keba

Problem I see with Blu-Ray is, that the quantum leap in picture/sound quality moving from VHS to DVD was a lot more than one can expect now from an upgrade to Blu-Ray, and to get the best picture means not just upgrading the player, but also getting a 1080p television as well. Also, the increase in downloadable content will probably have the same effect on video as it has on CD sales.

You mean skinny people enjoy food more than I do? Lucky stiffs...

Back then, an "arcade experience" wasn't that hard to achieve, even in BASIC.

Memories... I remember wasting an enormous amount of time trying to program games and other pointless rubbish in BASIC at high school on the Apple IIe's there, then when all the uber-geeks started in PASCAL and FORTRAN, I went and took up a musical instrument.

JA, we can't all hook up with ski instructors, there aren't nearly enough to go around. Some of us still have to pay to get nagged about our technique.

I did, and always recommend them to anyone starting out. The only thing you'll ever teach yourself is bad habits.

Originally Posted By: JA Pffft! young whippersnapper! Yes, I suppose I am. never got into the whole DOS thing, waited until W95 before I took the plunge. The internet was getting up to speed then too, before that, I didn't really need a PC.

My first PC had a 2G HDD (and a Pentium 120 processor running Win95), and I never though I'd fill it. Get the biggest HDD you think you can afford, but don't go crazy, bearing in mind you'll be upgrading to a new PC in 3-4 years' time, and can get a bigger one then if you need to.

New machines are never "clean", they're always loaded up with junk I never use. I prefered a clean OS install, and build up from there. It's not such a powerful machine either, 1.3GHz proc/2G RAM, one of the 11.1" ultraportables, so I reckon XP will be just fine for me, and the apps I run. The only "upgrade" I needed, was from a 40G HDD to a 120G HDD, to free up some space for my iTunes library.

Of course within a few minutes, Windows Update was malfunctioning, and I had to force a reintall of the Update Agent, but that's part of the charm of Windows. If I wanted a perfectly smooth-running OS, I'd get a Mac.

Just took delivery of a new Sony Vaio with Vista preinstalled. I was a bit concerned about making the upgrade from XP, because I'm afraid of anything new. So when I opened the box to find an XP downgrade install disc, it was the first thing I did. Clean install, change the taskbar and folders to "Windows classic" mode.... ahhh, just like Windows 95 again. Like a comfy doona. That's how I feel about Vista.

15 days? Take the slow road. Creek Boy's right on the money.

Hot off the press, the RBA just dropped the cash rate in Oz by 100 basis points, to 6.0%. Man the lifeboats!

Sounds like it's not only the high risk portfolios that have hit the skids. And two years ago, it seemed like a terrific idea.

Ouch! 1AUD = 73yen today. Forget the holiday in January though, I'm just glad I'm 20 years from retiring, and hopefully the world economy will have recovered by then, and my super will not be worth peanuts.

Thanks for all the informative explanations guys, but I'm probably never going to understand the currency market. Just cough up the extra 25% for the cost of the trip. Am glad I've already got flights booked and paid, though.

I can still hope for a rebound in January, fingers are crossed...

I bet it will have an impact on the Aussie hordes, but how much the local Hokkaido economy depends on that is another thing. Doesn't seem to make much sense to me though, our economy is in pretty good shape and our banks are better regulated and capitalised than those in the US and the Euro-zone. Why everyone is bailing out of the AUD is something I'd be happy to have explained to me...

As I was, and I know my parents were to polite too say so...

1000 is my next target... I might start my own thread to celebrate that!

An appropriate forum for my 500th post?

Of course we have a favourite, but if we play our cards right, neither of them will ever know who it is...

5 star is OK, but I sometimes think I'm missing out on some of the Japanese experience if I get to sleep on a western bed, and have my own bathroom. Clean, with hosts that speak basic english is good enough for me.

Consistency is not a word easily applied to Thredbo (or any other resort in Aust/NZ)

Best season since '04, I agree Mama. we were there end of July, and I hardly recognised it. Snow in the village? Wow!