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-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Neil Williams wrote: > On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 22:54:40 +0000 > Jonathan Roberts <jonathan.roberts.uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > >> I'll also keep in mind about asking about hardware problems on the list >> in the future but I think this problem wouldn't have been solved: my >> laptop's power connection had started to interrupt so it was pretty >> clear, at least I thought it was, that the problem lay with either the >> power cable or the connection to the system itself. Add to this that the >> laptop was still (just barely) in warranty so the repairs were all free. > > 1. No need for the repair people to have access to the hard drive. > 2. No need to leave the secret key on such a hard drive. > 3. There are several members adept in the use of soldering irons in > your area. > 4. Non-email advice and assistance from any DCGLUG member is only > likely to involve your travel costs to a meeting point and a pint of > beer. > > Who needs a warranty? Who do you think paid for the "free" warranty > originally? Yes, the same person who paid for the pre-installed OS - > the consumer. > >> In actual fact the repair people replaced the motherboard on the >> laptop. > > Typical OTT reaction. All that was needed was a few millimetres of > solder - Robin is probably a good tip for those kinds of things, he > fixed exactly this problem on my ageing laptop. No motherboard changes > involved. (None possible, the machine is too old!) :-) > > (no secret keys compromised either - it was a clean install because all > Robin needed was to know the machine booted and continued to run.) > >> If you do think people on the list could have helped please let me know >> so I have a better idea of what people are capable of helping with in >> future! > > Almost anything. > > :-) > > I'm not kidding, we have electrical engineers, hardware specialists, > software developers, circuit board techies, sysadmins. We have members > with experience of handheld, laptop, desktop, networked and mainframe > computers. Members have a collective experience of at least two if not > three *dozen* computer languages from the common to the downright > obscure. From wireless to Cray, from arm to zope, bind to W3C. We have > members who are at the cutting edge of their field(s), we have members > who have retired or who are semi-retired and now have the time and > experience to give an objective view on trends and fads. We have > members practising their skills day-to-day to earn their living, we > have members who have spent their working life teaching and mentoring > others in a range of computer skills. We also have members (like myself > and Adrian for starters) who have professional lives outside the IT > sector. We have financial and business expertise, marketing and > presentation skills, enthusiastic new members and seasoned old hands. > We also have experience of political activity (lobbying) and several > members are in regular contact with organisations like the FFII - > Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure - who are deeply > involved in the fight against software patents. > Did you just call me a member ?? Anyway, I totally agree with neils comments on this, I have been with the list for many years now, over the last 8 years my IT skills have been used for the power of the light side. At work (IT Field engineer / local IT manager) I frequently fix peoples home PC's, regularly replacing their screwed up copy of M$ Orrafice with OOo. I have also at times managed to move a few over to this nice GNU operating system. I do not ask them for payment of any kind, but if they decide to buy me a bottle of somthing, then I'm not about to turn them away. Feel free to ask the questions that trouble you the most, the worst we can say is "we have no idea" but usually people will go and find out. ;-) TTFN - -- Neil Stone Systems Administrator FlashTek UK - -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GIT d+(++) s: a-(?) C++++(--) UL++++$ P+ L+++ E- W+++ N+ o+ w--- O M PS+ Y+ PGP++ t+ 5+ X+ R+ tv+ b- DI++ D+++ G e h--- r+++ y++++(**) - -----END GEEK CODE BLOCK----- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.5 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFFgQScz3Av8JKgzxQRAnzxAKCRGIDDGVb2pH8bKTWRslpy0OHnCACfRepq JcXu1LjmypCo5bb94ff1a80= =029T -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html