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Questions and Answers - Part 3

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pointless & uncalled for

09:39 / 25.10.06

My origninal thoughts were of a tomb of metonymical contstructs.

09:51 / 25.10.06

I want a new computer, and I like Macs, but are they still really much different from anything else? I am easily swayed by fashion: advise me!

Should I get new or secondhand and are there any handy websites for the hardware illiterate like me?

In fact, could someone else just choose a machine and all the bits and set it up for me? That'd be lovely, thanks.

10:11 / 25.10.06

Ooh, could I second doozy’s question?
My PC’s gone maaad, and needs replacing. Ideally I’d like an iMac having recently been converted to the joys of OS X, and shiny, lovely, Macciness generally. However, I need to run Windows at home for work reasons.

I understand the new Macs can run a dual boot (and/or a parallel boot, I’m not sure what or what the difference is), but I’m not sure exactly how decisive this should be. For one thing, what would I need in addition to an out-of-the-box iMac to run Windows XP, and how much would the additional software set me back?

07:39 / 27.10.06

And here's a random one: does anyone happen to know if the UK and Switzerland currently have a reciprocal agreement to recognise each other's charitable institutions as charities for tax purposes?

Something light for a Friday, I thought.

pointless & uncalled for

08:10 / 27.10.06

Is that where a charity is trying to fundraise or procure/operate extra-nationally?

I'm not an expert on the subject but I can't imagine a situation where this would become an issue. Usually a charity is either large enough to warrant setting up a national division and acting in it's own right for financial purposes or would otherwise form a partnership with a parallel local charity.

ONLY NICE THINGS

08:22 / 27.10.06

I understand the new Macs can run a dual boot (and/or a parallel boot, I’m not sure what or what the difference is), but I’m not sure exactly how decisive this should be. For one thing, what would I need in addition to an out-of-the-box iMac to run Windows XP, and how much would the additional software set me back?

Boot Camp is still a free Beta, I think - that's a Mac utility allowing you to boot into either Windows or Mac OS at startup. A parallel boot requires a programme like Parallels, and allows you to run the two OSes simultaneously, and flip between them without rebooting. Parallels costs about £70.

Otherwise, your major expense would be a copy of Windows XP - strictly speaking, the one you have on your current PC will be on an OEM license, most likely, and I don't think it would be legal to install it on your new Mac.

08:36 / 27.10.06

Thanks Haus.

08:59 / 27.10.06

Ta disingenuous: it's for a legacy from a Swiss resident to a UK charity and the evasion of a hefty Swiss inheritance tax liaibility, so permanent charitable recognition on an operational level doesn't matter! T'internet tells me it should all be fine as long as there is some sort of reciprocal arrangement with Switzerland, but I know not how to uncover such a thing. Bah humbug.

pointless & uncalled for

09:12 / 27.10.06

Right,

That puts it into a bit more perspective. There may be reciprocal agreements but such things can exclude items that avoid taxation that might otherwise be paid in the other country. Another complication to what is already something of a grey area I'm afraid.

Basically you will need to have a definitive answer and be able to quote chapter and verse at any interested tax men. As the chapter and verse can change from year to year you do really need to consult the Inland Revenue.

Unfortunately they have a bit of a reputation. My advice is that when you contact them, be very concise about what it is you are asking for. Make sure that you are clear on the details without using words like avoid, evade and so on. In addition, ask that they formally acknowledge receipt of your request, provide a reference number and give a statement of their service level agreements. Finally, ask that when they provide an explanation, and how it will apply to your situation, they include a reference to the relevant code and source.

Gendudehashadenough

17:58 / 27.10.06

So, I had this friend when I was wee and he was French. I remember how to pronounce (something like Guee-holm, totally butchered I know) his name, but I have a vauge recollection that it was spelled very strangely (as I was young and knew no French). Guillaume LOOKS as if it might be close. Does anyone know how this is pronounced?

18:24 / 27.10.06

Guillaume, my explanation how it´s pronounced in steps =
g as in good
ui as in (b)ee
ll is silent
aume as in (gn)ome
=> gee-ome

18:58 / 27.10.06

Assyd - Pretty much what Mist said, but the 'll' actually gives a 'y' sound - think the 'y' sound in 'million'.

"gee'yohm"

Susan - What Haus said. Boot Camp is down-loadable from Apple's website and runs a quick repartition of your drive (separates the drive into different partitions, which work like separate hard drives in an operating system but are physically the same drive. Windows and OS X use different file-systems, so they need different drives/partitions.) The program also burns a cd which includes the various drivers required to get Windows to run well with the Apple hardware.

As Apple have switched to using Intel processors, Macs are now essentially PCs, but with funky cases and a nice operating system. This means it it easy for windows to interface with the hardware. Though Boot Camp is currently Beta (and will probably remain so - it seems to be a tester for Apple; they have announced that they will include this technology in the new version of OS X) the main issues are just with the drivers inside Windows, rather than any computer-explode-ey problems (stuff like the web cam not working properly etc). These issues are being dealt with in time.

I have had Boot Camp installed for a while and have experienced no problems. The reboot procedure is simple and 'just works' (sorry.). I only really use Windows for gaming and the odd win-only program, but it works fine for those things. It's actually rather unimpressive once you get it set up. It's just a PC. Does what is needed.

As for legality - assuming you have a legal copy of Windows, there is no problem with using Windows on a Mac. Microsoft don't mind what PC you use their OS with, as long as you pay for it and don't mess with it too much.

An OEM version of XP can cost you as little as £60 and that will be all you need to pay for to have XP running on your mac. If you want to run Parallels (have the ability to run XP from within OS X without the reboot - apparently very effective for most use apart from intensive stuff like gaming or video editing) you will have to pay around £40.

harmonic series

19:15 / 27.10.06

I'm in a play and we're supposed to sing the lyrics for the song that begins, "Here comes the bride, all dressed in white." So far so good, but nobody knows the rest of the lyrics. I did try to research this but found no answers. Does this song actually have more lyrics? Does it even exist? Does someone know what the words are? Please help.

19:55 / 27.10.06

Pretty much what Mist said, but the 'll' actually gives a 'y' sound - think the 'y' sound in 'million'.

"gee'yohm"

I agree with this! I had no idea, how to describe that bridge, so I dropped it; hoping gee-ome was close enough.

02:20 / 28.10.06

Thanks for the detail, .trampetunia

ONLY NICE THINGS

08:38 / 28.10.06

Lolo:

Treulich geführt ziehet dahin,
wo euch der Segen der Liebe bewahr'!
Siegreicher Mut, Minnegewinn
eint euch in Treue zum seligsten Paar.
Streiter der Tugend, schreite voran!
Zierde der Jugend, schreite voran!
Rauschen des Festes seid nun entronnen,
Wonne des Herzens sei euch gewonnen!

Duftender Raum, zur Liebe geschmückt,
nehm' euch nun auf, dem Glanze entrückt.
Treulich geführt ziehet nun ein,
wo euch der Segen der Liebe bewahr'!
Siegreicher Mut, Minne so rein
eint euch in Treue zum seligsten Paar.

Theat should get the bride to the front of the church.

harmonic series

17:10 / 28.10.06

Now if I can just get the correct pronunciation and 20 girls to use it, all at the same time, we're set! Thanks.

10:54 / 31.10.06

I want to somehow combine these two pictures;

With the comment "The Gynaecological Revolution came late to Mordor". Any ideas on how?

11:21 / 31.10.06

With Photoshop, for example, but you need a much larger version of the eye pic. Then cut and paste the couple next to the eye, and put the text in bright blue, where there is room left.

From which part of the trilogy is the eye?

12:23 / 31.10.06

Feck knows. The urge has passed now, and I don't have p/shop. Thanks though!

12:32 / 31.10.06

Fire up that urge again, ´cause I´ve finished my photoshop.

Kirin? Who the heck?

10:50 / 01.11.06

I want a new computer, and I like Macs, but are they still really much different from anything else? I am easily swayed by fashion: advise me!

So far as the components inside the box go, the PC and Mac worlds have been converging for a while, and with the switch from PowerPC (IBM/Motorola) processors to x86 (Intel) processors, they now have pretty much all components identical. What really makes the difference nowadays is the quality of the design of the case (most think that they're v. pretty), etc, and the quality of the system software, Mac OS X. Many people would say that OS X is superior to Windows for various reasons, with one of the main areas cited being the quality of the user interface and the experience it provides. Most find it both more attractive and more intuitive. That said, there are differences from the interface provided by Windows, and if you aren't willing to change some of the ways you work, it might be difficult to adapt.

Another issue is that, although Macs are very competitively priced nowadays, they don't include a copy of Microsoft Office/Works, so if you need to work with Word, PowerPoint or Excel you'll need to factor in the cost of that.

Should I get new or secondhand

My advice would be, whatever you can afford. An option in between these two would be to buy it refurbished from the online Apple Store. There're usually savings of up to 35% there (go to the Apple site for you region, get into the store, and somewhere on the store homepage there should be a link for 'buy refurbished' – there's no obvious way to link it, sorry).

I don't know if that was useful – I hope it was some help, anyway.

Disclaimer: I'm an unabashed Mac fan. Go for it!

12:10 / 01.11.06

What should I be looking for in a digital camera? Assuming a price range of about £150.

pointless & uncalled for

12:16 / 01.11.06

What are you trying to acheive and what would you like it to be able to do for you?

12:29 / 01.11.06

Something relatively durable that can take decent shots. As I understand it though you can decide on the quality of the shots yourself (better = more memory space, yes?). I wouldn't mind something that can actually record short video footage, assuming they come with that option.

It'd be used for general tourism-nonsense and things of that ilk.

15:04 / 01.11.06

Evil Scientist - There's a ton of choice in that price range, some of it shocking, some of it shockingly good. In a guess-who style, it's probably best to pick from the following. Does it matter to you if your camera:

Is Small and pocketable or big and chunky
Has a zoom lens
Works well in low-light
Is brand new (recent model second hand cameras can be an absolute bargain, if bought carefully)
Takes a specific type of memory (that you might have already?)
Runs on rechargable or normal batteries
Has manual settings like aperture and shutter speed?

Broadly, for snaps, a Canon Ixus, either new or second hand is a good bet. They're small, well built, and pleasing to use (as all gadgetry should be). There are quite a few models about, so go for as many megapixels as you can without compromising on the other things you want. 3 megapixels is plenty for the web, or for a normal sized photo print. 5 megapixels is probably enough for anyone's snaps, really, though get more if you think it matters.

Mon Oncle Ignatius

17:03 / 01.11.06

Another issue is that, although Macs are very competitively priced nowadays, they don't include a copy of Microsoft Office/Works, so if you need to work with Word, PowerPoint or Excel you'll need to factor in the cost of that.

This also applies to XP, Mac OS X and Linux, but if you need to work with any of those files and don't want to splash out any cash to Microsoft, get yourself a download of OpenOffice and Roberta is your mother's aunt. OOo can handle all of the above files as well as the new OASIS standard documents, and is generally fine for both reading and writing in those MS formats.

ONLY NICE THINGS

17:06 / 01.11.06

OpenOffice is indeed the breasts, but it's worth noting that the Mac version runs in X11, whereas labour-of-love full port NeoOffice runs natively in OSX.

17:17 / 01.11.06

Evil Scientist, there is loads of good advice about digital cameras in the digital cameras threads of which there are many. Specifically, this one where Allecto Regina wants to buy a camera for about £100 might be of help to you. It's also contains links to several excellent articles which explain what to look for in a digital camera.

17:19 / 01.11.06

I've a question on cults of Dionysus. Someone said Dionisiac cults have a lot of phallic symbolism,related to fertility, and it is know that also they were very tolerant in issues of gender, sexuality and that kind of things.
...which made me think of bacchanalia and the maenads killing Orpheus, not too tolerant. Does anyone know if there's a scrap of truth in the assertion, or is just confusion between tolerance and anarchic revelry? ('The word maenads literally translates as "raving ones". They were known as wild, insane women who could not be reasoned with.')

Tabitha Tickletooth

17:22 / 01.11.06

naminuse: Is brand new (recent model second hand cameras can be an absolute bargain, if bought carefully)

Any tips on where would be good to buy a second hand recent model point and shoot? And what would constitute 'careful buying'? I'd quite like to pick up something small that I can carry around with me and takes a good shot in low light. Thing is, I can't really justify spending too much because I'm saving at the moment and I do have a digital camera that works (it's just a) too big and b) has to be plugged into a sodding dock to charge making it a pain in the arse to take on trips). Plus I like second hand stuff. I'm London-based, if that matters.

Mon Oncle Ignatius

18:34 / 01.11.06

but it's worth noting that the Mac version runs in X11

Ah, so it does. Thanks for pointing that out - guess how many Macs I use these days?

Quite.

Whisky Priestess

08:35 / 03.11.06

What does "Abrazos" as an email sign-off mean?

08:48 / 03.11.06

'Embraces'. I think it's pretty standard in Spanish (that's what they taught us at school, anyway).

Whisky Priestess

12:57 / 03.11.06

And "bisou" is kisses, right? But both are standard sign-offs, not inducements to sexing?

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