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Real Player is a high quality media player, which is freely available for Linux operating systems. It isn’t included in Linux packages because it is not a fully open source program. There are .rpm and .deb packages available for RedHat and Debian variants but nothing that will obviously work for Ubuntu. Fortunately it is fairly easy to get RealPlayer to install on a computer running Ubuntu. Here’s how:
Download the file to your root directory
- Find the ‘vanilla’ Linux version of RealPlayer here on the Real website. The current file is ‘RealPlayer11GOLD.bin’.
- Choose which language version to download – English (GB) seems the right one to us. Right-click on the link and click ‘Save link as’. Save the file to your root directory (the one with your username on it).
and give it permission to run as a program
- Once downloaded right click on the file in the download window and choose ‘Open containing folder’ to find the file.
- Right click on the file and click on ‘Properties’. Click the ‘Permissons’ tab and tick the box saying ‘Allow executing file as a program’ then click on the close button
Tell Ubuntu to run the installation program
- Start the Terminal program (click on Applications in the top Ubuntu toolbar then Accessories and finally Terminal)
- Type (or copy & paste) the following: sudo ./RealPlayer11GOLD.bin
- You will be asked to enter your password and the RealPlayer installation program will run.
- Hit ‘Enter’ at the prompt to allow the installation to start.
- The default installation directory shjould be fine so hit ‘Enter’ again at the next prompt.
- Finally press ‘F’ to start the real job of installing the RealPlayer files.
When finished RealPlayer should be listed under Applications/Sound & Video. Click on it and you will be asked to agree the licence. RealPlayer will also at this point integrate itself with Firefox and possibly other browsers on your system.
Microsoft is due to launch a new search engine, Bing, on June 3. The launch may initially be restricted to the US, as Microsoft is taking time to sign up partner websites in each country. These partnerships may be both a strength and a weakness, as the quality of information could be good but perhaps from a limited range of sources.
Bing search appears to be designed to return a list of information and key websites, more like Ask.com than Google or the recently launched WoolframAlpha.
Bing appears to have been optimised for searches for products or services. It appears that Microsoft is partnering with sites to provide links to products in online shops, a bit like Google Shopping, although the links may be to reviews rather than directly to products. Users will be able to earn cashback when buying from Bing’s commercial partners.
Travel ‘products’ also appear to be a target, with the Bing promotional video showing a predictive tool that will tell you when flights are likely to be at their cheapest (here’s our hint – avoid the school holidays).
Only time will tell whether Microsoft’s new search engine survives or, like Gong Show contestants of old, whether it suffers the ignominy of hearing that loud Bonnnggg!
Windows uses hard disk storage when the memory needed by the runnning programs is bigger than the amount of RAM memory your PC has. This ‘virtual’ memory is called a page file and is located in C:/pagefile.sys.
Sometimes the error arises because one or more of the applications has a ‘memory leak’ bug. When this happens the program keeps reserving RAM but not releasing it when it is finished with it. Some version of Internet Explorer appear to have this problem and it is worth upgrading to the latest version.
You appear to need to keep at least 1.5 times your RAM size free on the disk to avoid problems. If you have 2Gb of RAM for example you would need at least 3Gb of free disk space. To further complicate matters, Windows seems on occasion to spuriously tell itself not to allocate any hard disk space to a page file.
Here is how to reset you page file setting and fix the problem:
- Make sure you have enough free disk space, as above
- Right click on My Computer and select ‘Properties’ (My computer may be found on your desktop or in Windows Explorer. To open windows Explorer press the Windows key and ‘E’ at the same time)
- Click on the ‘Advanced’ tab
- Click on the Performance ‘Settings’ button
- Click on the ‘Advanced’ tab
- Click on the Virtual memory ‘Change’ button
- If you have more than one hard drive make sure the C: drive is highlighted.
- The best option is to let Windows manage the amount of virtual memory, so click the System managed size’ option and click on the ‘Set’ button
- Finally click on the ‘OK’ button
Ever wondered what raisins, currants and sultanas were before they were dried out? The answer is simple:
- Raisins = dried grapes
- Currants = dried grapes
- Sultanas = dried grapes
Of course it isn’t quite as simple as that or raisins, currants and sultanas would all look and taste the same. The differences are primarily due to the different varieties of grapes used to produce them.
- Raisins = any dried white grapes
- Currants = dried Black Corinth (also known as Zante) grapes
- Sultanas = dried white seedless grapes, originally from Turkey. Usually Thompson Seedless variety.
Sultanas may have been bleached to make them lighter in colour than raisins.
Updated 25 May 2009
If you are considering buying a barbecue you will have noticed that they burn either solid fuel – charcoal – or gas. So what are the differences and why would you buy one in preference to the other?
That wonderful barbecue flavour
Some people believe that charcoal is what gives a barbecue that ‘special’ barbecue flavour but in fact it does nothing of the sort. When charcoal burns it gives a steady heat and creates no particular smell. The delicious smoky barbecue flavour comes from fat dripping off the food and onto the hot charcoal. Or onto the hot metal or lava rocks in a gas barbecue…
Charcoal
Charcoal barbecues are cheaper than gas barbecues, for the simple reason that gas valves, taps and pipes cost money. They may also be a bit better for the environment – gas is a fossil fuel which releases greenhouse gases when it burns. Charcoal releases very similar gases when burnt but is not a fossil fuel – charcoal is made by heating wood in a sealed container so it carbonises instead of burning. When wood grows it absorbs greenhouse gases from the atmosphere so the manufacture and use of charcoal simply recycles greenhouse gases.
Disadvantages
There are two significant disadvantages to charcoal barbecues – the time it takes to get the charcoal burning steadily and the ash that has to be diposed of after the party is over. There are a number of ways to get charcoal burning properly. Most common is to use special lighter fluid or firelighters (the firelighters made for starting coal fires leaves a nasty chemical smell and taste). The charcoal needs to be made into small piles over the firelighters and, after setting fire to the firelighters, left until is is burning well and covered with a layer of grey ash. The coals can then be spread across the barbecue so cooking can begin. This process takes around 20-30 min.
A quicker way to get charcoal started is to use a charcoal ‘chimney’. This is a device like a large paint can with no bottom and a wire shelf 1/3 of the way up. The bottom of the ‘chimney’ is stuffed with newspaper, which is set alight, and the top filled with charcoal. There are lots of holes around the bottom, which allow air to enter. Hot air rises, so the flames from the burning paper rapidly heat the charcoal. The processtakesaround 10 min – much faster than using firelighters.
Gas
Gas barbecues typically come with two or three burners, although some have as many as five, perhaps including a side burner. Each burner has its own control knob so one part of the barbecue can be cooler than the others. Not only that but auto-ingnition is a standard feature too except on the cheapest of models. Virtually all gas barbecues have a hinged lid or hood, which provides a couple of significant benefits.:
- Cooking is more consistent, particularly in breezy conditions
- The food is cooked in a smoky atmosphere, which gives it a great flavour
Many gas barbecues have a thermometer set into the lid, giving the cook a better idea of how fast the food is cooking and allowing the barbecue to be used as an oven. Upper-end models also have a glass panel set into the lid, allowing the cook to spot flare-ups when dripping fat catches fire and the food is at risk of burning. Unfortunately the windows are not quite as useful as they appear, as the glass gets covered in a mixture of smoke and cooking fat which can be very difficult to shift.
Auto-ignition
Sometimes the ignition system is operated by the burner knobs and sometimes by a separate ignition button.Some gas barbecue ignition systems require batteries, others are piezo-electric. In the piezo-electric systems there is a piezo-electric crystal which generates a voltage when it is hit. The voltage is used to create a spark, which lights the gas. These system usually have a red ignition button that is quite stiff to operate. The button operates a small spring-loaded hammer which hits the crystal, generating the spark.
Gas is very convenient to use. It is controllable and, once set up, a gas barbecue can go from cold to cooking in a few minutes. There is no need for firelighters and no messy ash to deal with. Gas is pretty cheap too – £15 of gas may last you a year or more if you are only a fine-weather barbecuer. On the other hand the bottles are very heavy and most suppliers charge a large deposit (around £30 for a 13kg bottle). FloGas used to supply gas in deposit-free bottles and their website currently says this for most bottles: ”No ‘Non returns’ charge applies to this cylinder”. Which might mean they still do!
For more information on gas barbecues see Barbecue gas – butane or propane?
The new search engine, Wolfram Alpha went live today, although its 10,000 computing cores seem somewhat overwhelmed at trying to deal with the SlashDot effect of thousands of consecutive users trying it out for the first time.
There are now three different types of search engine:
- Contextual (eg Google) - finds web pages in which your search terms appear
- Informational (eg Ask) – finds web pages containing the facts you are looking for
- Knowledge (Wolfram Alpha) - compiles information in direct answer to your queries
The best way to illustrate the difference is to do a simple search, for example: Paris France
Google returns a link to a Google map of Paris and a series of links to web pages about Paris, primarily travel-related commercial sites
Ask.com returns links to a wider range of websites, including news stories about Paris, Wikipedia and BBC Weather. Jeeves himself offers some additional links to related searches, such as ‘History Paris’.
Wolfram Alpha has a completely different approach and responds with a range of information about Paris, including the population, a map of France showing where Paris is located, local time, current weather, height above sea level and a nearby larger city (London 213 miles). Another big difference is that results can be downloaded as a pdf file.
In conclusion Wolfram Alpha is no replacement for Google, but then it doesn’t claim to be. Rather it is a useful new addition to your options when searching for information. It is also rather good at evaluating mathematic equations – try entering 1/sin(x) and see the resulting plots and related information.
There is a simple keypad shortcut to find the wifi interface MAC address – simply type:
*#62209526# (the numbers spell ‘MAC WLAN’ on the keypad)
Knowing your phone MAC address can be quite useful. Many wifi access points will allow you to restrict service to a list of specific MAC addresses, which improves your home wireless security.
You can easily find your IMEI on most phones by simply entering *#06# on the keypad. Some phones call it a serial number rather than the IMEI, which can be a little confusing. If *#06# doesn’t work with your phone there are a couple of other ways of finding the IMEI:
- Look under the battery – there is usually a sticker with the IMEI number on it.
- Alternatively look on the packaging – the IMEI number is virtually always shown on a sticker on the outside of the box.
Ever wondered what IMEI stands for? International Mobile Equipment Identity.
The number is a whacking 15 digits long and is made up of 2 digits to indicate the registration body, six digits for the equipment type, six digits for the serial number and a final checksum digit.
There have recently been a rash of problems with Thomson DTi6300 hard disk Top Up TV boxes. The fault typically manifests itself as a box that won’t come out of standby, usually with an orange front-panel light stuck on.
 Thomson Top Up TV PVR The first thing to try is to turn the box off at the mains, leaving it disconnected for 30 sec or so, then turn it back on again. Top Up boxes are quite slow to sort themselves out after a power reset like this, so leave it five or ten minutes before deciding whether that has fixed the problem or not.
If you do still have a problem, the best advice is to try turning the power off and on again. If two power reset attempts have not fixed things, there is another option but unfortunately it involves reformatting the hard drive, which wipes all recordings and setting stored on the disk.
To perform a complete reset and reformat the hard drive follow the steps below. Make sure you have tried the power reset twice just in case it resolves the problem without wiping the recordings.
- Unplug or turn off the mains supply to the box
- Hold in the Standby/Power button on the front panel (NOT on the remote control) then reconnect the mains
- As soon as you see a light flash on the front panel, release the Standby/power button
- Quickly press these arrow buttons one after the other – Up, Down, Left, Right
- You should now see two lights on the front panel – a solid orange light and a flashing green light
- When the green light stops flashing (after about a minute) the hard drive has been reformatted
- After a short wait the box will turn itself on
- If prompted run a channel scan
You have now finished and should be the proud owner of a working Top Up TV box again. If the box is still not working, or if you can’t complete all the steps above, it is possible that the box has suffered a hardware fault which will need repairing.
If this is the case, it may be cheaper to buy another set top box than to have yours repaired. Asda and a number of other outlets have recently been selling refurbished 160Gb Top Up TV hard disk recorders for £50.
Buying a gas barbecue can be more than a little complicated. You think you have worked out what you want, then you discover there are two types of LPG (Liqueified Petroleum Gas) – Butane and Propane. Not only that, but the gas bottles come with different sized valves. And what on earth is Patio Gas?
Butane was more commonly used for barbecues than propane at one time but the situation appears to have reversed in recent years. In fact many, if not most, barbecues can use either butane or propane depending on the regulator valve fitted to the barbecue. Most barbecues now come fitted with a red propane regulator as standard. But is one gas better than the other?
 A gas bottle with blue butane regulator attached Here is the rundown on the properties of different cooking gases:
For comparison, natural gas - as delivered to millions of homes via the gas mains - has the chemical formula CH4. When burnt, a cubic metre of natural gas will provide 38 Megajoules of energy.
Propane, chemical formula C3H8, produces 96 Megajoules of energy per cubic metre.
Butane, formula C4H10, produces 126 Megajoules of energy per cubic metre – far more than either natural gas or propane.
So butane must be better then? If only life were so simple. Inconveniently butane doesn’t work well at low temperatures. When too cool it stays as a liquid and the gas pressure drops. That means a butane gas cylinder will produce lower pressure once the bottle temperature drops below 10 degrees C. The bottles actually get colder in use, as heat is removed from the bottle when the liqud butane boils into the gas that comes out of the regulator. The higher the rate you use gas, the colder the bottle gets. Use it too fast in cool temperatures and the gas pressure can drop significantly. On one level it doesn’t matter - who wants to barbecue in chilly weather after all? How about someone who has suffered a power cut due to snowstorms?
A given quantity of butane will burn hotter than propane but in fact propane regulators release the gas at a higher rate to compensate. In fact many people will tell you that propane burns hotter. Both gases are heavier than air, which is one reason why barbecues have holes in their bottoms. If they didn’t, any leaking gas, (for example from a burner that has blown out) would build up in the bottom, ready to explode in the face of someone lighting the barbecue.
Gas bottles come in a variety of different sizes and, confusingly with different regulator fittings. The clip-on regulators used for barbecues are blue for butane, with a standard internal valve size of 21mm. Propane regulators are red with 27mm in internal size. That means that it is not possible to connect to a propane bottle using a butane regulator or vice versa.
 A clip-on propane regulator Typical bottles sizes vary from 3.9 kg to 13 kg but note that those are the weights of the amount of gas in the bottles, not the total weight. The total weight of most bottles is around three times the gas weight, so a 13kg bottle may weigh as much as 40 kg! BP have started selling Gas Light bottles which are made of glass-fibre reinforced plastic. They are translucent so it is possible to see how much liquified gas is left in the bottle. Needless to say they weigh a lot less too – around half as much as a steel bottle.
Note that in use the gas bottle has to be upright. The liquid has to be at the bottom of the bottle – attempting to use the bottle on its side could result in liquid gas being forced out. Which is one reason why barbecue gas pipes always seem a bit on the short side…
Oh by the way Patio Gas – it just seems to be a marketing term for propane. It will work in both barbecues and patio heaters at all air temperatures, so is a good general-purpose bottled gas that is useful for all the gas-powered devices that are in common use on patios.
For information about the differences between gas and charcoal barbecues see Garden barbecues – charcoal or gas?.
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