For all of us devotees of Opera's Random Chat thread...Pop and and share with the group!

First let me say many thanks to Frenzie for providing us with this space to continue meeting and chatting with all of the old friends from Opera, and maybe make some new ones.

I get the feeling we're going gain a whole new appreciation for the Hebrews of old wandering the desert...hehehe...

Thanksgiving? I thought your My Opera profile said you were from eastern Europe.

I've not had a cat for about 13 years, and wouldn't even know how to treat one anymore without advice.

With kindness, food and tickles. if the cat decides that you are good enough to be his/her slave that is. 

I've litle to say on other topics than Opera, and I could never survive being opposed in a debate, without breaking up.

The random chat thread is not really a place for serious debate. Think of it more as a place like a pub where you meet the regulars and just have a brief chat as your passing someone on your way to the bar. Trivial and inane chat where you can have a laugh for a few minutes. 

Where have you lounge chatters gone, cat got your tongue or something? 

I tend to be more of a responder than an initiator in the chats, and the halibut/Opera joke missed it's mark with me...>insert shrug emoticon here<
But hey...can always catch folks up and see where it takes us. Things are fine here now that I've replaced my wifi router. Stupid Belkin POS kept dropping its connection and all of the physical ports were dead. So replaced it with a nice new Linksys EA3500. Hopefully that will hold up better for all of my wifi devices in the house.

I ordered it when I ordered my holiday gift to myself; the complete Dark Shadow series... Black Friday brought the price down to the reasonable range so I snatched it up. Gotta love Amazon!

I tend to be more of a responder than an initiator in the chats, and the halibut/Opera joke missed it's mark with me...>insert shrug emoticon here<

By heck I thought you would have known that one.  Here's a clue. 

But hey...can always catch folks up and see where it takes us.

That's the spirit.  

Things are fine here now that I've replaced my wifi router. Stupid Belkin POS kept dropping its connection and all of the physical ports were dead. So replaced it with a nice new Linksys EA3500. Hopefully that will hold up better for all of my wifi devices in the house.

Guess I've been lucky with my Belkin then, it replaced a Netgear POS that wouldn't hold a wireless signal for more than 5 minutes, ISP supplied of course so par for the course with them. 

I ordered it when I ordered my holiday gift to myself; the complete Dark Shadow series... Black Friday brought the price down to the reasonable range so I snatched it up. Gotta love Amazon!

Definitely, they even do Black Friday here now, unfortunately there was nothing I really wanted. Didn't stop me looking for something though. 

Guess I've been lucky with my Belkin then, it replaced a Netgear POS that wouldn't hold a wireless signal for more than 5 minutes, ISP supplied of course so par for the course with them.

I have an ASUS RT-N16 on which I run TomatoUSB. It's significantly better than any commercial router software I ever saw. (Okay, technically if you get a real, proper router I'm sure it's decent enough, but I'm talking about affordable stuff here.)

I have an ASUS RT-N16 on which I run TomatoUSB. It's significantly better than any commercial router software I ever saw. (Okay, technically if you get a real, proper router I'm sure it's decent enough, but I'm talking about affordable stuff here.)

My definition of affordable = cheap. 

Perhaps. I bought a relatively expensive PSU, but with 80+-rated efficiency and just the general expected longevity of the product (7 year warranty) it might well be cheaper and thus more affordable in the long run. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if I already made back most of the money compared to my previous, less efficient PSU.

That being said, for the most part I believe more in investing in quality peripherals, like a good (mechanical) keyboard. After all, my keyboard might last for decades yet, while my computer, or at least my motherboard, CPU, probably GPU, and RAM, will be replaced sometime in the next few years. Since my computer's from '07, I have to say it's not starting to feel slow yet. I should add, the SSD I stuck in last year certainly helped an awful lot with that.

That being said, for the most part I believe more in investing in quality peripherals

Yes I know what you mean. I tend not to scrimp and save when it comes to computers and Hi-Fi as I'm a firm believer that in those two cases you get what you pay for. Other things though I'm not so fussy about. 

For audio I have one of the cheaper but decent Yamaha systems. Incidentally, I also acquired it in '07. I got a fairly good deal on it because it was the older generation hardware, which was being replaced with a newer version. Of course it was mostly the exact same hardware but without a few silly new features added. It should serve me fine for many years to come.

My biggest bane right now is the 19" LCD monitor I bought with the computer in '07. The thing is, I'd want 1920x1200 or better, and with the 4k stuff* and Apple's "Retina" displays I'm thinking better might at some point in the not-too-far-off future even become affordable, so I'm waiting it out either until that moment comes or until this monitor breaks. Simply put, I want significantly higher PPI. I don't like Apple, but at least they seem to have halted the race for lower and lower resolutions the past few years.

* 3840 is not 4000, dammit!

Why the quest for a higher resolution Frenzie? Do you do much graphic work or are you a PC gamer?

Because a higher resolution means clearer and thus easier to read text. Most things I do on the computer are based around text. I call 10px text starting to get harder to read on my screen, also on a 1920*1200 screen, yet on paper text of a similar size and smaller is still easy to read. And I'm talking any distance, whether close to my eyes or with my arms stretched. Working in serif fonts on my monitor? Yuck, except on paper I think serifs improve readability. Basically, if you browse a bit on an iPad you can see why people like them, even though they're fairly useless: the screen is just so much better and clearer than your average computer monitor. It's better even compared to a pretty nice IPS desktop monitor, and most of that difference is in the PPI. A PDF document can be perfectly readable on an iPad, while on desktop monitors it'll look somewhat blurry.

What I want from my monitor is that it at least approach the readability of low-quality print. My phone does that, but it's way too small. A tablet might do it, but what use is a tablet when I'm actually trying to do something? I clearly need something like a decent tablet panel, except aimed at the desktop. And preferably, without paying a fortune for it because I'm not overly concerned about color accuracy. Sure, the more the better, but most panels today have better color accuracy than most panels 7 years ago.

Surely something like an iPad panel without all the excess hardware and without the size constraints could make a reasonably-priced desktop monitor? Heck, people even make them in their spare time. And heck, I'd buy a new GPU to drive that thing if dual-link DVI weren't enough, although I think 2560*1600 on 24 inch would serve well enough.

In short, the monitor is the missing aspect of my computing experience. Before my current Core 2 Duo processor, I always wanted a faster CPU. That problem's been mostly eliminated. Before my SSD, I also always wanted a faster HDD. That too has been solved sufficiently. Far too low PPI has now also been more or less fixed, but only on useless devices.

I tend to be more of a responder than an initiator in the chats, and the halibut/Opera joke missed it's mark with me...>insert shrug emoticon here<

By heck I thought you would have known that one.  Here's a clue. 

Quite right; I should have known that one. Rather embarrassed with myself. For my penance, should I watch the complete TV series or all of the movies (all of which...of course...I have on DVD)?

...my holiday gift to myself; the complete Dark Shadow series... Black Friday brought the price down to the reasonable range so I snatched it up. Gotta love Amazon!

Definitely, they even do Black Friday here now, unfortunately there was nothing I really wanted. Didn't stop me looking for something though. 

I hope the Black Friday there isn't the horrible, barbaric spectacle it is here.

Sadly the collection has not yet arrived. Oddest thing, the notification that it has shipped gave an arrival date of between Dec. 6 - Dec 23! What the heck kind of arrival date range is that? Over 2 weeks?!?! What the fudge???

Quite right; I should have known that one. Rather embarrassed with myself. For my penance, should I watch the complete TV series or all of the movies (all of which...of course...I have on DVD)?

I could think of worse ways to serve a penance than watching a bit of Monty Python. 

I hope the Black Friday there isn't the horrible, barbaric spectacle it is here.

Sadly the collection has not yet arrived. Oddest thing, the notification that it has shipped gave an arrival date of between Dec. 6 - Dec 23! What the heck kind of arrival date range is that? Over 2 weeks?!?! What the fudge???

I ordered something for Xmas from Amazon a couple of days ago and when I  received the email informing me it had been dispatched it said the expected delivery date is the 26th January. My reaction was much like yours a definitive WTF! but on checking the details of the seller I discovered that it's coming from Hong Kong.  Should really have checked that little detail before I placed my order.

Stuff from Hong Kong usually gets here within 3-4 weeks, although on occasion it has taken up to 6.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if it arrives in plenty of time for Xmas. It's the stuff being delivered from elsewhere in the UK I should probably concern myself with. 

Quite right; I should have known that one. Rather embarrassed with myself. For my penance, should I watch the complete TV series or all of the movies (all of which...of course...I have on DVD)?

I could think of worse ways to serve a penance than watching a bit of Monty Python. 

Let the penance fit the crime, I say! 

I hope the Black Friday there isn't the horrible, barbaric spectacle it is here.

Sadly the collection has not yet arrived. Oddest thing, the notification that it has shipped gave an arrival date of between Dec. 6 - Dec 23! What the heck kind of arrival date range is that? Over 2 weeks?!?! What the fudge???

I ordered something for Xmas from Amazon a couple of days ago and when I  received the email informing me it had been dispatched it said the expected delivery date is the 26th January. My reaction was much like yours a definitive WTF! but on checking the details of the seller I discovered that it's coming from Hong Kong.  Should really have checked that little detail before I placed my order.

At least you got a set date. Mine basically tells me "spend the next 2 weeks hovering over your mailbox."

But hey; at least I didn't have to go out and shop. People are animals here on Black Friday. Pepper spray, tasers...all sorts of assaults. All for the season of peace and love...>sheesh<...

But hey; at least I didn't have to go out and shop. People are animals here on Black Friday. Pepper spray, tasers...all sorts of assaults. All for the season of peace and love...>sheesh<...

There were a couple of incidents over here at Asda (same company as Walmart I believe) where police had to arrest people because of fighting over TV's in the sale, Morons! 

Such events do make me despair for humanity...

Such events do make me despair for humanity...

It would drive you to drink so it would. 
Bet the TV's weren't even worth the price that they were selling for, I know I wouldn't buy a TV from the same place as I buy my groceries. 

Such events do make me despair for humanity...

It would drive you to drink so it would. 

Already got that covered...hehehe...

Bet the TV's weren't even worth the price that they were selling for, I know I wouldn't buy a TV from the same place as I buy my groceries. 

I would be ok buying a TV from the grocery store, depending on the make, model and price...but I would be leery of any groceries offered for sale at the electronics store...

It would drive you to drink so it would. 

Already got that covered...hehehe...

Thought you might, wouldn't expect it any other way really. 

Bet the TV's weren't even worth the price that they were selling for, I know I wouldn't buy a TV from the same place as I buy my groceries. 

I would be ok buying a TV from the grocery store, depending on the make, model and price...but I would be leery of any groceries offered for sale at the electronics store...

Yeah that would be a bad idea.
As for buying electrical goods from them there's a good reason for it. Don't know if it's the same over there as it is here but I have a friend who worked at management level in one of the big supermarkets and he warned me off ever buying large electrical goods from them. He told me that they are delivered in the same refrigerated lorries as other items, which is not how they should be delivered to the stores. The return rate was unbelievable according to him, so much so that he really wondered why they bothered selling them.  

Also, be aware when buying groceries that are on sale. One time I almost bought a loaf of bread that was on sale. Then I decided to check the printed expiration date, and it expires the next day.

Winter madness today. Below
0°F all day.  

Also, be aware when buying groceries that are on sale. One time I almost bought a loaf of bread that was on sale. Then I decided to check the printed expiration date, and it expires the next day.

Stick it in your freezer or make lots of toast or even better make a batch of bread pudding. 

Winter madness today. Below
0°F all day.  

Is it the cold that bothers you or the fact that there are no young ladies sunbathing any more? 

I'll be lucky if there are any girls in tight shorts jogging on the sidewalk when it is below 0°F

You should come here. there are always seems to be some young ladies wearing very little regardless of the weather. I've just never quite figured out if they are very hardy lasses or just absolutely nuts.