marlin13

There is also supposed to be another meeting to bring everyone interested in filmmaking in Shetland together. There a fair few involved but everyone is sort of isolated and it would be really good to get people introduced and talking to each other.

I have seen one of the most insideous of these appearing lately pretending to come from Halifax. Most experienced internet users are not taken in but anyone who is new to the internet may be unaware of this type of thing, you should NEVER EVER reply to any of these emails or supply your details on sites which you have not navigated to yourself. You bank will NEVER ask you via an email to confirm security details and you should treat all such requests as fraudulent. If in any doubt contact your local branch BEFORE doing anything. Perhaps the moderators would put up some information about this type of thing as a service to Shetlink users.

If they allow people travelling onward with BA more luggage allowance but possibly not people travelling with other airlines is there an anticompetitive or restrictive practices argument in the making. Best service when there were two carriers on the run, there was competition and these sorts of problems did not appear. As to Aircraft types I am no expert but I was a (very small ) shareholder in British regional airlines which used to hold the BA franchise. Just before BA bought them out they were moving rapidly towards operating small Embraer jets on their routes and had options on several of these very popular planes(perhaps a contributing reason to the BA buyout). However these aircraft have runway requirements which I think are still in excess of what an extended Sumburgh has. I did a little background study at the time and it seems a world wide move is taking place towards smaller aircraft making higher frequencies of journeys, this offers passengers more choice and seems to be able to offer airlines higher load factors, and overall sems in the main to boost overall traffic on a route. It does however mean having to 'put up" with the more restricted cabin environment of smaller aircraft, although I personally like the 340 (and I aint no skinny melinky) it does offer practical restrictions on the amount of carry on baggage but overall the baggage problems are a red herring - just charge excess baggage charges as have been around for years? or not if there was competition which is the hub of the problem. PS Calling Drew Ratter what happened ta dye Airline boy!

Bit of a story around today about a dude who refused to accept the Windows license on his new Dell laptop (he wanted to run linux) and contacted Dell who gave hime 50 whole squids of a refund. As he pointed out it seems that most people even if they want to run linux have to pay big bad bill anyway, which seems a tad anticompetative. As Macs(well all new ones anyway) now use Intel processors u could say they are really just well designed PC's and you can run the dreaded windows if you wish through either the "boot camp" method with seperate booting or running a virtual machine using for instance paralells desktop. Or you could use Crossover, still a beta though, to run some PC apps using OSX without windows. As to gaming machines well if price was no object vist the Apple store and see what sort of machine you could build around the MacPro, that said however gaming has not been a first priority with Apple for a while and the use of integrated graphics(what were they thinking about!!) has really put the kybosh on any sort of gaming on Macbooks or macmini's. As to software well Hasta la Vista baby cause the leopard is going to bite its head of

FF2 also caused problems with some of the form fields on our database driven site not allowing the entry of numbers, workaround was found but was a pain for a while, still feels a bit beta'ish to moi.

While many peolple in Shetland now get full ADSL broadband many are still on exchange activate, but more worryingly some people can't get broadband at all. Considering the fact that it is available in Foula and Fair Isle(some of the first people to get it) this is not an acceptable state of affairs. I would appreciate if forum users throughout Shetland would be kind enough to answer the poll question and if at all possible to get in touch with me. So that the number of people afffected can be more readily discovered, as many are suffering in silence. I feel its about time this was finally sorted as the technology is readily available to sort it and wouldn't cost that much in the grand scheme of things. If Shetland is going to be taken seriously then it has to have a more pro active attitude to communications than it does at present. Thank you in advance for your help.

Far be it for me to enter the iPod or not debate, however for the information of forum users, if you have or wish to use an iPod on a Windows computer then you must have either XP home or Pro with service pack 2 or 2000 with service pack 4. Some people MAY have got iPods to work with other versions of Windows but they are not supported. Personally I have one of the original 4Gb Mac only iPods which cost more than I care to remember at the time, still going strong.

Well I just started to download DJ Mouse house cast No1. Only thing was I forgot I had studio monitor speakers on full fart. Boy did I get some surprise when the music kicked off !!! Great show, house music tho not my usual cup o tae actually quite taken we hit weel don da house moose.

If you need to run the odd windows app on an intel mac check out http://www.codeweavers.com as their product Cross over for Mac(still beta) will allow you to run windows apps without loading windows! Try it (if you need to )and see what you think?

You are indeed correct about them not fitting 5G iPods, in fact there is a bit of a dearth of mics for the new iPods. Griffin mentioned one but nothings appeared. I believe the only one currently available is from Xtrememac there Micromemo will work with the 5G ipod video. Others no doubt will be along soon Belkin and Griffin both have had protoype products knocking about but as far as i'm aware there's nothing but "MicroMemo" at present.

This is a subject close to my heart, as with numerous others I campaigned to get broadband up here and was invited to meetings we da cooncil about same. However despite best efforts of many a number of exchanges in Shetland were enabled using exchange activate(512k max) a non upgradeable hardware solution. So if we do get a better service in (not within the next 8 years according to what I have heard) the equipment will have to be taken out and replaced with what should have been there all along! Fact - many people are going to be stuck with basic broadband for many years. As services offered increase exponentially they will be left further and further behind. Fact - above people are all in rural areas where increased data transfer speeds is MORE important. Fact - speed difference in services is now wider than the dial up 512k broadband differece of 10x. 8Mb is unless my maths is wrong is 16x faster than 512k. (Yes I know upload speeds are less differnt but that will change soon no doubt.) Fact - unless either a fibre link or other new technology is brought ino operation fairly soon the whole microwave links sytem will not be able to cope within a few years as more people see the benifits and almost essential nature of broadband communications. Fact - some people in Shetland cannot still get broadband, principally this is due to either old knackered cable or the distance between them and the exchange. As far as I'm aware the current max distance for 512k broadband is approx 8km WIRE LENGTH from the exchange, and some wires take tortuous routes. Fact - Probably the most remote community in Shetland, Foula, DOES have broadband, as does Fair Isle, so distance can be overcome if there is a willingness to do so. As one other poster mentioned there is a solution to taking higher speeds out to more distant locations by using a fibre from the exchange to a "street cabinet" I believe is the term used, and then running the copper from there. There may well be other solutions available perhaps someone a bit more up on this would let us know. I think its about time we found out just how many people/homes in Shetland cannot get broadband. Perhaps a letter to the local rag is due. As to councillor Ratters comment in same rag recently about the "really excellent broadband" we have now. Well if your on the councils deluxe sytem no doubt is is good but what about the rest of us? I leave you to make your own observations as mine would incur the wrath of the moderators. (PS to Drew if you have been misquoted by the paper flite on them) Shetland as a periferal area needs to be looking to be leading in this field to help give us an advantage to counter our locational disadvantages. If anyone has seen whats going on for instance in orea it make the UK look like were still using two bean tins and a bit of string. We do not need to fight anyone else but BT on this issue and we all need to get together both Public and private sectors and consumers to really push this ahead, we should be encouraging new talent to come forward to develop new technologies here , in the same way that PURE in Unst is developing energy technology. Bright sparks please take one step forward.

Its really quite hard to comment on the economics of this unless you have an idea of the costs involved. I as a gut feeling would have felt that to buy a plane for an operator to use MAY be cost effective however I think again from a gut feeling that also buying a second spare one is tending towards being less justifiable. Really they would have had to have tendered on two basis ie supply of planes + backup aircraft included or SIC supply of Aircraft + backup. Then you can have a fair crack at getting the sums right. Of course its never as simple as that in real life with large lead times for new aircraft etc, but something along those lines should have been done, maybe it was?

Just wondering if anyone else knows of people in Shetland who cannot get broadband yet. It still isn't available in some parts of north yell due to distance from exchange restrictions and many of us are still on 512 thru exchange activate which we are stucck with until someone spends the money to upgrade the exchanges(aint going to be BT anytime soon). In the meantime we are stuck with a very restricted set of ISP's (max of 6 can register on an exchange) Currently BT, Scotnet and AOL are the only ones I really recognise as ful ISP's the other appear to be resellers. As to councillors Ratters recent comment in the ST about the "really excellent broadband we have" well if your on the councils high speed system it probably is, but for me and a significant minority of Shetlanders the IT gap is wider than it used to be. ie 56k dial up v 512 broadband 10x speed difference. now 512 v 8mb broadband 16x speed difference and as newer versions come along this will only get worse. Recently software update on the mac indicated approx 670mb of updates this took at cut o the day we 512 exchange activate broadband, effectively tying up our connection for a while ida day but would have been much faster we the full ADSL thing, probably 1-2 hours. Them Olaberry mushrooms taste magic!

Some very clever chap at planning or Roads or what ever is decided they need to knock doon a house in Yell to make the road wider. Whats really galling fur the fellow it owns the house is that hes just finished doing it up to a very high standard and had it on the market with interest from young local couples when the council wallah's decided on this "brilliant" course of action. I'm not at all certain about the need for this......??? Perhaps it has somethig to do with the fact that if they widened he road on the other side they are thinking of the cheap and enviornmentaly friendly idea of shipping in stone etc from the scord as there is, it would seem, no stone t be had in Yell(allegedly) funny I seem to have seen the odd quarry about????????? Anyway it seems about the same width as much of the other double track road in Yell to me, and I drive over this particular bit most days. As the area is on a corner and has several entrances to houses as well as a difficult to see junction. What would be much simpler would be to erect two signs one at each end which indicate a thirty(or less)mph speed restriction, it would only be over a short distance and should not slow anyones progress by much anyway as any prudent driver would be slowing down here anyway. I am well aware that this does require a little paperwork as well but as there are obviously quite a lot of wallah's with sausage all to do , if they have time to dream this sort of nonsense up , it should be no problem to sort. At the same time the road between Gutcher and Cullivoe is a disgrace, the Community and the Community Council has been calling for many years for the road to be widened but this just falls on deaf ears in Wallah land. Cullivoe is home to a thriving haulage business as well as the Islands largest bus operator who both have to traverse this very narrow road many times each day with clearances on each side measured in only low single figures of inches. thankfully there have been remarkably few accidents but ones do happen. Maybe the council has to wait for someone to be killed before they get the finger out. We all know that budgets are supposed to be tight in the council, well if that is the case then prioritisation HAS to be the order of the day and knocking down houses to widen already adequate two lane roads is NOT acceptable in any shape or form when much more urgent roadwork needs to be undertaken. Burra feals aren't really acceptable as a replacement for even a decent hard shoulder when driving an artic or a 50 seater bus !

This sort of continuing nonsense has got to stop. The council have insisted previosly that when commercial developers are doing schemes they provide at least 1.5 car parking spaces per house/flat. Then what about disabled people who may need a car are they excluded. Then back to the fact that this site would be best left clear or with some modest low level development. Why all this crowding everything on top of one another you would think were short of land in shetland?????? Then there was there brilliant plan now finally geting on towards completion to big houses in da side o da hill out at da soouth end at Quoys. I don't think they could have found a more expensive site to develop (we taxpayers money i believe) if they had tried. And in doing so (allegedly) broke planning permission rules (or there contractors did) on an almost ongoing basis, but it was all damped down and nothing really was done to stop it. if you had, as a private developer, done the things they are alleged to have done you would have been in very deep doodoo. Its very simple really the council should refuse planning permission for housing on the site and as previous poster indicated only allow very limited light industrial use.

On this subject those of you who keep abreast of MAC happening will know that Apple are intending to include "time machine" a technology built into the OS which will allow you to recover "accidentally" or otherwise deleted files, with its next release of OSX. Very handy but you see the point in how easy it is for someone to get info they shouldn't. No doubt it will make an appearance in Vista as well (if they ever get it finished)

may I humbly suggest if your interested in computer security you use a MAC rather than a PC. They are nor perfect but because they now run on Unix(OSX) they are inherently more secure and there is virtually no virus or spyware threat - biased, me?

Excellent idea this is the sort of initiative we need more of. Should help to get Shetland Music more widely noticed.

I'm sure Andy Ross at the Wind Dog does vocal coaching, as far as I know. Not sure what sort of thing your after but give him a call or email him. contact details on the wind dog website

Just been to see the film in Unst. Its certainly not "mainstream" but I really liked it. One or two bits where things go slightly flat but the vast majority is great. Or you could say is so bad its good. If you haven't seen it your last chance to see it on the "big screen" in Shetland is Midyell tomorrow (friday). Got my DVD tonight as well so I'll be going through the extras, one of which, which was shown in Unst, is a nice plug for the Unst PURE project.

Perhaps I should mention the ubiquitous BT. You can subscribe to open zone through your phone bill from about fiver a month, gives u a fair few minutes if you travel off island now and then. Not really for long stints online though. If anyone happens to be blown off course up tae Yell, there are at least two I know about. Mac Shop - free and Wind Dog Cafe - not sure possibly small charge(they charge for use of internet access on their macs.)

As to the boat issue, I believe that the British Antartic Survey provide internet access on its ships when operating even in that antartic for use of scientists and crew. I don't think there satellite based system is what you would call affordable though !! Saying that I would not have thought it would be beyond reason to get a wireless broadband signal to a ferry. Would depend on crossing length but it could probably be done, in fact I hear the SIC may even be looking into it. Not sure if its meant for public use though. Wirelss hotspots in general should be encouraged and should be made affordable. Or free if at all possible. It may be worthwhile for some types of business to attract customers. Places such as the musem toll clock etc as prime candidates for this.

Sorry to disappoint patrons but the HILLTOP IS OFF THE FOOD MENU. All this new regulations wis ower much for Peter n he has gaffa taped !! over the bits on the signs which mention food. Only eatery in old Yell town is the Winddog. Personally I like the NAFC fresh fish well cooked what more do you want??

Hambone I came across your podcast just b4 the festival during one of my regular but usually fruitless searches for Shetland music (of any kind) on iTunes. Rather impressed if this is your first go i canna wait ta see what like you'll be after a bit o practice Have any of you music types thought about putting podcasts out as pulicity sort of a demo reel for shetland music. They could be seperated into seperate "casts" for different genres. I'm sure that there are enough techy people among the musicians to do it and if not I'm sure some of us more techy than musically talented dudes would be willing to help. For anyone using a Mac doing the thing is fairly straightforward including submission to iTunes.

Hello there I have an Audiosport Duo made by M Audio which was an ex demo but as the product has now been dicontinued recently I lend it out on occasion to needy individuals !! I would also be open to offers. Let me know if your interested, you can email me at shetlandmac@mac.com. On the DV front some modern Canon Camcorders have an Analogue to digital conversion capability, haven't tried to know what the quality was like. Spec on Duo The Duo is a powerful tool for recording mic and line level signals over USB in the highest quality possible. The Duo allows you to record from microphones (even large diaphragm mics that require phantom power) or any line level sources. You can optimize your levels with gain controls and pads, as well as signal and clip LEDs. Use the Direct Monitor button for zero latency monitoring (direct from the sources without going through the computer and software). You can also adjust the global output of the Duo by toggling between +4db and -10db on the rear panel. Headphones may also be connected for convenient monitoring in the field. When disconnected from the USB port, the Duo also functions as a high performance 24-bit standalone A/D converter. Select your sample rates via the DIP switches on the bottom of the unit (44.1, 48, 88.2 and 96kHz), connect the S/PDIF output to your digital device, and you're ready to record digitally anywhere, anytime. The Duo's digital output is compatible with 24-, 20- and 16-bit devices. Features * 2 Mic inputs and 2 Balanced 1/4" TRS inputs to insure that your signal will always be clean. * A stereo pair of our critically acclaimed mic preamps. * First gain stage of 40db, second gain stage of 30db. * 48V phantom power * Pad button for each Mic input * Zero-latency direct monitoring, greatly simplifying the process of recording and overdubbing. * Multitrack recording and mixing without PCI card installation Measured Audiosport Duo Specifications * Dynamic Range (Direct Line In to Line Out): 105 dB * THD+N (Direct Line In to Line Out): < 0.002% * Dynamic Range (Mic In to Line Out): 107 dB * THD+N (Mic In to Line Out): < 0.002% Includes Maximum Audio Tools - Audio Version (included with M-Audio Delta, USB audio and Firewire products) * Ableton Live Delta audio sequencer (special edition) * M-Audio ProSession series WAV/REX samples (125MB) * ArKaos VJ VMP visual performance software (special edition) * IK Multimedia SampleTank SE VST sample player (special edition) * DSound RT Express VST host with WAV player (special edition) System Requirements PC Minimum Requirements * Windows 98SE, 2000, ME, XP * UDMA EIDE or SCSI HDD * 96kHz Operation Pentium II 266Mhz (128 MB of PC100 RAM) * 48kHz Operation Pentium 200 MMX (64 MB of SDRAM) Mac Minimum Requirements * Native USB compatibility * OS 9.0.4* or higher including OSX * 96kHz Operation OS 9.1 128 MB RAM. 48kHz Operation OS 9.0.4 or higher 64 MB RAM