TuX

Yes. I am not very experienced with Linux [using it for 2/3 years now] but I triple boot 64 bit SuSE Pro+Ubuntu Hoary Hedgehog currently along with 32 bit winXP pro,but rarely ever use SuSE anymore [and XP even less],will be formatting the lot at a later date,to install either Ubuntu Breezy Badger,or Dapper Drake,when that is stable [looks like the release date has moved up to June now]. Canopus [and k9ruby],what distro are using?

Vanessa Mae; and Rob Dougan. They are 2 of the best for modern classical,although they usually blend electronic genres with their music. A few singles off Robs' Furious Angels album has featured on the Matrix film series and in adverts. Another would be Hybrid-their older music,like Finished Symphony,another classical and electronic blend.

How much bandwith do they allow?

I agree,there is no need for commercial/closed source/costing programs when the open source/free software market has so much to offer.

http://www.autistics.us/library/whatis.html ^Very good,informative article on Autism [the whole spectrum] http://www.nas.org.uk/ ^Incase the person does not know of the National Autistic Society yet,that is their site,there is too much on it to mention here. http://www.info.autism.org.uk/Pages/Index.aspx ^A database for lots of different contacts of help and services for parents/families of/people with ASD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autistic_spectrum ^The wikipedia entry for ASD.

Here is a long list of a lot of free programs for computers [meaning all architectures and formats]. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Audacity-a music editor,haven't used this one myself,but it is a very popular program,looks very similar to Soundforge.It's available multi format-windows,mac,GNU/linux operating systems.. http://www.rosegardenmusic.com/ -It's nearest Windows equivilent is Cubase [a professional program used in studios],it's a music production program,but it hasn't been coded for windows as yet,so will only run on the Linux platform and needs to be compiled from source. http://blender.org/cms/Home.2.0.html Blender-a professional standard animation program,that film designers have even used [spiderman 2 is one result of Blender],but is still accessible to the beginner if they bother to mess about with it and learn how it works. It's multi format [windows,linux etc] I have it on my SuSE pro partition with 1024mb of ram and it runs stable with no lag,not sure what the windows version is like. It does need a fairly decent computer to run it without lag though,especially with memory. Zone Alarm site Firewall program for Windows. http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5 Scroll down to the 'AVG Free for Windows installation files' table,dump the lag inducing Norton for this. http://www.fs-security.com Firestarter-a firewall for Linux based operating systems,this can be more lazily aquired by apt getting it in a terminal anyway. http://www.openoffice.org Open Office is a multi platform Office suite of software [eg,for windows,linux,osx etc] worth getting,one of the best free programs around. http://www.gnome-look.org Lots of art,themes,icons and graphics to use with the GNOME desktop environment on linux,i've got my Ubuntu/GNOME looking like Mac OSX with customisations from there. It's also got a lot of wallpapers,not all of them Linux or UNIX based. http://www.deviantart.com A major art community,with lots of different types of art/graphics for personal use unless stated otherwise. For example,SONY psp wallpapers-wallpapers that have been specifically designed to fit the psp screen size, i've got a few from DA on mine. http://www.xmms.org/ A decent linux music player. http://www.winamp.com/ -A decent windows music player,although I haven't used any of the newer editions so don't know how dependable they are. http://www.inkscape.org/ Inkscape is a graphics program available multiformat [windows,linux etc] I can't remember whether I have ever tried this one or not. http://www.gimp.org/ GNU Image Manipulation Program [GIMP for short] A multiformat graphics program,compareable with Adobes industry standard-Photoshop. http://www.gimp.org/macintosh/ -GIMP for Mac OSX http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/ -GIMP for Windows http://www.gimp.org/unix/ -GIMP for UNIX and Linux operating systems http://www.ambientdesign.com/artrage.html Artrage is a small download [unless it's completely changed since I got it 1/2 years ago],and offers very realistic painting,as if painting it on paper,it doesn't look digital like others do,plus it's easy enough for people of any age to use. http://www.americasarmy.com/ It's what the American Army use/d to train on,it's a first person shooter,Medal Of Honour style. If I remember correctly,the download will be over 800mb and,it will not work on onboard graphics [eg,intel extreme,intel 82810..],it's a very graphics intensive game and at the least needs a dedicated AGP graphics card,it has an age rating of 13+. http://sourceforge.net/softwaremap/trove_l...php?form_cat=80 Many pages of downloadable opensource games,various formats including windows. Internet Browsers [other than mozilla,firefox,IE etc] --------------------------- http://www20.pos.to/~sleipnir/software/sleipnir/index.html Sleipnir is a windows based Japanese browser. Scroll down to Sleipnir version 1.66 and click on it,I had this one running on my old computer. http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/ K Meleon,windows based,no lag. http://sourceforge.net/projects/kidzbrowser Have added this one as there are a lot of parents with younger kids here,it's an internet browser for children which has parental control,the parent adds the sites the child can look at individually and the child is unable to view anything else,plus it logs everything the child does,not sure whether it means a keystroke logger logging every key typed regardless of using the browser or not but it sounds good. And it's windows based. Operating systems ---------------------------- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux -Wikipedia description and history of Linux. http://www.ubuntu.com / https://shipit.ubuntu.com Ubuntu is based on the Linux kernel and uses the less graphics intensive GNOME desktop environment by default.The shipit page will send out any amount of Ubuntu copies for free [free postage,free copies] I've got the last two versions this way,the next version-dapper drake is out in April but is available to download now as a beta.Ubuntu can be downloaded by self,using a ISO compatible cd burning program like Nero. Ubuntu can be installed alongside Windows to go between the two,I use XP just for gaming and my digital camera and psp,whilst my linux OS' are for everything else. http://www.freebsd.org FreeBSD is based on a version of UNIX,it's a lot closer to UNIX than Linux is,some prefer FreeBSD for this reason. http://www.linuxiso.org Find every popular linux/free UNIX operating system here,including links to their sites and links to download the operating systems' ISO images [for burning to dvd/cdr]. Again,a ISO compatible cd burning program will be needed to make the cd bootable. http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/ http://featherlinux.berlios.de/ http://vectorlinux.com/ ^All three are small Linux operating systems and can be booted from a USB memory stick [no need for installing]. That's all I can think of up to now,everything I have linked to is completely free [not trials],not just in cost but in freedom of code also. Anyone else know of decent,fully free [not trials] software that has not been listed and isn't too obvious.

As long as the cat hasn't been brought up as an outdoor cat,and is okay with children,it should all work perfectly. Go for it,I know if I had the chance of getting more cats,I would be filling the house with them.

Mostly repeating what others have said but it is very possible to have house cats. My sisters' friends' tom called Bam Bam is a stay in cat,they live in a flat several floors up but they do have a balcony which he lies around on. Pet shops sell harnesses and leads for cats,which is also an option-taking them out on a lead but not letting them free range,but not all cats like the harness. Older female cats are the most likely to be stay in cats,there are many of them needing homes due to people associating them with constant vet trips and wanting a fluffy kitten,but not all cats will require a lot of vetinary treatment in older age,i've known a few cats who got past 15 with no health problems,it differs,it helps if the cat has good breeding. For pedigrees,consider a cat breed called ragdoll,they are called ragdolls due to going floppy when being picked up,ragdolls are not recommended as outdoor cats as they do not fight back in defence when attacked by others[the reason for keeping them in] they are very friendly and trusting and are said to be great with children and not very active. Only problem is cost-kittens from a competent breeder [who socialises the kittens,gives them attention,checks genetic history etc] cost around ?300 minimum-it might be possible to get them as adults from a cats home [cheaper],but I would think it would be hard due to the appeal and popularity of ragdolls,i've wanted a ragdoll for years [but can't afford one].

What tracklistings [or some of tracklistings] are on everyones music players [whether hardware,or on computer-winamp,XMMS etc] ? For those who can't be bothered looking,what are most played/listened to music tracks currently? This is what is on my PSP at the moment in exact order:

The tickle IQ test is probably the least reliable of the lot,plus they aren't able to judge real intelligence,real intelligence is knowledge and knowing what to do with it. The tickle test gave me 73,[iQ tests usually give me 76] not surprising and not bothered,I am uselss at these things but have knowledge in areas that matter to me.

What ISP are using? It might not have been the forums' fault,there has been a lot of downtime and lag over the past couple of days of several ISPs,NTL being the worst,apparently NTL were upgrading networks,not sure about the problems with other ISPs though.

Sweet FA refers not to the swearing [wrongly used abreviation] but to Fanny Adams,a [now dead] real person. The police should not fine someone for swearing that isn't being used against anyone,there is nothing wrong with swear words,it's the context that humans have associated with them that has caused the problem. ###### is not even a "mild swear word" [to quote the BBC article],it's slang and says so in the dictionary: The people who are offended by ###### have probably never watched English terrestrial TV before. Sensoring is getting worse,I remember watching a System Of A Down video on MTV2 [or Kerrang..forget which] a long while ago,and it had the word 'needles' edited out-this was after 10pm.

niki,what is it you would like to know?

Make appointment with GP>bring important information about childhood difficulties+differences typed/written on paper [ask relatives for help with this if needed]>show the notes to the GP and ask if can be referred to a specialist for further exploration of this. *The waiting list will be long [assuming to make use of the NHS]-it varies depending on which part of the country and which borough. *Assessment isn't as long as it takes for children though.

Paul,do ebay groups give enough administration to control these incidents? If that was the problem,try Invision Free as an alternative message board system-it has got a great indepth Admin Control Panel,it's using the same software as ASD-Forum is,albeit IF is a free hosted version the only ads used are those simple embedded google ones. Very easy to control trouble with,and also easy to set up.

qthewingedserpent,try these: http://www.wrongplanet.net/forums.html http://www.aspiesforfreedom.com/phpBB2/ http://www.onthespectrum.com/board/index.php -I use the first two of those,but not the third,it's not been up long and it was started by some of WPs ex staff,looks good and has got a lot of activity. They are all designed for users on the Autism Spectrum primarily so will get more feedback from those,but parents,other family etc are able to use them to.

<Two of my rats wedged in a large ferret tube:Ryo and Akira.

I second that. This is a common issue people have with rats,my mum hated the tails when I first got rats,I got her to stroke them and she isn't bothered by them anymore-the tails are dry,smooth and a little hairy,they use them for balancing and don't use them to attack with. As for guineas,they are great pets if have the space and facilities,same with rabbits. I had guinea pigs years ago,they are very docile animals and like attention,rabbits have more energy and can be harder to catch than guineas,the power out of their hind legs is not to be underestimated. What ever animal is wanted,get them from an animal sanctuary [they do have babies in] or a competent breeder as opposed to pet shop,for various health and socialising reasons. Breeder is best for guaranteeing the best health,but animal sanctuaries are best,for taking care of those who already exist [breeding is just adding to the problem,if the breeders do not ensure each animal will have a home].

Didn't a national poll find Hull as the worst town? I have not got around this country enough to have seen enough bad and good places,but from my limited experience,I vote for Salford,it's a crime ridden tip,and it's one of the reasons why those who live under the Manchester City Borough Council [which I think,is North Manchester] have such high council rates as Salford is a part of the borough,even though it's classed as a town of it's own.

Carole,will it boot at all? even into safe mode? did it give any errors? any beeps?

It depends on which dictionary definition of shy is being used,because there are quite a lot,and they are all confusing. Part of ASD can be mistaken for shyness-growing up being mostly non verbal and wanting to do things on own for example,not talking is often seen as a core example of shyness by many for some reason [judging by my experience]. Another word for [shy] is [introverted] and when [introvert] is searched in the thesaurus,one of the results it comes up with is Autist,so perhaps [shy] and [introvert] are just labels of a group of traits,rather than having any physical reason at all.

It's pyschosomatic behavior and does not physically exist,vitamin supplements will cure it. Scientology is disgusting,they are completely dellusional-are more like the KKK or Black Panthers than even a lesser mainstream religeon such as satanism. It's usually christians who are wrongly and stupidly steriotyped as being unrealistic and forcing their beliefs on others,yet people accept what influential people like Tom Cruise have to say. What is his problem with that,Russell Crowe and Barbra Streisand for two examples-were slandered a lot more personally but they haven't sued Matt and Trey/Comedy Central as far as I know [otherwise Paramount et al wouldn't be reshowing them]

My parents wanted to have me in care from a young age,and from 15 onwards,wanted to throw me out of the house,they had no idea that my problems had a reason though and didn't bother getting help beyond toddler age due to my old GP saying scans never showed up any abnormalities and my difficulties were the result of very disruptive,bad behavior. I think the difference between going into care and not going into care,is whether the childs' difficulties have been properly recognised or not. Those with a diagnosis [of any disability/difficulty] are able to get more support,coping strategies and understanding than those without. There should be more physical support for families with Autistic children to avoid childrens homes or fostering becoming a possibility.

Viper,I do not have a definite answer on the possibility of a reaction between melatonin and anti biotics,but I would think they should be okay as melatonin occurs naturally in the brain,as long as there isn't herbal stuff mixed in with it as some herbal things can cause bad reactions.

Have never been interested with geneology myself,but either last year or year before/or year before that even.. my dad was contacted by a business man in New Zealand who has been tracking down his family,he came over here to Liverpool to check records and it turns out they are cousins,my uncle has been over to see him,pretty good to find that out as I thought my only relatives live in Ireland,England and Scotland.