So I installed GRUB manually with grub-install /dev/sdb. Now I needed to restore the original Windows 7 MBR so that it didn’t require GRUB to boot it.

The Windows 7 “startup repair” from the installation disc detected the OS but didn’t find any boot problems with it, so I went to the command prompt on the disc.

There are several commands for this. A lot of pages suggest using “bootsect”. However, this did not fix anything. The fact that it was for use on individual partitions was probably a clue on that. Some pages even used “bootcfg” which is for older Windows installs such as XP (it affects your boot.ini), but is still included on the Windows 7 disc to add to the confusion.

The command that did work was:

bootrec /fixmbr

Afterwards, for good measure, I also ran:

bootrec /fixboot

Websites that already offer SMS notifications and links to tracking websites could easily be notified by a courier’s tracking API and send out a SMS accordingly.

This would probably save a fortune in redelivery costs to couriers too.

Just a thought.

To buy a 360 with HDMI, you need to get the most expensive version, the Elite, which is £200. On top of that, it doesn’t play Blu-ray so if you want that (and you will, eventually) add another £130 for a LG BD370, then you later find out how bad the media streaming is on the 360, something which you will probably also want eventually. Things like a complete lack of subtitles and surround sound audio causing the media to error completely rather than even play without sound or down-convert to stereo (on the same codec, AAC, which does work). This means you end up needing an additional piece streaming hardware. I chose the xtreamer for another €99 (£89).

Thats without even having any wireless options.

Total price comes out at about £420, compared to the 120GB PlayStation 3 Slim at £250. That’s almost double the price for the same, or fewer, features.

However, I just bought my first pair of glasses online ever from Glasses Direct and I was quite impressed with it. It definitely beats trying on glasses for hours in the shop under pressure from the assistant, the whole time you can’t actually see any of them because you don’t have your glasses on, particularly when the shop doesn’t have much choice and all you can see are ugly expensive designer brands.

At the moment they even give a free pair of these, which I ended up liking more than the glasses I actually chose.

However, I made a couple of mistakes when buying from there. I’m sharing them here so that others won’t make the same mistakes.

1. Get a recent prescription from your optician. Mine never gave me prescriptions when I was young then I kept the same glasses for something like 10 years, then I switched to contact lenses which just have “-1.50″ written on them. This website asks for more numbers than just that, so make sure you get the right prescription. Unfortunately, I got the wrong prescription in one eye.
2. Check the dimensions of the glasses before you buy. They vary wildly. The wind pair I actually chose is far too big for my head (supposedly 122mm, closer to 150mm) but the free pair I got (supposedly 119mm, closer to 125mm) fits fine

Luckily for me, they accept returns and seem to have an excellent 14 day from postage, no quibble, replace or refund policy on it. They just don’t refund delivery, but I wouldn’t expect them to.

Anyway, didn’t anyone notice that “Terra” is Latin for “Earth” when they started writing this thing? If it was called Terra Nova (new Earth) or something like that I could understand but apparently these aliens live on a planet that just happens to have exactly the same name or something.

I also spent 2 days gutting a garage that has been used for storage of building materials for the last 20 years and making it ready to hold a car.

Even in my own country, so many people can’t pronounce the word “slippery” that the word “slippy” has found its way into dictionaries. Even “slippier” is there. If that word loses any more random syllables because of stupid people, it’s going to be “sly”.

It turns out that if enough people are wrong, they just change what is right.

While I’m talking about this, it should be “10 items or fewer” not “10 items or less”. If you can count it, it’s “fewer”. This assumes that you can count from 0 to 10, though for the people that make these mistakes, that’s quite a wild assumption.

If you are going to speak English, speak English. If you are not going to speak English, call it something else. I suggest saying that you speak “stoopid”.