I can't get Portal running - I changed resolution to widescreen (16:9) settings and now my PC won't let it start - keeps saying "Failed to create d3d device".
Can't find a cfg or ini file anywhere to edit back to default settings.
(Ati Radeon X1300 card btw). Just updated drivers and it has not helped at all.
Any advice?

Until you buy into the product, you have absolutely no rights whatsoever for any of your whinges, gripes or moans to have any credibility within the community.

My 10c worth: been waiting ages for a more realistic gear change/clutch mech in LFS. Far better now, stops all the ridiculously arcade instant gear changing that people used to get away with. Now theres a proper penalty for not driving properly - you have to look after your gears, engine and clutch more whilst trying to drive competitively. thats a huge plus in my book. Good work devs
Particularly glad the dorks and boy racers find it more difficult - once they stop moaning they will get more out of the game.

1) Formula cars spinning out of control whilst under braking for entry into pits (Westhill).
2) AI inability to overtake a slower marque in a corner (on the outside)
3) Slower AI need to sense when they're being blue-flagged and not stick to the racing line so the faster car can overtake and lap them easier.
4) General carnage in the pits with cars entering crashing into ones trying to leave, or pit exit blocked by cars having spun and burned out their clutches.

Only topped by being trapped in a room with the smell of someone else's shit, I guess. euggh.

Finally finished, fitted with a set of GFS Jazz Pro pickups, sounds really deep and meaty but with a really clear top end. Lovely tone for aggressive playing, maybe not the friendliest neck, could have been a bit bolder with the final thickness, but overall I'm very pleased with how she came together and how she sounds.

Slow progress finishing this, still waiting for the pickups before routing the cavities. Happy with the neck profile now, sanded thru 400/800/1200 grit then tru-oiled wet with 800 and 1200. It's got a lovely soft silky sheen to it

Hmmm, going by the infallible rule that "if it seems to good to be true, it usually is", I'd say this was a phishing scam. If you respond they will prompt for more cc details in proof you are the lawful owner and in posession of the card, then they will use the info to buy stuff in your name.

Oh dear. Same old story time after time. Man decides to commit atrocities in the name of a religious pursuit and all innocent people following that religion in a true way are tarred with the same brush.
Catholics and protestants, jews, muslims, christians, it happens time after time. To me this reflects mans twisting of religious doctrine to his own political ends rather than a fundamental flaw in religious doctrine. Islam is the religion of peace and tolerance yet the societies that support Islam tend to harbour some extremists that give Islam a bad name. This does not make Muslims fundamentally evil.

Frets worked out far more straightforward than I expected, and no special tools bought. it needs a good levelling now - I have a flat beech block with wet'n'dry stuck to it.
The 2 strap buttons are for easy position adjustment but mainly for stability when I stand it against anything.

pics of the first car you ever owned

Some more shots with the bridge and strap buttons in place. Still have to rout for the pickups of course...

OMG, 6 string fretless?! How many fingers do you posess?
How about this one? http://www.basses-lkah.com/basse-41-remige-r-02607.html

Erm, yes. Gone a bit crazy here recently. Debut gig went down a storm, now recruited into a second band - think Green Day/Ramones/Nirvana stuff (also on bass) and have 4 bookings for the next 5 weeks.

Body/wings and neck all joined together now. Sanding and shaping continues. Small recess routed for bridge. Another 1/4 cm taken off the neck thickness, body/neck join tidied up.

Got the wood for the body wings. They had a 30% off sale on american mahogany plus a couple of planks of Zebrano, so this shows them sandiched together and the rough shape cut out.

The Zebrano will be danish-oil finished - this brings a nice golden lustre to the wood and really brings out the grain.

Here's some pics of the start of my new neck-thru bass build.
34" scale, 4-string 24-fret with a core of maple and walnut. Wenge fretboard from Simo, wings of the body yet to be decided, but I'll probably end up with walnut. The body shape will be a slightly scaled-down Warmoth Gecko style.
Electrics will be jazz bass or similar pickups using the P-J blend wiring with a simple 3 knobs for master vol, master tone and blend pot from neck to bridge pup.

Here's the core laminates glued, levelled and planed, with the neck/head/body profile marked on ready for bandsawing (only I don't have a bandsaw )

Dead interested to see how you get on. Carving a maple top to the LP curves is a tricky business. You're right about the mahogany neck - maple on a Les Paul would be all wrong, it needs to be rich, dark and warm. I'm a big fan of the PRS McCarty wiring for a dual HB guitar, works really well to give 6 versatile tones using a push-pull tone pot to coil tap. Then you just have a 3 way pup switch, master tone and master volume. Very user-friendly in the heat of a gig.
Good luck sourcing your wood - that's one of the toughest parts of the job here in the UK, trying to get good pieces at a reasonable price.

New project under way neck-thru body 4-string in maple and walnut.
http://projectguitar.ibforums. ... hp?showtopic=33143&hl=
There is some simply stunning craftsmanship on this forum, I'm always embarrassed to post here but they're generally a very friendly and helpful bunch.

Nothing's written in stone yet, don't fret.
The body shape, p'up type and positioning and the scale length are being revised depending on what fretboard I can find.
Amazed to see such negative feedback on an instrument that someone like Stu Hamm endorses- he's a very competent and experienced musician. Never played one meself tho.

Quote :

Also, it doesn't look like you've got a pickup under the 36th fret harmonic. Every bass needs a pickup there!

Not sure where you get this from, it's an urban myth - as soon as you put your finger on a fret, the harmonic nodes of the string will shift anyway, if you position the p'up to hit an open string harmonic then you're more likely to end up getting a booming tone when the open string is struck.

Starting to get stuff together for a new project - neck-thru bass with a mix of maple and walnut neck/core, jazz bass pup config, blend pot to mix the pickup outputs. If I can find a decent pre-slotted fretboard blank then this will be the first guitar project attepted with a home-built neck. Here's the plan so far:

The neck is off an old fretless, its a refurb job, body conditioning, new engine and full valet.

Once you get away from the 'technical masturbation' thing, you realise it's the space you leave in between the notes that produces more of the musical feel and skill

Quote from thisnameistaken :

Is that an old Bass Collection bass? I haven't seen one of those in years!

Very well spotted! I stripped the body down to bare wood - the wood was pretty naff so I sanded it smooth and gave it a different finish, a mottled black that has come out looking a bit like distressed leather.
Different pickups from another old bass and a reshaped headstock. New pots all round completes the job.