downloading copyrighted material is illegal everywhere. it's just a matter of enforcement. as far as i know, ISPs dont actively hunt down users downloading copyrighted materials on their services, but if they have no hesitations of cooperating with the authorities in taking u in if somebody reports about u.

there have been several instances people getting caught downloading illegal mp3s, but i have no idea how the authorities trace them down or how they acted on it.

they'll seek ur IP address and find ur service provider. then the service provider finds the address. then they come knocking on ur door and look at who's PC the IP address connects to. landlord got nothing to do with it.

lol, i got that too!

the previous tenant of my house, a malaysian couple, actually went out to apply lots of things by credit - mobile phones, plasma tv and whatver else - right before they left after finishing studies. i got people coming to my house from debt collection agencies! LOL!

so i had to prove that we're not the person they're looking for, and i have no idea who the previous tenants was. so they went back to my landlord to get their details (bcoz u gotta leave a copy of ur passports when u enter a tenancy agreement). dunno what happened after that .

i think that's a question for the hardware/networking section. i had sort of a similar issues before, and went tweaking the settings on my laptop till i got it to work...

i've used only 2 broadband services all this while: bulldog broadband and virgin media (previously known as ntl:telewest). although bulldog bb 8mb is extremely fast, they have extremely poor after sales service and technical support. i managed to setup my machine and my housemate's purely by experience. if i didnt have experience in setting up networks before, it'll take about 2 weeks to get the technician to come to my house and get things going.

virgin media to me is still the best. i took 2mb broadband, slower than bulldog, but excellent tech support, they're relatively cheaper, doesnt need a phone line and it's freaking UNLIMITED.

i've linked my paypal directly to my bank account (natwest), so no need credit card at all. the system uses direct debit, just requires ur debit card details and ur address. im gonna maintain the account forever, so that when i come back to msia, i have easy access to buy stuff online.

as far as i can remember, once u've setup ur paypal to ur bank, u only need to maintain ur bank account. i've checked at natwest, as long as my account is active, i can use it eventhough i've permanently moved abroad. there's no fees or whatever. they require u to keep an account active by atleast adding GBP 5 every 6 months.

i assume by "I'm taking EEE courses..." u mean u're applying for it, not currently sitting for it, right?

can u tell us why u're reluctant of applying birm and UCL?

u might wanna consider sheffield and strathclyde (glasgow) for EEE.

(by the way, it's deadline not dateline )

This post has been edited by azarimy: Oct 9 2007, 05:48 AM

[1] i can say it is true, bcoz i've got a mainboard damaged after it went through check-in. however i cant really say what caused the damage, and what exactly was damaged. two technicians i went to told me it may be bcoz of the high powered x-rays in check-in. they suggested to put in the hand luggage instead.

[2] in the UK, online stuff are definitely cheaper, even if u include VAT and delivery. first, delivery is extremely cheap within the UK. second, local store need to pay the cost of building and personnel. i use paypal, and occasionally using credit card. other than that, direct debit also can.

[3] i've brought LCD several times. a 15" samsung about 4 years ago, and a 17" philips 2 years ago. i wrap them in the original padding, and stuff it in the luggage.

[4] i think it should be compatible. but most of the time ISP provide their own modem/router for a slight additional cost. i got mine for 2pounds only .

[2] in a nutshell, paypal is totally virtual. u go to the website, register and follow the instructions. they will ask ur bank details for direct debit. then u will need to confirm ur address as well as account. paypal will bank some money (less than one pound) into ur account to confirm that it is ur account, and u will need to tell them the amount how much that was banked in to activate the paypal connection. the process could take between 1-3 days, assuming u've already got ur UK bank account.

[3] i checked in the monitors in my luggage, coz 17" monitors are too big to fit into any hand-luggage. u can check in as many luggages u like, as long as it complies to the maximum weight allocation.

[4] i'm sure the offer's still available. if u rent a room in a shared apartment where those in the house already setup their own internet connection, then it's no problem laaa. but lets say everyone in the house is new, and everyone agrees to setup a home network, then sort out amongst urself, and apply for a line. u may need an extra router for this, depending on what sort of modem/router will be provided.

This post has been edited by azarimy: Oct 15 2007, 06:55 PM

it's the water. u'll also notice ur skin becomes dry very quickly, a tightness feel in ur facial skin, and for some people the skin of the palm peels off. but once u get used to it, it should be okay.

actually, malaysian water has more chlorine than british. the main problem is due to high mineral content in the water. u can see this with naked eye when u boil the water. it usually leaves lime scale on the surface of ur boiler, sink and bath tub.

yes, using conditioners do help in this case. dont use those 2 in 1 shampoo/conditioner bcoz it doesnt work as well. use the separate conditioner.

health wise, i was informed that hard water is technically safer to drink compared to chlorined water. u can drink hard water straight from the tap, while it is suggested that we boil chlorined water to evaporate as much chlorine as possible.

there's no chemicals in hard water, only more mineral. read more on hard water here.

most harddrives nowadays could take a 10g blunt force when it's off. my fear isnt about the impacts and jolts, but more of the powerful x-rays and what not. but i didnt get any of my harddrives damaged. just one mainboard.

both my LCDs were fine going through checked-in luggage.

the mainboard was back in 2005. i sent it to the university computer centre (CiCS) and 2 other shops. CiCS best guess was the mainboard, but they dont have PCI-E display cards to diagnose the problem. heck when we malaysians were basking with the power of PCI-E display cards back then, they havent even finished fooling around with AGP cards!

so basically only 1 shop managed to narrow down the problem to the mainboard, but still couldnt pinpoint what exactly. so i had the mainboard sent back to msia for warranty, and in the meanwhile got a new one sent by my brother.

the mainboard was asus a8n-sli. problem was when switched on, the power humms, but nothing else. no beep, no error indication, no display, nada. there was a continuous beeping first time i boot up, but consequent boots were just dead.

as far that i'm aware of, no, u dont need a TV license to watch DVDs or download/stream videos off the net. the TV license is quite specific on the use of tv receiver/tuner cards often installed in desktops. look onto the website, they will describe specifically what u can and can not do without a license. bless the british system.

the guy needs to get his facts straight. dont worry about it. even if u've wrongly forced to pay for the tv-license, u can get refunded later on. sometimes it is easier to deal with the management rather than with the inspectors who came to ur house.

if u've got internet, use skype to call malaysia laa.

.033p per minute for mobile phones
.015p per minute for land line.

that's not a typo.

i've used skype on a 256kb/s line with no problem (office line). i doubt anyone here would subscribe to anything less than 1mb line .