The new machine arrived this morning, in more than satisfactory
condition. However it had no installed OS. So far my efforts
to obtain a copy of Win XP via eBay auction have proved unsuccessful,
so I bid on and won a copy of Ubuntu Linux instead.

This will mean three things:

A I will keep using this computer to connect until I can get
a viable copy of Windows or until it dies; it's the only one
we own capable of Win-networking, therefore we need it in order
to do Internet sharing. If there is no connection sharing in place
invariably the Nightgod and I will fight over online priviliges.

B I will not be around for at least a couple of weeks for chat;
I have to set this beastie up and learn a new form of OS. I
have not worked with Linux since the early days of XP, and I am
quite sure that some things have changed.

C My videomaking will be quite curtailed until I do have a viable
copy of Windows for the new computer. This machine is not only
unstable, but is almost out of hard drive space.

Your continued patience is much appreciated.