bigjimbishop

[quote user="Deimos"]As to whether or not existing non-French ADSL modems would work or nor - difficult to say. For example, French protocols are slightly different from UK protocols. UK ADSL modem firmware will not always work when in France. However, many ADSL modems are "worldwide" these days and can be configured/auto adapt to the French settings. Check if your modem can take a setting of 8.35 for its VPI/VCI. I tried UK firmware in France and it did not work. I contacted the manufacturer who said "no it wont" - and they could not provide me the French firmware as it was under the control of the ISPs (in France). I then found some "worldwide" firmware for it, loaded that and no problems. Ian[/quote] I connected a netgear DG834 in France bought in UK. It automatically set the vpi/vci and connected straight away. I found with livebox that the pc connected via usb with the wanadoo software drops connection regularly in every case but the ethernet connection for a second pc with no wanadoo software never misses a beat. Seems to me the software is designed to fail to boost customer support profits. Still no ADSL chez moi. Merde merde merde!

For me art  comes from people who are driven to express themselves through rhetoric, poetry, plastic arts and music. Intention is secondary. So is fame. Most artists want to share their expressions but it is not universal in the definition of an artist. I am sitting here at 6am having just spent 2 hours adding to my composition for orchestra and detuned string quartet. I would rather be in bed but the music is bursting out and I must write it down. During this activity I do not think about how people will react to it. This is not part of the creative process unless you decide beforehand, or get comissioned to satisfy a brief in which case intention is important. But 'hardcore' artists I've met take the money and are left to do what they want. I earn money from writing music but get most pleasure and feel most professionally artistic when I write for myself. Musicians in my experience are a strange mix of left and right brained so an artist cannot be defined by his/her mental tendancies in this paradigm. I see melody as form in nature as an emotional experience but also in complex goemetric models sugested by nature. See Kant Aesthetics and discover his attempt to be arguably the first cognitive psychologist trying to marry art, the observer and the wave colapsing to a particle in the quantum field. Even Dick 'Word'Smith is artistic in his dialectic input, emotional and rational in equal measure, where neither has a moral value but the synthesis is clearcut. (sorry to hear you don't dig Emanuel, however it's true, he is a boring fart ) My CD's, t-shirts, monogrammed mugs, branded honey and locks of hair are available online at www.art-for-arts-sake-money-for-gods-sake.com

Both my neighbour and I have cats with really deep dry coughs. No fur balls coming out. Anyone know a good homeapathic or other natural remedy? Could they be suffering from some local plant/animal poison? Jim and Chouchou

I use a program called sketchup to draw plans for  P de C. It generates 3D images of your house and dimensioned and scaled  2D drawings with as much detail as the DDE require. I got a copy of a similar P de C for my first application from the Marie, they said do it like this. I took loads of photos and superimposed the 3D model in sketchup thus creating 'before and after' pictures. They liked that very much. Combined with dimensioned plans from every elevation I've done 4 successful P de C. Sketchup is free, just give it a google.

I used www.ixwebhosting.com 3 euro per month and 10Gb storage. Great online website builder for beginners like me and 2 domain names included. Great support service too.

It's been 2 months and no reply. Can I proceed? For the last Dec de Trav I did I waited 1 month then started but only recieved the official permission after 3 months

Hi Clair I buy and install PCs and laptops for retired folk here and always get good deals from www.cdiscount.com Infact the Acer you want is here

Try the free trial version of 'sketchup' I use this for DdT and Permis de Const. You can learn it in 2 hours. Very powerful, easy with comprehensive component library. You can also import  pictures/images  and manipulate them to  fit as background for your new build.

Underfloor heating is getting popular in France with many companies offering eco friendly and economic solutions. It is a shame you have fitted an oil system being the most expensive fuel at 4 times the cost of wood per kW/hour But as you have a floor prepared there are plenty of companies who can fit altenative systems to oil and electric with some government grants available (upto 50%) Here is one There are loads but I'll have to get back to you with details. If you google chauffage ecologique or geothermique etc. you'll be on the right track. There is a really nice system which uses ground heat in your garden consuming the same power as an average fridge freezer. You need to have 3 times the garden surface to floor surface. It cools in the summer and heats in the winter. Also commercially available from many french companies. There are also wood pellet fires heating systems which run at I think 2 Euro cents per kW/hour compared to wood logs at 2.9 and oil/electricity at 7.9 (I hope I got the decimal point in the right place as I am relying on memory from last week with a few bottles of Aligote in between but the relevant ratios are correct) It's a really hot topic here in the Morvan as we have an endless supply of wood so the foresters make pellets with the waste branches and leaves. Forget the oil unless it is biofuel, also available for heating but still not as cheap as alternatives. Don't waste time and money on UK companies as the french are far advanced in this field. Good Luck.

Has anyone seen this film? It really blew my mind. Quantum Physics, reality and spirituality made simple in one digestible sandwich.

I have an effective, and free method of getting rid of moles but it's not very nice. When the ground is frosty you can lift the mole hill up to reveal the hole then you stuff it full of thorny twigs from a rose bush. Moles are haemaphiliacs and once scratched bleed to death. Not nice. I did it for a customer with a nice lawn but I let the little critter have free reign chez moi as everything works in balance. Snakes, rats, lizards, hornets, children they all play a part in Gods mystery.

I always use autoeurope Cheaper than all the others

Oh it appears your home licence covers everything including TV wrist watches TV Wristwatch Ridiculous I don't have a TV after 30 years of addiction to it and a move to france where TV is even worse. Waste of time....go play outside....

If it is indeed still true that you do not need a licence for a portable battery operated TV then you could argue that this applies to laptops as well.

Cheers Beryl We make every moment fun. I used to build themepark rides now I write the music for them and do my own theming at home. Last year I made a few sculptures out of cement then a log cabin for the boy. My plans just get bigger. Maybe I'm trying to catch up with my namesake in the USA http://www.bishopcastle.org/ He's a real dude I'll start posting a picture diary of the project next week. If this one goes well I have some friends here who want a tree village for yoga retreats at L'huis Preau next year possibly with a Mondrian theme.

Google "tefl france" 1000's of results

http://bigjim.sonetbruit.com This is my design. I've bought the materials just waiting for some answers from a structural engineer

Good news. A 3 metre rule applies to  balconies and other structures such as treehouses. If they take no space on the ground and start above 3 metres then no declarations or permis required. The lady at the Marie likes my plans. I wonder if I can build a garage in the trees? Somewhere for Chittychittybangbang

I want to build one. Anybody know the limitations in size before you need permission of some sort. They already think I'm mad at the marie so I thought I'd better find out the limits beore presenting a declaration de trav or permis de constr. Jim

I find that www.autoeurope.com is the best value for money and is available everywhere

For your information I have found that generally IT bits and pieces are cheaper here than UK. If you search www.touslesprix.com then you find rueducommerce, LDLC and multepass are better than Misco and other UK based IT sellers. Jim Tiger OS X on AMD64 3000+ 2Gb ASUS A8V deluxe SATA Raid 1 mmmm I love nerdy gear-lust

My mates found that it all worked with a 2 metre usb extention taking the dongle just below the door frame so that the wifi was not trying to get through 2 walls

I have a site and am trying to figure out how to embed quicktime .mov files into pages. I found the code and instructions which sadly never mention where I actually put the .mov file. Do I put it in a folder called 'clips' in the same root as 'images' folder then link to it? This just seems to provide a download option. I want to stream the files. I just don't get it Help! Jim

The only thing that's different setting up the Netgear router in France are the VPI  and VCi settings In UK it's 0 and 38, but here I think it is 8 and 35. It's mentioned in some other post on this forum. Don't know about the signal strength and stone walls but I assume that will be problematic. You could buy USB wifi dongles and dangle them in places where they pick up better. Dangle your Dongles Jim

emule is better than limewire P2P but beware of viruses. Lots of TV companies sell shows and movies online for very little these days and you get guaranteed quality and possibly faster downloads. Bit torrent is really cool and if you are a real tech-head then MIRC has everything.