Hi Guys

this is just a test message as I found a
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you know how things get on - and the name of this program - whatever
happens

Windows XP Service Pack 2

Hi all, hope everyone is well?.

The UK weather (for the last five minutes at least -   ) is FAIRLY nice, and I'm reasonably pleased and relaxed as I have several days off due to the bank holiday.

As many of you will know - Microsoft have issued their second service pack for Windows XP.

 Now, as there are people (a lot smarter than I) out there , with a better perspective on the actual implications of the patches, alterations and the like, I'll leave the "technical" arguments to them. But I thought that I would share with you the experience of what Service Pack 2 means to an ordinary joe like me.

Firstly the download time,even with a 1MB DSL link, was still substantial (and the thought of even trying it with a Dial-up 56K modem gives me the shivers-    ). Once uploaded the install time was equally restrictive. The whole thing from start to finish involved several HOURS of my time. However, one other thing to bare in mind is, that although the whole thing is supposed to be delivered by the Auto Windows Update system (if you have XP setup to do that sort of thing) - but, on the basis of "if I get it I control the way things happen" ( I wish - ) - I actually went after the update. The logic behind that decision (if logic is the correct term) was that what has to done, has been done.

Now I think I must be cracked.

If all that wasn't bad enough, but I have only just realized the major cost - to me at least.

I checked, as is my want, how much disc space I have left on my C: drive. My "paranoid" over the disc space is that the machine I'm on at the moment (soon to be replaced) is our main access to the internet (although our original "Old" computer is in our lads bedroom - however, as things have progressed, it now has the storage space and processing power of a small washing machine), that said, it is our main computer for everything.

The thing is, that our present computer is now coming upto four years old, so the spec involved is "minimal" compared to what you can get now. We have upgraded and updated various things, but a bigger hard disc - well we never got round to that. Hence the "concern" about how much disc space.

Anyway , back to the service pack. Before I started (and, to be fair the last time I looked) I had, give or take, about 2.5 - 2.8 GB of disc space.

     Have a guess how much I have now??????? -   

The system is telling me 1.9GB. The service pack, apparently, has cost me 500MB in disc space - give or take.

So, if you are thinking of applying Service Pack Two to your machine (not that you will have much choice in reality -  ), just bare in mind what you get for your "money". On the face of it you get several "new" wizards, including a wireless setup wizard which may prove at least useful to me in the near further. You get an "enhanced" Windows Firewall (which, until I hear any different I still will not use as I already have, and like ZoneAlarm Pro) , you can now pick whether to look at, or more accurately, list the Windows and Office Updates that you have downloaded in the Add/Remove Programs view. And you also get a "Security Central" Link that develops a page telling you you have a Firewall, Virus Guard and Windows Update set up ( which I already knew?).

The whole process is not a five minute job and you may have to give up some disc space that you wanted (or needed???) for something else.

God I hate British weather.

The British Summer weather is unpredictable at the best of times, but this year has been an absolute nightmare.

 Continuous Rain - Cold, heavy and persistent. What has happened to those few warm days at the beginning of summer???

It is really, really,really depressing.

More so for myself and my colleagues (we work for a well known UK Telecoms company if you didn't already know). As a major part of our network is obviously "external" of our customers premisses, we spend most of our working day (in most instances) in the open air.And as we work most of our days outside Summer usually acts as a "banker", health and well being wise, ready for the biting cold, wind and rains of the following Winter months.

    But not this year!   

To top that all off, everyone if rushed off their feet as the "freak" weather conditions has forced our repair jobs out into the atmosphere. Normally, at this time of year, we start to get a little way in front of the work stacks. maintenance work, New Provisions and the like, things always seem to become calm and controlled. But not this year. The weather has blown all that out of the window. Our beloved leaders are, from what I can see, are at theirs wits end. They are asking everyone to work extra shifts. "Borrowing" staff from other departments. They are doing everything they can think of, and the jobs keep on coming.

The thing is, as I sit here typing this message in, you just wouldn't believe the weather we have had this last week(& month !!) .

  The Sun is out, the flowers in the front garden rocking slowly, peacefully in a slight breeze. Beautiful. 

I know The British are known for their pre-occupation with the weather, but after the frightening pictures from Boscastle and The Scottish Highlands, you seriously have to wonder if there is really something in this "Global Warming" thing.

Most Haunted goes American......

Sorry about that, but I couldn't resist

As a lot of you already know, I'm quite partial to "TV" Ghost Shows, and the Living TV show - Most Haunted.

Well, when the last series finished I thought I was going to be bored with having to watch "ordinary" TV. The Simpsons.The Vault. You know what I mean.

But I was wrong. A new series appeared.

Dead Famous

The basis of the show is that the two main presenters, along with local "Experts" would try and trace the spirits of the Hollywood (and American per-ce) Famous, and infamous. They trailed after the ghosts of James Dean, Jim Morrison,and Marilyn Monroe to name just three.


Before I go one I should give some further background on the show. On the website the show describes its self as:

"She is a self-confessed sceptic, he is a “sensitive” able to detect paranormal events beyond the range of the five senses. Together their mission is to investigate the “Dead Famous”!
Join us on this compelling and groundbreaking ride across the US as Gail Porter and Chris Fleming try to track down some of America’s most famous spirits.
Hot on the trail of Al Capone and the Mob, Marilyn Monroe, Jim Morrison of the Doors, Lucille Ball, James Dean and Frank Sinatra, what will Gail and Chris uncover? And will Gail lose her scepticism during some of the show’s most intriguing paranormal experiences?"

Chris Fleming:
Chris is the "Psychic" side of the team. A local American sensitive, he has spent a far part of the series being taken over and attacked by some spirit or other that seemed to object to him being there. The bio from his site reads:

"From an early age, Chris Fleming was prone to extraordinary encounters, seeing ghosts, demons, and angels, occasionally with witnesses. He eventually learned to accept and integrate these experiences and utilize his unique insights.
After years of hearing others talk about their extraordinary experiences, Chris chose to document these in his publication, UNKNOWN Magazine: real experiences of unusual phenomena, which debuted in the Spring of 1997. Since the release of the first issue, Chris has met countless ordinary people with similar experiences from around the globe. He has been featured on numerous radio and TV talk shows all around the world as well as given lectures on his own personal experiences and those featured in UNKNOWN Magazine
In his spare time Chris joins forces with various ghost hunters investigating haunted places. Whenever able, he lends his ear and gives peace of mind to those whom have had their own traumatic paranormal experiences.
Chris plans to bring forward real people from all over the world to share their first hand encounters with the Unknown as well as share his own experiences. Each show will give strength and empowerment to those who fear going public. His goal is simple; to convince the world that the truth is not only out there, but also within ourselves."

Gail Porter:
Gail, a celebrity in Britain, a presenter and athletic Scots lady, is the programs sceptic. Not out and out hostile to the idea of Ghosts and Spirits, but not totally convinced either. Gail, married to Dan Hipgrave of Toploader, has a little one of her own, has been seen presenting anything from Children's Programs all the way through to MTV. Many will remember, in her "younger days" her naked image being projected onto the Houses of Parliament.

"Good Programs":
The last two programs of the series where, in my opinion , the best of the series. Both places were, as I have already mentioned re-visits. Places where the team had had some major paranormal events.

Thunderbird Lodge:
This, in the light of day at least, is in the most idyllic of places. On the waters edge of Lake Tahoe, the house was built by an eccentric Millionaire, with a Card House (visited by the rich and famous of the day - with the program visit being due to the time spent there by Frank Sinatra) linked to the main building by a "secret tunnel". A Boat house. The house built on An Native Americian Indian reserve. Everything added upto something special.
On the first visit "Voices" where picked up on tape recorders. Chris Fleming was "physically" pushed.
The return was even more "active". Additional invest were "attacked". The spirit of a man, attacked by a bear in the grounds, still in "shock" looking down at the damage done to his own body. In the boat house - the spirits in there were particularly nasty. EVP's (Electronic Voice Phenomena) recorded threats to various members of the team. A lady psychic was particularly badly effected by the death ("murder") of a women in the boathouse. She was even "chased" as Gail escorted the psychic to safety in an other part of the house.

Alcatraz:- "The Rock"

Most people have heard of Alcatraz. One of the Main Penal facilities for America's Most Wanted in early part of the 20th Century. Many Famous names have been linked with this place. Robert Stroud - "The Birdman of Alcatraz", and, of course Al Capone. In the popular imagination, the name of Alcatraz brings forward images grim and disturbing. Harsh and oppressive. The buildings now look, in anything, even more oppressive and grim. One the teams first visit, "Voices" where heard again on digital tape . On the return visit, with a larger team of investigators, there was a psychic "stand off in cell D-12 (even with a "voice" recorded as saying "We got you out" after Chris got a "spiritual shove"). There were feeling of being watched. Whilst Chris and another member of the team were investigating the hospital cell that was home to Robert Stroud (as a sensitive Chris had "picked" up on the feeling that Stroud would treat the people who came to interview him with no little distain. He would look face down, or just move his head from side to side. And if he did talk. It would be short, intelligent, well thought out words. The more eery impression was that of the owner of the cell "sneering", evil genius style , at his visitors) there was, audibly, the sound of someone screaming. The two lads (and associated camera teams) ran to the girls assistance (they, at the time where themselves in the D block cells which Chris would later have his face off) - but they were OK. And they hadn't heard anything.

I , as I have said in previous postings, accept that this is TV entertainment, as such. But, as was said in "defence" of Most Haunted, the program would gain nothing from "making false claims". In the end, I liked the program.

   And I'm now in two minds whether a holiday trip to Alcatraz would be a very good idea.