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Taps drip. It's inevitable, like death and taxes. Traditional taps seal using a rubber ring screwed down over the end of a metal pipe. Sooner or later the rubber is going to go hard, split or just wear away and it will no longer seal. Then water seeps through, and the tap starts dripping. Left alone the problem gets worse as the water wears away the valve seat. Then you'll have to either re-grind the valve seat(Do you own a valve seat re-grinder? Who would?) or replace the tap. Tedious in either case. But, it need not happen. Many taps now use ceramic discs.

method of operation
Instead of creating a seal by forcing a rubber washer onto the end of the water feed pipe, they use two ceramic discs each with matching slots in them. These are held over the end of the water feed pipe. The lower disc doesn't move while the upper disc is turned over the lower disc by the tap head. water will only flow when the upper and lower slots match up.

Advantages
There are a number of benefits to this arrangement. The most obvious is that ceramic discs are much harder than rubber and much more resistant to erosion by water seepage. Hence they have a much longer life before needing replacement. Additionally, because the water flows between the two discs, the discs erode not the metal of the valve. Also, because of the way the discs are arranged, the taps go fully on with only one quarter of a turn and tap needs only light pressure to operate. This light action has the advantage that they are easy to operate with the back of the hand if your hands are dirty and for people with restricted movement.

Where they are used
The ease of operation and the long life mean that most good quality sink mixer taps have been made using ceramic discs for a while, but basin taps with ceramic discs are surprisingly less common. The more use a tap gets, the more attractive the use of ceramic disc technology becomes. This is doubly true in hard water areas, which can be murder on traditional taps.

Disadvantages
Everything has it's downside, and there are cons to ceramic disc taps. They do eventually wear out and are more expensive than old style taps and are not suitable for very low water pressure. Unusually, many of the manufacturers seem to use standard sizes, so getting a replacement is often straightforward. Because taps on basins can be either handed or not not, one can't always be sure which way to turn each tap on, this can be annoying! Lastly, unlike traditional style taps, which take a number of turns to be on full, you may easily turn the water flow on far more than meant. The unexpectedly vigorous water flow and splashing can cause water going everywhere, including over your clothes. Not Good!

Bob Plum is the owner of BuyPlumbing co uk Ltd. If you live in Britain then the link http://www.buyplumbing.co.uk gives you access to a wide range of competitively priced bathroom goods and plumbing fittings.

# posted by 78867 @ 7:28 PM 0 comments

One company that's been a big name in video games for years is nintendo. In many ways nintendo revived interest in video game systems that can be hooked up to televisions (as opposed to video games played on home computers). It put out a number of good systems in the late eighties and throughout the nineties.

The nintendo gamecube is the current iteration of this long line of video game platforms, but unfortunately it doesn't really measure up compared to other modern video game platforms like the new Sony PlayStation 3, and Microsoft's Xbox 360. For example the gamecube has a processor with a speed of 485 Megahertz while the PlayStation 3 has a central processor with a clock speed of 3.2 Gigahertz which controls eight other processors, and the Xbox 360 has three processors running at 3.2 Gigahertz each! The differences in memory are just as large with the gamecube having a system memory of 40 Megabytes, while the Xbox 360 has 512 Megabytes of RAM. One thing that might offset the GameCubes slow processor and small memory to some extent is the fact that the processor itself is a 128 bit unit.

The gamecube also lacks a hard drive which both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 feature. While apparent deficiencies in hardware can be made up for to some extent by the unique hardware architectures and software, the lack of a hard drive put the gamecube at a stark disadvantage because of the way being able to store various data allows the user of a video game platform to customize the video gaming experience. For example the Xbox 360 allows users to create their own sound tracks to go along with games and then store that music on the hard drive. Apparently with the gamecube, there isn't that option, so the user is stuck with whatever sound comes with the software.

The gamecube does have a decent amount of networking capability. Besides the ability to support four players on a single unit, the GamCube has an optional 56 Kbps modem adapter and a separate broadband adapter. The broadband adapter allows for playing over DSL and cable modems, with Local Area network play an option on some game titles. It also has parallel and serial ports as well as two Digicard ports and one Type III PCMCIA expansion slot.

Another thing that puts the gamecube at a huge disadvantage when compared to the PS3 and the Xbox 360 is the fact that it's disk drive is designed for Nintendo's proprietary eight centimeter mini dvd. Each mini dvd only holds 1.5 Gigabytes of data which is severely limited compared to the Blu-ray drive that comes on the PS3 which can access discs holding 54 Gigabytes and the Xbox 360's optional HD-dvd drive which can access discs holding 30 Gigabytes worth of data.

The fact that the disk drive only takes the eight centimeter discs also means that the gamecube 360 is not a multifunctional platform the way the other systems are. The inability of this platform to play CD's DVD's and other media limits it to the realm of strictly being a video game platform while the PS3 and Xbox 360 are also CD and dvd players.

In all, while the nintendo gamecube can't really compete with the other video gaming platforms on the market today, it seems to serve well as strictly a video gaming device.

# posted by 78867 @ 6:27 PM 0 comments

We all have trouble with our drives, making the ball land where we want it to. Would that be a fair statement?

If you asked me I would certainly say yes. So, what am I saying?

I am saying that you should try every time to land your ball on a chosen spot on the fairway.

I can hear you saying I can rarely put my ball onto a spot. Goodness, if I can get it on the fairway I am more than pleased. With this in mind, are you saying that you line up and blaze away in the general direction of the green, hoping that you will finish on the short grass?

Well, here is an adjustment to any thoughts along these lines. On every shot, even if you think you cant, try your best to hit your chosen spot on the fairway.

There are mental and physical reasons for this.

First, the more care you take mentally to hit your target, the more this will have an effect on your physical game.

I mean, your lining up, your care in lining up your club head so that it hits the ball with a square club face, and your own personal placement of your feet and the line of your shoulders.

In other words, how you yourself align your body.

If you pay enormous attention to the mental and the physical aspects as described, there will be a much greater chance of hitting your ball to your chosen spot on the fairway.

This is a step forward. Your next shot must have a clear passage way to the green and if you can place your ball in a position to achieve this, you are playing better golf.

This means a lower score and a lower handicap.

Now once you are lined up, all you have to do is take your club back and hit your ball.

Next a little reminder on the basics of the swing. As I have said before, set up with your head over your right knee (right handers) and leave it there. Yes, leave it there during the whole swing. This will keep your head behind the ball and prevent it coming forward on the down swing resulting in a hook.

Now turn your chest to the right taking your arms with it.

Place your left shoulder under your chin with a final turn of your shoulders, taking your club to the horizontal. Now on the down swing, here is something your may not have heard of.

All this talk of hitting from in to out. It certainly takes some doing. hitting from out to in is a no no. Lost your yet? I got lost too.

My coach used to place a tee at an angle of 30 degrees to the flight of the ball and tell me to move my club face in the direction of the tee. Talk about double Dutch. Utter confusion. I just couldnt get the mental picture or do as I was told. It was impossible.

The trouble was that the coach didnt understand the principles of what he was trying to teach me.

He should have paid more attention to keeping my right elbow tucked into my side. A flying right elbow plays havoc with your ball flight doesnt it?

Actually, I am convinced that most shanks are caused by a right elbow leaving the side just a bit. Think about it. I think you will agree. The whole thing moves the club head forward towards the ball.

Here is what you do. The first part of your down swing should be a simple short movement down where the butt of your club is pointed at the ball. There is only one way you can do this - by tucking your right elbow into your side. It is fool proof.

This move takes care of the movement of your left hip. It makes it go up and back. This is what it should do.

However, dont try to do this or you will have all sorts of problems. The simple movement of pointing the butt of your club at the ball takes care of all the complicated movements described in so many books.

Some one said to me that the whoosh of the club starts here and not at the top.

Have a look at hitting from the top. It is a devil of a job keeping your elbow in. It is more likely to move away from your body causing you to hit from out to in.

So much for the in to out and the out to in. All it means is keeping your right elbow tucked in to your side, and the only foolproof way to do this is to point the butt of your grip towards the ball as the first part of your down swing.

To get the hang of this, I suggest you practice this movement in isolation (without the rest of the swing) until it becomes second nature and then incorporate it into your swing.

Bill Maitland is a thinking, inventive golf guru. He thought out and developed simple techniques and tips which enabled him to lower his handicap from 25 to 18, then from 18 to 15, and finally from 15 to 12. He is a passionate golfer, and delights in helping others with their game should they want his help. To receive a valuable weekly golf tip go to his web site http://www.onlinegolfershandbook.com and subscribe to his free hole In One News Letter. You will be so glad that you did.

Author of On Line Golfers' Hand Book. An e-Book that takes you step by step to being the best golfer that you can possibly be. The basics in great detail. To learn about his tips and simple techniques and order his book, visit his web site

www.onlinegolfershandbook.com

sign up for his free news letter and receive a wealth of great tips every time. He really tries to tell you everything and leaves nothing out as so often happens. When you sign up, receive his free chapter from his book on bunker play.

# posted by 78867 @ 2:39 AM 0 comments