lewisroberts.com

I recently purchased a Dell E520 computer after one of my colleagues tipped me off about a good deal on Dell’s website. The deal has since ended but both myself and the IT Manager at work managed to nab one for a princely sum of £329.

• Intel Core2 Duo E4300
• 2GB 533MHz DDR2
• 250GB SATA HDD
• 19″ Dell Flat Panel LCD
• 16x CD/DVD-+RW

The idea I had was basically to replace my current main machine which is now getting a bit long in the tooth. Albeit still being a perfectly capable machine it was time to move on to PCI-Express, SATA, Core 2Duo and DDR2 RAM.

After buying the Dell I got it hooked up and it was fine as an entry level machine but it didn’t have dual monitor outputs so, with it having a PCI-Express x16 slot, I thought I’d just invest in a new graphics card. Problem is, I had to find one that would fit. Basically the E520 is a BTX design which means that the motherboard is mounted on the other side of the case to a normal ATX motherboard. Admittedly the BTX design is far better for managing the heat generated by today’s modern machines and the airflow is far superior to ATX designs but it doesn’t lend itself well to the plethora of graphics cards on the market that use a dual bracket/heatsink slot design

After literally hours of surfing the net looking at toms hardware and bit-tech reviews I settled on an ATI X1950XT, which is still quite a capable DirectX 9.0 card.

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I’ve been searching for this information for a very long time but because of the stupid arbitrary name that Microsoft destowed upon their Media Center keyboard, it has proved somewhat troublesome. Ironically, not five minutes after I post on thegreenbutton.com asking for help, I stumble across a post on another forum giving instructions on how to reset the programmable keyboard commands.

Since I’m a kind sole (is that not a type of fish?) (Edit – Yes it is you pillock. It’s “soul”.) I thought I’d duplicate the information with a sensible title so that search engines pick it up.

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Listen, I’m sorry, no seriously I am. It was never my intention for this blog to turn in to a soap box for me to bore you all to tears with my conspiracy theories and reports of other Government led initiatives that purport to be good for the public. Again, I’m sorry, if you’d rather I just shut the hell up and got on with talking about stuff I’m actually interested in then please, feel free to comment and let me know your thoughts.

My reason for this apology is because I feel that I must respond to the latest Government bullshit to come dribbling out of the Home Office:

 Council staff, charity workers and doctors could be required by law to tip off police about anyone they believe could commit a violent crime.

I see, so that’s everyone then? All Human Beings are capable of committing a violent crime. ALL OF THEM. Let me introduce you to a word…

Fascism -  Anti-individualistic, the fascist conception of life stresses the importance of the State and accepts the individual only insofar as his interests coincide with those of the State, which stands for the conscience and the universal will of man as a historic entity.

Each and every day I hear more and more about the Government allowing laws through that remove our freedoms. We no longer live in a free society. We no longer are allowed to think for ourselves.
This country is marching firmly towards fascism and nobody seems to have noticed.
The “War on Terror” seems to have re-invented itself as the “War on Freedom” and we, the free are losing it because we are blissfully unaware of it. Write to your MP, your Council, anyone that will listen. Great Britain is no longer Great.

Mr. Blair, your Labour government has done more damage to the freedoms of the population of the United Kingdom than any terrorist organisation I care to mention. You and your Government’s approach to making the United Kingdom “a safer place” has resulted in a climate of fear and I hereby accuse YOU and your Government of being a terrorist organisation.

After watching a BBC programme about CCTV last night called “CCTV: You are being watched” I felt like I had been transported in to the Orwellian esque film, V for Vendetta.

Last night’s programme was nothing more than propaganda from our own government. This is the second such incident (programme) in as many months where the BBC have amazingly produced something that seemingly supports the wonderous benefits of these privacy invading “security tools” merely weeks after the government has been trying to tell us just how great these things are and how they’re saving lives etc etc.

I’m flabbergasted at the frequency of these programmes too, they’re always in such close proximity to government sponsored initiatives and seem to be an attempt to brain wash us in to acceptance by telling us how beneficial they are. The first such programme I think was something to do with GPS tracking of vehicles so that we can be taxed on the mileage we do. The No.10 website had to close an online petition because of the number of people that responded to it about this particular “idea”. Tony sent out an email after he had his cronies close the petition simply saying “we’re not in any position to do this yet.”

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