even Vista is ahead of OSX and iOS combined! And for those who might be interested in Windows 8, you'll be able to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro (which runs on any PC x86 OS) for $40 via an internet download, or buy a DVD for $70. Apparently that will be the price worldwide, rather than stupid price hikes you usually experience with software. It might be worth buying the boxed version just to have an cheap upgrade path after they've fixed all the problems. http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2012/07/02/upgrade-to-windows-8-pro-for-39-99.aspx Cheers Ray

Yes, but the rest of the world is watching us and once they see the results, they'll know what to do. Cheers Ray

How appropriate (I don't understand why I can't just post the youtube link): http://blogs.news.co...he_greens_tune/ And they are well on their way to making us squeal like pigs. Cheers Ray

Since Labor is trying to make Australia as uncompetitive as possible, why not assist other countries to out-compete Australia at the same time. There's a sort of logic in that. Cheers Ray

Watch this right to the end and then decide for yourself: http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/an_utterly_unserious_government_an_insult_to_our_intelligence/. Cheers Ray

I'm not sure that a piggyback system is the ideal way to go with petrol engines. Units like the Wolf, Motec, Haltech etc replace the entire ECU and allow you to set and manage every parameter of the engine. The Wolf3D that I installed in my TB42E allowed me to tune the engine to perfection (from memory at 250 RPM increments), though I did have to build a complete new distributor from the original carby model, as the EFI model wasn't compatible with the Wolf system. I also had to build the entire wiring loom for all the sensors, injectors etc, as none of the systems were plug and play. Nowadays I believe that they all just plug in. Just about all of them are now laptop tunable, compared to the somewhat clunky interface modules available in those days. I actually used a spreadsheet to log all settings, adjusted and graphed the results from hours of road testing to get optimal results. Despite all of that, power was slightly improved over the carby engine and driveability was a lot better, but fuel economy wasn't that much improved. I thought I'd be getting significant improvements with the EFI over the carby, but with the carby mods that I'd done on the previous engine, the improvements were marginal at best with the EFI. So if anyone says that you'll be getting 20% fuel reduction with a piggyback system, take big steps backwards, because nothing will provide those sorts of fuel improvements, moreso because you're running LPG and petrol (both require different tuning). A Scangauge is a great investment, but it won't work with a TB45, but I believe that the ECUtalk will and provides a lot more info than the Scangauge. Cheers Ray

I use the TC lock quite a bit. For rapid overtaking, I hold the foot switch down and then take it out of overdrive for very quick acceleration and passing. On hills, I use the TC lock to hold top gear, as the auto is prone to dropping down when it's not necessary. In other situatiions, I vary the use of the TC lock, in and out of overdrive, depending on the circumstances. I tend to use it as an extra gear when necessary. Off-road, I never use the TC lock, as I've found it doesn't achieve anything. In first low it's locked anyway by the transmission. It's well worth having, but you need to really work out when and where it's going to give you the best results. It took me quite some time to work this out, and at one point I was almost going to remove it, but thankfully I didn't. That's why I also think the simple manual setup is best, as it allows/forces you to think about what you're doing, a bit like having a manual transmission (which is how I use the auto anyway - a manual transmission without a clutch). Cheers Ray

That's a long way to lift 1/2 ton or so of wood, kind of wobbly on the road as well. Cheers Ray

Politics aside, this really wound me up: http://www.news.com.au/national/tony-abbott-wont-dump-carbon-tax-says-julia-gillard/story-e6frfkvr-1226413528354 Howard went to the polls telling the electorate that it was an election on the GST; vote him in and he will introduce a GST and abolish all existing taxes, whiolesale etc. Gillard went to the polls saying 'There will be no carbon tax under the government I lead' and then introduces a carbon tax, a tax on top of the GST, that impacts all products. Yet there are people who cheer this lot on. Cheers Ray

Since moving to East Gippsland, and with winter arriving, one thing I've noticed is that to travel much further before the auto transmission torque converter lockup operates of its own accord when going above 80kmh. I can of course lock it manually with the TC switch, but it's interesting exactly how long it does take to drive, before it does it on its own. I did notice this even in Melbourne a few times in winter, but it never took as long as it does down here. Obvioulsy I've never noticed this when driving in the High Country on trips, as we've rarely been able to drive at any great speed first thing in the morning. I always thought that the auto transmission would have some sort of thermostat to allow the oil to heat up quickly to operation temperature, but clearly this isn't the case. The only other thing I can think of is that the oil cooler etc is quite efficient and that's why it takes so long to heat up the oil. Do others with an auto transmission, in colder climes, find this to be similar? Cheers Ray

You turn the bolt in the centre of the hubs (with the tyre lever or a socket) so that the arrows align withe the locked arrows. Cheers Ray

We actually shop at Aldi, Coles and Woolworths, as well as Asian grocery stores. I was just looking in our pantry, looking at the various products, when it struck me once more how the packaging differs so much. Cheers Ray

The planet will have been saved. Cheers Ray

I have this ambivalence towards Google products like I do towards Apple; I'd rather own none of them. I'm more than happy with my Gigabyte Windows 7 tablet and if I didn't have that, I'd probably wait for the upcoming Microsoft Surface tablet. Also, I don't really see the need for a 7" tablet, as that's no bigger than the screen on my head unit. Cheers Ray

See here: http://gizmodo.com/5...ossible-to-open. I also agree about the blister packs, they are clearly so bad that you can even buy special cutters just to open these packages. A number of companies have apparently recognised the hatred for these packs and have stopped using them; more still needs to be done. Cheers Ray

...or lack of. As most of you know, I love cooking, so buying ingredients is a big part of my life, especially Asian ingredients, which leads me to the topic at hand. For years I've noticed how Asian packaged products imported into Australia display not only intelligence in design, but also far greater emphasis on safety and health than do Australian products. Some of it is just so simple that It makes you wonder why aren't these ideas implemented in every product. Let's run through three of the most common food packaging options, to see what I mean: Canned Products - Asian sourced canned products, by design, have a slightly smaller base than top, so that the cans will stack and hold because the base sits inside the top of the can. Australian based products, in the main, seem to have the base and top exactly the same size, so that stacking is a precarious option. The Asian design just makes stacking of cans so much easier. Glass Jar Products - Asian sourced products all have not only the vacuum depression in the lid to indicate that the lid has not been tampered with, but they all have a plastic shrick wrap in addition, to clearly indicate if the lid has been opened. Australian based products, as far as I've ever seen, only have the vacuum depression to indicate tampering. The Asian design makes it much easier to see if tampering has occurred; whereas, with the Australian design, you may never notice tanmpering. Glass/Plastic Bottle Products - The same principles apply to glass/plastic bottles as they do for glass jar products ie sealing option of lid/top and shrink wrap. Some products will have an internal cap that needs to be removed and then the plastic cap replaced for pouring. Australian products will usually only have the single sealing option. Soft Pouch Packaging - Asian products all come in a double sealed pouch ie an inner and outer pouch for the paste or powder contained within. Australian products, again as far as I've seen, all come in just a single pouch. With the Asian product, the contents are far better protected and the contents likely to remain fresher for longer. With the Australian products, the single pouch design is far more vulnerable to damage and spoiling. I've visited Asia on several occasions and these packaging options aren't just for imported products, it's the same for the domestic market. I sometimes wonder who is living in the third world. Cheers Ray

We had some pork belly again the other day, which we bought from Coles. I wouldn't recommend Coles pork belly at all, it was more like a roast pork; whereas, the one we got from Woolworths, was completely different and utterly delicious. Both were cooked exactly the same way, but the Coles one had none of the flavour of the Woolworths one, so we know where we'll be getting ours in future. Cheers Ray

All that's needed is for something to support the foot of the tablet holder (the small foot that support the bottom of the tablet) so that the sides of the tablet don't rub on the dash. You need something to sit inside the pen holder on which the foot of the holder can rest, so that it holds it up and prevents any sideways movement (which was pretty minimal anyway). The bluetack worked better than I anticipated, so I might look at something to make it look a bit better than a blob, maybe some form of roll that sits completely inside the pen holder, with a piece of bluetack in the middle as a cushion. Cheers Ray

I did my first test drive (for the wood hunting trip today) with the tablet et al attached to the dash and it worked a treat. I still haven't quite worked out what I want to use as a support for the part that sits over the pen holder, but I used a big blob of bluetack in lieu of the foam bits, which held the tablet off the dash and I had no issues whatsoever, so that may end up being the final solution. The unit was rock steady over the most jarring of spots on the road and never looked like moving. The tablet holds fast in the frame like grim death and nothing else looked like coming undone. The only real issue that I had was attaching the zip ties to the vents; this was a right royal pain and I'm going to have to find an easier solution. The zip ties held very firmly, but getting in to attach them had me swearing; we need zip ties that curve. I have a few ideas, but I always like things to look clean and subtle, so some further testing needed. Cheers Ray

I thnk doing that down the main hwy would be frowned upon. On another note, what does DSE actually mean? Today I went to have a look around the Blue Rock dam area to see what the wood situation was like and before I left, I checked the DSE site for locations. The place I went to had an areas marked for 4WD access only and another for 2WD access. I decided to check out the 2WD site first, as I wanted to bring our trailer with us tomorrow so best to start easy if possible. The site for 2WD access was well sign posted with clear indications of where to go and obviously put there for Joe Average so that he would get himself into strife. About 100m into the track, I decided to put the Patrol into H4, as it looked like it was going to be a tad slippery. Not only was it slippery, it was full of bog holes and pretty overgrown; this was not a place to take a 2WD. After several kilometres, it was evident that this was a lost cause for wood, so I backtracked to the main road and went looking for some 4WD tracks. About 500m in the other direction, I came to the 4WD access track posted on the DSE web site. This was a well made road, accessible by any vehicle, and as I followed it along I just couldn't believe the way the sites had been marked. A kilometre or so further down, the track got a bit worn out, but nothing that just about any 2WD couldn't manage. This was insane, the DSE web site had marked out an area for 2WD access that would have put most 2WDs into serious trouble, even on a summer's day, yet the 4WD track could take a golf buggy. This isn't the first time that I've seen crap like this from the DSE and it really makes me wonder if there is a neuron to share between all the oxygen thieves existing on a sinecure called the DSE. It's time that the entire organisation was completely purged and everything started afresh. Cheers Ray

Because our two hounds go ballistic over ceiling fans when they're turned on, I've been searching for alternatives that don't have blades and the only one I've come up with is this, but none seem to be available in Australia: http://www.diskfan.com/ceiling-fan.html. Has anyone heard of something similar? Cheers Ray

Oi! Each of those logs varies betwen 6"-10" diameter and it was all that would neatly fit. Cheers Ray

I have a tandem trailer, but some of the places are simply too difficult to get it in. We went looking at a new place, so had no idea what to expect (very slippery in parts), but collected some wood all the same. Surprisingly enough, I've been doing this for years, especially on our camping trips, and the interior of the Patrols have always stood up, provided that you tie the wood down properly so that it doesn't move about. Cheers Ray

Well, filled this Patrol up: A bit of wood collecting today. Cheers Ray