Messages

476

Living Room / Re: GPS Unit Recommendations?

« on: May 20, 2010, 12:04 PM »

I have always heard Magellan's were some of the best if that helps.  I have used a Garmin (Nuvi I think, it was my sister's device) and it was usable, though not particularly accurate.  It was close, but sometimes a turn would be as far as a couple hundred feet away (maybe 100 meters at most, whatever - for this purpose it didn't really matter).  That becomes a problem in places like Pennsylvania where that distance may be around the next bend and you can't see it until you pass it - but then the machine already said you did, so which is it?  Note: this was a rare case, usually it was off within visual distances, but it was still off by what I thought was a lot.

My wife wants me to buy one for her, so I am interested in what others suggest as well.

As far as Australian Maps, I wouldn't know.

477

Living Room / Re: Free ALZip 8.0 License

« on: May 20, 2010, 11:45 AM »

Thanks for the info.  I still use AlZip too.  It is still the easiest to use in my opinion with all the features - though as you said, it isn't a tweaker's delight.  That is why I like it. 

478

Living Room / Re: Google Search

« on: May 18, 2010, 11:46 AM »

Or even EDSTAR @ www . edstar . org?

Just a thought....

479

Developer's Corner / Re: Resources for learning git?

« on: May 04, 2010, 09:01 AM »

Not that I really know exactly what I am looking at (not being a programmer and all - at least not yet smiley), but from what I see on the comparisons of this site:

http://www.versioncontrolblog.com/comparison/

I would say Mercurial may be the way to go....

480

Developer's Corner / Re: Like gitHub, but better

« on: May 04, 2010, 08:57 AM »

DOH!  Ignore this post.  I meant to post in a different thread.  It was supposed to go to this thread.

481

Living Room / Re: Geek gadgets - Calculators...

« on: May 03, 2010, 09:15 AM »

Well while we are at it then, App (or anyone else), have you found anything that does a justifiable job of recreating a Time Value of Money (TVM) calculator?  I found a bunch online, but none offline.  Well a few that were particularly expensive, but none that were resonable and that made a good replacement for the windows calc.  I even looked into rolling my own, but I was having a lot of trouble with getting accurate results from certain calculus functions.  I sort of gave up before I could troubleshoot the issue (was it the math library, was it the function, or was it the coder? Probably a little of all 3  )

482

Living Room / Re: could two numeric keypads work at the same time

« on: May 03, 2010, 07:19 AM »

Another idea is to look at the Gamer Pads.  I don't have a link at the moment but I have seen what basically looks like blank number pads that are designed to be programmable keys.  They are sold primarily to hard-core gamers who are looking for more programmable keys for their games.

483

Living Room / Re: Should I swtich from w7 32 bit to w7 64 bit?

« on: April 03, 2010, 07:44 AM »

You ask a great many questions that the final answer is just "it depends".  There is a great deal to these questions that are either not being considered or not addressed.  For example, what is the reason you are considering 64bit over 32bit?  Often, you will know when and why to switch.  If you are just switching because you have a 64bit processor, that is not a good reason in and of itself.  I have been running 32bit OS's on 64bit processors for about 5 or 6 years now at least (I got in on one of the first versions of the AMD Athalon64 processors which were 64bit) and it works fine.

Realize that switching from 32bit to 64bit in many ways is as large an overhaul as switching from Windows to Mac.  The biggest difference in the overhaul is there is no significant learning curve to the new OS.  As such, (and to answer one of your questions) you will have to manually reinstall everything - at least as far as I am aware.  This is not as strait forward as it may seem, however.  As an answer to another question, most of your well programmed software *SHOULD* work on the 64bit OS as Microsoft has built in a program to allow conversion.  That said not ALL software works and even those that do, may exhibit peculiar and/or unexpected results.  Moreover, since it is going through emulation, most software will actually function slower on 64bit if it is designed for 32bit operation.  The more problematic software issues are where they talk directly to the hardware.  In these cases you MUST use 64bit software or you will have issues.  Drivers are notorious for this, though some other programs utilize direct hardware access as well.

The RAM issue is a decent reason to upgrade if you will use all that ram, but I advocate a cheaper route.  Use a monitor to determine how much ram is currently utilized and only if you are consistently choking on the max ram should you consider this as a reason to upgrade.  Few software titles ever utilize that much ram anyway, so it is likely that you will not see significant RAM use unless you constantly work with many open programs at the same time.

As for your RAM hardware question, there are many dependencies for your question such as how much RAM can your Motherboard hold?  What is the maximum size the Motherboard can address?  And what configurations does the Motherboard support?  I have seen 8GB RAM chips (primarily designed for Servers that need to be purchased in matched sets to make 16GB per pair), but I have never seen a typical motherboard that supported more that 2GB/stick.  Only specialty boards (such as the server boards) have been designed for that kind of support from what I have seen.  The best place to look for answers to these questions is by going to your computer manufacturers website and look up the details of your system.  This information may also be found in the accompanying documentation from when you purchased it, but many people throw this out so I don't rely on that suggested source anymore.

484

Living Room / Re: Motherboard issues? What's my problem?

« on: March 11, 2010, 03:29 PM »

It is possible, but I would look at configurations first.  First and foremost, make sure the power settings are not set to allow it to go to sleep.  Frequently these types of "time outs" are from the hardware powering down into a sleep mode.  XP never rewoke those systems very well, so they usually don't help save power much and in many cases force a shutdown just to get full functionality again.  Another possibility is the BIOS settings.  They could be set to a power saver level as well that would cause similar actions.  As for the USB on the monitor, a third potential cause could be from a poorly designed driver.  I know my HP monitor never had the USB plugs working right because the driver was so buggy the controls for them either never provided enough power, or never passed the signal back to the computer.  Either way, it never worked.  It was recognized, but never ran.  Newer drivers improved some functions, but never allowed them to be used reliably.  If you check these areas and they seem right, then you might suspect faulty hardware, but the configuration issues are much more likely - especially with power saver features enabled.   

485

Living Room / Re: Which is better windows mobile or android os or iphone os?

« on: March 09, 2010, 09:56 PM »

One other thing - if you are looking into the Android and want to know about good apps out there for it, look at podcasts from AppJudgement.  They focus mostly on the iPhone/iPod Touch, but they have a significant and growing following for the Android platform as well.  It is a good site for information about the apps available.  I would be interested in seeing something for WinMobile as well, but I guess it isn't big enough for them to cover.  What I find most interesting for them about the iPhone/iPod Touch apps is they even have several segments about apps specifically for the jailbroken phones - specifically apps found on Cydia.

486

Living Room / Re: Which is better windows mobile or android os or iphone os?

« on: March 09, 2010, 09:51 PM »

I am close to getting a smart phone and from what I've read the Pre tops all three being discussed here.  I assume no one is including it in the comparison because no one believes Palm will be around in the long run.   But even if they go out of business in the next 2-3 years, the phone will still work!  And if you are a geek you are going to want a new one in a couple of years anyway.

Anyone have experience with Pre and want to enlighten us on the merits of its UI or openness or?

-wiiiindy (March 09, 2010, 08:18 PM)

Nope.  No experience.   That is why I didn't comment on it.  Well, that and the fact the the OP was asking about Windows Mobile vs. Android.

487

Living Room / Re: Flattr: New Micropayment System - Gets the Model Right

« on: March 09, 2010, 09:39 PM »

Let's hope they dont REQUIRE you to do a monthly recurring charge -- there is nothing about the idea that depends on that.

-mouser (March 09, 2010, 04:42 PM)

Without looking into it at all, just from what I read here, this is my thought on the model.  You must pay in a set amount each month, but the amount is set when setting up the account and can be changed at any time starting the following month.  The moneys are deposited into an account at the beginning of the month and then aggrigated into high yield short term Certificates of Deposit (or equivolent).  Then at the end of the month the monies are "distributed" (read funded) for payout mid-month.  The next month's payments come in, and are used to pay out the funds.  If the system is growing, the remaining monies are deposited into the new high-yield CD's.  Once critical mass is reached, the interest on the CD's, plus the increases from growth will outstrip the cost of doing business and profits will be made after payout.  Cashflow would be positive and excellent after this point because next month's monies would come in before payments are made (the same way Amazon was able to take off by selling the books, getting the money, and selling more before the initial bills were due).  And end users would have a warm fuzzy about it because *ALL* of their monies are paid out.  What everyone misses out on is the opportunity cost of having your money tied up interest free like that.  Actually not a bad business plan though, if you can reach that critical mass where your costs equal your interest earned.

488

General Software Discussion / Re: Which Linux For Non-Techie Windows Users?

« on: March 09, 2010, 12:12 PM »

A quick search on this site will show I have been advocating Mint Linux for quite some time, and I am hardly the only one.  On a rather old PC running and early Athalon processor (single core, don't recall the speed though), I use the XFCE interface version.  It has been flawless.  Apparently there is also an even lighter interface by using the Fluxbox version, but I haven't tried that.  I am quite happy with the XFCE version and it's development.

I have always heard a lot of good things about Mepis, but it has never worked well for me.

As to the argument about Linux not appearing to be better than Windows 7, that is because it isn't currently.  Windows 7 is very fast and streamlined for an OS.  The only way you will find a Linux version that is faster than Windows 7 at this point is to get one without a GUI, or at least without a GUI with all the same bells and whistles (you can accomplish the same thing with Windows 7 by the way - turning off the GUI and getting better performance, but who would want to?).  As Zane has pointed out - at this point you don't go to Linux for a windows-like experience with better performance.  You move to Linux for the flexibility, price, and/or desire to learn a new system.

Having worked extensively with every major OS type out there (except Mac, I have worked with it but not extensively), I can say that I generally like Windows best, but Mint is my preference due to cost and flexibility.  Windows has the best software base and is, therefore the most usable in my mind.  Mint, however, is nearly as usable, free (though donations are greatly appreciated by the developers), and has great support as well.  zO/S is a pain on a good day, but supposedly is one of the best for non-Parallel High Performance Computing (HPC).  The only good thing I can definitely say about it is it really helped me get a new, fuller appreciation for virtualization (something I have been strongly interested in ever since I first heard about it).  Sun Solaris is a nifty OS for Unix, but always crashes a lot for me.  I think it is because I don't use it to do the same thing every day, but rather fiddle with it all the time.  It is a "Cranky old man" OS, but I like it none-the-less.  Last but not least, Macs are simple to use and slick, but are very expensive and not nearly as useful as a general use machine from what I have seen.  Again, however, I have not used them extensively so don't blast me Apple-fanboys , I just want to give my first impressions as it were.  Hope that helps any readers.  If not, you are done now.

489

Living Room / Re: Amazon.com == AMAZING!

« on: March 04, 2010, 02:50 PM »

Wow, I guess I am the only dissenter here....

I can't stand Amazon.  I used to love them for many of the same reasons you choose, but I have since learned to hate them for the following reasons:

• Few, if any, items they sell are actually sold by Amazon.  Instead, they are a gateway for other stores, not unlike Ebay.  They do not, however, generally make this obvious or well known.
• Frequently when I tried to order something that is supposedly in stock, I get confirmation, then, a few days later a cancellation because the object wasn't in stock.  I realize this isn't directly Amazon's fault since they are not the store, but it is problematic when you are trying to find and buy a specific item - I mean not so much as an email asking how to proceed, just a flat out cancel!   
• Lastly, if you are looking for information about something, particularly technical or specific details, you might as well go somewhere else - you won't find it here.  It is a search to find something that *might* fit, then another search (via google) to find details, then a search back at Amazon just to buy it from someone else.  For all that annoyance, I will just go to the manufacturer, find exactly what I want, then Bing or Fruggle it to find the best price.  If Amazon happens to be it, good for them, but I am no longer looking there.

Enough of my rant though, I do see what many see in them, particularly for books and/or music.  However, I rarely buy these items and if I do, it is rarely online.  Those are impulse buy types of things for me.  So as for me, adios Amazon....

490

Living Room / Re: Strange question about salsa

« on: March 03, 2010, 08:54 AM »

As you'll note from the article on grapes, it's the separation that causes the "spark" (or plasma as he says). Do these sparks occur only on the surface of your salsa, or do they appear to be inside too? Is this chunky salsa (e.g. fresca) by chance? If so perhaps the chunks are creating shapes in the surface that result in small gaps and produce a similar effect to the grapes. Note that I think the composition of the material matters, as in the case of the grape with a large proportion of water (and sugars?). So perhaps the salsa's composition has similarly spark/plasma-friendly characteristics...

- Oshyan

-JavaJones (March 02, 2010, 11:01 PM)

To answer your questions, it is, of course, on the surface as you can not see into salsa.  It is not transparent, nor even translucent enough to see if it is inside or not.  As for the composition, it is very watery w/ sugars and is, acidic (the liquid being mostly tomato juice), so it is likely very similar composition from a pH and/or water content point of view.  I have not noticed any particular brand possessing this feature, nor any particular style, so I doubt it is inherently "chunky" salsa in particular.  I think it is more likely the composition --- or the "pips"  

So why would you want to microwave salsa? Isn't it supposed to be served chilled, or at least only room temperature?

-Deozaan (March 02, 2010, 08:37 PM)

Depends on what it's being used for - for nachos, I like personally like the salsa heated along with the chips & cheese

-f0dder (March 03, 2010, 01:47 AM)

Agreed.  Chili con Queso is a great way of eating salsa and requires it to be hot.  Salsa is the ultimate snack food in my opinion.  There are as many recipes as their are people who make it, it tastes good hot or cold, goes with just about anything, and is probably one of the most health snacks on the planet.  What you eat WITH it may not be, but that is another issue.  

491

Living Room / Re: Strange question about salsa

« on: March 02, 2010, 12:54 PM »

Yep.  Noticed that many times myself.  I never figured it out.

492

Developer's Corner / Re: The programmer as (starving) artist

« on: February 24, 2010, 09:57 AM »

So what sounds fair then?  20% for the initial product, 30-50% for maintenance and support, and 30-50% for advertising, sales, and business?  Just thinking out loud.  This seems about right to my non-programming thoughts (maybe a little low for the business part given the cost and variances of it - probably a little high for the maintenance and support).  Business is expensive, and they will only do what makes money.  Maybe something like 20%/20-30%/50-60%.  Of course that is what it sounds like a lot of structures are like - well relatively fair structures anyway.  There are the ones where the business end is the big block bully and will force you to take it or leave it when they "graciously" offer 5% on your work and you must include maintenance and support for it.

BTW:  This is not knocking what you say or think - this is a genuine question of what people honestly think is fair for each general part of the equation.  Maybe I am oversimplifying the equation.  That is okay.  Please correct me with your thoughts on what is right and what the right percentages should work out to too. 

493

General Software Discussion / Re: Why the aversion to .NET Frameworks?

« on: February 22, 2010, 03:02 PM »

I didn't mean to imply earlier I was against .Net.  Indeed, I generally like it and it's performance.  I was just asking in what ways is it different.

But a hypervisor core, native code for the critical parts of the kernel, perhaps managed code for part of the kernel, a managed userland, and a virtualized Win32 compatibility layer (preferably running within 5% of native speed) - that'd be an interesting OS.

-f0dder (February 22, 2010, 02:42 PM)

Here, here!  Where do we buy that OS? 

494

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Dockable auto-hiding drag & drop multi-monitor desktop wallpaper app

« on: February 19, 2010, 02:50 PM »

Not necessarily.  Remember, they said they were using 64-bit, not 32-bit.  The display driver, or the 64 bit WOW implimentation in windows could cause the issue as well.  That is unless you are using 64 bit too Mouser.....

495

Living Room / Re: What books are you reading?

« on: February 18, 2010, 12:11 PM »

kyrathaba - I see you have the same taste in books I do, though I haven't read either of those.  I HAVE read a great many of Piers Anthony's works as well as all of the Honor Harrington series of David Weber's.  Another author I really like if you are interested is Dennis McKiernen (his last name may not be spelled right).  Also, my wife, who is a more avid recreational reader than myself, really likes Elizabeth Moon.  They are not authors of Space/Future fantasy like the two books you mentioned, but they are traditional fantasy instead.  Still you may want to look at those authors and see if they interest you as well.  If you like Piers Anthony, another series I really like if you haven't read them yet is the Apprentice Adept series.  It is a cross-over series of fantasy books - both traditional and sci-fi/future fantasy.  Well written and very entertaining.

As for books I am currently reading, well I am mostly reading work-related whitepapers so I rarely read books anymore.  If I had to say one, though, it would have to be Terry Pratchett's Soul Music.  And I just finished reading the last Harry Potter book, so that series is done. 

496

Living Room / Re: Responsibility in Web Services

« on: February 18, 2010, 11:45 AM »

Sorry Joker, but your example would be more appropriate without the aggregation.  This site aggregating the information makes Wraith's example closer.  Specifically, you provide a simple search for someone specific, so in a sense, you are "casing" the person.  The information is already out there without the search capabilities, so that would be more analogous to you stating it publicly and only people looking in the right place could find it.  It takes no additional work on the part of the criminal to search the aggregated site, just like someone casing your place would take no additional work to note when you leave.  Whereas if it were not aggregated, then they would have to search all the information for each person independently, just like someone trying to find where someone posted the information in the paper.  

EDIT:  That said, it is stupid for people to place that info out there in the first place.  But does that give someone else the right to exploit the information?  Current law says no.  And for this reason, the site should not exist in it's current form.  It isn't like it couldn't be set up where you have to identify yourself and your account credentials before it would put the info out there on you.  It could still aggregate the information from publicly available sources, but make it so it can log into any one account (so they have a reasonable way of determining you are who you claim) first to verify that you are checking only on yourself.  That would be the right way to put this information out without being an accomplice, even an unwitting one.  And yes, I know there are other issues with this approach, but it is still better than making it available to all people.

497

General Software Discussion / Re: How to reassign monitor numbering in dual-monitor setup (XP)?

« on: February 18, 2010, 11:33 AM »

That, I believe, would have to necessarily rest in the hands of either Microsoft or the individual driver writers - probably a little of both!

498

General Software Discussion / Re: Installing Linux over ME, is it possible?

« on: February 18, 2010, 11:31 AM »

What distro were you considering?  Remember there are distros for every level of user and every level of support.  Some require you to have specific hardware because those vendors provide true open driver software - others don't care so much as long as they are available.  Also, make sure the software you/they want to use is available without too much of a learning curve.  Just because there is something out there that does the same (or nearly same) thing, doesn't mean it will be adopted by the end user.  A perfect example for me is GIMP vs. Photoshop.  I learned Photoshop for work, and now use it now and again because it is so powerful and useful when you need just the right tool.  Due to cost, I considered and tried GIMP; and while a knowledgeable person may be able to produce comparable output, I couldn't get far enough into using it (without screwing it up so bad I had to start over) to make it useful to me at all.

499

General Software Discussion / Re: Why the aversion to .NET Frameworks?

« on: February 17, 2010, 03:58 PM »

I'm usually looking for apps that are small, portable, and have as close to a zero presence foot print as possible. If I have to install framework anything to run an app, then I'm no longer troubleshooting (Just) the problems that existed before I got there - As I now have to deal with the very real possibility that there is now a new problem that I just created by installing X which is (conflicting with Y) now compounding the issue that got me called to the site in the first place.

-Stoic Joker (February 17, 2010, 03:51 PM)

And this is different from all the other "DLL Hell" issues out there how?  I mean just because it is a different name doesn't change the way you troubleshoot.  And just because the technology changed doesn't mean that the issue is new.  It just looks different with a different player.

500

General Software Discussion / Re: Why the aversion to .NET Frameworks?

« on: February 17, 2010, 03:56 PM »

Last spring I set up a netbook with Unbuntu linux, and the distro came with Mono in it. So it's not just pervasive on Windows, but common in linux as well. And from everything I read, current versions of Mono do a darned good job so long as the whole app is .Net without native code thrown in.

-CWuestefeld (February 17, 2010, 03:44 PM)

This is true as long as you target .Net 2.0 or lower (maybe 3.0/3.5 now).  But for current versions of .Net Mono is not there yet.  If they really want parity, they need to be working on the current .Net version along side Microsoft (which means they should be about to release .Net 4.0 compatible code).  I mean they already have the technology sharing license and are essentially partners (MS and Novell, the main project backers).  That said, I agree with most of what you are saying.