Bradford Council

Bradford Council
Originally uploaded by Jay Wakefield.

This defines Bradford Council very well!

I've heard some talk on my usual grapevine, www.robmiles.com about a site called Twitter. Apparently it is like blogging, but you leave short, sharp messages at regular intervals. I honestly wonder whether it will take off because people today have such little time anyway. I suppose for fans of Big Brother who like compulsive viewing, this would be great. Rob Miles™ reckons this will take off with Students.

click here to go to my Twitter account

Mediocrity and Nanny-Stateism

It's amazing how much the world is declining into mediocrity and nanny-stateism (some word I made up). Today my friend Lauren and I tried visiting my old school but we couldn't attain a visitor's pass because we have to book in advance. I understand that we shouldn't interrupt teachers while they are teaching but the school have to protect themselves. Security issues and all that. Welcome to the 2000's. Please keep your possessions with you at all times as you are now entering unchartered territory.

Going Back to Bradford for Easter Holiday

Yesterday, I went back to Chez Wakefield (My Parents' Place) in Shipley by train. Compared to when I had taken the X62 bus back to Shipley for the night in November, which took me four hours, and which was stressful from getting off at Leeds to getting back to Saltaire Train Station, the train journey was a breeze, even relaxing, and I was in Leeds in no time. I took a taxi from Chez Student to Hull Station where I successfully missed a train. To kill time, I decided to get mildly frustrated and mutter something about not being able to drive, but I soon got tired of this so I decided to drag my bags into Hull Station's B&B's Coffee Cafe and grab a cappuccino, and by the time I had finished, they were letting us on the Manchester Piccadilly train, where I picked a seat near a table, and decided to break out my laptop to use MSN for a bit through my T-Mobile phone, just because I could. I wanted to know what it felt like to access the Internet on a moving train. I would also like one day to not be a complete retard, and to maybe purchase a working brain, instead of this one I have which obviously came fresh from Maplin Electronics and was made by AMD. Anyhoo, after a while I decided on breaking out my Simpsons Season 3 DVD Box Set and watching some. I only had time to watch a couple before I was getting near Leeds station, and had to pack my laptop away. Once in Leeds I had to catch a connecting train to Saltaire and because I kept going the wrong way at Leeds, by the time I had purchased my ticket the train was waiting on the platform. I jumped on and in no time I was at Saltaire where Dad picked me up.

It feels sooooooooo good to be back at Chez Wakefield. I decided to set about setting up wireless Internet access with the new router I bought from eBuyer. It's by a firm called ZyXEL, whom I had never heard of but the router had gotten, lots of good reviews I decided to go ahead and make the purchase, and I hope I'm glad I did. Setting up the router was easy enough by hard-wiring my laptop to it using the provided Ethernet cable. I did have to nick the RJ11 cable from the ADSL modem we had been given as the provided one wasn't long enough. I had a couple of minor hitches with enabling the security because I didn't realise that networks like ours needed WPA-FSK rather than just standard WPA. I also thought that I had locked myself out of the router's settings page but I just switched it off and back on again and was back in business. We now have a secure wireless network running. It is really nice being able to have access to a fast Internet connection in my bedroom

I will try and upload some pictures to this blog now that I can do it without too much hassle.

Refund for Office 2007

I got my refund for the dodgy copy of Microsoft Office 2007 I ended up buying from eBay today. The seller was very cooperative. I am happy and can now put the money towards attempting to get an OEM upgrade for my Microsoft Office 2003. I will probably try and get it with my new Evsham box if/when I receive it. If not, I'll use my laptop as an OEM container.

International Students’ Association (ISA Hull)

No, this is not some sort of international high interest bank account. I was at the I.S.A Hull party tonight talking to someone on the committee and I've been told that I ought to sign up to be on the committee. Unlike a lot of the societies, ISA has not had their elections. I have been told that if I sign up, I should receive the support of the ISA committee, so I think I will.

The ISA have given me a lot of good nights because I find that international students are a lot more friendly than local/national ones because they are in a completely different country and have left all their friends behind. Because the ISA have given me so much, I feel it's time to give them something back.

If you don’t like me, don’t bother about me

I'm amazed at the number of mental retards who concentrate so hard on not liking me. If you don't like me, that's fine. Just don't keep going on about it. I know I'm not the world's most likeable person, but nobody is perfect. Let's stop hating people just because they're different, and get along. Most people who are "not normal" can turn out to be the best friends that you could have. The sorts of people who put effort into making life a misery for people who are not 'normal' generally become so wrapped up in that that they lose control of their own life, and before they know it, they are the ones who nobody likes.

Fire will teach you to learn!

On Wednesday I ordered what I thought was a bargain on eBay. Some idiot had apparently paid £100 for about 40-50 fire-damaged copies of Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise, and he had apparently tested them all and was selling the working ones (just the DVDs with the serial numbers on them) for £40 each. Something in the back of my mind was nagging when I read this listing but the seller reassured me that his feedback was 100% positive, and lo and behold, it was. He also reassured me that if there was anything wrong with the product, he would refund me the money. I decided to take a chance as £40 for, what I thought to be a genuine copy of the latest version of Microsoft Office didn't seem bad, as I'm only using a trial at the moment. With this in mind, I decided to order a copy, and received an e-mail that he had posted it that evening. On Thursday, I received an e-mail from eBay saying that the listing had been removed, but that they weren't allowed to tell me why. I DEFINITELY smelled a rat, as genuine software generally does not breech eBay's selling terms and conditions, just so long as you uninstall all the copies from any equipment you own before you sell it. Anyhoo, it arrived this morning, and you can imagine my horror when a bootlegged copy fell out of the padded envelope. I was straight on the Internet e-mailing the seller, who had previously assured me that it was a genuine Microsoft copy that he was selling me. I asked him politely if I could send the software back and even offered to pay the return postage because it's only about 75p tops to send a CD through the mail in a padded envelope. I also sent a few pointers (that I should have really followed) to check whether the software is genuine without actually having to load it on your computer. He still hasn't e-mailed me back.

Here are the tips that you should follow to be able to tell whether a Windows or Office CD is genuine.

1. It really should be in a case with a genuine Certificate of Authenticity (COA). The COA should be partly shiny and there should at least be a line should partly change colour as you hold it up to the light in a different way..
   
2. The CD should be holographic with the word 'Genuine' appearing as you hold it up to the light in a certain way.
   
3. The serial number will almost never be on the disk. It will always be printed on the Certificate of Authenticity.
   

If you suspect that the copy of Windows installed on your PC isn't genuine, visit the Windows Genuine Advantage site to run a check on your PC. If it isn't genuine, then you will be given the option of buying a low-cost upgrade to a genuine version of Windows. Here you can also check whether your copy of Microsoft Office is genuine, if you have Office installed on your PC.

If any of my former AVCE ICT teachers are reading this then yes, I am now running genuine software as it is part of the Computer Science faculty's policy that they will like to nag at the wrongs of counterfeit software, plus it doesn't pay to have counterfeit software anymore as Microsoft just turns it into a piece of Nag ware.

My birthday, essays, Windows Vista and Office 2007

First of all I would like to apologize to my reader(s). I haven't posted up here for a while because I've been busy with my birthday, getting drunk, and a coursework essay. It is currently half past two in the morning, and I'm sat here making this post.

First of all, I'd like to thanks everyone for coming to my birthday party on Saturday, March 3^rd. It was a fantastically fantastic success, with everyone going home either drunk or happy (or both), and to those of us who live here at "Chez Student " (my place) we just fell into bed just a tad bit tipsy. As it was my birthday celebrations however it didn't stop there. On Friday, March 9^th my old school friend Kathryn came up to see her boyfriend and we went out to a very nice place on Friday night for a meal. I don't have a clue what it's called but it's about 2-5 minutes' walk from The Lawns halls of residence and it was really nice.

On Saturday it was into town and Yates' bar to have a few bevies before a quick stumble round town (in my case anyway. I have never been able to hold drink very well).then it was back to my place. I had planned to cook dinner but I was extremely tired from the night before so I almost fell asleep while Kathryn sat with my computer trying to figure out whether we had got onto the birthday guest list from Asylum or not. We eventually fled into the kitchen where she attempted to dye my hair with a temporary blue hair dye I bought from Sally's in Princes Quay. When it says Wash-in Wash-out, I didn't actually realise it would do one or the other. In my case it washed out, so Kathryn, who was doing her hair with permanent red dye asked if I wanted to do mine, so I decided what the hey. She did my hair red, and I proceeded then to hit the shower (I really don't know why as the shower hadn't done anything wrong). Anyhoo, I washed my hair with shampoo, and hay presto, the red stayed in, so I got changed to go out to Asylum and Kathryn proceeded to wrestle my hair into a Mohican hairdo. It actually looked good, and when Kathryn and her boyfriend were ready, we went out to Asylum with two of my housemates. It was a very good night with Jimmy from 911 coming on stage and trying to sing (he wasn't actually bad considering 911 WERE from the '90s). We did actually make the Asylum guest list, which meant that Kathryn and I gained a queue jump and free entry to Asylum, and a free bottle of Champagne from the DJ. All in all, Saturday was a very good night. Sunday was also good as I was able to make a good start with my Précis report. I then started making Sweet and Sour chicken as Kathryn and her boyfriend were coming round to Chez Student before Kathryn went back home. After the meal we decided to go back to Yates to give the quiz machine it's second caning in two days.

My birthday turned out well. We all ordered takeaway to be delivered. Two of us ordered Indian and two ordered Chinese. Once my birthday celebrations were over with, it was time to settle down to my essay. AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! Why did the rubric have to have so much ambiguity!? (And how exactly do you insert an interurban in Word 2007 under Windows Vista!?). It is so difficult, especially for those of us with Asperger Syndrome (Word doesn't recognize the word Asperger natively, who made the dictionary on this thing?).

Tonight I decided to give Windows Vista another go on my current PC. I decided to do some troubleshooting as to what was causing the errors when I instructed Vista to restart the computer. I installed programs one at a time, and restarted the PC twice after each, and I traced the error back to the modem. A quick Google search revealed a blog that someone had made (I forget which it is but I will try and find it and post a link on my blog). They, like me had an Intel 536EP modem, and they said that theirs would cause the system to abort. I'm not exactly sure what that means, but what he went on to say is that he updated his driver through Windows Update. Intel doesn't have the driver on their web-site but I clicked the Start button, and right clicked on Computer, and selected Properties. From there, I went to the device manager and clicked on the + sign next to Modems and selected my modem from the list. I right-clicked it and selected Properties. I clicked on the drivers tab, then on Update Driver. I instructed Windows to search online for the driver. I use the modem to connect to the Internet so it took about ten minutes for Windows to download and install the driver, but when it was done, I clicked on OK on the Modem properties dialogue box, and then exited Device Manager and the 'basic information about your computer' dialogue box. The problem, I believe is now solved.

I have started using Microsoft Office 2007 and so far I think it's great. The new Ribbon makes it, in my opinion anyway, easy to find things that you would otherwise have to trawl through about six feet of menu to find. For people like me who are visually impaired, we don't want to have to look through lots of menus to find things, as looking closely at writing can strain our eyes. I also like the fact that I can write and post bog entries directly from Microsoft Word. So far I'm thinking Nice Work, guys. I love it!!!

Very Abused PC

Very Abused PC
Originally uploaded by Jay Wakefield.

This was a little project of mine - to see how much I could abuse a Windows installation by installing multiple versions of Windows on top of each other. Don't worry - I didn't do this on my actual PC. I used Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 Beta 32-bit and Virtual PC 2004 to do this. I started out with a virtual PC with a very humble spec running Windows for WorkGroups 3.11. This PC had 8MB of RAM and a 4GB hard disk with a 2GB FAT16 partition. I upgraded the RAM to 32MB and tried installing Windows 95 OSR2. Unfortunately VPC 2007 wouldn't let me upgrade to Windows 95 OSR2 so I had to clean install it - shame really but I eventually decided to chuck VPC2007 Beta in favour of Virtual PC 2004 SP1. Once I did this, Windows 95 installed without any problems. I then proceeded to install Microsoft Office Standard 4.2 on it. (Yes, that's right - the 16-bit version that came on 25 floppy disks. I had previously burned them onto a CD image beforehand.) Once installed, I then installed Microsoft Office Professional for Windows 95 over it, after which I installed Windows 98 SE over Windows 95B. It was a full version so I had to drop down to DOS, delete WIN.COM and WINVER.EXE, install some Real-mode CD-ROM drivers and install Windows 98 from there. Once started, I had to reinstall a few drivers as I had changed the PC's architecture from VPC 2007 to VPC 2004. While I was at it, I installed the Virtual PC Additions so that I could move my cursor between the host and guest operating systems. Once I had done enough messing about trying and failing to get the Internet to work (yes I had set the network card to use NAT Shared Networking and yes I had configured the browser to use the Hull University Proxy server) I proceeded to install Microsoft Office 97 over the top of Office 95, and immediately afterwards, I installed Microsoft Office 2000 Professional with FrontPage over Microsoft Office 97 professional. I also installed Microsoft PhotoDraw 1.0. I then upgraded the PC to Windows ME. On the second reboot during Setup, I powered the PC down and upgraded the RAM to 128MB. Once Windows ME was installed, I just messed about with Microsoft Word for a bit, then I proceeded to install Microsoft Windows XP Professional RTM. This took a very long time, and when it was finally installed, because Windows 95 likes to install the Novell NetWare network client by default, as well as the Microsoft Networking client, Windows XP wouldn't use the Welcome Screen-based login, in fact on the first bootup, it asked me to specify the NwtWare server that it should use. I went into the Networking options and uninstalled the Novell NetWare client. I then had to uninstall and reinstall Microsoft Virtual PC Additions so that they would work with Windows XP. I found that when I double-clicked on Internet Explorer, it worked straight away.

So why have I done all this?

In the name of Science!
Computer Science that is

Or the fact that I was just trying to detract my attention from working - oh and the fact that I love experimenting with these things.

I wonder if I should up the RAM to 512MB and install Windows Vista ..........

Didn't Like the Vista

Today I've decided to dump my XP Pro/Vista Dual-boot setup and go back to Windows XP Media Center Edition. I found Windows Vista stressful to use as it is extremely slow on my PC and I experienced difficulties doing simple tasks such as playing DVDs, creating playlists in Windows Media Player, using Visual Studio 2005 (yes I did install all the necessary updates for Visual Studio for Windows Vista), and even using Microsoft Office Word 2003 and Access 2007. I just couldn't handle all the hang-ups of Windows Vista.

Windows Vista does, however have some good features. In Windows Vista Business, they have enhanced the networking options so it is now easy to connect to lots of different types of network. I also like the more advanced file-sharing options available in Vista,, which I found useful for sharing files over our student house wireless network.

The Access Center is also very good offering a lot more options than in previous versions of Windows. Whereas the Accessability Wizard, which shipped with Windows 98, 2000, Me and XP used to ask "Do you want to enable StickyKeys" and "Do you wish to enable SoundsEntry" for example, the Access Center asks you questions about yourself and how you do certain things on the computer and sets Windows Vista up so it is easy for you to use.

Once Windows Vista has been out for a few months, and more hardware manufacturers are supporting it, and computers are made that exceed the system requirements by quite a way, then Windows Vista will be a good buy. For now, however, just stick with Windows XP, unless you actually need to buy a new PC.

If you need Windows Vista for work, or you are actually buying a new PC, then look for one with a dual-core processor that runs at 2.0GHz at least, with 2GB of RAM and a 256MB PCI-Express Graphics card. Opt for Windows Vista Premium as Windows Vista Basic, in my opinion doesn't have any good features worth upgrading to.

I tried the PS3 today

One of the staff in Computer Science bought a PS3 today and Rob gave me the first go. The big TV in the open area didn't actually have a HDMI port, which the PS3 uses for High Definition picture, so we were reduced to using the composite (Red, White and Yellow plugs). We switched it on and I went on Ridge Racer 7. Despite the numerous designes for the controller, they opted to keep it the same as the PS2 controller. The controller is extremely light, and I only have one qualm with it. The L2 and R2 buttons stick out too much and they don't feel right when you press them. Ridge Racer 7's graphics are okay but the PS3 was crying out to be connected to an HDMI-ready TV, which most of us cannot afford. Unfortunately, Ridge Racer 7's graphics are not that great. It looks a lot like the graphics on the PS2. I was playing Driver 3 on my PC under XP and the graphics were much better than Ridge Racer 7. The sky looks great, with realistic clouds, which is funny because this game and my graphics card are two years old. Computer Science are going to try the PS3 on a HDMI-ready TV, hopefully with a better game tomorrow.

World Record last night

I am taking part in the Microsoft Imagine Cup in the Software Design challenge, and I had to install Visual studio 2005 on Windows Vista. I started the install at about 7:55PM last night. The initial install finally finished at 10PM, and I started to install Service Pack 1, whcih took me to about 2AM in the morning, after which I installed the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Hotfix Beta, which should probably have only took me an hour but it was about 5:30AM this morning by the time it finished as I left the PC unattended.

I was able to start my report on my laptop as I set up an Adhoc wireless network so I could access files and the Internet from my desktop PC ...... oh wait, maybe THAT's why it took so long. If my desktop PC's got to think about being an access point for the Internet, access Simpsons episodes from my hard drive and install Visual Studio 2005 SP1 at the same time, that COULD be an inclination as to why it took so long. Hmm.........

Spanish Printer Driver

Spanish Printer Driver
Originally uploaded by Jay Wakefield.

Can anybody tell me why Windows Vista decided to install the Spanish driver for my printer?

This week I've finally taken the plunge and installed Vista on my desktop PC as the primary OS. Firstly however I bought an nVidia Geforce FX 5200 graphics card from the computer shop down Newland Avenue, near to the University. Once this was installed, I installed the drives for it under XP to check it was all okay. Once I was sure it was working, (and three lectures, and one episode of The Simpsons later) I set about butchering my pride and joy with the Windows Vista installation disk. I formatted the C drive (forgetting to transferr my ZoomText 9.0 license from my desktop PC, WHOOPS!). Afterwards, told Vista to go ahead and install itself to drive C.

A few short minutes later, it had almost installed; all I had to do was to set myself a user account up, after which it started displaying the usual bragging advertisements that are no stranger to Microsoft Windows Setup routines. After Windows had finished setting up, I was asked to log in, and when I did so, I was greeted by the new Windows desktop, complete with Aero Glass which looks really nice. That made a nice change from the Basic theme that I used to have thrown at me when I had used Vista with my ATI Radeon 9250 Graphics card.

I have had to do some work though to get Vista to work. I went to the 24 hour centre next to Larkin Building to download a fix for PowerDVD 6 so that I could watch Lee Evans at midnight. I have also had to replace my TV tuner to one that will work on Vista because my once faithful Pinnacle PCTV Stereo PCI card will not play with Vista. tt installs and tunes, and I get Sound, but no picture.

I went yesterday to buy a KWorld DVB-T 310-U USB2 Analogue/Digital TV tuner from Maplin Electronics in Hull Yesterday. I had bought one during the exams in January and had to take it back to maplins as it was faulty. The replacement I recieved worked at first but then developed the same fault as the first device had had, so I took it back and recieved a refund. Anyhoo I decided to be stupid and buy another one. I brought it home, and you'll never guess. Same Fault

"EMP Audio Device Cannot Start"

I took it back today and got a refund. I was going to go to PC World but didn't fancy paying for a taxi to Cluff Road (I don't really know the buses round here) so I decided to lookin Currys, as it was on the way to another shop I had to visit. There, I made the purchase of a Hauppauge WinTV PVR 900 USB Analog/Digital tuner. When I came home I unpacked it, plugged in and installed the software, and it worked straight away with Vista. I also installed it to my laptop, and I can now get Freeview but I haven't found Teachers' TV yet.


So far, I'm actually satisfied with Vista, especially as ZoomText 9.1 is in it's Beta stages.

Jay on TV, and why not?

On Friday, two women came from the BBC to interview me about how being in Foster Care has affected my education. They are doing a documentary for Teachers' TV, which you can get through Sky and Freeview (The free Digital Terrestrial TV Service in the UK). They interviewed me because I made it to university even though I am in care and have a visual impairment and Aspergers' Syndrome (See earlier post somewhere down the page). Anyhoo*, these women brought their cameras in case I wanted to be filmed that day, so I complied, and they interviewed me about being in care and my education. They then had me walk to Ferens building as if I were going to a lecture, and they filmed me doing that. I had to cross the road about three times while the camera angles were perfected, and I was aware that it was trying to rain. Afterwards, the camera woman had to go, and the woman who interviewed me stayed for a coffee and biscuits (My hosting duties were clear) and she washed up everyones pots (I didn't ask her to, she just did it) and dropped me off at Withernsea where I went to see my parents. It was a good morning. The program will be aired sometime in September. I will keep you posted, and will drop a link on this blog where you can see it online.

* (c) 2007 many people including Rob Miles™

Trip to Oxford

On Saturday, I went to Oxford with the International Students Association (ISA). I am not an international student myself but I am a member of their society.

We had to be up extremely early to be outside the Venn building at 6.30 on Saturday Morning for two coaches to take us to there. It was freezing cold but it was a very clear morning. The journey there was five hours with a service stop at about 9:45. We arrived at Oxford at about dinnertime. I set out with three French girls I had met the day before. We headed for Broad Street, with a little help from a Map that we were issued with, and my new Garmin Nuvi 300 Satellite Navigation System. It took us to Broad Street without any problems but after that the battery conked out. Great! I knew I should have charged it. Once on Broad Street we headed straight for the Tourist Information Centre, after which we headed for Trinity College, which makes up part of Oxford University. Walking around the gardens was magnificent. I thought that on one hand, I'd love to study there but on the other, I like the fun you can have and the relaxed atmosphere at Hull University. We then went to the Oxford University Museum where they had a hall full of dinosaur bones and fossils. The Hall's roof was magnificent, it was arched high above the hall and made of little glass squares. I was the stupid idiot who photographed it. After the museum we went for a look round Oxford's High Street. I was surprised to find that It was actually called High Street. We stopped off for coffee and went to the river. I didn't know that Oxford was set on the River Thames but we saw it. It was dusk at this point, and the girls agreed that it was romantic, and it was. Picture the scene, the sun setting on a very calm river bank with a barge bobbing up and down,a nd the air being calm. It was then time to go back to meet the bus for the long journey home. A good time was had by all who went. Thanks to ISA Hull

The River Thames in Oxford

03022007249
Originally uploaded by Jay Wakefield.

Semester 2 starts today

Semester 2 started today. How good is Monday. I start at 9.15 with an 08120 lecture with Rob Miles, have an hour's rest, then another 08120 (Programming 2) lecture. I then have an hour's free time before I go to a Programming 2 tutorial followed by an 08119 (Information Technology and Professional Skills) lecture. I then have an hour before I have my final 08125 (Quantitative Methods or Maths) lecture at 4:15. I literally am working 9 to 5, or 9:15 to 5:15. Phew. I then go home and watch the simpsons, and tonight. I will go into the kitchen to plan a coursework essay, olga! :-P

Take a look at this article from Magnifiers.org

It talks about the accessibility, or lack of it, natively in Windows Vista. I am, in actual fact, running Windows Vista Business to write this blog. Unfortunately, my brand new shiny copy of ZoomText 9.0 will not work under Vista. Instead, I have to wait for ZoomText 9.1 to come out. I agree with this article in that why doesn't Vista come with a full-screen magnifier proper screen reader with lots of different languages and clear voices, and, oh yes, the ability to work in Microsoft Word, unlike Microsoft Narrator.

It seems to me that Microsoft have paid more attention to anti-piracy measures than they have to making Windows Vista accessible. I'm going to stop now and take a cocktail of headache tablets because my eyes are straining on this. Thanks, Bill, you really did well there. Now does anyone have a Mac that they would sell cheap because Vista just locks me out :(