******* Thread now closed, please see volume 33 ********
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=19476
In this thread you may ask any question for which you need help, advice, suggestions or whatever.
It does not need to be motoring related. In fact, in this thread it should not be.
No politics
No Speeding, speed cameras, traffic calming
No arguments or slanging matches
Nothing which I think is not following the spirit of the thread
Nothing that risks the future of this site (please see the small print for details www.honestjohn.co.uk/credits/index.htm )
Any of the above will be deleted. If the thread becomes difficult to maintain it will simply be removed.
However, as has been said a couple of times, there is a wealth of knowledge in here, much of which is not motoring related, but most of which is useful.
This is Volume 32. Previous Volumes will not be deleted,
A list of previous volumes can be found here:-
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=18847
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I've been trying to sell my house for a couple of months and earlier this week instructed a new estate agent,#2, as sole agent. The previous (sole) estate agent,#1, was still sending clients for viewings until last weekend though the official contract period had expired before Xmas and I hadn't renewed. I "de-instructed" #1, verbally and in writing, when I signed up with #2 and #2 is fully aware of the whole situation.
Yesterday #1 calls and says that one of their clients that viewed last weekend wants a second viewing this weekend.
My query is in the event that #1's client do make an offer (wishful thinking on my part?!), where do I and the agents stand?
Thanks in advance,
Chad.
P.S. I would have asked #2 initially but with Estate agent's reputation, I thought it may be better to get an unbiased view first!
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Chad,
Had a near identical circumstance a few years back...except the cash looker who'd arrived via #1 offered full price 30mins after viewing.
We were very close to getting two bills. Our solicitors advised telling both agents to sort it out between themselves and come back to me.
They did, it worked out OK.
M.M
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Thanks M.M, in the event of an offer I'll take advise my Solicitor and see what happens. Hopefully this will be the last viewing with #1 .....
Cheers,
Chad.
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Be very very carefull. We were in a very similar situation 6 years ago and ended up with a choice of paying two agents bills or fighting the first agent in court. We bit the bullet and paid two fees, so be warned!
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Why was Growlette's Happy Chinese New Year post dismissed so cavalierly?
Of course it has nothing to do with motoring but that didn't stop a whole swag of Happy Christmas and Happy New Year wishes in similar vein from other posters.
China represents one third of humanity on this planet and she just wanted to share her feelings.
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Why was Growlette's Happy Chinese New Year post dismissed so cavalierly? Of course it has nothing to do with motoring....
Yep, that'll be the reason then.
but that didn't stop a whole swag of Happy Christmas and Happy New Year wishes in similar vein from other posters.
That's because the majority of this group celebrate them on the 25 Dec and the 1st Jan.
China represents one third of humanity on this planet
But China doesn't represent one third of the subscribers and lurkers to this forum.
and she just wanted to share her feelings.
As the message only got write locked and not deleted, she has managed to share her feelings with the rest of the group.
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DD, BR Moderator.
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>> Why was Growlette's Happy Chinese New Year post dismissed so cavalierly?
my dad has a photographic memory.
he recalls near identical thread by growlette last year. see
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=10...4
it got a very different response!!!
respondents included hj, mark and dd.
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my dad has a photographic memory. he recalls near identical thread by growlette last year. it got a very different response!!! respondents included hj, mark and dd.
Times change. Besides I wasn't a moderator back then ;o)
I also forgot to mention in my earlier post that questions relating to how this site is moderated should be addressed to mailto:moderators@honestjohn.co.uk and not discussed in the forum.
Thankyou. DD, BR Moderator.
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Following on from IHAQ, Vol 31,
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=19213&...e
I believe there is case law that indicates that mere possession of a TV set indicates that you should have a TV licence.
They certainly do not have to catch you receving a signal in order to take you to court. Once taken to court, most people give up as you can plead guilty in absentia and the effort of attendance is too great for most people for the sake of £116 fine.
Finally, if you want to find out more about your household insurance, read the policy. Many policies are different, but they are generally clearly written. Most require the householder to shut & lock all doors & downstairs/accessible windows (except if you are asleep in that room) prior to retiring for the night or going out.
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"They certainly do not have to catch you receving a signal in order to take you to court. Once taken to court, most people give up as you can plead guilty in absentia and the effort of attendance is too great for most people for the sake of £116 fine."
Apropos of absolutely nothing,
Whilst looking at the prison statistics for that other thread noticed that in 2002 two people went to jail for TV licence offences.
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I missed this (to me) very interesting correspondence as I was away. We have not had TV for 11 years now, ans I'm interested to see that a number of BRs don't either - such good taste! We do watch videos, however, and until recently I have borrowed from work a piece of kit which only plays videos. However it's now very old and unreliable, and the screen is very small, so at Christmas I bought a new TV/video combi on the express understanding that, before we took delivery, the tuner, which I understand is the part that receives TV, would be disabled. So we now have this machine which, to all intents and purposes, looks like a TV, sitting in our house.
Periodically we receive letters from the TVLA noting that there is no currect TV licence for our address, and threatening a visit from an inspector. It'll be interesting to see what happens when/if someone actually comes round...
Oh, and by the way, we also have a letter from the supplier confirming that the "RF tuner is disabled".
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I can`t see the fact the tuner is disabled is going to make any difference.you still have a tuner what TVLA will say is tomorrow you could have it reconnected.
A better option would have been to buy an rgb only set.
not easy to find but security firms do sell them.
In case you didnt know when buying a new TV the company you bought it from has to inform TVLA.If you had bought second hand (not a good idea I know)they would not know untill they came round ie detector van.
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I can`t see the fact the tuner is disabled is going to make any difference.
It won't. Reason being you can still use the video player to watch programs that someone else has recorded from any of the broadcasting channels.
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I don`t think I said that.what i did say was any unit that has a receiver (forgive spelling) whether connected or not.Is able to.the fact that a person has a signed note to say the tuner is disconnected is neither here nor there.it still has a receiver I stand corrected if wrong but doubt it.?
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afternoon all,
can anybody think of a fair way of calculating the cost of electricity used through a double power socket, that has been used for operating a t.v set,stereo unit,lamp,and occasional vacuum cleaner use, over a period of 15 years?.
billy.
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Billy25,
Would it be something along the lines of .....
1. Fnd the power consumption of the appliance - T.V. stereo etc.
2. Work out how long each appliance is "on" for in say a week, the calculate for 15 years.
3. Work out how many Kwh you have consumed and multiply by the unit price.
I'm not sure exactly but the price of leccy has probably changed considerably in the last 15 years so you may need to factor that in too.
Chad.
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unfortunately chad, the calculation can not be that detailed, as along with the electricity costs fluctuating, so have the power ratings of the appliances used.
i have suggested a figure of £1500, as my annual bill is around £400p.a, and i estimate that 25%of my usage is through my corresponding socket.
(£100 x 15 = £1500)
neibough disagrees, and has offered £300. i have rejected.
i've suggested that we use the original calc, using his annual bill, but he refuses.
so, can anyone think of a fair way to resolve this prob? please.
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neibough disagrees, and has offered £300. i have rejected. i've suggested that we use the original calc, using his annual bill, but he refuses. so, can anyone think of a fair way to resolve this prob? please.
What are you saying? Has your neighbour been using a double socket in your house without you knowing? Isn't that theft?
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Maybe it's a semi-detached socket :-)
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neibough disagrees, and has offered £300. i have rejected. i've suggested that we use the original calc, using his annual bill, but he refuses. so, can anyone think of a fair way to resolve this prob? please.
I'm sure that this is a very serious subject for you, and I just wish that I could help. Unfortunately, all I can say is that (probably along with most other Backroomers) I'm all agog as to how your neighbour got access to your electricity supply. Did he perchance drill a hole through the party wall and tap into the back of the aforementioned double socket?
--
L'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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virtually hit the nail on the head there L'escargot!
it's a long tale! which i inadvertently stumbled upon whilst changing socket fascia's following our living room re-furbishment.
neighbour has provided an explanation of how it came to be, which i accept was done in good faith and for a good reason at the time, but i can't accept that they have conveniently forgotten about it for 15 years!.
we have been good friends for as long as i've lived here, and i would rather try to "sort" a reasonable settlement out ourselves without resorting to getting the authorities involved if possible, but we can't as yet decide what would be a fair recompense, and i don't feel that i can just say "o.k forget it".
hence my original query.
billy
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virtually hit the nail on the head there L'escargot! it's a long tale! which i inadvertently stumbled upon whilst changing socket fascia's following our living room re-furbishment. neighbour has provided an explanation of how it came to be, which i accept was done in good faith and for a good reason at the time, but i can't accept that they have conveniently forgotten about it for 15 years!. we have been good friends for as long as i've lived here, and i would rather try to "sort" a reasonable settlement out ourselves without resorting to getting the authorities involved if possible, but we can't as yet decide what would be a fair recompense, and i don't feel that i can just say "o.k forget it". hence my original query. billy
Why don't you just power your TV of his socket for the next 15 years and call it quits :)
Seriously, some figures on KWH consumption based on their television viewing should be a good way to work it.
I suspect you're talking around 7 to 10 pence per hour with a telly.
£300 for 15 years equals £20 a year, which I think is a little low.
£1500 for 15 years is £100 per year, which is probably about a fith of your total electricity consumtion.. hmmm.
The other way to do it is to see how your bills have changed since you found and rectified the problem, then suggest the difference factored up for the 15 years.
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The appliance that will have been used most is probably the TV. Checking the 2 handiest portables, they are rated at less than 60 watts - say 100w for a big TV. That puts the cost at arounf 0.7p/hour at current prices, or for 50 hours viewing a week and assuming he's a tellyaddict, for 15 years, £273.
The vac would be about 1200w, or maybe 10p an hour but 15 minutes a week adds up to about £20 over 15 years.
The audio system would usually consume about the same as the TV, and would be used alternately rather than simultaneously, so can we ignore that?
The toatl of £293 is uncannily near £300 - and I didn't start with the answer and work back!
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afternoon all,
just to finish this query off!!
having slept on it for a couple of nights (to let indignation and temper wane) had a sensible discussion with neighbour this afternoon, in which we both agreed on £600 as fair recompense.
so peacefully endeth the saga of the "spurious spur", with no ill-feelings between parties, all in all, a good result.
billy.
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After it became known that there were unstable headstones in a local church cemetary, the Town Clerk reported in our local paper that "there was a Topple Tester machine which applies pressure to a headstone and indicates if it has failed the test".
Has anyone heard of such a machine?
(The date of the paper was 21st January, not 1st April!)
--
L'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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Would you beleive it -
www.pearsonpanke.demon.co.uk/topple.htm
--
Bora - what Bora ?
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As you say somewhat unbelievable but true - check this out
www.hse.gov.uk/lau/lacs/23-18.htm
Section 16 covers testing - apparently there is more than one way (other than as good push presumably)
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I've finally managed to successfully copy an audio CD ~ by using CloneCD (from Slysoft Inc.) on a 21 day free trial, copying onto blank audio CDs namely Maxell CD-Rmusic. However, once written, it is not possible to erase these CDs, i.e. you can only use them for copying onto once. Do any blank audio CDs exist which are capable of being subsequently erased?
--
L'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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CDRW's will fit the bill, but their use requires different techniques and these need studying before use.
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CDRW will do anything a cdr will do.Difference is cdrw can be
erased and written to again & again.
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CDRW will do anything a cdr will do.Difference is cdrw can be erased and written to again & again.
Trouble is, unless your audio equipment is very modern (less than a couple yrs old), you'll find it near on impossible to get a CDRW to play back music that has been recorded onto it.
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Yes, foolishly when I bought a DVD player a couple of years ago I din't check compatability! The **** thing will only play prerecorded DVDs and cost a lot of dosh. I saw in a local supermarket recently, a DVD player which plays CDR, CDRW,Picture CD and just about anything else you can think of, for the sale offer price of 69 Euros!
DOH :(
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As I recall music cdr are no different to the standard cdr.
apart from the price ie these music cdr had an extra percentage
of price added to them to make up for copyright not collected by buying the record.The format is still the same.as for a cd player.fair enough I got that wrong cdrw won`t so sorry should not have said that.Although some older players have been known to ie philips teac
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I've finally managed to successfully copy an audio CD ~ by using CloneCD (from Slysoft Inc.) on a 21 day free trial, copying onto blank audio CDs namely Maxell CD-Rmusic.
I'm not familiar with Maxell CDs, but are you sure you're using the right kind of disc? I'd have thought any blank CD with 'music' in the name would be designed for use with a domestic CD recorder rather than the CD rewriter on a PC.
I believe the only real difference between data CDRs and blank music CDs is that the latter are more expensive and, to force you to buy them, domestic CD recorders are designed not to work with ordinary CD-Rs.
Audio CDs created on a PC using data CDRs will still play on the majority of modern CD players.
Ordinary CDRs are so cheap (typically 40p with a jewel case if you buy branded ones, even less if you get unbranded ones without cases) that it's hardly worth the bother of re-using old CDRWs.
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Well, experts, here is a novice question!
I have downloaded (and unusally for me, paid for!) the Linux distribution "Mepis", contained on 2 CDs worth of data. The downloads arrived as Win RAR compressed files, which I have unpacked into their own separate folders, but not changed in any other way.
Now the next step is to burn to 2 CDs as ISO images. I have Nero installed - how do I burn as ISO images, only having burnt audio & video data before - and what the heck IS an ISO image?
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Presumably the files are currently ISO images (with filenames of the form *.iso)?
If so it's just a matter of going into Nero and selecting File - Burn Image. You then browse to the file and click the icon you normally use to burn a disc.
An ISO file is an image of a CD. Simple as that. As far as I know, the 'ISO' comes from ISO 9660, a common format for CDs.
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Not as far as I can see, Welliesorter!
There is a mixture of files. A Linux file - no extension apparent, a boot floppy.sh, rawrite2 - no extension, and HTML document, an MS Dos batch file, read me text document(no help!) an MK boot floppy, and an MK test floppy.sh
I cannot see how,once written to CD the PC will boot into Mepis Linux from this, as it is supposed to do!
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Not as far as I can see, Welliesorter!
There is a mixture of files. A Linux file - no extension apparent, a boot floppy.sh, rawrite2
If you have an assortment of files, you wouldn't want to turn these into ISO images yourself. If these are the installation files you'd presumably just create a bootable CD with them (sorry, no idea how to do this if that's what you need to do). Maybe these files are intended for some installation method other than using a CD.
Are you sure you've downloaded the correct files? I've looked on a Mepis download site and can see several files with the .iso extension. What extension did the files you downloaded have?
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Just checked, The files as seen on the Mepis site were indeed ISO, but they arrived as WIN RAR!
I think a Q on the Mepis forum is indicated!
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Just checked, The files as seen on the Mepis site were indeed ISO, but they arrived as WIN RAR!
Maybe ISO files are associated with WIN RAR on your PC. This would make sense because a disc image contains files that can be extracted in the same way as a zip file. What extension did they have after you downloaded them?
The file extensions may not have been visible because by default Windows hides these. I find this very annoying. You can correct this by going into Tools - Folder Options - View and unticking 'Hide extensions for known file types' in My Computer/Windows Explorer.
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Maybe ISO files are associated with WIN RAR on your PC.
Just checked with the WinRAR web site and it does indeed extract ISO images which is most definitely not what you want to do.
Go back to the original files you downloaded and see if they do have an .iso extension. Unless you made a conscious effort to rename them, I don't see why files that started off as ISOs wouldn't remain so once you've downloaded them. If so, burn them with Nero and Bob's your uncle.
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I think you're right: they'll know. By the way the second cd contains extra packages that you can install after you have a working system. But in fact everything you should need (Office, graphics, multimedia, browsers etc.) is on the first disk. And the package manager points you to the vast Debian Linux repositories. The live cd bit is very, very clever and hardware detection is pretty good in my experience--all the drivers should be in there already. It's usually very old (5 years +), very cutting edge (last week), or very cheap peripheral hardware that lets you down with Linux, but ain't that the way? And somebody somewhere usually has an answer.
Enjoy.
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Yes, You ARE right WinRAR has a stranglehold!
I had a reply on the Mepis forum which said just that. It seems in Nero, you can just select File|burn as image and it does so so that's my job for tomorrow - if SWMBO will let me hog the PC for a while!
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As far as I am aware it a standard for recording.as for using Nero I found it good to record iso direct to disc
without altering config.I could be wrong but I have not had a prob.as the trial run out I don`t use it now.I use a different program.
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My son-in-law foolishly bought 100 shares in QXL Ricardo a couple of years back when they were £5.00 per share, and after the recent surge in price over the last few days (approx £5.80) wanted to sell them today.
When my daughter, (who is expecting in 6 weeks and could really use this money), spoke to the registrar today, she was told that the company held a "special meeting in March 2003", at which it was agreed that all share holdings of less than 1000 shares had been cancelled and their holding was invalid.
This seems to me to be little short of daylight robbery and I was wondering if anybody knows who I can contact to get some redress.???
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My son-in-law foolishly bought 100 shares in QXL Ricardo a couple of years back when they were £5.00 per share, and after the recent surge in price over the last few days (approx £5.80) wanted to sell them today.
you said it "foolishly". was he not aware that
Proposed consolidation of the Company?s share capital
An Extraordinary General Meeting of the Company is to be held at 10.00 am on Friday 28 March 2003 at which a resolution regarding the Consolidation is to be put to Shareholders.
The Company proposes to consolidate every 1,000 existing Ordinary Shares into one New Ordinary Share.
which means his 100 shares became 0.1 shares.
It is proposed that any fractional entitlements to New Ordinary Shares will be aggregated and sold for the best price reasonably obtainable. A proportion of the proceeds of sale (net of all costs and expenses) will be paid to each Shareholder who would have been entitled to the fraction unless the net proceeds are less than £3 per entitled Shareholder, in which case the net proceeds will be retained for the benefit of the Company.
so his holding is zilch!! The price today for the old unconsolidated shares is £5.75 divided by 1000, that is less than 0.6p share. therefore 100 old shares total value is 57.5 pence before dealing costs !!
uk.finance.yahoo.com/q?s=QXL.L&d=c&k=c1&a=v&p=s&t=...l
When my daughter, (who is expecting in 6 weeks and could really use this money),
best wishes to her and the new addition to the family.
This seems to me to be little short of daylight robbery and I was wondering if anybody knows who I can contact to get some redress.???
it is all perfectly legal and above board. think of it as a form of liquidation in all but name. harsh reality of high risk technology market. your son in law got off lightly compared to thise who invested £20,000 in Marconi who have been left with warrants worth a total of £10 at today's price !!
gamble in stock markets only if you can afford to lose your money.
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Why so? Stock markets are a gamble, and just like other forms of gambing, there will be winners and losers.
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I have Photoshop v7 on my laptop, and the PCs at uni have v5.5 and v6. My work is A3 size so I've got to take it to uni to print, but don't know if there will be a problem, like there is when you try and get Word 97 to open a Word 2000 doc or Illustrator 9 to open an Illustrator 10 file.
Normally there is an option to save as an earlier version, but I can't see this in Photoshop - is it there?
At the moment I've just flattened the image (it's a leaflet) and saved it as a PSD but I don't want a panic if I get there tomorrow and the PCs at uni wont open it.
Will photoshop 6 open a photoshop 7 file, or would I be better converting it to a PDF? If so, can someone guide me how to do that? (I've got Adobe Acrobat 5, which I assume is what I need to do that)
Apologies if this is a really basic question, but I've had a really bad lecturer this semester and have had to teach myself!
Thank you!
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The answer probably depends on the file sizes, the quality of the images and the method you're going to use to move them from one PC to another.
If they're not too big, try a variety of file formats to be on the safe side. Most programs can open such files as .bmp, .png, and .gif. Avoid jpeg because it uses lossy compression and you'll lose some quality.
If you save as pdf (probably a good choice for a leaflet), take a careful look at the options when you save the file as these will determine the quality of the output. You need Acrobat proper (very expensive) rather than Acrobat reader to create them. I'm not sure if Photoshop has the ability to export as a pdf. It's an Adobe product so it might.
No doubt someone with knowledge of Photoshop will be able to comment on file compatibility between versions.
You might like to experiment with Irfanview from www.irfanview.com . It can open and convert between different image formats and the program is small enough to fit on a floppy disk.
(I'm starting to wonder if I'm suggesting overly complicated solutions to fairly simple problems)
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THanks Welliesorter. It is Acrobat proper that I've got (ask no questions, but most students have got the full versions of all these things...) so I'll have a play with that.
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An image saved in V7 will work almost perfectly on V6 and pretty well on V5.5 - if it can't handle something (eg. a special type of layer) it'll either discard it or rasterize it. If you've flattened the image then it'll load on more or less any version of Photoshop as it becomes a single layer with no special facilities needed. You may get a message about whether or not to use the embedded colourspace, but it's best to tell it not to colour-manage and just tweak the image yourself before going to print if necessary.
If you want to be absolutely certain, it'll be worth saving a few versions of the file - you can get away with saving most images as JPEG files with around 70-80% quality (or about 8-9 out of 12 on Photoshop) and you really won't notice the difference unless your image has very sharp contrasting edges and/or huge areas of flat colour. TIF will work well, as this uses JPEG compression. Avoid BMP like the plague as it creates massive files / has no benefits whatsoever / Apple Macs hate it, and GIF & PNG aren't really suitable for large scale work. I have hopes for PNG (it's great in games programming and video editing if you want to use alpha transparency) but it's just not taking off in the way I'd hoped. We shall see.
Good luck with the project :)
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Thanks - I uploaded loads of versions to some web space and it all downloaded ok this morning, and once the lovely IT people had sorted the printer it was printed with minutes to spare this afternoon!
I intend to sleep for days and days after all the exams and hassle this week!
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PoloGirl
the PSD format is proprietary (sp?) to Adobe, and it could be that V7 is not backwardly compatible with V5, though that is unlikely
Other formats, such as tiff or jpg, comply with industry standard. and you should therefore be able to use any image processing program to open them - Photoshop, PaintShopPro, MSPaint, etc,etc.
Unless you are forced by either extreme quality requirements or course rules, I'd suggest JPG (also called/described as JPEG) as being the commonest and most portable
PDF files are primarily for 'documents' rather than images - It stands, if I remember, for 'portable document format/file' and is meant to make sure that the document comes out looking as the author intended, rather than be ovewritten by the default page sizes and fonts of whatever maching it was viewed on.
hope this helps - feel free to ask more
--
Bora - what Bora ?
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Does anyone on the forum know how to use Borland J Builder or have any knowledge of designing Java applets?
I\'ve got one to do for a uni assignment and need *urgent* help or it just isn\'t going to get finished!
Please!!!
Blue
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I'm shortly having a sycamore tree (19" dimeter trunk) felled. I'm confident that I can kill the remaining stump, using Vitax SBK mixed with old engine oil, but I think that this will result in the stump rotting and that's not what I want to happen. (I'm going to attach a fence post to the middle of the top of the stump using a Metpost bolt-on post support.)
Is there any method of preventing re-growth that doesn't lead to the stump rotting? I know from past experience that if I don't kill the stump, I will get a veritable thicket of suckers.
And before I get told off for having a healthy tree felled, can I just state that round here sycamore trees grow like weeds!
--
L'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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You're going to have trouble stopping it rotting in the long run, especially if the stump is cut horizontally as water won't run off. The only way I can think of is that you liberally smother it in preservative every year for a few years. But even then it'll rot from below in time. One other thing, have you checked there is no preservation order on this mature tree? You'd be surprised how many are protected and the fines are significant if you don't have permission to fell them: a near neighbour of mine made the mistake of cutting down a healthy mature chestnut--like weeds round here--and it cost him £10,000 including the legal costs for his failed appeal.
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For a bit extra you can get the stump removed, or do it yourself by literally digging around the roots at around 2 ft radius or so and cutting them as you come across them (unless it has a tap root, I don't know).
One other option is not to kill the stump and regularly trim it.
If you want to kill it properly, you should drill several holes in the top of the stump with a 20 mm drill and then apply the appropriate killer compound.
Then to prevent rotting I would suggest liberal application of 50 50 creosote and old engine oil mixture.
Hugo
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>>Oneother thing, have you checked there is no preservation order on this mature tree? You'd be surprised how many are protected and the fines are significant if you don't have permission to fell them: a near neighbour of mine made the mistake of cutting down a healthy mature chestnut--like weeds round here--and it cost him £10,000 including the legal costs for his failed appeal.
I have already checked with the District Council and they confirmed that the tree does not have a preservation order on it. In any case, and as I said, sycamores grow like weeds round here ~ there are so many that it would ludicrous to want to preserve a single specimen. However, thanks for your concern.
--
L'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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Good to hear that's ok. They tend to preserve them in groups if they can apparently, so one might be preserved under a blanket order. We've had to have a couple of big trees felled in our tenure here and we've been lucky with preservation orders. Still I reckon if you move to an area with trees, expect there to be trees there: the neighbour with the chestnut moved in a few years ago and complains bitterly about the trees--Duh!
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To ensure a tree stump does not regrow, bare back enough soil to expose the outer roots and then hammer in PLENTY of copper nails. The tree will not die overnight but approx within 3 years.
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At the back of our house there is a patch of land (about 0.05 of an acre), which we would like to buy for a reasonable price.
However there are a number of issues here.
The land was originally part of the property that we now own. I understand that the husband and wife walled it off and transferred it to his son (from a previous marriage), whose name appears in the title (we did a Land registry search on the internet). I understand that the Husband and Wife were facing bankrupcy at the time.
The husband applied for planning permission to build on it and was turned down for a number of reasons, including a septic tank, access problems, privacy etc. A subsequent appeal to the sectrety of state was also turned down on the same grounds.
Almost 3 years ago the husband died suddenly without a will. We have approached his widow a couple of times and have been told that his estate is still in probate. There has been a long standing arguement between his widow and his son WRT the estate.
However, as the name that appears on the title at the LR is that of his son, does that mean that his son is the legal owner and is therefore able to sell it?
In addition our elderly neigbours have right of access to maintain their septic tank in he corner, and there is a lean to shed built out of timber, steel, ally and asbestos roofing sheets, which is a severely dangerours condition, and would kill or severely injure anyone it fell onto, and needs demolishing. it is approx 40 ft long by 15 ft wide.
Can our neigbours (with our support) insist that their right of access is made safe, and if so, what acts and legislation protect their rights?
I would hope that in the event of them being required to demolish this structure, that they would see the advantages in simply selling the land to me, then I could demolish it.
Any answers would be appreciated.
Thanks
Hugo
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first, excuse bluntness. I am not dissing you.
The shed is nothing to do with you. Tread carefully least your (perceived) ulterior motive is spotted.
However your neighbour may be able to force the demolition of the outbuilding under the "access to neighbouring land act 1992" (search on google for the act on the govt website). It really does depend whether the shed poses a risk in accessing and maintaining the septic tank.
Or of course contact your local council. They will have some expertise in removing dangerous structure on vacant land.
HTH
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Thanks Mare
The shed issue is raised out of concern for my elderly neigbours.
However, the main question is the ownership of the land. The Son and the widow of the deceased (son's step mother) are not talking and the son has moved away. I believe I have an address for him.
The title appears in the son's name but his father's widow seems of the opinion that it was part of the deceased's estate.
Does the land legally belong to the son or the estate?
Hugo
"Forever indebted to experience of others"
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Hugo,
There is a detached house with 4ac land not so far from us in almost exactly the same circumstances. Left abandoned for a couple of years now since the last owner died. You should see the interest from locals who keep trying to think of ways to "get it"!
Isn't there some odd law where you could take over maintaining this land and use it as your own. Then if that had been unopposed for a period (12yrs?) you could apply to the Land Registry for a type of restricted ownership...which would them become full ownership if there was no other claim in another period of x yrs.
M.M
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M.M.
There is such a law.
I believe you can start the process after 12 years if you have been using the land as your own, then after another 3 years you claim ownership outright.
I have an everyday law manual which I can consult. Seems your best bet is to occupy that land, even if you use it as a place to keep animals or cars etc.
Then, provided you don't actually have to break any criminal law, gain entry into the house and store things in it for good measure.
A similar thing happened in our village. A piece of land was bout to be developed, when the original owners came back from abroad and contested ownership. Assumed owners were not up for the fight obviously and backed away. Now the land is unused. Good job really as it lies in a flood plane.
The question is, if someone's name appears on the title, are they the legal owner?
Hugo
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Hugo
Sorry for the delay in responding.
i'm no lawyer, but i would have thought that the owner of the land is the person who holds title i.e. the name on the deeds. Best check this out though with someone who does know.
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I have recently installed two telephone extension sockets. One of them is a double, into which is plugged a phone and my computer. Every so often this phone emits a little chirp, even when the computer is switched off. What, if anything, have I done anything wrong?
--
L'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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It's possible this is an automatic line test from the exchange and you just happen to have plugged in a phone that responds audibly to it. When I used a dial-up modem the test signal was enough to wake up the computer and switch it on if it wasn't actually unplugged. I shouldn't worry about it: I think you can have three standard phones plugged into one line with no problem.
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It's possible this is an automatic line test from the exchange and you just happen to have plugged in a phone that responds audibly to it.
It probably is this if it happens at more or less the same time every day, usually late at night. If so, ring BT and get them to test the line. You'll probably hear the same noise while they're testing it. If it is line testing they can send you a suppressor (it looks a bit like a doubler but with only one outlet) to stop it happening.
If the times are completely random, and it happens more than once per day, look for faulty extension wiring.
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Have you use 3 wires or just 2 when you put the extension in. Peter
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Have you use 3 wires or just 2 when you put the extension in. Peter
>>
"Two pairs" of single strand wire, thus:-
Terminal 2 ~ Blue with white band
Terminal 3 ~ Orange with white band
Terminal 4 ~ White with orange band
Terminal 5 ~ White with blue band
The phone works and rings in a normal manner.
The only thing I'm now not totally happy about is that in the loft I have (and it seemed like a good idea at the time, in the interests of convenience) used a double socket (which has an incoming cable from my master socket) and into which (i.e. into said double socket) is plugged the cables to the two extension sockets. I've subsequently been told by my local electronics shop that telephone plugs are intended to be used with multi-strand cable and that they do not give a 100% reliable connection when used with single strand cable.
I'm off to B&Q this afternoon to get a proper junction box with which to replace the aforementioned double socket in the loft, assuming that they sell them.
--
L'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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L'escargot
Here's a link to a site that tells you all you need to know about BT telephone wiring. Found it a few years ago and has been useful for installing extra sockets, etc. Also a fault finding section.
Hope this helps: www.wppltd.demon.co.uk/WPP/Wiring/UK_telephone/uk_...l
Charles
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Following 'how to heat a log cabin (office)' thread, the next stage is telephones. The cabin is about 150 feet from the house, and I'm wondering if wireless phones will work, and if you can have (say) two lines from the same unit (and single phone number) so two people can use the phone at the same time.
Thanks,
Stu
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Wireless phones should work but get a digital (DECT) type unless you want all the local scanners to listen to your calls.
Don't know about the two lines - maybe, but doubt it, esp same number.
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The cabin is about 150 feet from the house, and I'm wondering if wireless phones will work,
The range of a digital cordless phone is 300m in ideal conditions so you should be OK. You can also buy wireless phone extension sockets that work in the same way as a cordless phone. Maplins have an alternative method of doing this: tinyurl.com/2sury .
you can have (say) two lines from the same unit (and single phone number) so two people can use the phone at the same time.
Two lines with one number? Yes, it's called a by-pass line. When line 1 is busy the phone on line 2 rings. I'm not entirely sure what equipment you'd need to use the two lines on one unit. A quick Google finds 111.mobiles.co.uk/dect-dectsys-2200.html . I've no idea whether this is any good or suits your needs but it does demonstrate that the type of thing you're likely to want is available. You might also consider a small switch.
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I use a DECT cordless phone with a nominal range of 250m in my cabin/office which is 30m from the house. It works ok, but if the battery is slightly off charge you get clicks and glitches. Not enough to disrupt a conversation but annoying. The antenna is in a window with a direct line of sight to the cabin, but still the double glazing and the cabin's insulation must be degrading the signal quite a bit, and the weather seems to affect it too. I also use a wireless network for my computing and that is fine using the new 54g standard (450m range). What I'm saying is you should test it before committing to it because 150 feet through (effectively) two walls may be too far for comfort. Phones with extending aerials may be better.
Having said all that moving to the bottom of the garden was the best thing I could have done. It's amazing how big our house is now there isn't an office in it.
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ChrisR,
I use a wireless (airport card) in my Mac, for broadband connection via a wireless router. However the signal isn't strong enough to reach the bottom of the garden (what is 54g standard which you mention?). Someone has mentioned a "Wireless High-Gain Antenna"...anyone know if these are the answer?
Stu.
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Brill
54g is the new standard, replacing 11b, which is what the Mac Airport standard has been up to now. Basically it offers 54Mbps rather than 11Mbps, but a side effect is that apparently the signal doesn't degrade so much over distances. You can get an antenna to boost the broadcast signal but theoretically a decent receiver can pick up reliable signals many kilometres away as long as it has line of sight (security risk? what security risk?). I'm currently using a basic 11b transmitter but am about to have delivered a 54g access point (to connect to my router) and PC card. This should help immensely. I'd be surprised if Apple haven't begin selling 54g standard kit by now.
Take a look at this site and especially its forum on wireless networking. Somebody on there will know more than I do: www.broadbandreports.com/
Chris
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I should add that I tried the 54g kit before I bought into it--borrowed a Netgear wireless router from a mate--and it was much better than my own 11b Belkin thingumajig that runs on USB.
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Brill I just remembered something I read a while back that might interest you. Most of the major networking hardware manufacturers make/made kit to provide a home network over domestic power cables: you plug a gizmo into the mains socket for your modem/router and another where you want your client computer and that's it. Take a look at this from 2002:
www.nwfusion.com/net.worker/reviews/2002/0909netwo...l
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"but theoretically a decent receiver can pick up reliable signals many kilometres away as long as it has line of sight"
Theory is great, but in practise this would be very hard to realise. Correct, - line of sight would be required, which also means NO RAIN. Plus directional aerials of high gain with low loss connections would be required.
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A friend of mine was recently explaining (with much pride) to her 5 year old grand-daughter how much fun her late husband had been, adding that "he was a gay old dog". Her grand-daughter (who was 5 remember, yes 5!) replied, with a mixture of sympathy and disgust, "Oh Grandma, he wasn't was he?".
What is the world coming to?
--
L'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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What is the world coming to?
Reminds me of the time, many years ago, when I was ill in bed and squirming with embarrassment on hearing my dear old mum saying "he can't make it today, he's feeling a little queer".
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I suspect it may be too late for this one, but for future reference I'd appreciate some advice on this:
I bought a digital camera at a computer fair in November. It was advertised as being 1.3MP and Smartmedia compatible. It did indeed take 1.3MP pictures in normal circumstances, but when using the flash it would only expose half the image. On making enquiries with the retailer I was told that it was in fact only a 0.3MP camera that interpolated to 1.3MP but this did not work when using the flash mode. Their view was 'call it a design fault if you will'. Of course I insisted in a refund but also notified them that I would struggle to get to another fair to return it in the near future as the timing is bad for me. I offered to post it to them if they would cover the postage cost but they refused this.
I finally managed to get back to one of the fairs last Sunday and while they were happy to refund me, they insisted on charging a 12.5% 'restocking' fee as they would have to pay that much to their supplier. They did say that if I'd returned it within 7 days they would have waived it. Despite pointing out that it took them more than this to send me a working driver CD for the camera and that I'd notified them I could not get it back to them easily they insisted so I ended up just accepting this as easier than going away and having to go back to another fair after having consulted trading standards etc.
So, basically, the question is, are they allowed to do what they did? Can they charge for a refund on a faulty unit and is the time issue a genuine excuse despite my notifying them in good time? They did offer an exchange but as I pointed out, if it's a design fault then that's no use to me.
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How much did this camera cost Steve ?
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Not a right lot to be honest - I think it was £30. I should have twigged there and then TBH as while this is expensive for a VGA camera, it's cheap even for a 1.3MP one.
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My Philips DVDRW880 recorder has just started giving the error message: "Disc contains unknown data" when I put in a disc with a previously good recording. Has anyone else had this problem and what was the outcome please?
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Godfrey, it sounds like the laser lens might have some carp on it. Have you tried a DVD cleaning disc at all?
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I've finally registered with ebay and there are a couple of things I'd like to buy but I have a few questions for those of you who use ebay:
1. What's the best way to pay
The more I find out about 'paypal' the less I like it so I don't think it's for me. However if I pay via a cheque then doesn't that mean the seller has my bank account details - sort code/acc # - as well as my address (so they can send me the goods) I don't like the idea of some stranger having access to all of this. It sounds as though it would alllow the seller to commit identity fraud.
2. Avoiding being ripped-off
What's to stop me paying for something and then not receiving the goods or the goods not being as described?
thanks!
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We have bought and sold a fair amount of "stuff" on eBay - mostly ceramics as SWMBO used to deal & stand at Antiques Fairs.
We accepted payment by credit card (each significant part of the card details sent in two or three separate mails) and wherever possible made payments in the same manner. In 4/5 years of dealing we never had a problem in any way at all. We have also used Paypal, but to BUY only and in fact still use it for purchase of electronically delivered items such as the Linux distro I downloaded the other day. I would prefer not to collect payments via Paypal as the charges are not inconsiderable!
If you are a SELLER and have a credit card merchant account, you are not allowed to charge a card fee if you list on eBay.com, as such fees are illegal in California. Credit card fees are legal in UK and as far as I know are still allowable on eBay.co.uk although much resented by purchasers,especially Americans who are not used to the concept.The problem of being ripped off is more difficult to resolve. The vast majority of sellers are honest people who describe their items with care. Never buy an item which does not have very clear photographs. Email the seller through the eBay ask the seller a question facility and make sure that specific assurances are given regarding any points which are important to you in relation to the merchandise you are considering. The feedback system is the main source of information about other purchaser?s dealings with your seller and should always be studied before bidding. Beware of a lowish feedback number gained by selling cheap items only, if your proposed purchase is costly. Feedback padding is not unknown! It is not necessarily a minefield out there. Take sensible precautions and I am sure you will enjoy using eBay.
Roger.
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Martin, you may wish to view this site before you decide.
tinyurl.com/uggq
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I have bought but never sold on Ebay. I always send a personal cheque and don't worry about the seller knowing my address. My decision whether or not to bid and possibly buy are governed by the feedback that the seller has. Anything over 99% guarantees my interest. Luckily I have always been treated with courtesy and honesty, even to the extent of the seller despatching goods before my cheque has cleared, but I accept that things can go wrong. Have a read of the Ebay small print to get an idea of how they can help if things go awry. Above all, be optimistic; Ebay (and any other buyer/seller relationship) works because there is supply and demand and a willingness to trade. And as with any other auction, stick to your ceiling price and don't get "auction frenzy". I have seen some goods reach above shop price for second-hand stuff. And don't forget the carriage costs when calculating your ceiling.
Best of luck.
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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My decision whether or not to bid and possibly buy are governed by the feedback that the seller has. Anything over 99% guarantees my interest.
Usually true but have a look at this broadcast last night on CBS News. The "Hog" that went walkabout!
tinyurl.com/3x597
I accept that things can go wrong.
They certainly can. There are always scroats up to some scam.
This is a worrying one.
"The US government says Internet fraud has gone up more than 50 percent in the past year, and the most common type involves online auctions." - quote from the CBS item.
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Hope someone can help.
I currently have a NTL 600K broadband connection at home and most of the time it works great. The problem is in the evenings it seems to slow down so much that it becomes unusable, my old 56k modem was quicker. I have checked all the connection settings and they all appear good so what is the problem? I have tried NTL but they say the connection speed is good.
Thanks in advance
Marcos
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Can't recall the correct terminology but put simply, cable broadband operates on a given bandwidth for a location. That location could be half your neighbourhood.
When using the service in the day there are less likely to be other people around sharing the bandwidth. Once the masses return from their daily toil and start to log on to the service the bandwidth per user drops in direct relation to the number of users.
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ND,
It's called the 'contention ratio' I believe, can be as bad as 50:1
Basically if everyone is trying to download at the same rate you all get 1/50th of the maximum 512kbps. Obviously this doesnt happen most of the time but it is possible to achieve an end result worse than a dedicated 56kbps dial in line.
Ian L.
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Firstly try using a broadband speed checker such as
www.vantage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/v2/v2.htm
this should give you some good amuntition. Run it when you experience problems to see what the rat eactually is. I regularly hit 550-600 kbs at all times of the day which falls within my tolerance level .
I suspect that the problem is not a contention issue. NTL raised their speeds from 128 and 512 to 150 and 600 which indicates that overall capacity is not a problem, if there is a particular issue in one location then they will have to raise the capacity to ensure that you can normally achieve the quoted speed.
The problem is much more likely to be a band width hog downloading huge videos or running a web server in their house.
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