My Mountain Logbook
Category: Travel and Places

Unfortunately it seems the Myspace editor is broken in some way and is corrupting my normal log book.

In the meantime I have published my mountain log at:

http://www.onthehill.org.uk/LogBook/tabid/121/Default.aspx

Eddie

3:13 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

What to do on a sunday - Pen y Fan! Breacon Beacons
Category: Travel and Places

Its a saturday night and decision time on what to do tomorrow. Have had this waterproof map OL12 of the Breacon Beacons National Park for over a year and a half now - time to get it used and abused. Spoken to Simon and asked him if he wanted to come with me walking the dog tomorrow - an 8.5 miles walk with 2555ft of ascent taking in 4 large South Wales hills/mountains - agreement reached. So we are off to St Wales at 7am. Should be at route start by 9am. If anyone spots me in my red and orange jacket accompanied by a black cross lab doggy and two blokes - give us a wave.

Pics and route story to follow. - update - havent posted story but have put route in my logbook. Pics are in the photo gallery:

10:21 AM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Glyder Fach and the Cantilever Stone
Category: Sports

6th January we went to the Glyders. Checked the webcams before I left Telford and there was no view of snow on the Carnedd or Glyderau so as an idiot I left my ice axe and crampons at home. What a bugger!

..

When we turned into Capel you could see the snow covered tops in the Ogwen Valley. Sitting in the cafe we were deciding which route to take and most wanted to go up onto the cantilever. The suggestion was to go up the scree side of Bristly Ridge. Having fallen down here a few years ago on ice and had to do an axe arrest I suggested it might be longer but more prudent and safer for all to go up the east ridge from the back of Capel. This was agreed.

The photos are on my facebook acccount and can be viewed from this public link http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24309&l=b1ecd&id=595303046 .

What a day we had, starting in the daylight about 10:30am and eventually returning in the rain and the dark at 5:30pm.

Over christmas I had bought a new (second hand) Marmot Superhero Softshell jacket for £84 from ebay - should have been £170. Chance to try it out with my new Berghaus x-treme base layer micro fleece. Superb combination. Warm and dry all the way up and down. There was wind and rain, windchill of -10 approx on the top. Only pulled a paclite ontop as we sat on the top for lunch. Rest of the day I just wore the two. Based on my comfort rating, that will do me fine for scotland. Am trying to cut down the weight and amount of gear I carry on the hills. So thanks to the guy I bought this jacket from.

3:19 AM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

My first ascent of Tryfan via North Ridge
Category: Sports

It was friday night that Simon popped around and asked what was I doing Sunday. Nothing really - knowing what a cracking climber he is and fancying a go at that awesum rock that keeps staring me in the face everytime I go onto the Glyders, I asked him if he fancied Tryfan. Simon agreed and he also said we would go an easy route - a South Ascent/Descent - so being happy I prepared for Sunday.

Should have guessed things on sunday wouldnt go as planned. Spent saturday planning and looking at nice walking photo's of a South ascent of Tryfan. Then Sunday came.

Simon arrived my place at 7:30 and we set off for the hills, arriving - after resisting the temptation of the shops at Betws-y-Coed - at 10am in the layby on the left at the base of Tryfan. Having a bite to eat and gathering our pacs and then putting our boots on it was then that Simon declared that we would be doing the North Ridge! He then said to me it would be a breeze and that he had done it 5 times previously, and in the winter - so off we went. The fun began.

Simon can be like a hare so I had to slow him down to rabbit pace otherwise I was going to have a heart attack before I got near to hand on rock ( there is about a 25 year age difference in his favour! ).

We followed the steps up and then the path to the left of the wall turning left up a steepening path. I have a photo below of this path:

On the ridge line in the above photo you can see a dip. We went up to that before turning right to ascend the main rocky ridge climb.

On the way up we were accompanied by a group of teenagers and adults with Dad as a guide. They were spending the weekend climbing the Welsh 3000 ft mountains and they had done Crib Goch the day before. My highlight of this was on the next section. They went ahead of us and when I looked I could see dad going up this huge rock face with his group below him. Christ I thought that looks a bit dangerous. I made a comment to Simon about their route and asked Simon if the easier route to the right that I was one was correct to which he replied yes. This was then confirmed when some of their party saw where we were going and shouted over asking if it was easier our way. A wry smile on Simon face and a cheery yes responded - I then guided them over to where we were so they didnt have to down climb. Thank god they hadnt gone wherev they intended - ropes would have really been needed.

We carried on around and caught up with 3 walkers who we were to see off and on all day. Picture of the lady is shown below - we met them again on the summit - we also somehow overtook them - I think as we climbed a gully.

From near the same vantage point Simon took this pic of me:

Pictures get a bit scarce on the ground from now.

The above is a great example of terrain if you co-incide this with the other rocky pictures. The above path is a small section of what little paths you will find up the North Ridge. Most of our day was scrambling over rocks and semi climbing up large ones.

Having weaved to the right we then tried to keep central - this must be why we somehow missed the Canon Stone that everyone talks about. Am gutted as I wanted a photo of me by or on it - may have to go again.

The above is one of the views that I had of where we were going. That huge series of rocks at the top of the photo drawing ever so nearer. It all got a little serious now and thats why my camera went away from this point on until I got to the top. Once past this moss covered bit above I needed all my attention to where 3  parts of my body had to be at all times .

Some people ahead who were competent climbers climbed up some huge rocks - or they call this scrambling up- humm - Simon took me around to the East and we dropped down a short section%2C traversed around a bit and then went into a wet rocky gully. This was probably the safest I had felt for a while - the huge drops below were out of sight and I reckoned I could only fall about 100 ft here. So I felt a little better. This began a bit of climbing tuition from Simon who got me putting my feet and hands in the right places rather than my clumsier approach which was a little off balancing.

This  did help me get up quicker and more confidently and soon I was pulling myself up and pushing with feet.

There was one moment of anxiety - as I slithered across a boulder I felt cramp in the thigh muscle - a coment from Simon was ......This is not the place to get cramp......at which i heeded his words pushed with force on the boulder with foot and levered myself out of the gully. Relief......Easy ground ahead.......

Did I just say easy ground

See pic below...

Well it is easy compared to what we had just done. Must find out the name of the gully we came up as the group we had been trailing somehow ended up behind us - they went a different route - could it be that they went up a path

The lady in white on the above is the same lady from the earlier photo.

Simon did have this habit of saying to be in encouragement each time I asked if the hardest was over that it was - until he got me on another bit that was harder.

From the above we then dropped a fraction to the a notch then across a slab to ascend onto the main summit and the home of Adam and Eve - so this is where they went to. A picture down from the summit to where we came from is below

In my videos I have took one of Simon going from Adam to Eve - I didnt have the courage for this. Instead here is my still photo supporting the rocks%21%21 Thats me in the red before being eaten alive by midges. <%3B%2FP>%3B%0D%0A

%3B <%3BIMG src=%26quot%3Bhttp%3A%2F%2Fa385.ac-images.myspacecdn.com%2Fimages01%2F30%2Fl%5Ff279416b49937aa0327620fd2f8c0068.jpg%26quot%3B>%3B <%3B%2FP>%3B%0D%0A

%3BWith the midge issue - we decided to cover up - trouser bottoms%2C fleece. <%3B%2FP>%3B%0D%0A

%3B <%3BIMG src=%26quot%3Bhttp%3A%2F%2Fa987.ac-images.myspacecdn.com%2Fimages01%2F61%2Fl%5F980d1b8e412146987344093a64febb6a.jpg%26quot%3B>%3B <%3B%2FP>%3B%0D%0A

%3BHow long did it take us to get to the top from the car park%3F 2 hours - Couldnt believe how fast this was. We phoned some scout Leader friends and that was when we had the suprise - they were on the same mountain and on their way up. We decided to wait on the top and take pictures of them emerging from the North Ridge. <%3B%2FP>%3B%0D%0A

%3BIt was fathers day so a classic photo below shows Richard one of the Scout Leaders and his son approaching us on the summit. <%3B%2FP>%3B%0D%0A

%3B <%3BIMG src=%26quot%3Bhttp%3A%2F%2Fa181.ac-images.myspacecdn.com%2Fimages01%2F15%2Fl%5F065dc754c82ef5b433e675da74df83fc.jpg%26quot%3B>%3B <%3B%2FP>%3B%0D%0A

%3BNow was time to say our hello%26%2339%3Bs but also our goodbyes and we had been up here long enough and Simon and I decided we wanted to go shopping. This meant we would go down the fastest way possible - without jumping or abseiling. We went slightly south then turned west and decended at speed scrambling over rock and boulder heading directly for cwm below. <%3B%2FP>%3B%0D%0A

%3BGood job the rocks were dry%2C and before long we hit the scree slope at which it became a run down this. Where we emerged is shown below%3A <%3B%2FP>%3B%0D%0A

%3B <%3BIMG src=%26quot%3Bhttp%3A%2F%2Fa325.ac-images.myspacecdn.com%2Fimages01%2F8%2Fl%5F951409c4ff25b77a5b4b90bea11becdc.jpg%26quot%3B>%3B <%3B%2FP>%3B%0D%0A

%3BFollowed by Simons pose%3A <%3B%2FP>%3B%0D%0A

%3B <%3BIMG src=%26quot%3Bhttp%3A%2F%2Fa921.ac-images.myspacecdn.com%2Fimages01%2F63%2Fl%5F06a65bd7c12d5127bed1cbf3e0ab2fe8.jpg%26quot%3B>%3B <%3B%2FP>%3B%0D%0A

%3BAnd we then walked at speed back down to the cars. <%3B%2FP>%3B%0D%0A

%3BIt took us 1 hour 10 minutes to get from the summit of Tryfan down to the car. Wow. <%3B%2FP>%3B%0D%0A

%3BSomething that brings all this into perspective occured the day before and I only found out today whilst writing this. A work colleague was out on Tryfan the day before with his wife and dog - on the way down on the east side he slipped between 30 and 40 feet - he didnt recover from his injuries and died. Thinking of him and my day on sunday really brings home to me why we need to take care on mountains such as this. It also reminds me of how wonderful the mountains are but how dangerous our passion can be. <%3B%2FP>%3B%0D%0A

%3BMay he rest in peace and his spirit be free on Tryfan. <%3B%2FP>%3B%0D%0A

%3B%26nbsp%3B <%3B%2FP>%3B%0D%0A

%3B%26nbsp%3B <%3B%2FP>%3B%0D%0A

%3B%26nbsp%3B <%3B%2FP>%3B%0D%0A

%3B <%3B%2FP>%3B

11:00 PM - 3 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Cadair Idris
Category: Sports

Sunday 6th May 2007 had another epic trip up to Cadair Idris in Wales with the Scouts from 2nd Donnington Scout Group. This is one of those examples where good preparation and equipment counts. However, it doesnt matter what lists you give to parents/scouts or equipment you tell them to bring, something will be forgotton.

I will get on to this latter.

Suffice to say we were late starting - not my fault this time - a car we followed from Shropshire nearly all the way there doing 30/40mph.

The plan and route card was such that I was anticipating leaving at 10am from car park. We would attempt to do the circular route of Cadair, going up from Minffordd, to Lyn Cau, then left up onto the ridge up to Craig Cwm Amarch (791metres SH 7106 1213 )  then to Penygadair (893metres) returning via the plateau and Mynydd Moel (863metres) rejoining the track up the forrest from Minffordd. around. At all points around the route I would be assessing the condition of the group and the weather with a view that no matter where we were by 2pm (now 3pm due to the delay) we would turn back for the car park. A cutt off point though was planned that if by 3pm (new time) we had reached Craig Cwm Amarch then the return would be via the plateau and the summit and not tracking back along the ridge following the outward bound route. This is because with a young group like I had, and the wind forcast for the day, it was safer and easier at that point to descend from Amarch, go up to the summit and then you have a tricky but easy walk across the grassy plateau and a fence line handrail down from Mynydd Moel. As opposed to an exposed descent across the ridge above Lyn Cau - with children potentially getting tired, easier on grass to manage than a ridge.

We started out really well, made one of our check points above the forrest in 30mins from the car park. Then we went around above the lake and ascended the ridge.

I had my first case of first aid treatment using a blister platser on one of the Scouts who was breaking in his new boots. Also by now we had a case of number 2's for a scout - he used wet heather. When we got up onto the ridge the weather started to turn a bit and wind increased with light rain. My phone went and the County Mountain Advisor rang with a 'you sound like your half way up a mountain....", yep and after a chat for 10mins I concluded our call as we had to move on. We lunched and as we were proceeding up to Craig Cwm Amarch the wind got a bit stronger and light rain started in earnest. We made the top just before 3pm so we were ontime and now went past the main turning back point and descended to the col above Llyn Cau and at the top of the sheep track.

As we walked down to the col the wind really wiped up and clouds came in; we had our first experiences of an inversion and also the scouts really experienced white out conditions. I kept them all happy and also away from the path along the edge of the sheer 1000ft drop into the lake and we walked up to the summit of Penygadair. On the way up we were overtaken by a couple of hill walkers , one with shorts and cold knees! Also we met a couple with no compass, no map, on the way down who were going to follow our ascent route. I gave then a copy of our map - laminated and they decided to try ours instead via Mynydd Moel.

We got to the summit before 4pm ( its not an hour  between the two but you have to remember I had 10 yr olds with me). We had more food, hot drinks in the shelter and then left the summit at 4:30pm. Took a bearing from the summit, approx 65 degrees and headed across the plateau. We took in a slight detour so I could show the group the top of the Foxes path - a descent I did last year with some scout leaders - not a recommended way down for the faint hearted or children. We then walked across to Mynydd Moel.

The plateau crossing got really bad and driving rain, high winds and dropping temperatures made this a poor finish. I was really glad I went this way as when on few occasions the weather lifted the ridge on the other side of Cadair that we came up was totally immersed in bad weather.

By the time we got to the descent route from Mynydd Moel all the group were wet and cold. I had to keep them all moving and we took the broken path back down the mountain. Some of the scouts -the younger ones had trouble walking on the wet rock - first time under these conditions, also they were tired, so I took my time with them - encouraging them at all times.

Near the bottom of the main path I was met by firends and a dad from another group who had been ahead of us. They had been down to the car and decided to come back up and see if I needed help with my group - they were worried I was having to carry some down!!!No carrying but we were travelling too slow. It did give them all an additional burst of energy to get down.

We took photo's on the river slate bridge above the forrest and then descended down to the car park, arriving down in the car park for approx. 7:30pm. This had been a slow descent. That said, the path down from Mynyyd is so eroded, wet and slippy, plus two of the scouts were tired and kept stopping and losing their footing, the time we made was quite good.

At no time in the above were any of the scouts in any danger but it shows about fitness. One of the youngest scouts at 10years was full of energy, but an 11 yr old was not.

Also, children have different abilities when it comes to being able to walk, even on fairly level ground - stop, start, stop start, stop start. As well, you have to keep an eye on the one who is full of bravado who goes all quiet on the ridge and then says he feels sick - when you enquire the sickness was shen he looked at the drop - he being the one who was not afraid of heights.

We also before we left checked evyone had rain coats, hats and gloves. When the weather hit, the value of me bringing additional clothing paid as a scout looked me blank in the eye as he was getting wet telling me he didnt have a rain coat! Left in the car 2000ft below us. With gloves and other things they should have brought.

So next time I think its going to be kit inspection just after we leave the carpark!.

3:22 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Scotland Easter 2007
Category: Sports

Another year passes by and the annual trip to Glencoe in Scotland is now over. A fantastic week of hill walking and mountaineering, topped of with evenings in the pub - Clachaig and Laroch, finishing with a meal and a few beers at the MacDonald Hotel in Kinlochleven.

I survived and I think I actually did better this year ( this is my 7th trip to Glencoe ); just for once I didnt get cramp on day one climbing the snow and ice or later in the week coming down the scree sided mountains. I even managed to get back to the car park first on day 1 with the youngsters.

Fitness seems to be the thing, so all that hard work in the JJB Gym in Telford between December and April really did pay. When you are ascending mountains from sea level to over 3000 ft and going vertical, its great not to be out of breath.

So roll on the rest of the year - must get to the Brecon Beacons as I have a waterproof map not used. Also some more hill in North Wales and some wild camping.

The itinery I completed during the week went as follows:

Maunday Thursday drove 9 hrs to Scotland. Helped put up tents, then a beer in the pub.

Easter Friday - climbed Stob Coire Nan Lochan via a scramble up Gearr Aonach - got slightly stuck on the rocks at one point as I could get my leg over a rock piece - assistance from Charlie and laghter from the others helped a bit!

Easter Saturday - a new mountain, whilst one group scrambled the Buachaille, myself and a few others decided to do a monster of a long hill opposite that we drive past every year, Beinn a Chrulaiste - it might not be a massive Munro but it still reaches its pinnacle of 857 metres making it a Corbett and the climb was as long as most Welsh and English mountains. It was a long and hard day, especially as there were no paths and we descended near the Kings House and had to walk several miles over heather back to  Altnafeadh to the car. A great time was had however and young Richard demonstrated rock moving on the top - apologies to ordnance survey if the height of this mountain went up a bit this year.

Easter Sunday Chris and Annaleene decided that as they were going back to England on Monday they would like a trip up Ben Nevis. Whilst most of the others had a short day on Stob Ban on the Mamores or a day climbing, we three did the hard slog up Ben Nevis. OK thank god we took our ice axes and crampons, also that we were equiped for full blown winter conditions.

The day turned out to be an epic. Half way up the zig zags on the tourist tracks we put on out crampons whilst fools in trainers continued up over the ice. Then going up we spotted so many people turning back and then struggling to descend on the ice.

On top we had to navigate in a whiteout with about 10 metres or less visability right across the plateau to the summit. Took a great picture of a belay point and where the cornice had been broken by some climbers.

On the top I gave one of my good turns for the day - a hot drink to a walker who had reached the top, freezing with no gloves or hot drink. Soon had him smiling and then on his way down.

After our photos we took the bearing and then it hit! Horizontal ice rain, 30 - 40 mph winds, storms!. As I navigated us down to the top of the Red Burn to take a short cut down, we met a mountain rescue guy - they had been sent up to help get people down as the weather was unpredicted and they had worries over loss of life. he had 3 guys with him he was guiding down and he left them with us and we brough them down so he could carry on helping on top. Chris, Anna carried on down while I assited a young asian chap, in hoody, trainers, get down the path - gave him poles and walked and talking him down the Red Burn path to the bottom zig zag. His friends who brough him up were useless and had abandoned him. Met one of the friends later who made a comment that his boots were wet - felt like telling him to go and buy proper boots before going on a mountain like this! Still it felt really good that we had a good day and we were prepared for the Ben and all it could throw at us.

Easter Monday I had the day off and had a walk around Fort William - bought myself some sealskin gloves - was not happy changing gloves on the Ben the day before.

Tuesday - You wouldnt believe it by everyone wanted to go up the Ben, so I did Ben Nevis Again! Twice in 3 days - still I was able to try out my new gloves. Also, the weather was a bit better. Still had to navigate across the plateau up and down on bearings as we couldnt see, but left it to the Explorer Scouts - felt like a day off for me. Charlie and Fionna decided to have a race back to the car on the way down - dont think they will do this again, Fi fell and ended up hobbling the last couple of miles. Tuesday night I popped to the Laroch to watch the football - marty as i walked a mile or so there and back - nearly fell asleep during the game.

Wednesday, I decided that it would be my last days walking as I would need a days rest before the drive home. So we did another new mountain and an interesting one. A group of us decided to meet eveyone else at the Ice factor in Kinlochleven by 3pm but instead of driving we decided to climb a mountain at the rear of the Aonach Eagach Ridge which towers above the town - Garbh Bheinn - 867 metres. What a day and what a climb- we went super fast, virtually straight up from Caolasnacon - its was great fun - also when Richard Parkes pointed out what I was climbing on on the way of the summit - when I looked back I almost had heart failure, still nipped back up so Rich could get a photo of me on the exposure bit. We arrived at Kinlochleven at the Ice Factor for 3pm smack on time and I pigged out on burger and chips - felt great. If you want to see a picture/video I have uploaded some taken on the day.

Thursday the rest of the group did Ben Starav whislt Chris and I had a rest, but we also took down the mess and cook tents ready for sunday.

Roll on next year.

3:23 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Vista the ME of the Twenty First Century?
Category: Web, HTML, Tech

Remember all those years ago the hype around this super operating system designed with graphics and multi media in mind? From the Wiki .....

Windows Me (IPA pronunciation: Officially [mi?],Often Mispronounced[?m i?]), also known as Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Mistake Edition (see criticism), is a hybrid 16-bit/32-bit graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft. It was originally codenamed Millennium. A successor to Windows 95 and Windows 98, Windows Me was marketed as a "Home Edition" when compared to Windows 2000 which had been released seven months earlier. It provided Internet Explorer 5.5, Windows Media Player 7, and the new Windows Movie Maker software, which provided basic video editing and was designed to be easy for home users.

Now isnt this funny - Vista - with the new Aero Interface that takes advantage of the GPU - especially handy if you have software that can take advantage of this - maybe games? Home software? Oh and Vista has a new Windows Media Player 11 - and its been embedded into the operating system so you cannot disable it - by the way if you use third party products for Multi Meda chances are you will break Media Player 11 - and you CANNOT fix it - trust me, I have been at this for a while. Oh, and there is the new Media Centre - takes Movie Maker to a new level - hummm - again targetted at films and TV, HD TV etc

They Vista is also build with security in mind - from the launch by Mr Gates  - this was about malware and phishing, also checking his daughters chat logs - lets get real - we have thrid party products that do a better job. But hey, isnt this what IE 5 did for us in ME. We just used the market and installed great third party tools.

So - why, oh why, if I now have a stable and highly scalable and peformant XP SP2 system, using third party security tools that lock my machine down and protect me a dam sight better than Microsoft products, would I want to change to a new bloatware operating system thats forcing me to pay new licensing and upgrade hardware that has years of life left in it?

To secure my browsing - no - third party products can do this. You still need these third party products with Vista as Vista does not do it all for you. It does lock things down inside but isnt this just fixing the flaws in their own code.

To view my daughters chat logs as Bill Gates does - No - I would get a slap from my daughter - there are again monitoring tools that do this - also you could already do this in XP - Bill check out your own product.

To play movies and multi media - No - XP has Windows Media Player 10 which is better than 11 which, if you install in XP will try and cripple your machine. Also - use Power DVD, WinDVD or Nero - they are all better. In addition Microsoft is getting into the Media Rights and licensing business and deciding what you can and cannot watch or listen to. Its becoming the police of the Movie and Music business. It also makes mistakes and your right to choose what you want to play and listen to have been removed in some cases.

For MP3's start using ITunes - it works on XP or other players, and by the way ITunes is great on Vista. My new Shuffle Rocks! Apple is Cool! ( I will debate the Zune at a later date  )

Maybe to run Office 2007 - No - it runs great and faster on my XP machine - as do all Office productivity tools. Maybe Office 2007 should have been crippled only to run on Vista and then Vista might sell more. The Office Team need to teach the OS team a thing or two. Being totally serious, Office is so hot with great features and usability it puts Vista in the background.

To run my business applications - No - because a lot of them need some form of admin priv or they have to run in compatibility mode. So if I am running my apps in XP compatible mode on Vista why go to the pain of upgrading to Vista.

To use my new USB devices - No - most of them have real issues with Vista as there are no drivers and its not simple if Vista doesnt like them. hey Vista has just blacklisted my Microsoft Explorer Optical Mouse and even using the new universal mouse drivers written by Microsoft for Vista I cant get the mouse to work. So for weeks it worked now it doesnt. Bit like Vista. But at least it crashes and reboots gracefully.

To have a repair facility for resilience - No at least with XP if you had a serious issue you could do a repair with the XP disk. Not Vista - at least if you missed the fact that you should have created a backup image of your installation. Without that you cannot repair and have to do a clean install again.

To play Second Life - No - Vista has a real issue with OpenGL and graphics cards and one of the best virtual reality systems in the world will not play on most machines with Vista installed unless to have a totally compatible Second Life Video card with the correct drivers. Microsoft seems to be forcing the Open Graphics community to go their way! Is this being a control freak or am I going mad!

I could write a book on Vista - I love using it on my work laptop - but I am a geek - this love affair is about having the newest of something so I know how it performs. I talk to my family and they are not interested, they want a PC/Laptop that starts, is fast so they dont wait 5 mins for it to boot, can run multiple applications and doesnt crash - hey XP does all of this. In all seriousness I am struggling to find a business justification to tell people to move forward. Please Mr Gates help me and provide a credible case. Otherwise - everyone - is this the ME of 2007? I think it is and we should give it a miss and wait for the next Wow! For those who dont know - Vista is being launched as the Wow! What rubbish!

I actually think Microsoft have done themselves no favours with XP as they have virtually got it right - as long as you manage your XP installation properly you have a completely stable and robust operating system that can take advantage of 32 and 64 bit and which the whole wolrd of software and hardware development supports. The world is not going to change what it does over night so unless you are forced to move to Vista as a shop sold you a machine with it on. As yet dont bother.

Eddie

1:02 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Vista and NVidia on Dell Precision M60
Category: Web, HTML, Tech

What pants.

NVidia has new drivers for Vista and yet the Microsoft driver insists its is installed. The way around it is to do the inf file MOD. However you can install these drivers but can i get the control panel installed - can I thump. Two hours and many installs and deletes and it still doesnt install. What chance a home user!

So - no OpenGL support for an expensive laptop which means no access to Second Life! Damn.

10:30 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment