Ask theDoctor?

I'm sure we are going to get loads of technical shite over toys that aren't working so let's keep 'em in one place eh?

Doc, if there's a battle in space (as replicated on Star Wars)

1. Why do the laser cannons fire at less than the speed of light?
2. If one of the pilots misses, what happens to the shot - does it go on until it hits something?

I have the traditional 96 ounce soda drink... are there any cupholders available for my laptop that can sustain this weight?

It has Windows Vista, AMD Turion 64x2, ATI Radeon videocard, and this cool fingerprint logging-on-thingy...

Dear Doc I did have a technical question which I thought you'd be the very man to answer. But I'm fucked if I can mind it.

So instead, I'd like to ask something which has been preying on my mind for no small time now.

Why are you so diffident?

(Seriously. It's not as though people with far less of an understanding are of the shy retiring type; so why the fuck are you as quiet as a church mouse?)

James Thomas wrote:

1. Why do the laser cannons fire at less than the speed of light?
2. If one of the pilots misses, what happens to the shot - does it go on until it hits something?

1. because they are plasma bolts

"Along this line of thinking, Blasters probably fired bursts of charged plasma. This plasma is produced by a laser beam inside the weapon, which is used to ionize simple compounds such as helium or argon into a plasma state. These compounds would be relatively abundant and easy to ionize with little energy, and as such the Blaster would not need to be a contained fusion reactor."

2. it goes on for a very long time, entropy

"In thermodynamics, entropy is a measure of how close a thermodynamic system is to equilibrium. A thermodynamic system is any physical object or region of space that can be described by its thermodynamic quantities such as temperature, pressure, volume and density."

Cause Gazza kept awe ra jellies for the insomniacs thread! (I know he'll love me for calling him that! But the greedy git shoulda spread some jellies about! )

Gazman wrote:

Aaahh the memories...

..or lack of..

Doc why have the sockets in my bedroom stopped working? I've checked my fuse box and everything is ok

Missy Jem wrote: Doc why have the sockets in my bedroom stopped working? I've checked my fuse box and everything is ok

I thought I told you to use a breaker with the megamoan5000!!! 'sake.

Check the fuses and trips again, if yer sure there's now wrong, no kidding, phone a spark, you could have a wire off somewhere, not an easy thing to find and fix. Given that it's christmas and you'll get "if tha thinks ahm doin OWT for less than a £100 call-out tha's touched int head"....I reccomend a big extension lead from downstaris, into which you will NOT plug whatever blew upstairs up, OR 3 electric fires while half the cable is on the drums.

The rest of you, I will return at various points as wisdom filters into me from realm of knowleeeeeedge (spelled JUST like that too).I had to help a damsel in distress.

James Thomas wrote: I'm sure we are going to get loads of technical shite over toys that aren't working so let's keep 'em in one place eh?

Doc, if there's a battle in space (as replicated on Star Wars)

1. Why do the laser cannons fire at less than the speed of light?
2. If one of the pilots misses, what happens to the shot - does it go on until it hits something?

1. They are magic cannons, that's why they make sound in a vacumn.
2. Lasers are imperfect, and are not totally parrallell beams, therefor it will diverge just like a torch beam pointed at a wall, but instead of 6 ft to the wall, it may take 2AU's to have a beam only a metre or two wide. Also the interstellar gas medium and the various floating particulate matter, will eventually absorb and/or scatter the light. "plasma" weapons would simillarly discharge in a much shorter time. Given the speeds and distances that would be involved in a more realistic celestial engagement, it is likely that projectile (and, by and large, ballistic) weapons, would be greatly more effective. Likewise, if you want to decimate a planet and invade you would not.....move your capital ships close to it's cities (and large government buildings), thereby confining them in the gravity well and severely reducing their manouverability, and then dump terrawatts of energy into it's atmosphere by way of a beam weapon that will direct a tiny portion of said energy into useful destruction. You WOULD however lob asteroids and shit down at truly stupid speeds for weeks, possibly with a biological pathogen embedded (if you know enough about your victims biology) and then go straight to making a landing.

Doctor? wrote:

The rest of you, I will return at various points as wisdom filters into me from realm of knowleeeeeedge (spelled JUST like that too).I had to help a damsel in distress.

Dear Doctor I was disturbed and dismayed that you "dingied" my diffidence question a dillion; however due to your obvious chivalry in helping a damsel in distress, I forgive your digression and await the definitive document on the question.

Your dutiful disciple

MIMX

a.k.a

Deeply disgruntled of deepest darkest... Dundee? Dumfries? Dingwall? Dumbarton? Dunoon? Dennistoun? Fuck it close enough: Yours deeply disgruntled of deepest darkest Dennistoun.

PS Why do you never see a nipple in the Daily Express?

MIMX wrote:

Doctor? wrote:

The rest of you, I will return at various points as wisdom filters into me from realm of knowleeeeeedge (spelled JUST like that too).I had to help a damsel in distress.

Dear Doctor I was disturbed and dismayed that you "dingied" my diffidence question a dillion; however due to your obvious chivalry in helping a damsel in distress, I forgive your digression and await the definitive document on the question.

Your dutiful disciple

MIMX

a.k.a

Deeply disgruntled of deepest darkest... Dundee? Dumfries? Dingwall? Dumbarton? Dunoon? Dennistoun? Fuck it close enough: Yours deeply disgruntled of deepest darkest Dennistoun.

PS Why do you never see a nipple in the Daily Express?

Nobody likes you. Not even the Dr.

Wrong Ron, I just didnae have a baldies what the fuck difident meant.

Is it better to shut off your computer at night or just let it go it to passive standby mode?

Why do new components still have S-video inputs/outputs? My receiver has like a 100 inputs/outputs in the back! Why would somebody go to the bother of setting up a complicated "high tech" setup and use S-video inputs and other outdated inputs! And why would you hook up the receiver with video wires anyway, just to have a total clusserfuck of wires?

Doctor? wrote: Wrong Ron, I just didnae have a baldies what the fuck difident meant.

Aye right! Yer arse is oot the windy*!*

"Shy, reserved, retiring, quiet" etc

You lying Celt*!*

And Ron don't you go thinking I didn't spot you at the airport (your a hard man to miss in that Hawaiian shirt) when you shoved in the ear plugs and skedaddled as soon as you saw my pipes.

After saying I could come stay with you in warmer climes too!

Why do I have to buy all new HDMI capable audio gear ?

i vote standby. as long as your PC is configured correctly for power savings options this will be your best move both for energy use and lifetime of the components.

s video is included becasue it costs nothing and any number of people may have old VCR's or DVD's. remember how much of the public thinks expensive cables are fool's gold.

Doctor? wrote:

James Thomas wrote: I'm sure we are going to get loads of technical shite over toys that aren't working so let's keep 'em in one place eh?

Doc, if there's a battle in space (as replicated on Star Wars)

1. Why do the laser cannons fire at less than the speed of light?
2. If one of the pilots misses, what happens to the shot - does it go on until it hits something?

1. They are magic cannons, that's why they make sound in a vacumn.
2. Lasers are imperfect, and are not totally parrallell beams, therefor it will diverge just like a torch beam pointed at a wall, but instead of 6 ft to the wall, it may take 2AU's to have a beam only a metre or two wide. Also the interstellar gas medium and the various floating particulate matter, will eventually absorb and/or scatter the light. "plasma" weapons would simillarly discharge in a much shorter time. Given the speeds and distances that would be involved in a more realistic celestial engagement, it is likely that projectile (and, by and large, ballistic) weapons, would be greatly more effective. Likewise, if you want to decimate a planet and invade you would not.....move your capital ships close to it's cities (and large government buildings), thereby confining them in the gravity well and severely reducing their manouverability, and then dump terrawatts of energy into it's atmosphere by way of a beam weapon that will direct a tiny portion of said energy into useful destruction. You WOULD however lob asteroids and shit down at truly stupid speeds for weeks, possibly with a biological pathogen embedded (if you know enough about your victims biology) and then go straight to making a landing.

but how does one power the gravity well? i vote we burn fangorn!

corruptive technique wrote: Why do I have to buy all new HDMI capable audio gear ?

You don't, there is no "new" audio involved, anyone telling you otherwise is a theif.

And the gravity well I referred to would be Earth's own, the thing that keep yer arse on yer seat.

I'm still sitting here with my 96 ounce soda in my hand wonder where to place it, all the while Cambo is dicking around..... my arms getting tired, what am I to do???

Cambo -REAL ACTUAL QUESTION-

I need to change the BIOS setting for the video card, how can I do this?

I've been trying to mess with my old laptop, making it the 'new' desktop for my wife. Screen was cracked and bad. I have another monitor that I want to use as the default... however it will only do the 'split screen' thing. My luck, the HotKey associated with changing screens is busted. Display properties and device manager doesn't allow for any changes to the default screen (box to check is there, but muted and unchangable).

I took apart the computer to see if I could solder an extension wire to extend the screen to an easier accessable spot, but that just isn't going to work.

After much reading online, I realize that the monitor is chosen by the BIOS. There must be a way to change this (I've already tried manually, but there are no options when looking in the BIOS at startup). Is there some program out there that allows for tinkering with the BIOS?

Thanks.

Shit mate, that's a toughie, I know of no way to force a laptop to boot on a second screen. I know that mine, under linux starts both screens in clone mode. Maybe try bootin it from a knoppix CD, see if the same is true for you.

Crap... that might be an option, but this is for the wife... she wouldn't like anything other than the familar XP to play with... she freaks out if there's anything else on there....

I'll look around some more... it just boggles my mind that computer technology is so far advanced, but I can't make another screen a default on a laptop....

EdelBrock wrote: Crap... that might be an option, but this is for the wife... she wouldn't like anything other than the familar XP to play with... she freaks out if there's anything else on there....

I'll look around some more... it just boggles my mind that computer technology is so far advanced, but I can't make another screen a default on a laptop....

tbh, it looks just like XP, tho the apps have other names of course. One caveat tho, if it does work, it will probably be limited to the same range of resolutions as the internal display, which can, as with my inspiron 1300, be a real dick pain, cos the lowest common res between it's widescreen and a normal 4:3 is pretty fuckin low.

another option is to activate the function key that switches screens using a matchstick, if the key is missing, or a matchstick covered in metal foil if the actual key actuator is gone too. If there is a hole in the circuit board, resort to prayer.

I really don't know what's wrong with the key. It works in normal mode, but the 'Fn' keying for toggling between monitors doesn't. All the other 'Fn' key options work on the keyboard... just the one I need doesn't! Its like the computer is simply refusing to do it... I don't know what's up with it...

hey Cambo. Decent question here:

I got a video converter software that can convert video files to different extensions. But then...

There are so many of them...

.avi .3gp .3g2 .mpg .aac .ac3 .asf .rm .au .mov .flv .vob .amr .swf .wmv

etc. etc.

So which one is the best? Best in video? best in audio?

Best in DVD? Best in VCD? Best in PC?

Pros and cons.

etc. etc.

Indeed!

There is no "best" especially since most of those listed are just mpeg containers.

A good rule of thumb......

Container=avi video codec=xvid mpeg4 audio=mp3

Thanks dude!

Indeed!

Jeffari-al-Texani wrote: They'll all work fine for your gay porn...

i only have one gay porn... it is the one you send me... the one that you appeared on... amateur video shot in your house...

It was disgusting.

Indeed!

Is this telly any good Cambo?

http://www.johnlewis.com/Technology/Televisions/Televisions/Plasma+TV/1377/230440151/Product.aspx

Whats a HDMI socket and why are there two of them? Will it make me Wii games look half-decent? Will i be able to see every blade of grass on the footy?

Is there any point in having a hdtv if you havent got a blu-ray/hddvd/ps3/sky hd,blah blah blah????

Cheers

Aint bad at all, but I am suspicious of plasma in general, they are higher stress devices than ordinary lcd, therefor a bit more faily.

HDMI is the connector format for HD TV's, BlueRay shit etc.

You will need such a source to see much benefit. This TV has a dibber to up-res standard stuff to make it look better, but don't expect much.

Also, it is feckin HUGE so, even HD will look pixekated up close. Standard res will look pretty gash at anything less tha 6 ft I'd imagine.

However, you will be able to see the grass on the footy.

Personally, had I been in charge I'd have specified 50 or 60 frames a second too.

Try playing something back at double speed on a good computer. Pick either a video with nothing that gives speed away, racing cars are good as the camera is steady and the cars just look quicker, OR something that would be in slow motion at normal speed. See how much more vivid and lifelike things are?? (not withstanding anything that gives the game away by looking unatural, because we're cheating to get the framerate, this of course would not be the case were it shot at 50fps in the first place).

why does my lcd telly take ages to come on??? (apart from - it's because it's shit)

King John Honest John wrote: why does my lcd telly take ages to come on??? (apart from - it's because it's shit)

Cack power supply, I bet it's an internal one (you plug mains straight into telly).

Ta for the reply Cambo lad

I'm not bothered to be honest, it's me mum buyin it, an i get to have the old one in me bedroom

You are right though, it's fuckin huge, me mum wont like it, it'll be far too big for the living room.

What's the differnce between plasma tellys and lcd ones i.e. which are better, especially with a telly as big as that one????

How do Ewoks fuck?

Do monkeys farts smell of bananas?

Why not smell your own fart??

Indeed!