Phil K

About 6 months ago the picture dropped out (I got static, but, you know, high-def static...) while I was playing a game. The problem has started happening more and more frequently. No idea if the problem is with my TV, the PS3 or the HD cable...

Has anyone else had any experiences like this?

FYI I'm using a 32inch Sharp LC32D30 TV which is only about 1 year old, a 80GB playstation 3, also about a year old.

I think the general concensus is that when you learn to play the guitar, you learn on an acoustic, then move on to electric if you want to at a later date. BUT, I live in Japan, where my apartment's walls are paper-thin and my neighbours have complained about me so much as 'talking loudly' on the phone in the evenings, so I'm considering buying a cheap electric guitar and mini amp that I can plug headphones into.

I'm concerned, though, that starting on an electric is a bad idea- will it hinder my progress? Is starting on an electric not advised? What are the drawbacks?

Any and all comments will be appreciated, so please help me out. Thanks. Also, any general 'getting into guitar' tips would be great!

I live in Japan, bought my PS3, and for some (stupid) reason set my console in English and so that I use the UK Playstation Store. This means all my downloads are sloooow (prsumably they come from Europe? I dunno) and there are lots of titles that are available in the Japanese store, but I can't get them.

How do I change my Playstation Store location? Please help.

Thanks

I love my Ipod, but hate Itunes. Is there any software (preferably free to download) that I can use with my ipod. Ideally a drag-and-drop style rather than doing the 'sync' thing itunes does.

Is there a way I can get the song lyrics on screen without using a microphone? A cheat or something?

Thanks

I just downloaded two tracks from the Playstation Store for Guitar Hero World Tour. The tracks downloaded and installed without any problems, but when I go into the game the new tracks are nowhere to be found. Am I doing something wrong? Where are the tracks I just paid for??

Whenever I make simple orange juice with my mixer, it tastes good but is always a little bit frothy / bubbley. I don't really want to add stuff to the mix (I'm just using oranges at the moment) because I'm trying to keep it natural and healthy, but I could do without the frothiness!

Any suggestions?

... on a controller (not a dedicated acrade style stick), do you use the analogue stick or the d-pad?

I don't eat enough fruit, but I DO like fruit smoothies. I know they're kinda pricey to make cos you have to buy a lot of fruit all the time, but if I make the effort am I actually going to benefit in terms of my health, or does juicing all the fruit somehow negate the cancer-preventing goodness?

Odd question, I know, but I've had conflicting opinions.

I always thought an invoice was a document that itemised goods / services BEFORE payment was made for them. But according to online dictionaries, both a bill and invoice include the same information.

Do you know the difference? Can you explain?

Thanks.

My trial version of Office just ended. Frankly I can't get my head around the many different versions and packages on offer out there (some seem vastly more expensive than others- for example, just MS Word alone seems more expensive than Office as a complete set on some sites...) and a friend just suggested I try OpenOffice software instead of buying Office from Microsoft.

Have you used OpenOffice? Is it reliable software? Have you had any difficulties with it and MS Office documents? Any info you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

I read in a review somewhere (I think it was Eurogamer) that the game allows you to change the character voices on a per-character basis to either English or Japanese. I've looked in the sound options menu and all I can see is ALL voices Japanese or English. No sign of the per-character voice language option at all.

CAN you change individual characters' voices? If so, please tell me how.

I've browsed the Playstation Store via my PS3 and I can see lots of games for download, but no demos. They expect me to pay money without trying the games first? Am I looking in the wrong place here??

I was just wondering if anyone here knows the name and location of the water garden that the girl in the film Lost in Translation visits. I THINK it's in Kyoto somewhere...

Have any of you been there?

I'm asking this question again because last time people seemed to miss my point...

I live in Japan. I have a Japanese PS3. PS3 consoles support both Blu-ray and DVD discs. For DVD encoding, Japan is listed as Region 2. The UK is also Region 2. In the past, I've watched my UK DVDs on Japanese DVD players and on a Japanese Xbox 360 without any problem. But now my PS3 won't let me watch UK DVDs because it 'does not support PAL playback'.

Can someone please explain why this is and if I can do something to change it? It strikes me as odd that a cheap Japanese DVD player and a Japanese Xbox 360 will let me do this, but a high-end console like the PS3 will not...

I'm selling my xbox 360 soon. I doubt the guy I'm selling it to will do anything untoward with my info or profile, but is there any way to delete profiles on an Xbox 360?

I'm considering buying a Playstation 3 in the next couple of months, so I wondered if you people could tell me some of the better games out there for the machine. That and any up-coming games that show a lot of promise.

And please, no fanboy rants ("Xbox, Playstation, Wii, NES is the best! Don't buy a PS3 blah blah blah!"). I've owned both a 360 and a wii in the last couple of years, I don't need fanboys jumping in for the fun of it. Ta.

Thanks for your help.

I live in Japan, my xbox 360 just got the red ring of death and I just battled my way through a conversation in Japanese (my Japanese level just about gets me by day-to-day, face-to-face stuff, but not complicated, uber-polite phone-calls) and organised for my xbox 360 to be picked up this weekend and taken away for repair.

My question is this: do I or do I not need to put the console in the original box, or will I simply hand over the console to the chap at the door? I don't need to include power cables, the hard drive etc etc?

Thanks.

I just watched this video on the BBC News website http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7836224.stm about 'Real Life on a Dewsbury estate'. I don't agree with the comments made by certain members of the government, but listening to the woman being interviewed in her home I simply couldn't agree with her when she claimed that most of the problems (underage drinking, disturbing of the peace, gangs etc) could be resolved if the kids 'had something to do' (and that it's down to the government to provide this).

If these people are genuinely so desperate for an outlet for their energy and only fall into underage drinking and making a nuisance of themselves then surely they'd find a way without going to the government and saying 'hey, we need money for schemes!'

Football clubs, athletics, golf, cricket, baseball, chess (!), computer programming, cross-country running, forming a band, learning an instrument, cycling, learning a trade. You don't NEED 'schemes' to do stuff like this. If enough like-minded people want to do something with their free time then they can. There's only one thing worse than MPs speaking before they think, and that's people passing the buck and acting like the victims.

But that's just my opinion. I'd like to know yours.

I just bought a new camera- love it so far, but really need to have a good play with it to get the most out of it. The thing is, I live in Japan and the camera I wanted (and that was within my price range!) simply doesn't come with English information.

Surely manuals and stuff are available for download or obtainable in paper format? I'm looking for a Panasonic Lumix FZ28 English language instruction manual. Can you help? I'm sure it'd help me get accustomed to the camera a lot quicker than playing around with it and trawling the Japanese langauge booklet!

Thanks.