Conn mentions how to get this very common eircom problem fixed.
I wasn’t sure if it was possible to get eircom to fix split copper lines. Apparently it is. So go bother eircom to get them to fix the problem
From Megite, How to install wordpress on a usb stick.
Might be useful for testing. Its a good guide to the whole process. Go check it out.
10 things you’ll miss when you upgrade to Vista (and how to get some of them back)
Its also a bit harder to find the command prompt and the add/remove programs.
In case you hadn’t guessed already, Eircom is not Vista ready. I mentioned that my broadband disk I received in the post a couple of days ago didn’t recognise my brand new version of windows. It suggested a manual installation.
Foolishly, I wondered if I could avoid that by downloading an updated version of the broadband software from the Eircom support site.
Instead I found, no eircom link with suggestions how to install their broadband software with Vista. No newer version of their software. No mention of Vista beyond a new story saying Vista is about to be released.
Well. That’s just rubbish.
Oh and http://home.eircom.net/ seems to be broken. The side bar goes off my screen. I’m viewing it on Internet explorer 6. Not exactly ancient. I can however see all the ads on the right hand side of the screen. Why exactly is eircom advertising tesco and insurance on their site anyway?
Blah. Maybe someone should tell Ray Darcy about this too.
Yesterday evening I picked up a hp pavillion that runs windows vista. I wasn’t thinking of getting vista but in the end the machine I liked, came with it so *shrug* I decided to give it ago.
I am impressed with the aero touches. Very very cool and beautiful. The see-through effects and light up buttons are very subtle and beautiful. For a techie I’m very impressible this way. I trained orginally in art, about half my life swung that way so I’m not a pure techie 
You now have gadgets on your screen. I got to say, I didnt really like them at first but by the end of the evening I really enjoyed being able to glance at the clock and see the time so easily.
I love the Photo Galley. I use a lot of art material in hobbies, so the ability to flick from picture to picture to picture is wonderful. Previously I used psp7 for this (the browse feature) but this is lovely. You can order the pictures in anyway, whether conceptially, by name or date. This is a great feature for me.
The only downside is that the Eircom broadband disk doesnt know vista. So it will be a bit longer before I have that set up. Oh well.
Update: Oh btw, the reason I didn’t get an IBM laptop like I planned, was they were sold out.
Recently I have been trying to get broadband installed at home. I wanted to get a BT broadband package.
we had no telephone in the house I rent at the time, but I was pretty sure there was a phone line already there, just unused. So I rang BT up and found out how long would it take for them to set it up. I was quoted 2 months. Eep? What?
I asked should I talk to eircom about getting the line set up. Their answer was probally. Well. My confidence is briming.
So off I go to the free (thankfully) eircom number. Its 1901 if you need it. Their phone system seems at first much better than BT’s. Much easier to use. We soon discovered a flaw though, you get dropped if you are left on hold too long. This problem added a lot more time to our ordering.
The time eircom quoted varied from 48 hours to 28 days to 4 weeks. Today we have been contacted asking us to check is our line working. So we are going to pick up a phone to test it.
We only ordered a line in from them. They couldn’t guaranty if we can get broadband, even after testing it from their office and the fact the house next door has it.
So if the phone says the line is working, we move to step two. Ordering broadband. Its at the point now we will probably order from eircom for at least the beginning and then see what the service and speed is like.
Bad news for hardware fans. Well for everyone.
Because, if Microsoft succeeds, there won’t be generic hardware. White boxes won¹t be able to run Vista. They’ll only run Vista’s ancestors and competitors. Vista-ready boxes will be white in the manner of Apple’s: in color only.
