Login with username and password (forgot your password?)

They don't seem to care - if you ask them they give you a real phone number (at least the one I spoke to did) - trouble is the police don't care either!

Actually not quite true - every PC and laptop I have seen (and that is most mainstream brands) comes by default with the power button to activate sleep mode - not shutdown. Personally I do not find sleep mode very effective - especially if someone only uses their computer occasional and/or turns off the power so I always change it to Shutdown. Laptops I change lid close from sleep to hibernate - that way if they don't turn it on for a week the battery won't die!

Not sure about MWB web blocking - I get constant pops whenever I use a torrent client and have to disable the scanner. Seems more a nuisance than a help - just ramps up the paranoia!

Simple - disable 50% of your addons and see if it goes away - and continue by salami tactics until you find the offending addon!

Should be able to get it in a few tries.

Don't know any other way to do it.

I would have thought CRC checks are more difficult than just wear and tear - it means that the data is readable but isn't consistent with what should have been recorded. (CRC is a caclculated number form the data that is recorded with the file - when reading it is recalculated and compared to what it should be.) It probably means the disc was originally recorded with errors.

One of the reasons I always verify optical discs when I burn them - so that I know source data and optical disk match.

Won a battle - the war is far from over and the deck is stacked!

Good news for now though.

And to clarify ... in METRO while you can 'just start typing', in the TRADITIONAL interface, I don't believe that is available (correct me if I'm wrong).

That's because Metro is the start menu in 8 !

Really - I 'turn off' (aka as Shutdown) all my computers - including laptops by pressing the power button. It just needs a quick tap and the computer shuts down cleanly.

Pressing and holding also turns of by removing power to the motherboard - not a good idea except in extremis!

They are desperate to get this thing out there:

http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk...ers-upgrade-windows-gbp25
http://www.windowsitpro.c...-special-promotion-143592

This seems to be any version of XP, Vista or 7 to 8 Pro and they are even throwing in Windows Media Center for free during the promotion (well whoopdidoo).

Seems you are going to be able to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $39.99 (US) or £25 (UK) until the end of January from the day of release.

That is for a download version. You can get a DVD but it will be $70 - (yep that's $30 for a DVD that costs 15 cents) (see articles)

Either they are trying to compete with MacOSX prices or they are desperate to tempt people to adopt early so they can say what a success it has been!

They are either being clever marketing it like this or the bad press rumbling over this release has them scared! Can't quite decide which. I suspect it is the first because they see Joe public adopting Metro wholesale and buying everything they need from the store - maybe that will happen - or maybe pigs will fly.

Strange I didn't know donationcoder.com had https ?

Edit: Plus a limitation - I posted the above note but when I look at unread posts it still appeared - I read ti again thinking someone had posted a response and yet it was still marked as unread - obviously https doesn't play nicely with SMF ???

Incidentally - not disagreeing but the Start Menu search functionality should still be there in metro - just start typing.

OK fair enough for a new PC - but how much do you bet that the outcry will be so loud that MS will be offering downgrades to 7 like they offered XP downgrades from Vista ?? OK not immediately but I bet by February or March next year!

If it isn't a silly question if you are going to install Classic Shell why bother to upgrade to 8 at all? Basically 8 is pretty much 7 with a few (AFAICS fairly minor) tweaks plus Metro.

This affects the global community - not just the US. How can people outside the US add their support?

Just added a new, and separate, version of Dirty Harry (version 2). Someone on Steam managed to play the original game without having to kill a single turret by using bunny-hopping (which I am now working on mastering).

Dirty Harry version 2 is a lot harder (hopefully) and puts obstacles to slow down the bunny hopping - it also has a lot more turrets (and they are more vicious)! If you fancy a go at it see: http://steamcommunity.com.../filedetails/?id=79579536 (or you can see all my maps at http://steamcommunity.com...myworkshopfiles?appid=620 )

Easiest way to turn off your computer is to press the power button!

Ever did that while the system was writing into critical files? Hint: Don't.

Yes it is fine provided you set up your power profile to Shutdown on power button - and don't hold the button down!
It does a normal proper shutdown (just as you do from the start menu).

At least in Windows 8 you won't have to go fishing for charms and settings just to switch off!

You can bet your life non-savvy users won't get it and just pull the plug in frustration!

Easiest way to turn off your computer is to press the power button!

I really like LA Noire - good fun. A mixture of driving an crime scene detective work. I must admit I like running over pedestrians!

FWIW if you want to get the Brady Guide I would suggest the printed version is probably better value - the online guides on Steam are pretty hopeless - especially as you can't look at them while playing. See:

http://www.amazon.com/Noi...ames-Guides/dp/0744012546

It isn't a Firefox issue - it is Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome having the problem (haven't tried Opera or anything else).

Not sure what the site can do - if it works in all browsers on all of my xomputers except the laptop it must be a laptop issue - especially as I have reset browsers to default settings and removed all browsing history traces in all three.

Ditto - www.nectar.com and nectar.com - I am using the same link on all computers (Firefox and Chrome home pages/bookmarks etc., but not cookies or logins are actually synced across different machines) so having cleared the cache why would the laptop generate different cookies in all browsers?

No I can have the website open on multiple computers (including the laptop without problem). Only the laptop forgets the login.

Not really interested in this one but for what it is worth check out the new IndieGala bundle:

http://www.indiegala.com

My problem is that on my laptop it is all browsers - but only one website affected. Just looking at FF to investigate. I mostly use Chrome these days.

Two more maps today (I am on a roll) - both turret related! One is a silly bit of nonsense to get your revenge on the turret race, the other is a sort of Drity Harry style shoot em up!

  I haven't got anything like that installed

I removed all the nectar.com cookies in FF.

Logging in produces 7 new cookies:

JSESSIONID Expires end of session
cookieenabledcheck Expires end of session
_utma Expires 26th June 2014 16:36:24
_utmb Expires 26th Junes 2012 17:06:24
_tnmc Expires end of session
_utmz Expires 26th Dec. 2012
UnicalNIODID Expires 31st May 2017

I did the same on my desktop computer and it prduces two extra cookies:

_ric_c344 26th July 2012 (actually expires almost immediately after creation)
_ric_sc344  end of session

Not sure what is going on. All I know is when I restart FF on my desktop I am still logged in - on my laptop I am not.