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Minor Strangeness (IHTM)

Despite expecting to have to pay c£130GBP to upgrade one of our house computers from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10, I would appear to have managed to do it for free.

I've had a look online, and many sources say it's no longer possible to "do it for free"....a couple hint early in 2019 that it is still possible to do. But it does seem possible (shhh....don't tell Bill).

Earlier today I was out for a morning walk in the impossible sunshine ("summer before springtime"). I saw something weird, which I immediately thought was a frog. But it was actually a discarded black fabric shoe/boot protector (the sort worn indoors to prevent muddy feet redecorating the house with mud). As I looked the boot protector, it moved....revealing inside it....a frog. Weird
.
 
Despite expecting to have to pay c£130GBP to upgrade one of our house computers from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10, I would appear to have managed to do it for free.

I've had a look online, and many sources say it's no longer possible to "do it for free"....a couple hint early in 2019 that it is still possible to do. But it does seem possible (shhh....don't tell Bill).
Did you activate it successfully?
 
You haven't missed anything, Carlos. This, for example:
;)
My last wisdom tooth left needs to go, bottom left in my jaw and it's not hurting yet but I know it's only a matter of time. I've been rubbing a nail file on it anyway to grind down the sharp edges because it's cutting into my gum although it doesn't hurt yet.

Drip Rizzla paper into clove oil, stuff into painful hole, repeat.
 
My last wisdom tooth left needs to go, bottom left in my jaw and it's not hurting yet but I know it's only a matter of time. I've been rubbing a nail file on it anyway to grind down the sharp edges because it's cutting into my gum although it doesn't hurt yet.

Drip Rizzla paper into clove oil, stuff into painful hole, repeat.

:wide: Get thee to a dentist, Swifty! You could easily cut your gums or the inside of your cheek with that nail file and then you would experience even more pain. Yikes!!
 
:wide: Get thee to a dentist, Swifty! You could easily cut your gums or the inside of your cheek with that nail file and then you would experience even more pain. Yikes!!
I can't afford it at the moment mate, I'm only using one of those cardboard nail files so I won't be cutting into my gum or cheek (unlike the sharp bits of the tooth if I don't use one) .. then when I'm back in work, I'll pay for the ****** to get yanked out like I did with the other three. Job done. Painkillers until then because it doesn't hurt yet. Three down, one to go.
 
I can't afford it at the moment mate, I'm only using one of those cardboard nail files so I won't be cutting into my gum or cheek (unlike the sharp bits of the tooth if I don't use one) .. then when I'm back in work, I'll pay for the ****** to get yanked out like I did with the other three. Job done. Painkillers until then but it doesn't hurt yet. Three down, one to go.

You're wise to use the cardboard nail files. I hadn't thought of that. I just assumed you were using a metal one. You're very stoic, Swifty. Hang in there!

:group:
 
I've read that it's still possible to get the "upgrade" for free by going to one or two specific sites and downloading it, and that it still works like it did before the offer expired. I've been using 10 for a few months now, on a new machine, and would gladly upgrade back to 7 if I could. If anything, 10 seems to have been dumbed down with a lot of "app" nonsense that hides all sorts of useful things behind silly phone-type setting menus. For example, Control Panel is still there, if you can find it. Took me a while. You can do things there that you can't on the silly menu screens. Those things remind me of the cash registers at McDonald's, with little pictures of hamburgers on the keys. You also have no control over updates, so you get to be a beta tester whether you want to or not. Other than that, it's great. :)
 
I've read that it's still possible to get the "upgrade" for free by going to one or two specific sites and downloading it, and that it still works like it did before the offer expired. I've been using 10 for a few months now, on a new machine, and would gladly upgrade back to 7 if I could. If anything, 10 seems to have been dumbed down with a lot of "app" nonsense that hides all sorts of useful things behind silly phone-type setting menus. For example, Control Panel is still there, if you can find it. Took me a while. You can do things there that you can't on the silly menu screens. Those things remind me of the cash registers at McDonald's, with little pictures of hamburgers on the keys. You also have no control over updates, so you get to be a beta tester whether you want to or not. Other than that, it's great. :)

I've pinned my old workhorses to the home menu:

1551258453798.png
 
Despite expecting to have to pay c£130GBP to upgrade one of our house computers from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10, I would appear to have managed to do it for free.

I've had a look online, and many sources say it's no longer possible to "do it for free"....a couple hint early in 2019 that it is still possible to do. But it does seem possible (shhh....don't tell Bill).

Earlier today I was out for a morning walk in the impossible sunshine ("summer before springtime"). I saw something weird, which I immediately thought was a frog. But it was actually a discarded black fabric shoe/boot protector (the sort worn indoors to prevent muddy feet redecorating the house with mud). As I looked the boot protector, it moved....revealing inside it....a frog. Weird
.

As long as you have a valid Windows7/8 installation Windows 10 is still free - it just isn't available via the upgrade GWX app that MS installed a few years ago
Download Windows 10
I did my desktop last week and everything worked OK.
The easiest way is to download the Win10 .iso - burn it to DVD and boot from that DVD
 
I saw a 'star' in the sky last night which looked 'new' or at least out-of-place, and upon peering at it hard, it actually looked like 3 stars very close together. It definitely wasn't moving in relation to the rest of the night sky, but was clearly much brighter than anything else I could see, and certainly wasn't a planet like mars or venus, which I am familiar with seeing as I'm often outside at night.
I stared at it for some minutes while I was having a fag and it was sort of 'twinkling' quite a bit, almost suggestive of the flashing of navigation lights like what you'd see on a helicopter, but it was massively way too high up to be a helicopter, and like I said, it wasn't moving.
I live quite close to both Luton and Stansted airports and we get a lot of air traffic overhead, and several planes went over during this period.
As my interest was sufficiently piqued to investigate further, I got my phone camera onto the case (really quite a good camera actually) and snapped a couple of pics, with my rest against the wall nice and firm, zoomed in so that I could get a better look at it.
When I then checked the pics a moment later indoors, I had taken pics of a group of 5 or 6 'stars', extremely close together.
I decided to see if I could improve the piccage.....went outside again in what must have been only a minute later at most......and it was gone.
?
 
I've pinned my old workhorses to the home menu:

View attachment 15297
Good idea. I pinned Control Panel there before it swam off and hid under whatever rock it calls home now. Usually it takes me a year or so to get a new computer "tamed" so that it works the way I want it to. Much of that involves deleting loads of crap I have zero use for.
 
I saw a 'star' in the sky last night which looked 'new' or at least out-of-place, and upon peering at it hard, it actually looked like 3 stars very close together...
I stared at it for some minutes while I was having a fag and it was sort of 'twinkling' quite a bit
?
When I read this description, I wondered if the "twinkling" could possibly be an effect of your eyes changing focus rapidly between the 3 very close stars. If it was indeed three stars and not just one.
 
Isn't twinkling of stars caused by the Earth's atmosphere? I don't think they twinkle if you're in space.
Not sure, but I was offering that supposition b/c I read the comment as Trevo666 didn't positively identify the thing as a star.
 
Isn't twinkling of stars caused by the Earth's atmosphere? I don't think they twinkle if you're in space.

That's correct. The twinkling effect is caused by atmospheric interference.

Outside the atmosphere objects can appear to 'sort of twinkle' if they're tumbling so as to vary their reflections.
 
The twinkling effect is caused by atmospheric interference.
I wondered about this previously, and may have ineffectually asked the question: why, despite the complex multi-planar compound movements of both the Earth, and the movements of visible stars....what gives the impression of point-sources of light as viewed from Earth, despite all the relative (presumably-disruptive) changes of position? I'm thinking of both the celestial vista in snapshot, and time-lapse night sky pictures.

I'm going to assume it's something to do with the vast sizes/scales/distances. But is that correct?
 
I've been considering what the twinkling object I saw could have been. I expect that what seems to be the most likely explanation is probably the correct one. As it was so high up, was definitely there, then minutes later definitely wasn't there, I am assuming it was a geo-stationary satellite of some sort (there are plenty up there), with it's various surfaces reflecting sunlight, and then it became covered by the earth's shadow, so it no longer reflected light.
If it was actually a star or stars then I would've still been able to see it.
I have an 'ISS tracker' app on my phone and am familiar with seeing that pass overhead, and how it just sort of 'winks out' as it passes into shadow. Anybody not familiar with seeing it would probably think that was a very high aircraft, albeit moving at extreme speed.
 
... I have an 'ISS tracker' app on my phone and am familiar with seeing that pass overhead, and how it just sort of 'winks out' as it passes into shadow. Anybody not familiar with seeing it would probably think that was a very high aircraft, albeit moving at extreme speed.

I recall an incident a couple of years ago which insinuated an even more complex storyline.

An amateur astronomer friend and I were outside one night watching for the ISS to pass overhead.

There was a relatively bright (for a satellite) object moving from our visual horizon to the zenith. Within the space of a minute or two a pair of similar moving objects became visible, following the first object's path (as if intercepting it from behind). Just as the two trailing objects appeared to close in on the first / leading one, they suddenly 'winked out', one immediately after the other.

We joked about how effective the first object's phasers were and continued watching it until it, too, winked out.

In the days following my friend and I kept an eye out for any reports of a UFO intercept or space battle, but none were evident.
 
I wondered about this previously, and may have ineffectually asked the question: why, despite the complex multi-planar compound movements of both the Earth, and the movements of visible stars....what gives the impression of point-sources of light as viewed from Earth, despite all the relative (presumably-disruptive) changes of position? I'm thinking of both the celestial vista in snapshot, and time-lapse night sky pictures.

I'm going to assume it's something to do with the vast sizes/scales/distances. But is that correct?

I'm not sure I understand your question. Are you asking why they appear as point sources, or are you asking why they seem to maintain their positions relative to each other?
 
Are you asking why they appear as point sources, or are you asking why they seem to maintain their positions relative to each other?
Both- am I collectively-right in my presumption that it's due to the same reason?

Massive sizes of galactic bodies over incomprehendably-vast distances, creating a unique 'averaged' point-source?
 
Went to my second cousin's 50th yesterday. I hadn't seen her for 12 months and in that time she had lap band surgery so has gone from size 24 to 10.
I didn't recognise her at first and when we hugged she felt so fragile.
During the night I had a touch on the shoulder and later the back with no one anywhere around.
I just hope it means it was a mutual relative visiting and not a bad omen.
 
A sparrow somehow got into the house this afternoon. Didn't see it come in, it was just there, sitting on the edge of a picture frame. It flew down the hall into the bathroom where it tried to get out the window; I opened the window screen and it flew away unharmed.

I've heard various superstitions about wild birds in a house. Sometimes it's a death omen, sometimes it means an important message is on the way, or it depends on the color of bird, and whether the bird is injured or not.

I guess I'll have to wait and see. :hide:
 
Hmm, there was a comedy Dracula film where after changing into a bat he accidentally flew into an apartment with about 12 ‘non native speaking’ residents.

They chased him around the room shouting ‘CHICKEN . . . CHICKEN’

A bit non PC these days . . . ahem
 
Hmm, there was a comedy Dracula film where after changing into a bat he accidentally flew into an apartment with about 12 ‘non native speaking’ residents.

They chased him around the room shouting ‘CHICKEN . . . CHICKEN’

A bit non PC these days . . . ahem

Love at First Bite with George Hamilton. "Children of the night... SHUT UP!"
 
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