Monday, July 31, 2006

Vista 5472 installation

This install has gone well and it's certainly better than the beta 2 but I've still found a couple of annoying points.

The sound doesn't work with the SigmaTel-C driver loaded from the internet. On my Dell Latitude D610 I could only get the right hand speaker to go. Using the Dell AC97 driver for Windows XP resolved that problem.

Secondly, I couldn't get the (unsupported) Microsoft Control panel applet for mounting ISO images to work. Not a problem use Virtual CloneDrive from http://www.slysoft.com/en/download.html. This works a treat and it's freeware.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Ducks do damage

Goldfish gone. Prior to yesterday there were in excess of 30 happily living in the pond. I haven't cared greatly for them. At times the water has leaked out to leave an uncomfortably shallow puddle. I feed them once in a blue moon. But by crikey they survived the last 2 years well enough, at least until last night.

Two ducks swimming in the pool. How nice I thought - nature at play. Oh yes, and then I saw a duck with a large goldfish hanging out of its beak. And now, it seems they're all gone - except for a big one floating under an overhanging bush:(

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Corsair in Kapiti

Didn't see a seal this time, but I did see a Corsair flying over the house. It seems to have taken off from the local airfield in Kapiti. Very loud! There's a good description on the Corsair at http://www.aviation-history.com/vought/f4u.html.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Seal crosses road

I saw a seal crossing the road today. We were on our way home - it was dark, and cold; a southerly had blown in this morning. And on the wet and windy 4 lanes with cars everywhere was a seal. We all stopped - my daughter said "where? where?? where???", and I stared.

It appeared to have come from the entrance to the Pauatahanui inlet. It must have decided to take a short cut across State Highway 1. Fortunately it appeared to make it intact across the road. A couple of people hopped out to take a look. We decided to move along. My daughter will have exciting news for her return from the school holidays!