>> Huh, you have a digital camcorder with no firewire socket?  Which one 
>> is it?
> 
> I couldn't tell you off the top of my head. I'll check when I get home...

Canon DC201.

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

Post a reply to this message

Darren New wrote:

> Good lord, man! I edited the videos I took in Africa like 10 years ago. 
> Back when a 1 megapixel still camera was pretty naff.

Hang on... 10 years ago, digital still cameras didn't exist, digital 
video cameras where those things that news crews owned, and "the 
multimedia revolution" was still considered all neat and futuristic. 
Decoding MPEG video in realtime required custom ASICs to do the DCTs 
fast enough. So where the hell did *you* get a time machine from?!

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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"Invisible" <voi### [at] devnull> wrote in message 
news:47e10f38$1@news.povray.org...

> And my car cost me £6,000 second-hand.

     O.M.G. That's a sooper-dooper PC right there.

     Did you investigate auctions? You may well have got the very same car 
for what, £2000?

        ~Steve~




> http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
> http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

Post a reply to this message

Orchid XP v7 escribió:
> Darren New wrote:
> 
>> Good lord, man! I edited the videos I took in Africa like 10 years 
>> ago. Back when a 1 megapixel still camera was pretty naff.
> 
> Hang on... 10 years ago, digital still cameras didn't exist, digital 
> video cameras where those things that news crews owned, and "the 
> multimedia revolution" was still considered all neat and futuristic. 
> Decoding MPEG video in realtime required custom ASICs to do the DCTs 
> fast enough. So where the hell did *you* get a time machine from?!

Note 10 years ago means 1998.

Wikipedia:

"The first true digital camera that recorded images as a computerized 
file was likely the Fuji DS-1P of 1988, which recorded to a 16 MB 
internal memory card that used a battery to keep the data in memory. 
This camera was never marketed in the United States, and has not been 
confirmed to have shipped even in Japan.

The first commercially available digital camera was the 1990 Dycam Model 
1; it also sold as the Logitech Fotoman. It used a CCD image sensor, 
stored pictures digitally, and connected directly to a PC for download.
[...]
In 1997 the first megapixel cameras for consumers were marketed. The 
first camera that offered the ability to record video clips may have 
been the Ricoh RDC-1 in 1995."

Post a reply to this message

>> And my car cost me £6,000 second-hand.
> 
>      O.M.G. That's a sooper-dooper PC right there.

Yeah, I wish.

I love my PC, but I physically *need* my car in order to remain alive. 
Sad but true...

>      Did you investigate auctions? You may well have got the very same car 
> for what, £2000?

I was kind of in a hurry...?

As it turns out, the car is actually very nice. The fools I bought it 
from weren't, but that doesn't matter now. I have a neat car!

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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"Orchid XP v7" <voi### [at] devnull> wrote in message 
news:47e15aec$1@news.povray.org...
>>> And my car cost me £6,000 second-hand.
>>
>>      O.M.G. That's a sooper-dooper PC right there.
>
> Yeah, I wish.

  Yeah, me too.  :)


>
> I love my PC, but I physically *need* my car in order to remain alive. Sad 
> but true...

    LOL, I got this image in my head then of your car rearing up on its hind 
wheels beating all those bullies upside the head... ;)

>
>>      Did you investigate auctions? You may well have got the very same 
>> car for what, £2000?
>
> I was kind of in a hurry...?
>
> As it turns out, the car is actually very nice. The fools I bought it from 
> weren't, but that doesn't matter now. I have a neat car!

   Hey, I'm not knocking you. On the contrary, fairplay to you. I think you 
deserve something nice, and especially on your wages. Enjoy it! :)

    ~Steve~



>
> -- 
> http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
> http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

Post a reply to this message

St. wrote:

>     LOL, I got this image in my head then of your car rearing up on its hind 
> wheels beating all those bullies upside the head... ;)

WTF? LOL!

BTW, what the hell does "upside the head" actually *mean* anyway??

>    Hey, I'm not knocking you. On the contrary, fairplay to you. I think you 
> deserve something nice, and especially on your wages. Enjoy it! :)

Heh. You should have seen it.

"I see you're offering 0% finance?"
"Ah yes. We can give you that. Just give us... A 50% DEPOSIT! >:-D "
"OK then."
"...er...oh, OK then."

They weren't expecting me to actually *have* £3,000 in cash. They 
thought they'd be able to peddle me their normal 20% APR thing because I 
wouldn't be able to afford a 50% deposit. But I could. In fact, I had 
£5,000 available, I could *almost* buy the car outright... just not 
quite. The look on their faces when they realised that they'd actually 
have to *give* me 0%... :-D

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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"Orchid XP v7" <voi### [at] devnull> wrote in message 
news:47e163f4$1@news.povray.org...
> St. wrote:
>
>>     LOL, I got this image in my head then of your car rearing up on its 
>> hind wheels beating all those bullies upside the head... ;)
>
> WTF? LOL!

    Heh, it reminded of one of the recent adverts on telly where the car 
rears up and 'runs!' (or is ice-skating or something), but I imagined it 
protecting you. :)

>
> BTW, what the hell does "upside the head" actually *mean* anyway??

  Song containing:  "Oops, Oops, Upside your Head". Can't remember which 
song, but it was around 10 years ago now I think. Still don't know what it 
means, but I think iirc, it included a little 'slapping' too. (Probably 
wrong on that). Phil's the man to know, I think.  ;)



>
>>    Hey, I'm not knocking you. On the contrary, fairplay to you. I think 
>> you deserve something nice, and especially on your wages. Enjoy it! :)
>
> Heh. You should have seen it.
>
> "I see you're offering 0% finance?"
> "Ah yes. We can give you that. Just give us... A 50% DEPOSIT! >:-D "
> "OK then."
> "...er...oh, OK then."
>
> They weren't expecting me to actually *have* £3,000 in cash. They thought 
> they'd be able to peddle me their normal 20% APR thing because I wouldn't 
> be able to afford a 50% deposit. But I could. In fact, I had £5,000 
> available, I could *almost* buy the car outright... just not quite. The 
> look on their faces when they realised that they'd actually have to *give* 
> me 0%... :-D

     LOL!! Good one! Cheers mate, best laugh all day! Wish I *was* there... 
:o)

       ~Steve~



>
> -- 
> http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
> http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

Post a reply to this message

>> BTW, what the hell does "upside the head" actually *mean* anyway??
> 
>   Song containing:  "Oops, Oops, Upside your Head". Can't remember which 
> song, but it was around 10 years ago now I think. Still don't know what it 
> means, but I think iirc, it included a little 'slapping' too. (Probably 
> wrong on that). Phil's the man to know, I think.  ;)

Yeah Phil - what's it mean?

>>>    Hey, I'm not knocking you. On the contrary, fairplay to you. I think 
>>> you deserve something nice, and especially on your wages. Enjoy it! :)
>> Heh. You should have seen it.
>>
>> "I see you're offering 0% finance?"
>> "Ah yes. We can give you that. Just give us... A 50% DEPOSIT! >:-D "
>> "OK then."
>> "...er...oh, OK then."
>>
>> They weren't expecting me to actually *have* £3,000 in cash. They thought 
>> they'd be able to peddle me their normal 20% APR thing because I wouldn't 
>> be able to afford a 50% deposit. But I could. In fact, I had £5,000 
>> available, I could *almost* buy the car outright... just not quite. The 
>> look on their faces when they realised that they'd actually have to *give* 
>> me 0%... :-D
> 
>      LOL!! Good one! Cheers mate, best laugh all day! Wish I *was* there... 
> :o)

Muhuhuhuhu! >:-D

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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>> POV-Ray, POV-Ray, in the sky,
>> How you make my Athlon cry.
>> Eating lots of gigaFLOPS,
>> Burn each core until it stops.
>> POV-Ray, POV-Ray, in the sky,
>> How you make my PC die...
>>
> :-D

Ah, talent! ;-)

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

Post a reply to this message

>.Cars contain *metal*, and metal is very expensive. Cars require extensive 
>safety testing, and that's expensive. And few people make cars, so they can 
>charge the earth for them. Why *wouldn't* they be expensive?

Scrap steel has gone up in the last few years, but
it's something like 200£ per ton in Europe, it's not
a major factor in new car pricing. High demand, and
low supply are symptoms of all the regulations that
are on cars.

Post a reply to this message

Orchid XP v7 wrote:
>>> BTW, what the hell does "upside the head" actually *mean* anyway??
>>
>>   Song containing:  "Oops, Oops, Upside your Head". Can't remember 
>> which song, but it was around 10 years ago now I think. Still don't 
>> know what it means, but I think iirc, it included a little 'slapping' 
>> too. (Probably wrong on that). Phil's the man to know, I think.  ;)
> 
> Yeah Phil - what's it mean?

I'm not Phil, but hitting someone "upside the head" means hitting them 
on the back of the head.

-- 
...Ben Chambers
www.pacificwebguy.com

Post a reply to this message

Invisible wrote:
> The Mini Mac has, what? Well it has a low-end Intel Core 2 Duo processor 
> [which never the less is pretty damn expensive], 1 GB RAM, a working 

The CPU in the Mac Mini costs ~ $100 US if you buy it retail.  While a 
comparable CPU from AMD costs $60-$90, it's not all that great of a 
difference in price for the final machine.

-- 
...Ben Chambers
www.pacificwebguy.com

Post a reply to this message

Eero Ahonen wrote:
> Darren New wrote:
>>
>> Wow. I thought only the Americans did that crap. :-)  I don't remember 
>> anything in Europe costing something other than a nice round number.
>>
> 
> Next time you visit somewhere around here, feel free to open your eyes 
> at the store (and even more preferably if you're driving... :p).
> 
> 'bout every store at Finland does that.

Cool. I've only been to London, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, and 
Switzerland, IIRC.  (And Africa and China, but that's not europe. :-) 
Have Greek and Spain coming up when I get more free time. I guess after 
that we'll have to hit some of the northern places, probably on the same 
trip as the rest of GB.

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     "That's pretty. Where's that?"
          "It's the Age of Channelwood."
     "We should go there on vacation some time."

Post a reply to this message

Orchid XP v7 wrote:
> BTW, what the hell does "upside the head" actually *mean* anyway??

It's a polite way of saying "bitch-slap."  ;-)

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     "That's pretty. Where's that?"
          "It's the Age of Channelwood."
     "We should go there on vacation some time."

Post a reply to this message

Orchid XP v7 wrote:
> Hang on... 10 years ago, digital still cameras didn't exist,

I was wrong. I looked it up. It was 2000.  Still, the idea that 8 years 
later you can't buy a computer that does video editing is ... wrong.

When did the ones that recorded on 3.5" floppies come out, I wonder?

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     "That's pretty. Where's that?"
          "It's the Age of Channelwood."
     "We should go there on vacation some time."

Post a reply to this message

> You can buy a *BMW* for less than £200,000??? 0_0

The cheapest one on the UK site is the 116i for 16185 pounds.

> If that's the case, why do all the people driving them act like they own 
> the entire road network then? I always thought that the BMW drivers' 
> massive superiority complex comes from the fact that the car costs as much 
> as a small house...

Well it depends which model you get, like I said the cheapest is 16k, but 
it's very easy to spend double that if you want a bigger one that's a bit 
faster.

> I wouldn't drive a Ford if you paid me. I have no idea what a Peugeot 407 
> is, but it sounds much more inviting...

The Ford Focus is actually a really nice car to drive, the handling is great 
and everything seems of pretty high quality.  If you told me I had 10k-15k 
to spend on a new car for my family, it would probably be my choice.

> Seriously?

Yes, this one:

http://www.porsche.com/uk/models/boxster/boxster/

> Heh, good thing my dad doesn't have 33k! ;-)

Personally, if I was going to get a Porsche, I would save a bit more (or buy 
2nd hand) and get this one though:

http://www.porsche.com/uk/models/cayman/cayman-s/

> Well, I guess at 10k it might as well be 10,000k - either way I don't have 
> that kind of money

But you said you spent 6k on your car.  10k isn't much different, in 5 or 10 
years it's not going to be impossible that you might be thinking of spending 
10k on a car.

>  - but I find your statements extremely surprising. Cars contain *metal*, 
> and metal is very expensive.

No it's not.  The cost of the actual metal is pretty much zero compared to 
the other costs.  Designing a car that works is the expensive bit.  A lot of 
people have absolutely no idea how much effort and how many different 
companies and people are involved with designing something like a car.  It 
usually takes around 6 years from concept to production start, with 
literally hundreds of different companies involved.  It's totally amazing 
that anything actually ever gets built.

> Cars require extensive safety testing, and that's expensive.

Much cheaper nowadays with accurate computer simulations that don't need a 
supercomputer.

> And few people make cars, so they can charge the earth for them. Why 
> *wouldn't* they be expensive?

Actually lots of people make cars, especially in the high-volume low-price 
market.

Post a reply to this message

> Astra 1.9 DTi (the now-selling common rail engine) and a over second long 
> turbo-lag? Sounds like something's seriously wrong - Saab 9-3SC with the 
> same engine has one of the unnoticeable turbolags I've ever driven.

It's probably not turbo lag, more the fact that the turbo doesn't work 
properly until around 2200 rpm and the throttle is very heavily damped by 
the ECU.  If you're used to driving a petrol it can really catch you out 
sometimes.  The biggest difference is around 1500rpm in 2nd gear (common 
situation when pulling out from junctions that you don't need to stop for), 
really my 70 BHP petrol engine felt *way* faster than this 120 BHP diesel 
under those conditions.  Once you are in the 2500-3500 rpm range it's fine 
though.

Post a reply to this message

I'm getting a tad fed-up of my clutch-cable snapping Matiz. I know a new  
smaller model of the Mazda2 is out, which suggests the older model should  
be getting a price decrease; so anyone here had any experience with the  
make or model?

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com

Post a reply to this message

And lo on Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:43:06 -0000, Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> did  
spake, saying:

> Nicolas Alvarez wrote:
>> Invisible escribió:
>>> Right. Well to me, if the prices have different numbers of *digits* in  
>>> them, they're pretty damn far apart! ;-)
>>  That's why they sell stuff for $999 instead of $1000.
>
> Yeah, I noticed that...
>
> Like, when my dad bought Farcry, it wasn't £5. It was £4.99. Do you have  
> any *idea* how many 1p coins I now own??

Part psycholgical reasons, part lack of trust. So £4.99 is seen as much  
less the £5 then it really is by the customer focusing on the 4; and  
having prices ending in odd numbers means the employees have to make  
change and thus open tills and record the transaction. There are plenty of  
explanations floating around.

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com

Post a reply to this message

"Phil Cook" <phi### [at] nospamrocainfreeservecouk> wrote in message 
news:op.t8a7bll0c3xi7v@news.povray.org...
> I'm getting a tad fed-up of my clutch-cable snapping Matiz. I know a new 
> smaller model of the Mazda2 is out, which suggests the older model should 
> be getting a price decrease; so anyone here had any experience with the 
> make or model?

The Mazda2 in South Africa was only released last year and was awarded car 
of the year here. So I think it must be worth it.


-- 
-Nekar Xenos-

Post a reply to this message

And lo on Thu, 20 Mar 2008 02:09:05 -0000, Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom>  
did spake, saying:

> Orchid XP v7 wrote:
>> BTW, what the hell does "upside the head" actually *mean* anyway??
>
> It's a polite way of saying "bitch-slap."  ;-)

I'd go with Ben's meaning. Remember when you were young and if you were  
caught doing something you shouldn't your mum would cuff you on the back  
of the head; likewise if you weren't paying attention.

tum-ti-tum ah urban dictionary "an attitude adjustment"

As for the song itself I'm guessing a American (c)Rap artist maybe Jay-Z  
or Snoop Doggy Dogg given the time frame, not my choice of music.

tum-ti-tum SnoopDD had a single called Upside your head in 1996

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com

Post a reply to this message

And lo on Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:48:42 -0000, Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom>  
did spake, saying:

> Invisible wrote:
>> It even claims to have RAID. (But I wouldn't trust that as far as I  
>> could throw it!)
>
> I want to know why every one of our three different types of servers at  
> work (everything from a now-ancient PC to a cutting edge Dell Poweredge)  
> has hot-swap drives, and every one of them requires you to boot into the  
> BIOS at the console in order to change a drive. (Well, the Dells do. The  
> others just need a power cycle.) Why bother making it "hot-swap" if you  
> have to be physically present and out of the OS in order to swap it?  
> What's "hot" about that?

Because you don't have to interrupt the power supply :-P

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com

Post a reply to this message

>>> Right. Well to me, if the prices have different numbers of *digits* in 
>>> them, they're pretty damn far apart! ;-)
>>
>> That's why they sell stuff for $999 instead of $1000.
>
> Wow. I thought only the Americans did that crap. :-)  I don't remember 
> anything in Europe costing something other than a nice round number.

ALmost everything in the supermarkets here ends in a 9.  The salad I get is 
1.99, the carton of juice is 69, the bread roll is 19, the packet of 
chocolate is 1.29 etc.  But, the great thing is, those prices are the prices 
you pay at the till :-)  I still have memories of spending 5 minutes 
counting out all my leftover change in Chicago airport to exactly $4.39 (or 
whatever) to buy a meal from a fast-food place, only to be told I needed to 
pay $4.81 (even though the sign clearly said the meal was $4.39 in big 
writing).  Was a bit awkward.

Post a reply to this message

And lo on Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:17:30 -0000, Orchid XP v7 <voi### [at] devnull>  
did spake, saying:

>>> Huh, you have a digital camcorder with no firewire socket?  Which one  
>>> is it?
>>  I couldn't tell you off the top of my head. I'll check when I get  
>> home...
>
> Canon DC201.

So it records straight to smallform DVDs... so transfer is accomplished by  
taking out the DVD and putting into the DVD player on your computer?

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com

Post a reply to this message

scott wrote:
>> You can buy a *BMW* for less than £200,000??? 0_0
> 
> The cheapest one on the UK site is the 116i for 16185 pounds.

I find it astounding that you can purchase *any* car from new at under 
£25k, let alone a BMW - renound as they are for their astronomical price 
tags...

>> If that's the case, why do all the people driving them act like they 
>> own the entire road network then? I always thought that the BMW 
>> drivers' massive superiority complex comes from the fact that the car 
>> costs as much as a small house...
> 
> Well it depends which model you get, like I said the cheapest is 16k, 
> but it's very easy to spend double that if you want a bigger one that's 
> a bit faster.

Mmm, I guess.

>> I wouldn't drive a Ford if you paid me. I have no idea what a Peugeot 
>> 407 is, but it sounds much more inviting...
> 
> The Ford Focus is actually a really nice car to drive, the handling is 
> great and everything seems of pretty high quality.  If you told me I had 
> 10k-15k to spend on a new car for my family, it would probably be my 
> choice.

Maybe I'm just baised. Every Ford I've ever seen has been so riddled 
with problems that I just want to get away from it as fast as humanly 
possible...

>> Well, I guess at 10k it might as well be 10,000k - either way I don't 
>> have that kind of money
> 
> But you said you spent 6k on your car.  10k isn't much different, in 5 
> or 10 years it's not going to be impossible that you might be thinking 
> of spending 10k on a car.

Oh, sure, it's only nearly *twice* as much. Not much different at all. ;-)

Still, I guess it I get a loan and spend 10 years paying it back I could 
theoretically do it...

>>  - but I find your statements extremely surprising. Cars contain 
>> *metal*, and metal is very expensive.
> 
> No it's not.  The cost of the actual metal is pretty much zero compared 
> to the other costs.

I always thought that this is why stuff is so much cheaper now. Not so 
long ago, everything was made of metal, and it was all very expensive. 
Today everything is made of plastic, and it's jaw-droppingly cheap. It's 
such an obvious correlation that it seems almost self-evident that the 
only possible explanation is that metal is expensive.

If metal isn't expensive, why do they insist on making *everything* of 
plastic? Even items that really *should* be made of metal?

> Designing a car that works is the expensive bit.  A 
> lot of people have absolutely no idea how much effort and how many 
> different companies and people are involved with designing something 
> like a car.  It usually takes around 6 years from concept to production 
> start, with literally hundreds of different companies involved.  It's 
> totally amazing that anything actually ever gets built.

But aren't cars rather like processors? Sure, it costs a lot to design 
one, but once it's designed you can just go on churning out copies of it 
forever. I mean, hell, when was the Ford Fiesta designed? And it's 
*still* on sale today! Surely they've more than recovered the original 
design costs by now?

>> Cars require extensive safety testing, and that's expensive.
> 
> Much cheaper nowadays with accurate computer simulations that don't need 
> a supercomputer.

Oh, I have no doubt. But still pretty damn expensive, I would think.

>> And few people make cars, so they can charge the earth for them. Why 
>> *wouldn't* they be expensive?
> 
> Actually lots of people make cars, especially in the high-volume 
> low-price market.

Really? Interesting...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

Post a reply to this message

Darren New wrote:
> Orchid XP v7 wrote:
>> BTW, what the hell does "upside the head" actually *mean* anyway??
> 
> It's a polite way of saying "bitch-slap."  ;-)

Haha!

As in "It takes 27 muscles in your face to frown, but it only takes 3 
muscles in your arm to BITCH-SLAP the person who's made you happy!" ? ;-)

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

Post a reply to this message

Darren New wrote:
> Orchid XP v7 wrote:
>> Hang on... 10 years ago, digital still cameras didn't exist,
> 
> I was wrong. I looked it up. It was 2000.  Still, the idea that 8 years 
> later you can't buy a computer that does video editing is ... wrong.

Well, I'm sure it's been *possible* to do it for a while. I'm debating 
when it became possible to do it without spending several years' wages. ;-)

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

Post a reply to this message

"Invisible" <voi### [at] devnull> a écrit dans le message de news: 
47e23ede$1@news.povray.org...
> But aren't cars rather like processors? Sure, it costs a lot to design 
> one, but once it's designed you can just go on churning out copies of it 
> forever. I mean, hell, when was the Ford Fiesta designed? And it's *still* 
> on sale today! Surely they've more than recovered the original design 
> costs by now?

As Wikipedia humourously says, there's "no genetic links" between a 1976 
Fiesta and the latest model (which wasn't even supposed to be called 
Fiesta). "Fiesta" is a brand name that is kept for a series of cars aimed at 
the same market segment(s), and that are periodically redesigned, sometimes 
from the ground up.

G.


-- 
**********************
http://www.oyonale.com
**********************
- Graphic experiments
- POV-Ray, Cinema 4D and Poser computer art
- Posters

Post a reply to this message

And lo on Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:18:02 -0000, Nekar Xenos  
<nek### [at] gmailcom> did spake, saying:

>
> "Phil Cook" <phi### [at] nospamrocainfreeservecouk> wrote in message
> news:op.t8a7bll0c3xi7v@news.povray.org...
>> I'm getting a tad fed-up of my clutch-cable snapping Matiz. I know a new
>> smaller model of the Mazda2 is out, which suggests the older model  
>> should
>> be getting a price decrease; so anyone here had any experience with the
>> make or model?
>
> The Mazda2 in South Africa was only released last year and was awarded  
> car of the year here. So I think it must be worth it.

Interesting it's been out here since about 2003. Which Car magazine gave  
the previous model a Best Buy recommendation for the last two years, so  
that makes two yays thankyou. Trouble is the newer model is shorter and  
lighter, but slightly wider (which is a main concern depending on the  
width of the doors - narrow garage) and it's lost 20 litres in the boot.  
I'll have to see if I can get a test-dive over the weekend.

The other Best Buys were the Honda Jazz, except it "jiggles" on uneven  
surfaces so no way would that be good around my way; and the Toyota Yaris  
which lacks the boot space of even the new model Mazda2 while also being  
wider.

If anyone has any other suggestions I'll be welcome to hear them.

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com

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>> Canon DC201.
> 
> So it records straight to smallform DVDs... so transfer is accomplished 
> by taking out the DVD and putting into the DVD player on your computer?

Presumably that isn't going to work without the software necessary to 
decode the proprietry data format it uses on the disk.

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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And lo on Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:41:02 -0000, Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> did  
spake, saying:

> Darren New wrote:
>> Orchid XP v7 wrote:
>>> BTW, what the hell does "upside the head" actually *mean* anyway??
>>  It's a polite way of saying "bitch-slap."  ;-)
>
> Haha!
>
> As in "It takes 27 muscles in your face to frown, but it only takes 3  
> muscles in your arm to BITCH-SLAP the person who's made you happy!" ? ;-)

S - "Cheer up you know it takes 27 muscles to frown but only 3 to smile."
R - "I like the exercise."

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com

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And lo on Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:57:05 -0000, Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> did  
spake, saying:

>>> Canon DC201.
>>  So it records straight to smallform DVDs... so transfer is  
>> accomplished by taking out the DVD and putting into the DVD player on  
>> your computer?
>
> Presumably that isn't going to work without the software necessary to  
> decode the proprietry data format it uses on the disk.

Which a) should have come with the camera and b) is probably the stuff you  
can download of the Canon website.

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com

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Gilles Tran wrote:

> As Wikipedia humourously says, there's "no genetic links" between a 1976 
> Fiesta and the latest model (which wasn't even supposed to be called 
> Fiesta). "Fiesta" is a brand name that is kept for a series of cars aimed at 
> the same market segment(s), and that are periodically redesigned, sometimes 
> from the ground up.

...so...kind of like the way an "Athlon" X2 6000+ has nothing to do with 
an "Athlon" 1200+?

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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>>>  So it records straight to smallform DVDs... so transfer is 
>>> accomplished by taking out the DVD and putting into the DVD player on 
>>> your computer?
>>
>> Presumably that isn't going to work without the software necessary to 
>> decode the proprietry data format it uses on the disk.
> 
> Which a) should have come with the camera and b) is probably the stuff 
> you can download of the Canon website.

Mmm, OK. I'll go see what I can find.

[As it happens, I have some video I want to edit. But I presumed it was 
impossible - or rather, too expensive.]

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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Orchid XP v7 wrote:
> Heh. You should have seen it.
> 
> "I see you're offering 0% finance?"
> "Ah yes. We can give you that. Just give us... A 50% DEPOSIT! >:-D "
> "OK then."
> "...er...oh, OK then."

Definitely worth doing just for that sales-backfire.

Perhaps you already mentioned it and I missed it, but what sort of car 
is it anyway?

Post a reply to this message

"Invisible" <voi### [at] devnull> a écrit dans le message de news: 
47e244db$1@news.povray.org...
> Gilles Tran wrote:
>
>> As Wikipedia humourously says, there's "no genetic links" between a 1976 
>> Fiesta and the latest model (which wasn't even supposed to be called 
>> Fiesta). "Fiesta" is a brand name that is kept for a series of cars aimed 
>> at the same market segment(s), and that are periodically redesigned, 
>> sometimes from the ground up.
>
> ...so...kind of like the way an "Athlon" X2 6000+ has nothing to do with 
> an "Athlon" 1200+?

Or like the Fiat 500, the Volkswagen Beetle or the Mini Cooper, all cars 
that had "legendary" brand recognition and that were completely redesigned 
recently even though the name was kept. Citroen plans a "new" 2CV too 
apparently 
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/208391/citroens_2cv_is_back.html.
Actually, I'd say that keeping the name is actually the (marketing) point of 
the redesign.

G.


-- 
**********************
http://www.oyonale.com
**********************
- Graphic experiments
- POV-Ray, Cinema 4D and Poser computer art
- Posters

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Bill Pragnell wrote:

> Definitely worth doing just for that sales-backfire.

Ah, just gotta love the feeling of *power*! >:-D

> Perhaps you already mentioned it and I missed it, but what sort of car 
> is it anyway?

Renault Megan 1.6L. Metalic red.

[Nobody else in my family has ever owned a car with metalic paint. Of 
air conditioning. Or electric windows. Or ABS. My dad's old car had 
power steering though...]

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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>> ...so...kind of like the way an "Athlon" X2 6000+ has nothing to do with 
>> an "Athlon" 1200+?
> 
> Or like the Fiat 500, the Volkswagen Beetle or the Mini Cooper, all cars 
> that had "legendary" brand recognition and that were completely redesigned 
> recently even though the name was kept. Citroen plans a "new" 2CV too 
> apparently 
> http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/208391/citroens_2cv_is_back.html.
> Actually, I'd say that keeping the name is actually the (marketing) point of 
> the redesign.

The thing I find so amazing is the mini. The new mini is friggin *huge*. 
It's bigger than my damn car! And yet, somehow it manages to *look* 
small. It's a staggering optical illusion. I have no idea how it works, 
but minis look small even though they aren't. Fascinating...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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Invisible wrote:
>> Perhaps you already mentioned it and I missed it, but what sort of car 
>> is it anyway?
> 
> Renault Megan 1.6L. Metalic red.

Is that the one with the 'concept' backside? I've never driven a Renault 
before but I've heard nothing but Good Things.

> [Nobody else in my family has ever owned a car with metalic paint. Of 
> air conditioning. Or electric windows. Or ABS. My dad's old car had 
> power steering though...]

I don't think anyone's made a car without power steering for some years 
now. Everyone says that it's hard going back to 'regular' steering but 
I've never had a problem... (mind you, it's not so bad with small, light 
cars).

Post a reply to this message

>> Renault Megan 1.6L. Metalic red.
> 
> Is that the one with the 'concept' backside?

No. My dad briefly owned "that" car... *shudders*

> I've never driven a Renault 
> before but I've heard nothing but Good Things.

My dad likes 'em. Apparently they all have a very high NCAP rating or 
something. All I know is they all have very soft suspension...

>> [Nobody else in my family has ever owned a car with metalic paint. Of 
>> air conditioning. Or electric windows. Or ABS. My dad's old car had 
>> power steering though...]
> 
> I don't think anyone's made a car without power steering for some years 
> now.

Like I said, I'm the first person in the family to ever own a new car. 
[As opposed to a 20-year-old wreck.]

> Everyone says that it's hard going back to 'regular' steering but 
> I've never had a problem... (mind you, it's not so bad with small, light 
> cars).

My mum's car doesn't have anything remotely modern like that. It's hard 
to drive, but not that hard. Mind you, I only have to drive it to move 
it out of my way so I can use my own car. The hardest part is that I 
can't find the accelerator pedal. But the tickover is set so damn high 
that I can still drive it quite fast anyway. [No, it is NOT a diesel.]

Actually, scrub that. The hardest part is finding my mum's ****ing KEYS!

(I still can't get over how my mum looses her keys and her perse EVERY 
DAY OF HER LIFE! I mean, WTF? Every day she has to spend hours searching 
for them. Me, I just always keep mine in the same place, so I can always 
find them. How friggin' hard is THAT??)

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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> I find it astounding that you can purchase *any* car from new at under 
> £25k, let alone a BMW - renound as they are for their astronomical price 
> tags...

Most high-volume manufacturers have a small car that starts in the 7-8K 
price range (eg Peugeot 107, Ford Ka, Renault Clio etc).

> I always thought that this is why stuff is so much cheaper now. Not so 
> long ago, everything was made of metal, and it was all very expensive. 
> Today everything is made of plastic, and it's jaw-droppingly cheap. It's 
> such an obvious correlation that it seems almost self-evident that the 
> only possible explanation is that metal is expensive.

But when you buy something, the *material* costs are usually a tiny 
proportion of the cost.  Even something like a mouse or keyboard, the actual 
material is probably like 5p of plastic.  It's the designing, manufacturing 
process and assembly that costs the most money usually.

> If metal isn't expensive, why do they insist on making *everything* of 
> plastic? Even items that really *should* be made of metal?

Two main reasons plastics are used a lot in cars, firstly they are much 
lighter than the equivalent part made from metal (so will reduce fuel 
consumption and emissions), and secondly it's much easier (ie cheaper) to 
make complex curved shapes out of plastic than metal.  Imagine trying to 
make a car dashboard out of metal, and then what it would look and feel 
like.  Additionally, imagine trying to make the engine or suspension out of 
plastic...  Each material is suitable for certain things, the raw material 
cost is usually small enough that it doesn't come into the decision making 
process.

> But aren't cars rather like processors? Sure, it costs a lot to design 
> one, but once it's designed you can just go on churning out copies of it 
> forever.

Sure the same effect, but sales volumes of processor designs are orders of 
magnitudes higher than cars, and assembly costs are higher for cars.  So 
even if a processor and a car both cost $x billion to design, the processor 
will sell for $100 and the car for $10000.

> I mean, hell, when was the Ford Fiesta designed?

The current one?  Less than 7 years ago I would guess.  7 years is usually 
the maximum lifetime of car designs, because it takes that long to design a 
new one.

> And it's *still* on sale today! Surely they've more than recovered the 
> original design costs by now?

No, as Gilles said, it's just the name that's the same.  Typically Ford keep 
the same names for new cars, until something goes wrong (like with the 
Escort), then they make a new name.  It doesn't mean it's the same design.

Post a reply to this message

> Note 10 years ago means 1998.
>
> Wikipedia:
>
> "The first true digital camera that recorded images as a computerized file 
> was likely the Fuji DS-1P of 1988, which recorded to a 16 MB internal 
> memory card that used a battery to keep the data in memory. This camera 
> was never marketed in the United States, and has not been confirmed to 
> have shipped even in Japan.

I remember we had a digital camera at school in 1994, we used it to take 
photos for the school newspaper and stuff.  Was a bit naff (like only VGA 
resolution) but it was cool at the time.  We called it the "Ion Camera", but 
I have no idea who made it and what technology it used.

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Invisible wrote:
> (I still can't get over how my mum looses her keys and her perse EVERY 
> DAY OF HER LIFE! I mean, WTF? Every day she has to spend hours searching 
> for them. Me, I just always keep mine in the same place, so I can always 
> find them. How friggin' hard is THAT??)

Hey, she's a woman, she loses things!

<ducks and runs>

-- 
...Ben Chambers
www.pacificwebguy.com

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Phil Cook escribió:
> tum-ti-tum ah urban dictionary "an attitude adjustment"
> 

A LART then?

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And lo on Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:11:00 -0000, Nicolas Alvarez  
<nic### [at] gmailisthebestcom> did spake, saying:

> Phil Cook escribió:
>> tum-ti-tum ah urban dictionary "an attitude adjustment"
>
> A LART then?

Certainly a LART would be considered to fall under the upside the head  
umbrella when divorced from its original physical aspect.

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com

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scott wrote:
> 
> It's probably not turbo lag, more the fact that the turbo doesn't work 
> properly until around 2200 rpm and the throttle is very heavily damped 
> by the ECU.  

Still I'd say there's something wrong. Under Saab's hood that engine 
(and turbo) starts working from somewhere around 1500rpm. The way you 
defined here sounds like Volkswagen 1.9TDI (which is older technology 
with really short torque rpm's). For example the Audi I drive pulls at 
2000-3800rpm. Under 2000, it's a nolifer.

> If you're used to driving a petrol it can really catch you 
> out sometimes.  

Yep. My '89 Saab (2.0 petrol turbo) pulls from 1500rpm and trough the 
whole rpm area (1000-6000rpm) nicer than Audi - and it's still turbocharged.

> The biggest difference is around 1500rpm in 2nd gear 
> (common situation when pulling out from junctions that you don't need to 
> stop for), really my 70 BHP petrol engine felt *way* faster than this 
> 120 BHP diesel under those conditions.  Once you are in the 2500-3500 
> rpm range it's fine though.

Turbocharger actually removes some torque from the really-low revs 
('bout <1500rpm), after that it starts to wake up and gets torque much 
higher than with naturally aspirated engine. After driving 6 years with 
turbocharged cars, I wouldn't even think about naturally aspirated one 
:p - once I got used to the sub-rev torqueloss, I've just let myself 
enjoy the long and stable torque (expect for the Audi, which has only a 
short spike of torque, but it's cheap to drive, so...).

-- 
Eero "Aero" Ahonen
    http://www.zbxt.net
       aer### [at] removethiszbxtnetinvalid

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Bill Pragnell wrote:
> 
> Is that the one with the 'concept' backside? I've never driven a Renault 
> before but I've heard nothing but Good Things.

My mum had a Megane earlier ('97 1.6RT coupe). Only real problem (which 
got fixed pretty well) was a grounding problem with rear lights.

OTOH, my mum's "boyfriend" (what's the word, when he's over 50 years 
old? :p) had Laguna ('02 1.6 sedan) with nothing but problems. I guess 
this one was built on Monday.

> I don't think anyone's made a car without power steering for some years 
> now. Everyone says that it's hard going back to 'regular' steering but 
> I've never had a problem... (mind you, it's not so bad with small, light 
> cars).

I still think that power steering in small cars are waste of 
(petrol)energy. But people are used to them, so...

-- 
Eero "Aero" Ahonen
    http://www.zbxt.net
       aer### [at] removethiszbxtnetinvalid

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Phil Cook wrote:
> 
> Which a) should have come with the camera and b) is probably the stuff 
> you can download of the Canon website.
> 

And c) works with Windows versions X, Y and Z.


-- 
Eero "Aero" Ahonen
    http://www.zbxt.net
       aer### [at] removethiszbxtnetinvalid

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scott wrote:
> 
> I remember we had a digital camera at school in 1994, we used it to take 
> photos for the school newspaper and stuff.  Was a bit naff (like only 
> VGA resolution) but it was cool at the time.  We called it the "Ion 
> Camera", but I have no idea who made it and what technology it used.
> 

I'd guess it was Canon ION.

http://www.digicamhistory.com/1992.html

-- 
Eero "Aero" Ahonen
    http://www.zbxt.net
       aer### [at] removethiszbxtnetinvalid

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