bigjimbishop

I would love to see an alternative energy section or and ecological energy section Maybe with a title page for links catagorized by technologies and applications. ie separate home power/efficiency from vehicle power/efficiency I find www.freeenergynews.com a great resource for all alternative technologies and news on the latest developments from the crackpots to the corporations. Also http://www.econologie.com/ If you are interested in vehicle efficiency then check out the Pantone GEET engine, sounds crazy but it's a system that vapourizes water and fuel at high temperatures. It works on Diesel and petrol engines and runs about 60% water. I've actually seen it working in a Renault 25 with fitted stainless exhaust You can build it yourself with reasonable DIY welding skills or buy it at http://www.soleol.net/voiture.htm I intend to convert my Xantia when I can afford a decent MIG welder but for now I'm running 80% on Colza Oil from LIDL 0.79Euro litre. You can buy colza in bulk, 800litres for 65 HT but the only saving is on LIDL plastic bottles which I recycle but it's not an ideal scenario. Hurrah for France where we can use whichever cleaner fuel we want! Apparently there is a European law that states it is not legal to bring proceedings against an individual who chooses to use a fuel which has less ecological impact than the regular commercially available fuels. This is being tested by a few Brits who use chip oil. Good luck to them! http://www.oliomobile.org/forum/ Veg oil fuel forum jim

I use 10m3 every year for 2 stoves and have electric water heating. 1m3 of oak cut to 33cm is 32euro here in the Morvan. I know it's double in the suburbs.

I'm online for hours everyday surfing everywhere with no regard for the dangers that lurk out there. I never get viruses and only occasionally get spyware. I'm convinced that using Mozilla Firefox instead of MS Internet explorer and Mozilla Thunderbird instead of Outlook is the reason. By the way Mozilla have better features than MS products. Spybot Adaware Zonealarm Real Alternative (instead of Windows media Player which is really dodgy) Turned off windoze fire wall, messenger and automatic updates Sailed through the 'Sheildsup' test.

I want to build a garage less than 20sq/m next to my house but thet tell me at the Marie that if the garage is joined to the house then I need a permit de construire. If it is detached then I just need a declaration de travail. But what is the minimum distance between garage and house to be deemed detached? i hope it's 10mm All advice very welcome Jim

Cheers Weedon I shall follow up the lead. I need some of the yellow wax used by fibre-glass mould makers but have no idea where to start looking in France or what it's called. I need possibly 20kg or more. It's a special wax that can be moulded by hand at room temperature for correcting mistakes in moulds. I am making sculptures purely for my own pleasure as part of an interest I have in form and texture of the 'plastic arts'. I've got enough land to have a little exhibition space where i can install my musical soundscapes and sculptures. i have no idea if anyone else likes what I do and no real interest in selling commercially but what I do makes my son smile and that's reward enough.

I've started making some large pieces in coloured cement blanc cast in moulds lined with black plastic to give a highly smooth finish. So far my pieces have only been roughly 1/2 cubic meter in volume with steel reinforcing and additive to stop water getting in. But my next piece is big, 3 cubic meters in volume so I'm wondering if anyone has any good tips for art with cement. Any ideas welcome. I can PM a visual of the piece if anyone is interested jim

I've got a Netgear ADSL router so I just want a simple ADSL abonnement. But wading through all the sites it seems hard to avoid the TV service. I do not have a TV and therefore do not pay TV licence, however if I got a modem with TV then surely they will want to tax me for having receiving equipment. I use skype with all my pals so no need for isp telephone modem. By the way if anyone is configuring their ADSL router bought in the UK then the following settings differ from UK, in France VPI 8 VCI 35 In UK it was VPI 0 and VCI 38

Wow Mrs O this is great news! I was looking at minimum 180 Euro for a pair secondhand. It seems Xantia parts hold their value. Maybe I'll sell the bits off my other Xantia which is dead in my field. Many thanks Jim

I want to import my xantia 1994 and need a pair of non uk headlights. Anyone got a dead xantia with bits for sale? or know a cheap place to buy secondhand. J

Can anyone recommend a free or cheap 3D house design program? Ta

It's a 1978 Jeep pick up. Any clues how much it certificat de conformity might be and import tax?

It was very simple for me. I just went to the Hotel des Impots and said I have no TV and they dictated a declaration to me which I then signed. They said they will reissue the tax d'hadit facture next week.

I live in France and have no intention of returning to UK. I've paid 20 years of class 2 contributions already and the NI office are happy for me to continue making payments wherever I work or live to keep my state pension entitlement. But I've just read in the paper that possible pension reforms may include residency based status rather than contributions based. The wording was vague. Anyone got any other information? Any chance of transfering 20 years of state contributions from UK to France?

My Xantia runs really well on 50/50 diesel/rapeseed oil mix from Lidl and 0.15% Acetone. 25,000 Km this year and no problems yet, avarage saving on 1300 litres was 300 Euro. It does smell a bit Chippy! My question........... Does anyone know if there is a wholesaler who does veg oil? Like a UK equivalent of Macro? I have a small business so it's a legitimate expense. I don't want to start a thread about the legal implications as this has been covered already in this forum. Many thanks

An ADSL router just allows many PC's (or MACs) to connect on the same line and has built in firewalls. I recommend it to friends who have older machines because wanadoo and clubinternet automatically install a lot of unecessary software which slows their machines down to a snails pace. You don't need it so on slower machines one can just set up a connection with the built in windows software. The Router/ADSL modem/Firewall adds networking and security to a home setup so you don't have to pay the ISP extra for tighter security. I think you can configure the Livebox without installing wanadoo software but if you have a fast machine then I guess it's not a problem. But if you are running Norton (useless as it is) and wanadoo software then even with a fast machine their is a marked drop in performance. I've seen 30% CPU resouces used on 2.8Ghz P4 with 1Gb RAM where 2% is possible. So it all depends on your needs and number of machines and surfing habits. But if you have multiple users on line who are 'click happy teenagers' then you need some cunning solutions to keep it all going.

An ADSL router is a useful bit of kit for various reasons. If you have more than one Computer and want to have net access for all then an ADSL router is connected and logged on all the time using little power and usually has a firewall built in for security. Most isp's provide a single port (only one PC connected) ADSL modem and software which is not necessary at the least and invites spyware and advertising at worst. You really don't need to use the ISP's software to connect thus freeing up resources on your computers for other things. Also all your computers can 'see' each other and share files, printers etc across a home (wired or wireless) network. Great if the kids are on messenger for hours and you want to look at google news while the misses plays Grand Theft Auto online. I recommend Netgear dg834 which can connect 4 computers, has great security options and a wireless version for same price, about 87 Euro online from http://www.multe-pass.com/1/P/160482/default.htm WARNING Networks are a whole new world of pain. If you though PC hardware and windows related software was the limit then think again. Networks are a whole new can of worms so you need cultivate a different breed of support nerd. Bon Chance

I'm confused with all the companies offering multimedia packages and replacing FT abonnement. I'd prefer to use my own ADSL router than the stuff they sell as I have 3 PCs I don't want TV but I'd take a cheap deal if TV was optional I'd be happy with 1Mb down and 256Kb up (ADSL arrives chez moi in a few months) What are peoples experiences with Alice, Free, Cegetel, Clubinternet, Wanadoo etc. Hardware, software and price? does it depend on location? Any opinions gratefully received

My pals have 1 Mb Haut debit (lucky ******s) with wanadoo modem and it drops out loads. Weather conditions don't seem to make any difference. All indoor connectors and cables are good. Phone conversations are good quality. Could it be too many devices connected to one line? Is it a common France Telecom hassle in rural areas or crap modem? I wondered about trying an ADSL router/firewall like Netgear DG834 Any other similar experiences/solutions?

My pals have 1 Mb Haut debit with wanadoo modem and it drops out loads. Weather conditions don't seem to make any difference. All indoor connectors and cables are good. Phone conversations are good quality. Could it be too many devices connected to one line? Is it a common France Telecom hassle in rural areas or crap modem? I wondered about trying an ADSL router/firewall like Netgear DG834 Any other similar experiences/solutions?

Well I summoned the courage and braved the H des I on my own and so surprised how easy it was. As Chris and Jules said I wrote a note declaring I have no TV equipment and thats that. WOW if only the CAF and L'Assurance Maladie was that easy to deal with.

You can make PDF file on a mac using a program suite called Open Office. Available totally free from http://www.openoffice.org/ It's a bundle of office programs including spread sheets, power point and word editors. Open source so no trial period and FREE Hurrah. I've been using it for 2 yers now and very happy.

I moved in Dec 8th 04 I got the bill last friday for perioc Jan05 to jan 06. Do I stand any chance of not paying TV licence? If so how? Will it be a fight at the Hotel des Impots? Obviously I have no TV/Antenna/Video equipment.

I had exactly the same problem and solved it by fitting the pipes the other way round. This means cutting a small section to fit on the back of the stove so the "plug" end of the pipes point towards the stove and the "socket" ends towards the roof. Also if the whole length of pipe is uninsulated right up to the tiles then it may be cooling too much hence the condensation of resin (dirty brown fluid) you experienced. The cheapest way I found to insulate the pipe where it goes through my attic was with Laine de Roche (aluminium backed rock wool). The resin is nasty stuff if it gets to a hot bit of pipe and will make you ill! Bon Chance

  The good news for us (Mac Folk) is that there is no spyware for Mac. Ray Ray Nr. Le Mont St. Michel (35)Oh yes there is   http://www.ezinearticles.com/?Spyware---Now-a-Problem-for-Mac-Users-as-Well&id=88374 If you Google "mac spyware" there is plenty of security problems with Mac OS No one is safe    

Many of my friends have got ADSL recently and have all been using Norton and McAfee, neither of which have defended them from attack. I tried both for the last 2 years and suffered constant virus problems. Zonealarm works for everyone round here and passes the Sheilds Up test 100% Mozilla, Adaware, Spybot all help greatly Don't use Norton!!!!! It's pants Always has been