Neil

You already can, the government have a 43% stake in them.

So it's not unlimited then? No ISP does offer (or can offer) an unlimited broadband connection. They may not actively throttle or cap the amount of bandwidth you use, but the ISPs that do that now are few and far between. What they all have though is a "fair use" policy which means if you start downloading loads of data and generally taking the piss then they reserve the right to throttle/cap/disconnect your connection - often without any prior notice being given. Why can't they offer unlimited connections? Because ISPs spend a lot of money buying a specific "allowance" of bandwidth from their upstream Internet providers which they then have to divide up into various packages for their customers (i.e. us) to all use. This bandwidth allowance is not infinite or unlimited - there is only so much data you can physically squeeze down fibre optics and copper wire. Why the advertising watchdog still lets them all get away with using the word "unlimited" is beyond me because its completely false.

All, We have now simplified advertising on the web site. The 120x90 box on the right-hand side of the Home page, Radio Station page etc has been removed from the web site. This will leave the one advertising banner area at the top of all pages. Sponsors who currently have advertisements in removed box area have been given the option of having a full banner advertisement at no extra cost. In addition to this change, the maximum size for the full banner advertisement area has been increased to 728 pixels wide by 90 pixels high with a maximum file size of 40Kb. Any banners larger than this will be automatically resized and displayed. You may have already noticed this and so I strongly encourage our sponsors to either e-mail me their updated banner graphics or upload them themselves through our online advertising system which they should already have access to. There will be no change to the price of the full advertisement banners. Details of how to display advertisements on the site can be found on the following page: aberdeen-music - Advertising & Sponsorship If anyone has any questions or concerns regarding this then please contact me. Thanks.

Yup. When it pops up when you make a new post just check the "Always..." checkbox and don't post the message to Facebook. You'll never be prompted again.

Yeah, it doesn't really explain itself very well at the moment. I'm working on it.

You both sit in the same wing as well.

Good show. Thanks chaps.

I'm coming up to Aberdeen (via train) from Glasgow tomorrow afternoon. Is this an exercise in futility or have thing got a bit better up there as far as the weather goes?

Doesn't matter. People shouldn't be taking on debts they can't afford in the first place.

They should jail all those people that have run up huge personal debts on their credit cards, loans and 125% mortgages as well then. Because that's why these banks have needed the bail-out from the government. As easy as it is to blame the banks and the fat cats, the reality is that everyone is to blame for this problem.

Jade Goody - the cautionary tale of a life lived under the gaze of reality TV | Life and style | The Guardian

Yep, sounds like the PSU is strugging to cope with the load. What's the power rating of the PSU? Going by your specs you would probably need a 500W PSU or better.

Yup. Any decent travel insurance policy would cover such things including paying for hotel accommodation, a new ticket home etc. should you need it in such circumstances. I pay 30 a year for multi-trip travel insurance that covers travel to most of the world, even exotic and exciting countries like Poland. Don't expect the airlines to help you out though. Unless it's their fault (and the weather isn't) then usually youre entitled to nothing if your flight gets cancelled. With Ryanair it wouldn't surprise me if they charge you extra for the inconvenience of them having to cancel your flight.

Not quite. It lists (10 at a time) all the threads that have been posted in recently with an icon to jump straight to the latest post in the particular thread should you not wish to read through the whole thread. And it lists 5 posts at a time now.

Is that not what the Latest Forum Threads option does?

I'm working on an aberdeen-music Facebook application just now, which I'm sure you'll all be excited to hear.

Not really, as StumbleUpon is actually useful. Here is a brief description from Wiki: "Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length. Updates are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends (delivery to everyone being the default). Users can receive updates via the Twitter website, SMS, RSS, or through applications such as TwitterMobile, Tweetie, Twinkle, Twitterrific, Feedalizr, Facebook, and Twidget, a widget application." Or just sign-up and try it yourself: Twitter: What are you doing?

If you can imagine SMS'ing random people around the world telling them what you're having for breakfast, that your walking your dog etc, but all online, then that's basically what Twitter is. Utterly pointless and thus hugely popular.

The idea I've contemplated before is a paid classifieds system for those who want more exposure than a thread in the trading post forums would give them. Giving people the ability to have their own "online store" would be a much more complex affair. Although I have considered the idea of having a general aberdeen-music online store where bands/musician could sell their music/merch etc but the logistics would still be complicated.

Just noticed the motherboard you linked to has a built-in GeForce 7100 card so that would probably suffice for a media centre. Don't try and play any games on it though!

If you won't be playing any games on the media centre then all you need is a cheapy DirectX 10 compatible card with passive cooling to help keep things quiet. Something like this would do: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-085-GW&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=877 The CPU is probably the most important consideration as that is going to dictate which makes of motherboard you can go for and these in turn will dictate what type of RAM / expansion slots etc you are going to have. The Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 would be my suggestion: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-172-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=567

Had a fiddle with it in the last week and it seems pretty nifty. Most of the Vista device drivers I was using before with it seem to work fine with the exception of Nvidia's beta Windows 7 drivers (the ones available through Windows Update). Already had a couple of BSOD with them...but then they are beta drivers on a beta operation system so I guess it is to be expected. I like the new version of the Windows Media Center that comes with Windows 7. Looks good so far.

The former has been chosen.

I saw Billy Connelly reading a newspaper in the BA Lounge at Aberdeen Airport, was sat across from Paolo Nutini (or so I was told - he just looked like a student bum to me) in a sushi resturant in Glasgow and I met the lovely Carole Smiley on the hit ITV daytime show, The People's Court.

It might be a bit clichd but definitely check-out the Coliseum and The Forum (which is nearby). The photos you see of them everywhere just don't them justice. Rome is definitely a city I want to go back to one day.