Messages

76

Living Room / Re: Online RPG Players.

« on: March 03, 2010, 11:19 AM »

I played four years in the original Everquest, a couple of days in EQ2. I've had an active account on and off for about 5-6 years with Eve-Online.

I have recently been playing D&D Online since just before Christmas when the game went free. I've also toyed around with dozens of the free games available here and there, although I haven't found one yet with much staying power (or I guess that should be phrased that *I* haven't had much staying power yet with the free games).

77

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (Maybe...)

« on: March 03, 2010, 11:13 AM »

Stoic,

Sorry I can't offer any programming tips, but I did want to chime in and say that TClock has been one of my must have programs for a couple of years now.

Take this as encouragement that I'd love to see your latest version when it becomes available!

78

Living Room / Re: Birth of an Avatar

« on: January 12, 2010, 01:53 PM »

I *have* wondered in retro if viewing in an iMax theatre would have made a difference.

As for subtle, well, I guess you could call it that. I tried to determine if it was subtly at play, comparing the experience to what I have seen in other "pretty" movies.  There are a lot of long shots where the 3D just doesn't appear to, well, appear!  I guess that makes it fairly realistic - far distances with human sight tend to look flat and 2D anyway. 3D effects seem to be a "closer" up thing.

That might well be my sore point.  All of the up close 3D which is very obvious, seems gratuitous.  All of the far off 3D is too far to notice much if any of an effect. Hence, wondering if the overall effect would be improved in an iMax theatre.

I have no expereince upon which to base that thought tho, as I live in a backwards redneck rural area and the cloest iMax is a 4 hour drive away, so I have never been in an iMax theatre.

Essentially a moot point in my mind tho...I found the movie to be plodding and lacking in depth so I can't imagine anything redeeming it for me.

Still, it *is* a very pretty movie and I'd hate to turn off anyone who was looking forward to seeing it.  Everyone should, and make up their own minds.

And despite all this, I found the "Ehtyar to Avatar" video riveting and compelling. I've not done much in a graphics proggie, so it was neat to see someone working who knew what they were doing.

79

Living Room / Re: Birth of an Avatar

« on: January 08, 2010, 11:38 AM »

No JavaJones you are not.

I thought it was pretty and that's about the only redeeming aspect I can pull out.

The story has been done before and was very unoriginal (after seeing the first trailer once, I predicted what the plot would be and much to the frustration of several folks in my office, I was dead on).  The characters were two dimensional and uninspired - I had no sympathy for any of them. And as far as I was concerned the 3D was distracting at best.  It did nothing for the story, and the few times when it became noticeable (flies, bugs and the backs of peoples heads looming in my face from no where) it was largely distracting and pointless. They could at least have had a character turn toward the audience and menace them with a spear, not distract them with the back of a head.

But so long has Hollywood been in a rut, offering no new ideas and relying on remaking perfectly good movies and ruining them, I hardly expected otherwise.

If I recall correctly when this project was first announced years ago, Cameron was to have made it completely digitally.  My recollection is of a small panic on the part of actors with the fear that there would be no room left for live actors.

I have to say, although not human bodies, I think Cameron's people have done an excellent job of the body animation.  No more funny walking, no more stiff necks, no more flapping mouth parts and partial dentures.  Otherwise, the movie was a waste and I have been recommending people avoid the 3D hocus pocus.  It took me 2-3 hours before the raging headache started to abate after I got out of the theatre.

YMMV of course

80

Living Room / Re: I've said it before - they're out to get you!

« on: September 25, 2009, 11:29 AM »

Blah!

The banal and paranoid blathering of your obvious dog owners, is...well...banal and paranoid.

81

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Xara Xtreme Special Version (XS) 4 Free On Gizmo's TecchSupportAlert.com

« on: August 13, 2009, 12:49 PM »

I've been a big Xara fan, since it's inception.

I've used the CorelXara version for years now and it still is very serviceable.  I tried a newer version a couple of years ago and it too was a nice product, but the file format had changed, and while it could load my older files, they were then, not useable in my older version while the trial ran out.

So I am looking forward to trying this version to see how it stacks up.

82

Living Room / Re: DIY Vacuum tubes

« on: August 07, 2009, 11:31 AM »

SWeet 40hz!

Magic Eye was what I was looking for - I believe that was an actual commercial name.

83

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2009 / Re: Chore Cards.. Almost makes it fun..

« on: August 06, 2009, 01:25 PM »

Geez mouser, do you ever get the feeling no one takes you seriously?

I have to admit I *did* laugh my ass off though.....

84

Living Room / Re: DIY Vacuum tubes

« on: August 06, 2009, 01:18 PM »

There is some quite interesting stuff available through MAKE magazine. I've often thought of getting a subscription.

I saw this about a year ago and it really struck my heart.  My grandfather who passed away a few years ago, was a Amateur Radio Operator (VE3OJ) and used to tell me stories of how in his early years, he and his radio friends who were on the cutting edge of it all, rolled their own capacitors by hand using paper and wax to hold it all together.

When I was wee, he still had a lot of radio gear that ran on vacuum tubes.  I used to thrill over the tubes lighting up and lending a beautiful glow to the corner of the basement that was his "radio shack". He even had a few of those units that used a modulated glowing green display on the rounded end of the tube to help you tune in a signal.. These type of tubes have an actual name, which completely escapes me now. Depending on how close you were to the signal, a pair of opposing green wedges, on a phosphorescent disc in the end of the tube (like a primitive crt), would expand or contract.

This is a video I think he would have been fascinated with, and I'm glad to have been fascinated in his stead.

85

Living Room / Re: OSS for Macintosh

« on: May 13, 2009, 11:14 AM »

Thank's folks!

I was able to add a few more sites to my growing list;)

40hz, thanks for the advice.  Yeah, I pretty much get to do what I want with this laptop, as long as I am learning about it. I have already ordered the Mac Support Essentials book you recommended, as well as another from O'Reilly that have been recommended. Interesting to see the Deployment and "Desktop and Portable" book as well.  I may have to get them as well, as issues of deployment are involved in this project, and they involve ahem desktops and portables

When they arrive, the breaking of the MacBook will commence!

As for the shortcomings of the Mac - well so far, they've been limited by my limitations..heheheh. I still looking for Windoze warez replacements for the Mac, and still trying to assimilate keyboard shortcuts and other things that become ingrained from the Windows world.

My biggest observation so far, as limited as it is, is that this Mac reminds me a *whole* lot of my Amiga days. Sigh...I must not think too hard on those days or I will get all teary

Thanks again folks!

Daleus

86

Living Room / OSS for Macintosh

« on: May 11, 2009, 01:51 PM »

Well my boss dropped a nice new MacBook on my desk a couple of weeks ago and told me I will soon be supporting them.

So, I know there are Mac users out there (hiding behind their PC facades) - can you point in the direction of some decent software? Or blogs that deal with such? Or technical troubleshooting sites specific to Mac? Or whatever you think I will need for this adventure?

Thanks loads!

87

Living Room / Re: [NSFW - Parody] Sony Releases New Piece Of Technology

« on: February 17, 2009, 12:06 PM »

I must now face into the corner and bow my head in shame.

I fell for the Apple wheel crap.  I never even looked at the url when someone sent me bit.

I fell for it so hard that I trotted it out at a departmental meeting and was soundly laughed into a crimson red complexion.

The crazy thing is that I was convinced that Apple was just that f***ing stupid.

/sigh - you may all ridicule and jeer to your hearts content - I deserve it.

Back to the doghouse for me

88

General Software Discussion / Re: Make Firefox 3 load faster

« on: February 17, 2009, 09:44 AM »

The only problem I've had with FF is the Real video plugin, and frankly, I think it has more to do with the fact that Real is such crap, and less with FF.

I installed the version of Real that offers the handy download this video function, so that I could grab neat vids from webpages.

Then the new version of FF came out so I upgraded, on;y to find out that the real plugin isn't compatible with FF3.  Not only that, but FF3 has never been able to locate an update to the Real plugin and on top of that, I now can't uninstall the dysfunctional Real plugin.

So I have a piece of Real crap hanging around that I can't get rid of nor can I update.  Really burns my biscuits.

/rant off - thanks for listening

89

General Software Discussion / Re: Ahh more timers! This one looks good and syncs with Google Calendar and Outlook

« on: February 17, 2009, 09:05 AM »

You guys need to go a bit easier on yourself.

I am exactly the same way - if I can't figure out basic usage just be looking at the GUI, or by looking for common tasks in common places, it gets shelved if it's lucky or tossed otherwise.

For me it's out of necessity.  I'm part of an understaffed IT service dept, that has sweet f***-all for training budget, yet I have to support the MS monstrosities, any email client ever invented, and some of the wierdest "garage-garbage" you've ever seen.  I have to get it sorted in the first 60 seconds, or I'm "Bad At My Job" (tm).

Life is not only mean, but it's cruel too.

90

Site/Forum Features / Re: Signatures now not shown if you have under a certain number of posts

« on: February 17, 2009, 08:54 AM »

Go Tony go! Go Tony go!

 

91

Living Room / Re: Meme time! Five Things People Don't Know About Me

« on: February 17, 2009, 08:02 AM »

Gah!

Sorry to be the johnny come lately on this thread. It's pretty damned interesting! I've been quite busy with meme #1 on my list.

1. As a single male over 50, you wouldn't think I'd be navigating the adoption process.

2. I too count just about everything blessed thing that comes in numbers of more than 1 - the number of stairs, the numbers of steps between cracks, the number of glass panes in a window.  I count by 5's though with a complication of the first and last item counting for 10 points.  My therapist thinks I'm funny

3. For the longest time I thought I was coward.  As it turned out, things I thought I was a coward about, I was really just bored by.

4. I can't think of a movie with a kid in it in a serious role, where I haven't cried.

5. I like to walk the streets at night, looking into people's windows.  Not at all interested in the people, just how they decorate.  I love seeing how different styles of furniture combine, and how some of those darker more dramtic colours look.


BONUS: I used to suffer migraines every weekend.  Then I quit the radio business and the stress just dissolved away.

92

Living Room / Re: Seagate's Barracuda 7200.11 drives failing at alrming rate?

« on: January 14, 2009, 01:24 PM »

Interestingly, this came up last week in our office.

Not certain of the model number, but we had a pair of 1TBs and a pair of 1.5TBs.  They required an HD firmware upgrade.

Apparently, the firmware download is only available if you talk to one of their tech support wanks, and are able to give them a specific error code which (if I remember correctly) comes from their own specific diag proggie.

Don't run to your bosses with this info, because our departmental meetings are traditionally filled with info my brain rejects as irrelevant, but this might give you further directions to explore.

93

Living Room / Re: New Ipod/ cleaning mp3s

« on: January 09, 2009, 01:27 PM »

I know this is too late for Fred, but I wanted to echo the above stated satisfaction with the Sansa line of players.

I don't have the big fancy 8gigger with SD slot, but I do have the plain jane 2gig model.

Why did I go this way?

1. Uses just 1 standard AAA battery.  I can use a rechargable. I can actually change the dead battery myself!  What a concept. On top of this, the packaing claims 19 hours of contuous play from that AAA, and they are not lying!  I usually get about 19-20 hours of use.

2. Don't need no steenking synchro software.  Yes, syncing the files can be useful for 1001 reasons, but it's just not for me

3. Price.  I bought my first Sansa, a 1gig, for less than a hundred bucks.  I got just before a trip and during that trip the poor got smacked and the lcd panel was useless after that.  So I went to repalce it and discovered that over the holidays, the price had dropped by half and now I could afford the 2gig model for the same price.  I've been using it for just over a year now and have zero complaints.

4. It plays, it shows tags, it's got a fully functional am/fm radio in it and it will record voice memos with the built in mic.  No you won't get broadcast quality, but it's certainly as good as a cheap tape recorder.

Having said that, I will warn you that if you have old tired eyes like mine, you might find the smallish display a bit of a pain, but really, once yer listenin' to da tunez.....

94

General Software Discussion / Re: JauntePE - freeware virtualizer

« on: December 12, 2008, 11:43 AM »

Has anyone had any success with Jaunte?

I finally got some time today to have a go with it.  The docs are pretty vague for the uninitiated, so I went to the forums to find some more in-depth info.

I found a couple of threads that appeared to be helpful, but frankly, they have left me more mistified than before, largely due to a lack of consistency on the part of the thread authors using names of the Jaunte components that don't match up with reality.  One thread even gives a step by step walk through, using an app known to work with Jaunte, but the procedure referred to an executable that doesn't exist in the current distribution (030a).

So I'm back to square one.

I'd like to portablize (sp?) a few things, but not having alot of luck.  Are there other apps available that allow you to package 'wares into a portable form?

Cheers!

95

Living Room / Re: Things your kids will never know - old school tech!

« on: October 24, 2008, 12:12 PM »

Someone else beat me to B&W TV, but can I add cable television (which in itself is almost obsolete now too).

Also I was born before there was space flight (only by 4 months tho...).  Try that one on your kids!

96

General Software Discussion / Re: I am stumped ...

« on: August 13, 2008, 12:07 PM »

I'm sure one of the previous suggestions will sort out the problem.  However, I thought I'd add my 2 cents.

I recall years ago, when Works started getting loaded on every computer shipped in NA, that the Works icon was very similar, if not completely identical, to the Word icon.

I recall that I had a very cynical reaction to that, assuming that M$ was hoping to cash in on the incompatibility between Works and M$Office.  You know how it goes, give the free piece of **** and when they find out that it's compatible with bugger all, they'll come running for the full office suite.

You may ultimately have to find a new/create your own icon.  Of course, the best course of action would be to expose your user to the type of derision scorn and brutal demeaning that I have found to be useful, when a user sticks with a piece of software that is limitlessly bad.



Cheers!

97

Living Room / Re: Gizmo's Tech Support Alert Newsletter Merges with Windows Secrets

« on: July 10, 2008, 12:00 PM »

Okay here I am, the Sayer of Doom.

I hate Windows Secrets.  I only subscribed so that I could continue to get Fred Langa's newsletter.  Other than the few bits he did for them, I have never seen anything useful come across their page.  The only reason I hadn't unsubscribed is that frankly, it's easier to delete it from my inbox than to go through the process.

As with Fred, I have been a follower of Gizmo's newsletter for years.  Now I'm afraid I'm going to have to kiss that one goodbye too because frankly I have no faith that *any* useful material from his publication will make the free side of Windows Secrets.  I have already written Gizmo to tell him how I feel.

However, I *do* understand how this will benefit Gizmo, his newsletter and his paid subscribers, just as it promised to for Fred Langa.  Larger distribution, some paid advertising to make the effort worth it and all the goop that goes along with that.  Plus they have all the people and processes in place to make the job less onerous.

Frankly, I have always been the type of freeloader who gobbled up the free stuff but never forked out a cent for the rest and so in that manner, really never directly helped support eithe Fred or Gizmo's newsletter. So I am in no position to point a finger at anyone for anything.

However, I don't think that in either case Windows Secrets is the right venue.  I think both Fred and Gizmo and any other useful publication out there would do better by joining forces and doing their own thing.  Or maybe find a publication that puts content ahead of advertising.  Or at the very least puts *good*, *useful* content into their *free* side, rather than the pathetic, minimal gruel offered up by Windows Secrets.

My last mainstay is Scot Finnie's newsletter which is largely a blog now.  And if I find out he's moving to Windows bloody Secrets, I think I'll pitch myself into a volcano.

98

General Software Discussion / Re: Direcscape: don't get lost in your project

« on: July 10, 2008, 11:45 AM »

My experience with this app has been less than stellar.

While it does do pretty much everything it says it does, there are some shortfalls.

Also everything I tried in terms of adding and removing notes, tasks etc. as described in the help file, didn't work the first time.  Then worked the second time, but without an update of the visual element, and then on the third time worked as expected. In my mind this is minor for a new piece of software such as this.

The biggest problem I had with it was with moving child nodes.  You seem to be able to move them "downstream" into subfolders, but in no way was I able to move them "upstream" into a parent folder.  This is a serious shortcoming in my mind.

Additionally, when exploring features there seemed to be a lot of them I couldn't back out of.  After selecting a Folders Status node and displaying the scrollable list of folders, there didn't seem to be a way to get rid of the folder list.

I suspect I am missing something on all of these counts, but if anyone else wants to explore this app, they should be aware that it is rough around the edges and a bit frustrating when you start with it.  Maybe people who have had more patience with it can answer these simple questions for the next person who is interested.

I certainly liked the concept of being able to see more of a folder hierarchy and to treat it as a mind map or sorts - I too have projects within which there are dozens of folders that I am convinced could be better organized. I just don't think this one is quite ready for prime time.  Quite a good start though, and kudos for recognizing how useful this approach could be.

Cheers!

99

Living Room / Re: Picking the right mouse for gaming - suggestions?

« on: June 30, 2008, 09:07 AM »

Logitech MX1000 wireless laser moose here.

Absolutely no complaints, ever, in the past three years.

100

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Mini-Review-John's Background Switcher

« on: June 25, 2008, 12:49 PM »

Well, I found it through gHacks, so conga ratz to y0himba.

I really like this proggie and have been looking for it's features for close to 10 years now.

The only option I havce not been able to get working is that where the pic info is supposed to be posted in the upper right hand corner.  Not terribly essential, and perhaps the two monitor setup is part of the problem.

Has anyone figured this one out or had similar difficulty?

Cheers!