Thanks for your help folks, much appreciated!

I should have mentioned that Handbrake (still) works fine, i.e. the drive still _recognises_ disks of any region, and will still “rip” them, but the DVDs themselves […]

UPDATE!! Having tried the offered advice from the Massive to no positive effect, I’d resigned myself to having to avail myself of the PC warranty to get this problem fixed, but was leaving it a few weeks until we […]

PS New info – *authored* DVD-Rs are working OK! i.e. those I’ve assembled on my PC using Flickr work OK, it’s DVDs that have come from our DVD recorder connected to the TV that don’t work, so I’m guessing it’s […]

Hi everyone, thanks for your help so far, and apologies for radio silence, I had a funeral yesterday which took me out of commission somewhat…

Anyway, no joy as yet, quick update:
– turning off & on again, […]

Thanks Steve. the PC is only a few months old (bought in February), but I have been caning it somewhat with this ripping project, so your suggestion isn’t strictly impossible, though I hope a less extreme solution […]

An awful comparison, but I was watching that Piers Morgan “Psychopath” programme last week, and the very high quality home-video footage of the killer made me realise what a different world it is now, with every […]

Wow, this far down and no-one’s mentioned the Wondermints? Probably now more famous for being the core of Brian Wilson’s backing band (I think Darian Sahanaja is still Brian’s MD, and helped him put his “Smile” […]

Dear all, THANK YOU so much for all the good advice, good wishes and good vibes – there really isn’t anywhere else like this on the interweb.

Two 1-to-1 consultation meetings later, it looks like 10 years’ […]

If we’re playing the “British light-entertainment stalwarts on Twitter” game, I highly recommend “Who’s Lionel With Today?” wherein Lionel Blair (I presume it’s really him) posts a daily picture of himself, er, […]

As always, context is everything.

I used to work for a big distribution firm in Essex, where every bloke was a “mate”, and every girl was “sweetheart” or “darling”, without exception, from the top down, and it […]

Actually I prefer the “Susie” songs, too, I thought I was the only one!

I think the versions are mostly so faithful to the originals, that Sweet’s songs suffer in comparison, whereas the ones Hoffs sings have a […]

Nicely put, Hawkfall!

Between the comics when I was a kid, and the movies in my 40s & 50s, Stan Lee has a reasonable claim to have brought me more joy than anyone over the years…

I thought it was a nice […]

I’m a “greatest hits” fan of Queen at best, so I don’t have a dog in this race at all, but I think it’s easy to forget that “Queen” is Brian, Roger & John (sleeping partner)’s actual job, i.e. what they do for a […]

I believe the soundtrack album features the whole Live Aid performance for the first time, so that might be enough of a USP to get some decent Christmas gift sales happening, and the film was a huge hit in the UK […]

UPDATE – the tooth is out there!

Had it done this morning, the dentist was very patient with me, took me through the x-rays, and assured me that the extraction was the best course. For any future sufferers, it […]

Thanks a lot folks, exactly the sensible, wide-ranging feedback I was hoping for.

Current plan is for me to go to the appointment, but force them to convince me there’s no other option than extraction before I […]