Pip

I was just wondering if anyone had any recommendations of books or websites on how to progress my ability and technique when playing the piano? I am very much a play the music that I can actually play and ignore the hard bits type pianist at the moment! The Music Shop that I used to go to all the time has now closed down so it is hard to look at sheet music before I buy it.

I had Piano lessons for about 5 years when I was younger but as I wanted to concentrate on my Violin (Grade 7) and Accordion (Grade 4) I had never really progressed beyond about grade 3 level. I have had a couple year of limited practice on each instrument due to commitments at uni but want to really try to achieve my goals on each instrument now that I have the spare time. I am not too worried about picking up the violin and accordion again as I have had very good teachers up to the point of starting uni.

I know I should look at getting a new teacher but I think that with determination and the basis of knowledge I have to work from I can easily progress it is just getting interesting and good materials to work with which is important.

So any recommendations would be greatly received. Thanks in Advance.

I currently have a 3 year old Samsung g600 which is playing up. The signal has completely had it. I know it is the phone and not the sim as I have put my sim in a motorola and I have full signal where my phone has 0 signal. It has been playing up for about 6 months and I have just had enough.

Anyway I was wondering what people thought of the HTC Desire and the Galaxy S? I have read many reviews and each seem to take a different view on which is better. I can not afford an Iphone as though the contract is the same the Iphone has a more expensive initial cost.

I am thinking of switching from my current Virgin Mobile Liberty sim to either orange or O2 swaying towards an orange contract.

If anyone has any other suggestions? Any phones coming out in the next couple of months. I can tide myself over until the right phone is out there for me. I may also be going abroad for a while so don't really want to rope myself into a 24 months contract before I know what is happening anyway.

I would like the phone to have:

Android,

have a reasonable camera (I have a digital camera so it is not the end of the world),

a qwerty keyboard - whether that be touchscreen or physical format,

WIFI (I travel a fair bit and my laptop it quite heavy to carry about all the time),

Reasonable battery life though I realise that with a smartphone it is likely that it will be poorer than I am use to

Sat Nav - Whether free or like with orange included in the contract (looking a panther 30 or 35)

MP3 player/ ability to watch films etc. - This phone will also be replacing my Ipod Video 5th Generation 60gb

So I was looking in the sale and found this m and s dress that I love the style of. Unfortunately in the shop they only had a size 10 left and though almost fitting it was a tad too small. On the website when I first looked they only had a size 14 which would have been too big. Obviously others thought the same about it!

I was wondering if any one knew of any others that have the same neck line and tailoring, that or how you would describe the style of it so that I can keep looking on the internet for one similar.

The link to the m and s one is

http://www.marksandspencer.com/Autograph-Pure-Moda...

(hopefully that will work, I have never posted a link on this before)

A plain colour or a darker pattern similar to this idea (the photo doesn't really do it justice) would be great.

Thanks in advance.

I currently am having trouble with my laptop and have put it down to the fact that my 320gb hard drive is almost full. I have a ton of photos/ music but also have a lot of uni work and use both photoshop and autocad which take up a lot of room.

My solution is to use my current 320gb WD Passport to house all my photos and music but that leaves me in the tricky situation of buying a new external hard drive to back up my WD passport (320gb portable) and internal laptop hard drive.

My current thoughts are that a new external hard drive does not have to be portable, that it should be 750gb at least but preferable more and it should definitely have a way of automatically backing up (with my WD I have to drag and drop which is irritating and means that I very rarely back up which I regret as I had a really back experience of my hard drive crashing on me before a deadline!)

I was wondering if anyone had any views on the best brand and hard drive for me? I am unsure of whats the best on this line as I am a little out of the loop. I am also not tech savvy enough to buy an internal one and house it in a casing as I have heard that that is one solution.

Sorry for such a long explaination and thanks in advance.

I worked at a Summer camp in America this summer and became a qualified American Red cross lifeguard and also taught swim classes. (I was suppose to do an NPLQ before I left but it was cancelled the day before it started!) I would quite like to continue teaching and lifeguarding and was wondering if an American red cross waterfront lifeguard certificate transfered in any way to the NLPQ. I also wondered if anyone knew of any scottish based UKCC or ASA Level 1 courses? My local council is currently recruiting casual aquatics teachers and it is something that I would like to consider. I have a background in competitive swimming and took part in swimming lesson for about 10 years and wouldn't say I was perfect but pretty competent at most strokes.

I am going to America for 3 months and was wondering what peoples thoughts were on the best option for calling Britain?

I will be at a camp in rural North Carolina for 2 months and then will be travelling around the east coast for around another month.

In a previous question I asked about diverting my calls from my current Virgin Mobile to an America sim and it seems an expensive and complex option. If anyone else wants to give their views on this that would be helpful.

I have a Samsung G600 Unlocked phone and would quite like to be contactable on my present mobile number but on my current tariff (the £10 liberty sim on virgin mobile (UK)) it has ridiculous roaming charges. I have never travelled since becoming pay monthly. Is there anything I should be doing? I have a vague memory of being asked if I was going to travel in the next few months and me saying no. It has been about 6 months since I switched so was there a grace period or something so they they knew you could afford your bill? When I was PAYG I would just take it and pay a fortune but that was only on a 1 or 2 week holiday so it wasn't too much.

I was also wondering how calling with a phone card on a mobile works? Is this a good option as then I can receive calls in the normal way. Will this option also cost me an arm and a leg ie will I be charged by the phone card and any hidden charges from Virgin. At Camp I will be using a phone card and landline set up.

Sorry for the long question. Thanks in advance.

Pip

I am considering buying an American sim card for my up and coming trip in two weeks (to america)as I will be away for 3 months. I was just wondering if I divert my calls from my UK number (Virgin Mobile) to the American one whether the person calling or texting me would be charged for calling my british mobile in a foreign country or the american number? I am a bitty clueless as I have never diverted my number in anyway. Thanks in Advance.

I am applying for a j1 visa to work in america over the summer and am being asked for the passport issue place. My passport say IPS under the authority. I am from scotland so think that my passport would have been processed in London, is this right? Does anyone know if i put IPS or London as place of issue? I have already put UK as the country.

Thanks in advance

I'm going on a Uni trip to Barcelona next month. I am 18 and am on my parents EHIC card and we applied for them when going on a ski trip together and this seemed the easiest option. If i am away and hurt myself and have this family card am I still covered even though my parents are not there or should i apply for a new card and if so what happens about the family one, does it need to be replaced with my mum and dad on it only.

Sorry about this just can't find the answer. Thanks in Advance.

I'm writing an essay for Uni and was wondering what people views were as it is quite a controversial subject as people see Architecture in different ways.

Thanks in Advance.

Ok I am thinking of going travelling for about three months and don't really want to carry my 15 inch Dell XPS M1530 laptop around with me due to weight and cost. The thing is I check my email daily and will want to transfer photos to show family how i'm getting along. I might be in the middle of nowhere as I am thinking of working at a Camp in america but it might have wifi or be within signal. I will probably get an american sim card to use in a smartphone or my current phone.

I have been looking at Smart phones and 8 inch netbooks.

I want something that can be used to transfer photos from sd cards to email/ internet and general blogging and emailing so it has to have a usable keyboard.

The problem is I have a maximum budget of £200 but much prefer if it is cheaper as I will be scared that I will lose it.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Well we are 18/19 and want to go on holiday next summer. Though a couple of us drive we can't hire cars.

4 of us went to Berlin (which i loved) last june while the other 6 went to Bulgaria. We want somewhere that will suit everyone. A beach but also culture. We have a budget of about £300 each but are based in Scotland so more expensive to get from. We have been looking at places like Greece but also Croatia, Slovenia etc.

Any Suggestions? Thanks in Advance.

I have a 18 month old ps3 that for the last while has been reading as corrupted (blue screen and when i press x to fix it, it fixes for about a second then the blue screen comes back). Is there anything that i can do about it? I know that they have been discontinued. Would it be worth phoning Sony, i have heard that they will either replace it with a refurbished 60gb or 40gb but i have ps1 and 2 games?

Otherwise would it be worth while to sell it on ebay as faulty? I see that they are going for about £150. I spent £300 on it and i don't what it to go to waste!

I think i would just get a ps2, is there any thing on the pipe line that games are to be stopped being made for the ps2 like the ps1 that is the only reason i sold my ps1 and got a ps3 as i wasn't to fussed with the quality etc. though it was a plus. If the ps3 wasn't coming out at the time i would have been happy with the ps2, i only have 1 ps3 game and the rest are ps2 and ps1. I am disappointed that the ps3 hasn't lasted longer!!!! its so annoying.

Sorry about the length and thanks in advance.

At the moment i have a Ipod 5th Generation 60 gb video and was wondering what fm transmitters to link in to my car stereo is best?

Also i am thinking of upgrading to ipod touch 32 gb in the near future and was wondering if there is a fm transmitter that works with both the Ipod i presently have and the 2 gen Ipod touch? as i do not want buy a fm transmitter and have to replace it in a couple of months when i get a new ipod.

Thanks in advance

I am a virgin mobile pay as you go customer and was wondering how to go about changing to the £15 texter liberty sim pay monthly keeping my number and phone?

Is it simple to do?

Thanks in advanced

I am investigating Wireless Broadband and was wondering how many devices can be hooked up to the Bt Option 2 service on one account?

Hi i am about to go to university and would like a laptop that will allow me to hold pictures and do all the normal things like word processing, powerpoint etc but also give me the power and graphics to hold demand CAD and photoshop software.

Any ideas? I do not want it to be to expensive, less that £1000, preferable nearer £600. In a perfect wolrd the laptop that i am looking at are at around the 15" size as it does not have to be ultraportable but i will have to take it to Uni.

Thank you in advanced, i have been looking at the ACER ASPIRE 5920G, DELL XPS M1530, DELL INSPIRON 1525

I was wondering if anyone knew whether this has samsungs Utrack/ Umenu/ Ugo?

I previously had a Samsung D600 and really liked it.

I have been looking at other Samsungs and am not sure whether to go for the D900i or the U900.

I quite like the idea of the Utrack as i have had one phone stolen and the other lost so think it would be a good idea for me but i have heard that the D900i screen is flimsy and breaks easily. But it seems to have some good features.

What are other peoples views on the two phones?

I have a blossom tree in my back garden and i think i have read somewhere that the petals are harmful is this true?