keba

He would have done better to rob the liquor store first, then get drunk...

Before you read "Collapse" get a hold of "Guns, Germs and Steel"... I think he meant for them to be read as a series. A lot of the concepts from the first book are relevant to the second. Back on topic... and at risk of being mown down in a hail of bile and vitriol... what about nuclear as a means of mass production of electricity, with electric cars. Would that put the brakes on CO2 emissions?

I too, recall a 1993 d'Yquem (375ml) I bought at Berry Bros and Rudd at Heathrow in 2001, with the last Pounds I had in my wallet before heading home. Could have been money better spent...

Vista is said to be shipping (to Oz, at least) in February. I doubt whether all the potential software conflicts will have been resolved before it's released into the wild. I would hang onto XP and IE6 as long as possible, and hope that some of the bugs get ironed out with patches over the next year or so... Vista SP2, maybe? Will Firefox even run on Vista?

d'Yquem!?! A 'nice' desert wine? SerreChe, I think we're buying in different bottle shops to you

Unfortunately, backgrading (not downgrading, by the sounds of it) to IE6 is not likely to be an option once Vista hits the stores...

S-video or component inputs should both work... If you can't get it working, can you get a refund? Sounds like it's useless to you if you can't record pay TV...

Is there no picture at all, or a garbled picture? Are you getting sound? Is the HDD set to the correct input source? PAL vs. NTSC vs. Auto? Digital vs. analogue? An English manual... can you get your Japanese one translated by someone?

Bummer, dude. I suppose that's their way of making sure no-one can record copyrighted content. Can you post a photo of the back of your TV? Maybe we will see a possibilty that you might have missed... no offence, but sometimes you just need a fresh pair of eyes to look at a problem.

You shouldn't use any of the "Outputs" from the TV. Pretend it's just a monitor i.e. end of the chain, input only. Plug your Sky set top box (assuming it is a set-top box) output to one of the inputs on the HDD/DVD, then output from that to your TV. That way, your HDD/DVD intercepts the signal on its way from your set top box to the monitor. That way you should be able to record Sky programming. That make any sense? It's how I've got my system set up at home, and it works.

Creek Boy, Canadian Icewine is one of the finest desert wine experiences one can have. the ones I'm thinking of don't come in coloured bottles, nor do they need to be aged to be enjoyed (although they are ageless wines, which become immensly richer with time). I do appreciate they are not to everyone's taste, though. I pardon you

Oops, OK I see now... So you can ski regular downhill in them? Awesome. I'll be renting, can't take a baby and our skis too. And besides, my Elan 666's got left in the drying room most of the time I was last in Japan, in favour of a pair of rented Seth Pistols, so best leave them at home this time anyway.

I thought you were a freeheeler for some reason, Toque. They tele bindings?

If they have any Canadian sparkling icewine, definitely give that a try (but it will be a bit more than 1500Y).

The general sentiment of the statement by the Sheik has been expressed before by others (i.e. non-Moslems) before and hardly an eyebrow gets raised. In fact, Cardinal Pell gave somewhat limited support to the Sheik's comments shortly after the kerfuffle erupted. I agree that the response by the mainstream media has probably been based more on his status in the Islamic world, than the substance of his comments, and ultimately this type of protest only serves to antagonise, rather than bring about understanding and tolerance. On the subject of the comments themselves, women should have th

The only advantage is tabbed browsing, as far as I can tell. And if it was that important to you, you would have changes to Firefox years ago. Having said that, IE7 seems to be OK on my PC's so far. I do hate how the address bar is over the menu bar, and can't seem to be shifted from there. Having "File Edit View etc." at the top of the screen seems much more natural...

Quote: but the main problem this time was with how deep the snow was We should all be lucky enough to have that problem...

Eigo, kudasai... Something about Samurais?

Don't worry, O11, I got it The others dont seem to have as finely honed a sense of homour...

Forget about blue sky days in Niseko... otherwise it's the best place for you.

Never had any trouble with my hiking boots in the snow, but they did cost more than $70. For 6 days, though, I could probably put up with a pair of Dunlop Volleys...

We all hate you, but for all the right reasons...

The one you linked to doesn't appear to have DVI output, may need to settle for component (little difference in quality).

I agree with Markie and Mr Wiggles. 3 months is a long time at one resort uless you have a very good reason to stay put, and with the transport system in Japan, there is no good reason not to spread out your trip, maybe even 3 or 4 resort areas... And after a few weeks at Niseko, you'll be over it.

I know this is a no-brainer, but just in case, make sure you use the component outputs and optical digital audio, if your TV allows it, S-Video if not, but never use the composite out if you can avoid it.