Neil

Have you installed the graphic card drivers?

It's unlikely to be the CPU at fault if the hard disk is still constantly grinding away. The first thing I'd check is that you have all the correct and latest chipset drivers installed for the laptop (the ones Windows XP installs by default will be rubbish performance wise) and I'd also check to see you have the latest BIOS firmware installed. If the firmware has never been upgraded before then you almost certainly won't.

Yup, pretty much.

Well, not really. Don't most artists (major or minor) make most of their money from the sales of their various releases as opposed to touring and selling t-shirts? That's the impression I've always been given. Last time I checked the appreciation of a specific artist, be it in music or any other art form, is entirely subjective. So you, and anyone else for that matter, is in no position to say 75% of music is "total gash" (and where do you get this 75% from exactly? You've listened to 100% of all music output since the beginning of time have you?).

Speaking as someone who has been responsible for hiring people in IT before, I've helped picked candidates with relevant work experience over qualifications every time. That's just in IT though where what they teach you at Uni is so dated and often irrelevant that it proves mostly useless in the real world.

Which they will only be able to then make money from if they were to tour extensively and sell a whole load of other merchandise. What if I told you the only way you can make money as a music artist was to do this? Would you bother even realising records? Would you even bother making music in the first place? What I'm trying to get at is that it isn't just the "major record labels" you're depriving of "profit". It's the artists as well - be they signed to majors or otherwise. I don't think you fully appreciate that.

So rather than discouraging people from downloading music illegally, music artists should now stop trying to sell their recorded works and find new ways of making a living?

I'm afraid not. All we've got to go on is the comment.

Pretty much. It's actually grey (to my eyes anyway) and it means the person has given you reputation (be it negative or positive) but they have a reputation power of zero and so it has no effect on your reputation total. New users, users with a low post count and/or bad reputation usually fall into this category of user.

I've picked on you because I disagree with what you have posted. You seem to have missed my point. I'm saying that the reason the majority of people download music for free (regardless of the artist or record label in question) is that if it cost anything more than that (even a 1) then people would still download it illegally to avoid even paying this small amount. Like I said in my last post, people are downloading the music for free because it's free. Not because they think record labels are ripping them off.

So the only reason people download music illegally is because it's overpriced normally? No, reason people download music for free is because it's free. You put a track online for 1 and the exactly same track online for free - which will be downloaded the most? At the end of the day unless the artist decides to give his/her work away, they are quite right to expect people to buy it legally and for those that don't to be punished by law. Anything else is theft regardless of the format or means of distribution.

Cheers for the link - not too keen on that track to be honest (although I'm a big Apparat fan). Much preferred this that I found on the same web site: http://squar3.com/site/traxx/Modeselektor-TheWhiteFlashfeatThomYorkeTrentemollerRemix.mp3

Or even just install Virtual PC (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/virtualpc/default.mspx) on Windows and install Linux using that.

A newspaper has less negative impact on the environment than any mass produced electronic device that might take it's place (mobile phone / pda / laptop etc).

Two words people: Wii Fit

And that is us back to before. Now everyone else can start complaining again.

And this is why Linux adoption is so poor. Driver support is rubbish. I don't know how many hours of my life I've wasted trying to get network, sound, video and capture cards working with various Linux distros.

Personally I think this looks awful, but what about now?

I do. But there is a rather lot of colours out there...

So, you don't want the links blue or red. What colour do you want them?

My top tracks at Last.fm Yes, I have been enjoying In Rainbows that much.

Not to mention the fact that with a lot of the online music purchases you now get the full artwork and lyrics either embedded into the music tracks or supplied as a separate PDF file with the download. So the only thing you are really missing is the physical CD and plastic case.

And that's fine, you can keep that opinion to yourself thanks. It has no place in this particular thread as it contributes nothing useful to it. Instead it all only serves to trigger the usual hostility that no doubt you quite enjoy generating. Back on topic please everyone. Any further discussion about the merits of posting photos of your musical gear into a MUSICIAN'S FORUM can be posted in the Comments & Suggestions forum instead. Any further such replies will be deleted if they are posted in this thread.

Exactly. Just ignore Stripey and get back on topic.