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Messages - steeladept [ switch to compact view ]

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1001
No, I am like you.  Didn't get into chatting until well after the adolescent stage where most trolling seems to occur.  (At least that is what I am inferring from the article...No offense to any adolescent is intended).

1002
Don't worry all...I have the cure!  Have kids.  They drain every penny you have, then take the savings, the pension, and the equity you built up, all by the age of two. ;D ;D ;D

No way to spend the money and they take up most of your time, preventing you from using it to find new software!

Okay, time to get back to work now...

1003
I too have been on this journey for a while.  I personally like Mint Linux.  It is a spinoff of Ubuntu, but has access to a larger database of drivers out of the box (so to speak) since it also has some proprietary drivers.  They also have rendered a version of the SLED SLAB interface, which is nice as well.  They just released version 3.0 (Cassandra) and are working on a KDE version of Cassandra due out in the near future.

1004
General Software Discussion / Re: how to reduce pagefile usage?
« on: June 05, 2007, 08:53 PM »
So what type of memory does it use anyway?  Did you ever figure that out?

1005
General Software Discussion / Re: how to reduce pagefile usage?
« on: June 05, 2007, 03:24 PM »
Hmmm...For the Office apps, probably not unless they are running truly massive applications for the products (e.g. Full encyclopedias in Word, a very large database, or Excel running tons of macros and/or calculations).  The GIS systems I have no experience with, so I don't know how valuable they would find the extra memory.

Your best bet would likely be to download some sort of performance monitor and see where the system bottlenecks are.  I have used Perfmon from Systernals in the past.  It is not the most user friendly, but it does get the job done.  There is another I used, but I can't remember the name.  It was more pictorial, so it was more meaningful to me.  If you search the net a bit, you get hundreds of hits, but I still can't find it...

1006
General Software Discussion / Re: how to reduce pagefile usage?
« on: June 05, 2007, 01:33 PM »
Feedback?  Don't buy Gateway.  They markup a lot. Find the type of memory you need (PC-3200 for example) and do a search from memory manufacturers.  Alternatively, look at sites like newegg where you can search by type and get a cheaper alternative.  I find most memory can be found relatively easily if you know the type you need, and unless you need some proprietary form factor or specific latency settings, it is pretty much a commodity item.

1007
Living Room / Re: The top 10 dead (or dying) computer skills
« on: June 05, 2007, 01:19 PM »
Cobol and C... this is still being taught here, and OMG, Cobol is awful for what I saw. I try not to get that particular subject next year. C, in the other hand... I have a C program pending, and I have to program it with VI! :(

I found curious that they mention C and not Assembler.

Don't forget, Assembler is frequently used, just not for applications.  It is more often used for low level programming of hardware.  At least from what my Computer Engineering friends keep telling me...

1008
FARR Plugins and Aliases / Re: New FARR Plugin: FCalc
« on: June 05, 2007, 01:04 PM »
Very cool...

1009
FARR Plugins and Aliases / Re: New FARR Plugin: FCalc
« on: June 05, 2007, 12:14 PM »
So, will this also do TVM calculations?  (Time Value of Money for those who don't know). 

I am starting the programming challenges (Java first, since I understand it best for now), and for the first assignment, I am extending the engine from the simple calculations required into a TVM calculator.  These are GREAT devices to help you figure out all kinds of things from your income from a savings account to the exact cost of a financed car to the expected return on investments.  When I finish it, Mouser, you will see the code that makes it happen (if you don't already have it) ...perhaps that will be easy enough to port over into the FCalc plugin as well?

1010
General Software Discussion / Re: Outlook 2007 - a rant
« on: June 05, 2007, 12:07 PM »
Ugh...As if IE wasn't bad enough.  Word's HTML engine has always been the worst engine around.  I don't know why so many business people in particular insist on using Word to create HTML.  IT JUST PLAIN DOESN'T WORK RIGHT!  Another reason to stay away from Office 2007...

1011
hmmmmmmmmmmm......but if the switches are in series, won't they all do the same thing??

The switches aren't in series, they'd be hooked up to the microcontroller chip in the same way the keys on the keyboard would be,
but they'd be able to hook into eachother.

and if it's an analog signal, would there be an impedance change issue running them in parallell?

One side of the chip is digital (the part that goes into the computer), the other is analog. We don't really have to worry about impedance since these are switches and not, say resistors, or LED's, etc,... we aren't doing anything, we're just switching a logical state.

here a parallel example with just one 'key' :


  input
  |  |
  |  |                             
  |  *_______________
  *__|_______________SWITCH
  |  |
  |  |
  |  |
KEYBOARD


Either the two wires short when you push the switch -or- the two wires short when you push a key on the keyboard,
for the input, there is no difference.  Maybe i'll look up the details on how they hook up to the microcontroller and make a little schematic and put it up on the bpm notepad website once i have it finished. Though chances are that many keyboards use different types of microcontroller, so it may be different and you may have to 'follow' the lines on the keyboard pcb (or membrane) anyway.



For any of you reading this that are less electronically gifted, there is always the simple way to do it...use a keyboard splitter.  You can get them for less than $5US at most cable supply companies.  Just don't use both keyboards at the same time (or in this case the keyboard and the pedal) or you get the same effect as pushing multiple keys at the same time.

1012
General Software Discussion / Re: how to reduce pagefile usage?
« on: June 04, 2007, 03:42 PM »
I honestly don't know if this will help or not, but have you ever tried a pagefile defrag program?  It might order what you have now in a way to increase your speed, and maybe free up a bit of the pagefile space.  Also, if I remember right, the pagefile in windows2000/XP is managed dynamically, but the older systems had to be set manually.  If you are using and older windows OS, perhaps you just need to manually increase the size?  Just my thoughts.

1013
Post New Requests Here / Re: Rerun StartUp Folder
« on: June 04, 2007, 01:46 PM »
I don't understand what environment variables has to do with it.  Please explain.  PATH is only needed to resolve programs which are not fully qualified, as I understand it.
That is true, but I thought it was looking for a version of the rundll32.dll in that folder.  If it is not in the path and is not fully qualified, it would not find it there and hence not work.

Of course with the fix, we just proved that was not the case.  :D

1014
Post New Requests Here / Re: Rerun StartUp Folder
« on: June 04, 2007, 12:44 PM »
Sounds like the path is not in your environment variables any more.  Look for the System Environment Variables Path to have an entry something like this:

C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\Progra~1\ThinkPad\UTILI~1\

There will likely be more.  Also note, each entry is separated by the semicolon ( ; ).  If these are not there, try adding them.

1015
I definitely agree with these comments, especially Carol's suggestion of returning (or at least offering to return) the parts replaced.  As for the promised software to inventory the hardware, we use PCI32 at work.  You can download it and the instructions from http://members.dataf...dft0802/downlads.htm

Belarc Advisor is another one I have used, though not extensively.  It is nice because it uses a GUI interface:  useful for non-technical users.  You can get it at http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

I have also found a few others, though none of these have been tried.  They can be found at:
(Please note:  Many of these are commercial and/or free for personal use only)

FreeSysInfo                          http://shareme.com/d...oad/freesysinfo.html             
HWareInfo 1.01                     http://www.surfpack....HWareInfo/27267.html
AIDA32                                http://www.majorgeek...com/download181.html
ASTRA/ASTRA32                    http://www.astra32.com/
EVEREST                              http://www.lavalys.com/
Hardware Inspector v2.2.2      http://www.hwinspector.com/

The keyword search in google to get good hits for this type of software is "Personal PC Audit" and/or "system information software" if you want more options.

1016
True, but I was thinking more of when you were done and that way repeat customers would know you were not taking advantage of them.  If you become an "OEM" and sell new as well, then you could give it to them with the new PC too.  Provide the program on a CD and then they can run it after any upgrades or repair and verify they were not conned even if they don't take it to you...

1017
Developer's Corner / Re: 70 Expert Ideas For Better CSS Coding
« on: May 28, 2007, 10:43 AM »
Great site for tips...Gave me a few good suggestions I never thought of and/or never dealt with the scale that might need them.  Also validated most of my current coding practices.  In fact, there was only one practice they suggested against that I read that I am guilty of...too liberal use of <div> tags.  I don't like using them, but didn't know of any better way to use them.  Now I have a new resource.  :Thmbsup:

Another great site, especially for those who don't know how to use and code XHTML/CSS (together or separately), is http://www.HTMLDog.com.  I still use it religiously for tag and attribute information because it is a simple, straight forward site for finding these details and showing how to use them if you get confused.

1018
That is still one crazy bird.

1019
Perhaps you could generate an inventory sheet for them to fill out with you when you first open up the computer. Of course, this is probably OTT, but after watching the YouTube video, it's something that I, as a potential customer, would do on my own anyway....

The nice thing about this idea is you don't need to open up the case.  There are many free software packages that will query your hardware for you, and do a more thorough job (e.g. give serial numbers, firmware versions, etc.) then you can print it out.  I will see what I can come up with then post it here later.


1020
During my quest for similar things, I kept running across the answer "Linux doesn't need one, but if you want one..."  I think this is ridiculous, but the only one that consistently was suggested after that statement was ClamAV.  Apparently this is the only broadly used Linux AV that is actively being developed.  There is also a Windows version, but I believe it rates VERY poorly.  Just to busy reading other posts to look that up right now though.  Hope this helps someone. ;)

1021
I agree, this is a great idea - and a FARR plugin would make it that much quicker, easier, and better for me simply because I am used to using FARR...

1022
Thanks, I go check those out...

1023
I'm a little curious as to whether anyone might be interested in getting a discount on Inksaver or there are lots of Bill Gates and Warren Buffets here on the forum who does not care that they are contributing to the huge ink cartridge profits of the inkjet manufacturers.

Inkjet ink is around US$2,000 per gallon vs US$3 per gallon for petrol (I think)

If there is, then it may be something that perhaps our donationcoder Discount Coordinator cthorpe can help in.

Anyone interested ?

Or perhaps not that many here actually print at all.

I would be interested if I had one.  How about something like that for Laser Printers?  Now days, I keep seeing color laser printers for under $500US, and in fact got one about 3 or 4 years ago at a similar price.  However, when the toner runs out, it is EXPENSIVE (<$100 / color, 3 colors).  I went laser because it is less expensive TCO, but when you finally need to refeed it, boy does it cost! :tellme:

I would think something similar that puts less toner on the paper would likewise save money.  A quick search didn't turn up anything - has anyone else seen anything like this?

1024
Since I was only allowed two, I chose Masters & PhD.  Like Carol, I too believe in life long learning, though my experiences with Universities has made me very anti-school in some ways.  On the flip side, my company pays for any degrees or classes that could be applied to the company, so I have an IT degree, MBA, and am looking at maybe a Masters in Network Administration or a Business Doctorate.  Any suggestions out there? 

I am also continuing my studies in German language and culture as well as a few other things (Master Electrician, Military Studies, Java/Mono & C#/.Net Web Programming, Linux Administration).  I even studied Electrical Engineering for a time, but couldn't finish the tests in the time allotted, so I gave it up rather than failing out.  I have most of the math and foundation material still in this noggin though, so I suppose the time was useful for something.  I have found so many things fascinating, that I find I can not stay focused on any of them for too long.  I end up trying to learn a subject intensely for a while, then put it down for another subject.  I keep this up until I get back to the original subject.  I guess that is why Java is on my list still, more than any other reason.

1025
General Software Discussion / Re: E Texteditor experiences?
« on: May 13, 2007, 08:24 PM »
Okay.  May have to try UltraEdit from what I keep hearing here.  At work we use TextPad which is great for what I need, but it does cost.  NotePad++ seems to do just as well, but I haven't used it nearly as extensively.  Since I don't use RegEx that much (right now), comparing NotePad to UltraEdit and keeping an eye on E sounds like a good plan for now.  Thanks all.

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