The disc drive on this laptop is failing. Some discs now simply refuse to read, others give CRC errors or stutter.
Given that I've had it for 3 (or is it 4?) years, and have done a great deal of installing and CD burning, it's not surprising. The one thing I really have against laptops is: they're almost impossible to repair or upgrade. Oh I'm sure I could replace the drive, but for not much more money I could get a new laptop.
Do they make laptops yet with dual-core processors? Probably. I haven't been keeping up.
My USB memory stick has stopped working. It stores 2GB and I bought it for UKP30 - on a "Special Offer while stocks last" which is, of course, still running months later. Except it's now UKP25.
My brother says they can only be used for maybe 10,000 write-operations, which can be all used up in a week if you're a heavy user transferring lots of small files. Which makes rather a nonsense of the 10-year data retention warrantee.
He is stopping over for the night, between a conference somewhere in Europe (Germany?) and a conference 10 miles up the main road. Last time he was here he was stopping over before catching a plane to Japan - to sell souped-up palmpilots to technophile businessmen.
He's made a very healthy career out of computing. I was always just a hobbyist.
Whatever CW in infected with, it's lasting longer than the average gastroenteritis. His habit of living on soup, cigarettes and red wine wouldn't help - any more than my habit of living on tea and biscuits - but it is worrying.
BTW, I've had a sore throat for the last five days, so you can add lemsip and strepsils to the things I'm living on.
I suspected that the complete lack of adult education courses in Portsmouth was part of something wider, and it turns out it is. The university are closing down Access courses and foundation degrees - and from what I read and hear, the trend is nationwide.
Access to university education, which widened in the 1990s, is now contracting. The various ways that adults who didn't get university entrance quallifications at school could get them, or equivalents, are being removed.
Results: Dropouts and late developers (and I'm both) don't get a second chance. Adults (like me) who are quallified to work in one field can't get a grounding in another field for a career change. And the whole "lifelong learning" spiel is revealed as a sham.
That said, there are some distance learning institutes that aren't complete ripoff merchants. I'm looking at one called ICS which offers the courses I'm after.
My parents want me to do a TEFL course. Largely because it would get me out of the house - indeed, the country - for several months.
Sleep on it before deciding.
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Yep, they do make dual processor laptops, and nice they are too ... drool.
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed and confused as to why usb chips should have a finite lifespan. It's solid state, and it's not like there is a media to be worn away by over zelous write heads. If you have more info please blog it.
ICS looks good, though I couldn't find out how much a degree actually costs.
Like your brother you are great with computers but you give your services away for free ... for sure to friends, but why not get some cards printed, advertise and make shed loads of money at it?
K
It's my understanding that most software still doesn't support dual processors. Until it does, there's not much point.
ReplyDeleteI'm aware of the irony of developing superfast gee-wiz computers for music production, and using the power to painstakingly recreate the cheap noisy electrical componants and clacky keys of a 70s hammond organ.
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I don't really understand "write cycles" and the physical structure of RAM too well. But it makes sense to me that magnetic media should be degraded by having their polarity shifted by electrical pulses in a way analogous to relay switchs getting worn out.
In any case, a new 256MB card is about UKP10.
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I phoned ICS, and got some info. Each degree is UKP7200, plus 75 for the exam if there is one.
Each A-Level is 6 modules - you get each module by post when you complete the previous one and return it's completed mini-exam. This means you could, in principle, complete the course in 3 months.
The special offer on GCSEs and A-Levels lasts at least till the end of September, but they don't know how much longer. You can't pay the special offer price in installments.
There's no limit on how many courses you can take simultainiously.
I forgot to ask how many modules their degrees have, or the delay between payment and the course starting. But I'd guess the answers are: about 12, and no delay.
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I'm leaning away from spending a year abroad for TEFL, even though it's a significant quallification and involves paid work. I'm not sure whether to take A-Level Physics, or to add Maths too.
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I still have the cards printed for my venture into commercial computer fixing 2 years ago. It was not an auspicious success - everyone seems to know someone who'll fix their computer for a cup of tea, and those who don't can't afford the half the going rate.