Dual-Monitor Setup

Yesterday, I bought myself a new 19" Widescreen monitor yesterday. I have made a dual-screen setup with my old monitor. It works quite well

Ironically Enough however

If I drove (which I unfortunately can't because of my vision) I would probably have a Golf GTI. I would like to know however why did VW not let Top Gear take the Veyron round their track. I would love to see a lap time for that. Oh and I'm glad to see the Bora has gone! In my opinion it IS Maserati and it should stay that way. OK OK It's really a Citroen but let's just gloss over that. Close your eyes for one moment and just imagine if Ferrari had made the Bora – ah yes that's much better. On the flip-side however VW do make some very nice and affordeable family cars, so keep up the good work.

I am very interested in the Mercedes S-Class with it's radar assisted brakes. This will enable the car to drive itself at the speed of the car in front. It goes faster, you go faster, it goes slower, you go slower. If Mercedes advance much further, then I may be able to drive one day. Please do it, Mercedes. Driving has been my dream since my parents (ironically) bought a Volvo 240 Estate (Wagon if you're American) and I fell in love with the car (I wouldn't drive one today). Please Mercedes, make me a car that I can drive. I have a rating of 6 in my left eye and 3 in my right. If anybody can get me legally driving on the roads, the Germans can. I'm counting on you!

.......... after I Bitched about Volkswagen :-s

Unanswered (And probably unasked) questions about Volkswagen

1. Why the heck won't you let the Stig take a Veyron round the Top Gear track and grab a time – I mean come on!!!! When the Bugatti Veyron was created in 2005 it was the fastest road car available – it's not like it's going to be a crap time or anything!! Come on VW Please don't annoy me!
   
2. Why is the Lupo so girly?
   
3. A mid-engine van? Give me a break!
   
4. Why do your 2001 minibuses sound like they are going to blow up every time you reverse?
   
5. Whilst on the subject of minibuses – what the flip is with that ANNOYING park assist – A more subtle sound please????
   
6. Is the Veyron pregnant? Why so bulbous?
   
7. The Bora is a 1970's mid-engine Italian Supercar from Maserati which looks very nice – I'd buy one any day – not your rebadged Skoda Octavia!
   
8. Why is the Golf so expensive? What do you think makes it so special?
   
9. The Beetle was crap the first time around so what makes you think it won't be this time?
   
10. I'm sorry but why do you make the older Passats look like Audi's. BE ORIGINAL PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fixing Computers

On Sunday I was out fixing Denise's computer. I needed to make Lego Star Wars work on Windows Vista and then install an Epson C60 printer. I made Lego Star Wars work by setting the compatibility mode to XP and running the game as Administrator. This works – but if you want to quit mid-game and restart the computer blue-screens and restarts. The printer installed easily enough. I installed Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and the printer installed itself the minute it was plugged in. It even can detect ink levels. It was nice to be on the job again fixing computers. I've not done this since I fixed My Mum's Friend's Daughter's PC last summer. At least here Denise has Broadband Internet so it was done very quickly.

A follow-up on ZoomText

I rung up Ai Squared in America a few days ago and asked if I could install ZoomText on Windows x64. Unfortunately they said that they don't support Windows x64. I asked if they had any plans to support it and they said no.
I'm very disappointed with Windows!

64-bit Windows discriminates

After a stress-free Easter vacation with only my MacBook to use as my main computer, I am now back in Hull where my Vista workstation is. Coming back and installing The Sims 2 I found that the graphics were unsatisfactory. The card crashed on Need for Speed Carbon, and Zoomtext is being er, well, Zoomtext really. Unlike Zoom on the Mac, Zoomtext offers very jerky screen magnification. NOT what I needed really. I decided the time was ripe for a new graphics card. I decided on the purchase of an nVidia GeForce 8500GT. This card (apart from the uber-noisy fan) is a good card. I can now see every single strand of hair on my Sims' heads (well I can if I zoom right in on their hair), and the graphics in NFS Carbon are as smooth as the engine of the Alfa Romeo Brera that I drive on the game. There was still one problem however. Windows Media Center decided to struggle with videos, causing Jeremy Clarkson to pause for a long time in his Merc SLR, and then suddenly go at about 1,000MPH - out of sync with the sound of the car's engine. Also, ZoomText's performance was very very poor. I decided then to throw another sexty quid at my computer on upgrading it from 2 to 4GB of RAM. The reason it cost so much is because i bought 3 1GB modules to match the original 1GB module I installed when I built the machine. Also, I could not lay my hands on a single 2GB stick for love nor money. I decided to buy three 1GB modules and install them in a dual-channel configuration so that I would recieve a performance hit. Unfortunately as I am running 32-bit Windows, it will acknowlledge my full 4GB of RAM but it won't address it. System Information tells me that I have 4GB installed but I only have 3GB available. I was looking at upgrading to 64-bit Windows because of this, and that's where the problems started. ZoomText 9.1 will not work with 64-bit Windows, and neither will Dolphoin's Lunar magnifier. I'm sorry but just because I'm visually impaired doesn;t mean that I shouldn't be able to use 64-bit Windows. PC is completely garbage if you are disabled. Mac OS X 10.5 is completely 64-bit but I have absolutely no problems either running 32-bit software or even magnifying the screen. I am sorry dear readers but once again I'm outraged.

On the flip-side however now I can do something about it. Hopefully I will start third year in September and my third year project is a screen reader/magnifier, and I want to try and haveit run on Windows x64. I feel I have my work cut out for me. the fact that I am visually impaired means that as long as I choose to use Windows, I can only ever utilize 3GB of my RAM. Thanks Micro$oft. I don't suppose you'll give me a £20 refund for that 1GB module that will never be used :-(