Off-Topic Questions Thread - closed. Open new threads for specific questions please.

[cobra_gordo]

That's good! I expect that's one of the challenges, keeping within budget. Excellent idea for a birthday thing though.

 

I hope so, I think even if we all breakdown in the middle of nowhere it should still be a good crack. Exactly, if we keep in budget and nothing goes horrifically wrong it shouldn't work out more expensive than the usual birthday day out/ meal/ night out.

[seanz25]

 

 

 

Random one this, hopefully someone can help. For my birthday next year we're going to do a banger car rally (basically buy cars for around £250 and drive Top Gear style from point A to point B with some challenges thrown in and a scavenger hunt list of things to pick up on the way).

 

The idea is to leave Sheffield and end up in York at the drag strip for a couple of runs and then off out for a few bevvies but I could do with some route suggestions. There's a pretty high chance that considering how shit these cars are going to be we'll never make it to York (wives on stand-by to pick us up) or they'll burst in to flame so I don't want to be attempting anything too ridiculous. I thought of going up the east coast to Whitby and then down to York but no idea if this is interesting enough. Would also appreciate some scavenger hunt item suggestions to collect on the way. Have at it.

Won't you have to tax and insure them? That'll raise the cost somewhat, especially if they don't have an MOT.

£250 car cost, tax, insurance and MOT on top. There seems to be enough cheap motors out there with MOT so that's a start, wife's cousin and a couple of my mates are mechanics so repairs are doable for relatively cheaply. There's a few companies that cover banger insurance so only £30 or so for a few days after which the cars will be flogged or scrapped anyway. All the costs are being split 4 ways (teams of 4) which should help keep costs down.

Don't know if this is of any help but I've been to Whitby for a few days about 3 years ago when my uncle rented a villa type thing with pool etc for the family to go to. Its a nice area, lovely in fact, some spectacular beaches and scenery but if your wanting to do clubs and bars the nightlife is pretty much non-existent. You'd probably have to go into Scarborough which isn't massively far away all be it but it's a shambolic night out, the only thing we found that looked lively was a 'quids in' bar which we where the only people in for quite some time and the DJ continued to fire smoke onto an empty dance floor. It was like something out the inbetweeners.

 

In short, for decent nightlife I wouldn't go anywhere near Whitby etc. For scenery and a couple of pubs it'll be decent. It'll probably be quite good for the scavenger hunt though with it being such a beautiful location.

[Onyx2]

 

 

 

 

Does anyone have any experience writing/editing company Wiki pages?

You mean on Wikipedia proper? Yes. It's really hard to get them approved. Like, really hard.

 

Get someone with an independent but preferably old account to make the changes. Tweak stuff on unrelated pages first to show you're not just there for self-promotion. Cite everything. Make sure there is mainstream coverage of the item to help your case (e.g. a link in an authoritative newspaper site).

 

In fact, it's easier to get it done through Fiverr, oDesk or one of those sites. They have the chops.

Yes, a colleague has been trying to get the company Wiki page approved but it keeps coming back saying it's too promotional but not specifying WHAT in particular is too promotional about it. I was wondering if anyone had an experience with this at all.

I found an existing wiki page in the same industry and tailored mine towards theirs as much as possible.

 

Look for adjectives in the copy - get rid of 'em.

[Thunderplex]

£50 - £200.

Usually these days people just tell everyone what they want for wedding gifts, whether it be a list of shit for their house or money towards a honeymoon. Has she not given you any clues? That would help to give you a starting point

 

She's wanting money towards the honeymoon as opposed to gifts due to them living in sin for the past few years they really have most of what they need. I was thinking £150, so at least I'm on the right track. Will just have to work on the wedding speech now. Thanks guys!

[Chest Rockwell]

What's the best thing to do if you want to get rid of old books, but want to give them the best chance of ending up in the hands of people who will make use of them?

[Otto Dem Wanz]

Give them to a charity shop or see if your local library would take them.

[HarmonicGenerator]

Someone in my girlfriend's block of flats has left all their unwanted books and DVDs in boxes at the bottom of the stairs with a 'Help Yourself' sign, and they're taking what's left after a few days to the charity shop. Got ourselves a few coffee table art books and the first season of Arrested Development out of it, thought it was quite a nice idea!

[Tommy!]

I'm not much on Skype. If I'm in Germany and someone else is in the UK, both with Wifi, is it free to video conference?

[Onyx2]

I'm not much on Skype. If I'm in Germany and someone else is in the UK, both with Wifi, is it free to video conference?

Yes.

[Tommy!]

Thankyou.

 

I know I've asked a couple of stupid sounding yes/no questions lately, but I'm sorting a lot out and want to double check the little things with people I know know their onions on that stuff.

[Merzbow]

You can also use https://hangouts.google.com/

 

I think Chrome comes with it all downloaded and set up.

[hallicks]

Someone in my girlfriend's block of flats has left all their unwanted books and DVDs in boxes at the bottom of the stairs with a 'Help Yourself' sign, and they're taking what's left after a few days to the charity shop. Got ourselves a few coffee table art books and the first season of Arrested Development out of it, thought it was quite a nice idea!

 

They've made a huge mistake.

[Juan Manforce]

Laptop trouble.

 

I woke up in the middle of the night to find I'd poured the glass of juice at my bedside over the bed/myself. I'd been watching something on my laptop and noticed some of the juice had spilled on it, some visible splashes around the keyboard. I turned it off and tipped it upside down overnight, thinking in my damp sleepiness it'd be fine by morning.

 

Tried it out today to see a handful of keys not working and most of the working ones typing 3-4 characters at a time. Delete turns the volume up, enter somehow tries to save files, etc. I'm somewhat handy with computers so have tried to take it apart but after removing all the visible screws I can't get inside it all.

 

Obviously an external keyboard would be a makeshift solution (been considering an external mouse too due to ongoing touch pad issues), but other than that is my only option taking it to a repair shop? I'd like to try and leave it for longer but I'm fairly sure the damage is done and the internal keyboard needs a good cleaning, best case scenario.

[SiMania]

Try taking each key off if you can or remove the entire keyboard by opening up the laptop and cleaning with a wet wipe to get rid of the stickiness.

[Monkee]

Do you have contents insurance? Might be worth looking at a claim depending on how much it'll cost to get fixed and what your excess is. A friend of mine tipped coffee on her laptop and got a brand new replacement and only had to pay £50 excess.