Tim-n-NC

Dom, All the recent DVDs from Sony Pictures and its subsidiaries (like Columbia Pictures) have an evil new copy protection scheme called ARccOS. Despite all the screwy things it does with the code controlling how a DVD is handled by the player, it actually works pretty benignly most of the time. There are definitely cases of players (generally older ones) having problems handling it, though, and I imagine that's what you're seeing since Zoom has ARccOS encryption. Sony royally pissed off millions of people with their "root kit" copy protection SW on some of their audio CDs a couple of years ago (and are still in Class Action suits over it), so you'd think they'd learn their lesson eventually. Oh well. Where can an 800lb gorilla leave its excrement? ... Glad you're feeling better -stay warm! -Tim

Here are more upcoming showtimes (EDT) for those of us who still haven't caught it. Saturday Aug 26 2006 12:00 AM (midnight Fri) Sunday Aug 27 2006 11:30 PM Monday Sep 04 2006 10:00 PM http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/roast_shatner/index.jhtml

If you haven't already sent yours in, you might consider waiting for the flood to slow down. I imagine they'll provide appreciably faster turnaround in a couple of months after the rush and I doubt the risk is very significant. This isn't the first Li-ion battery scare, and in the past it's always been a few hi-profile incidents out of tens or hundreds of thousands of shipped units that prompted a recall. Still, not sure I'd use it with it sitting in my lap with a suspect battery -might damage something far more valuable than a notebook! If you've already sent it, though, I agree with JS that it's nice to have a second battery -especially for those transcontinental flights. Looks like plenty of new batts for the d410 going for ~$50 on eBay, with used at ~$25 +ship. Best deal might be to buy a used one eligible for the recall off eBay, use it till original replacement arrives, then have eBay unit replaced with new one, too. http://computers.listings.ebay.com/Batteri...ListingItemList I've bought 5-6 notebook batts off eBay without problem. Good luck back at school this fall! -Tim

Yes, we'd complained that one of the national hobbies seemed to be "run down the pedestrians" as we walked around town -Italian motorists are crazy! One of the Turin guys explained to us about traffic signal compliance: In Germany traffic lights are mandatory. In France they are optional. In Italy they're ornamental -we like some green, some red -very pretty. :wacko: I'd love to visit Milan again and accept your offer as an expert tour guide, but I'm afraid it won't be this year. I no longer work for a German company so my next trip will likely be a holiday. Some friends have been pestering me to go to Florence with them, though, and another couple is getting married in Greece next spring, so that's a possibility. You have quite a commute from Sardinia each week!

Hey Jules, Your zt3000 is still a very nice notebook, and well worth upgrading. As you've suggested, the hard drive is currently the weak link and since your 40GB Fujitsu is just a 4200RPM drive most anything will be an improvement. Unless you're very sensitive to battery life I'd go for a Seagate or Hitachi 7200RPM drive, though, as that'll yield noticably faster boots & program loads than the 5400RPM Toshiba. Looks like you're shopping for parts at Newegg and they're a great choice. I've ordered from them maybe 2 dozen times and have never had a problem. Fast shipping & great prices. This Hitachi 7K100 is what I just upgraded a friend's Inspiron 6000 with and we're very pleased with it. I've had the 60GB version in my Thinkpad for ~18 months & it's been excellent. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16822146052 512MB of RAM should be plenty for WinXP unless you run applications that are memory hogs like Photoshop or you commonly have half a dozen or more aps open simultaneously. If so, 1GB is worth it, else you probably won't notice any performance improvement from it. I don't think your zt3000 supports dual-channel memory, so there's no issue with being sure to have 2 matched DIMMs installed, either. Should you need to add memory, though, I believe you need PC2100 DDR CAS-2.5 SODIMMs (PC2700 proabably works, too). In lieu of added memory you might consider adding either an internal DVD+R/W drive, or getting an external USB2 DVD+/-R/W drive for backups and movies. The chepest good option is usually an NEC ND-6750A if it will fit the zt3000 -not sure. Else you can probably find the factory DVD+R/W drive on eBay. For external, NEC ND-3550A is great & USB 2.0 case (BYTECC seems to work well). To mirror your current drive to the new one and for backups I like Acronis True Image -works great. $30 from Newegg. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...82E1681279691SF Of course, a new HD is a good time to consider a clean install to clean house. If you've been using a WinXP box a couple of years it's usually collected enough garbage and Registry clutter to benefit from a clean start. Don't forget to keep a current Firewall/AV package updated. -Tim

My theory is that Northern Italy is sort of hybrid of Northern & Southern European cultures with traditional late dinners and active evenings from the South, but with Northern European business culture and hours. The afternoon siesta of the South got lost in translation, though, so everybody ends up with 2hrs less sleep than they should have. Does that make sense? I really loved Milan -especially the plaza and all the shops around the Duomo di Milano. You have a beautiful city!

I think it ws Art Buchwald who said the word "diet" came from the verb "to die." I agree with Dez regarding exercise, as I was never able to control my weight till I took up cycling then later, running. Good luck! -Tim

Welcome mEis! For most of the years I worked as a salaried engineer I had to be at work by ~9AM and rarely left before 6:30-7PM. Weekend work was common near project deadlines, too (still is!) I usually didn't make it to sleep till 1-2AM, so I was basically sleep deprived much of my life... I do contract design work now, so I'm better able to accommodate my vampire blood and commonly have dinner with friends in the early evening, then work into the wee hours. Then I'll usually take my German Shepherd running, or if it's getting close to when my gym opens at 5AM, I'll head over there to exercise before crashing for 7-8hrs. I think my home planet must have about a 28-30 hour day, though, as I'm really asynchronous with the rest of the world if not forced to a schedule. :wacko: When I visited CSELT in Turino a few years back I was surprised by how late you Italians liked to party! We went to a nice little Mom & Pop restaurant on a week night ~8:30 and were told we were way too early for dinner. Momma advised us to go play pool across the street and come back ~9PM and she'd give us antipasto. So, we finished dinner about 11PM and then the guys from the Milano office took us for espressos at midnight! That was fine except we had to be back at the lab at 9AM the next morning -how do you guys do it?! Terrific trip, tough -except I must've gained 5lbs during that week. -Tim

Dez, Guess I'm really out of date on Macs -I knew OS X was UNIX based, but had no idea so much native UNIX stuff had been ported to it. Between that & the new ability to efficently run Windows, Macs are becoming really attractive! Just wish the Macbook Pro was cheaper... -Tim

Macs are great if the SW you need is available on them, but I'll mostly address PC stuff since that's my area of expertise. Most engineering applications are PC only, so that's the only viable option for those of us in technical fields. My Graphic Designer buddy swears by his Macs, though, and I