Messages

126

Living Room / Re: these new cheap core 2 due laptops - any good?

« on: November 04, 2007, 11:12 PM »

I bought a gateway 15" model with AMD turion 64 + VISTA (crrrap!!!)

I recently called Gateway and asked about UPgrading to XP Pro, and how much would they charge me, guess what Kevin (my rep) told me?
he says, " ... well sir, technically, since XP was released before Vista, it is considered a downgrade ... ".
i promptly corrected him, cutting him off, reaffirming the fact that XP is indeed AN UPGRADE.
seems he didnt understand me. Anyhoo, he states that Gateway can not recommend the installation of XP on this particular laptop, cause the hardware was/is specifically designed to work with Vista?!
i call BS?!

well, i paid $750 -$50 instant rebate plus another mail-in rebate of $150, so, $500 for my first laptop? not bad, this was an Office Depot deal. although for my next one will DEFINITELY be a dell. hopefully they still offer a choice of Ubuntu or XP nex year!

127

Living Room / Re: OK - lets get to know each other... who are you, what do you do, where from?

« on: November 04, 2007, 08:41 PM »

My name is Jaime (not jay-mee ... its spanish, pronounced hi-me) ...
anyhoo. Lived in El Paso TX for most of my life. Met the love of my life through my own website years ago. im a struggling freelance webdeveloper living and coping with ADD & hypomania/bipolar syndome.

its very frequent for me to shoot through many tangents during any one post, haha.

we now live in Fort Worth TX. we are the proud parents of Isabella Hazel, our new three month old daughter.
Ive worked for Costco Wholesale for four years now.

128

Living Room / Re: PocketPC or Palm?

« on: October 18, 2007, 12:26 PM »

jammo, have you ever used a pocketpc? I am trying to find someone who has used both and can make a recommendation based on such.

-Josh (October 18, 2007, 09:29 AM)

Yes, I've owned a few.
I started with the Sony Clie TJ-25, then when I cracked the screen at work I replaced it with a cheaper mode, Palm Z22.
I don't remember why I hated it so much. The Clie had an incredibly cool UI.
I then bought a Dell Axim X5, I gave it to my brother.
It was pretty speedy for its time, 400MHz processor. The Axim X51 was faster, 624MHz. I wish I had that one.

But I'm a tech-geeky-guy. I just finished converting Transformers to 320x240 resolution to watch at work on my Dash. LOL.

129

Living Room / Re: PocketPC or Palm?

« on: October 18, 2007, 09:05 AM »

Fun fact: If you see a phone sold by your carrier that you want, but don't need a new/different plan than what you already have, you can often go on eBay and buy an "unlocked" version of that phone.  Brand new, factory warranty, often for cheaper than the carrier's price.  Swap your SIM chip into the new phone and ta-da, you're done.  As far as EvilExpensiveWireless Co. is concerned you're still using the old phone.

-Ralf Maximus (October 13, 2007, 07:54 PM)

This ONLY works with GSM phones and their carriers. Cingular/AT&T and T-Mobile are both on GSM networks.
So when I switched from Cingular to T-Mobile, I switched to their service in a shop, bought my new T-Mobile Dash online, and while waiting for shipping of my new phone, I unlocked my old Audiovox SMT5600 (Cingular branded) smartphone to work on T-Mobile. And used my old phone on my new network. I thought it was slick as hell, so I also unlocked my Dash.

BACK ON TOPIC
I'd highly recommend a Palm device. As much as I love my smartphones, you may rather have a dedicated device JUST for this. Keep your old phone, upgrade when comfortable. Not ALL geeks have uber-cool phones!!

130

Developer's Corner / Re: Code Snippet Storage/Library/Catalog/Organizer/GinzuSwissArmyKnife

« on: October 17, 2007, 01:59 PM »

I never did find exactly what I wanted, but Developer's Tips & Tricks is about as close as I have come.

-app103 (October 10, 2007, 12:52 AM)

It looks like this would be the app for me as well. Just downloaded. Going to play with it this week.
Let's see how it goes?!

131

General Software Discussion / Re: Penumbra: 2006 Tech Demo

« on: October 01, 2007, 09:15 AM »

I've played this.
I rarely play games, but after I bought a decent laptop, I ventured into a few game downloads.
Penumbra is truly amazing, given it is free.

132

General Review Discussion / Re: Customised Reviews???

« on: October 01, 2007, 09:07 AM »

As long as you skip the ajaxy goodness of 5-Star mouse hovers, it would be superb 

133

Living Room / Re: All your info in one place

« on: October 01, 2007, 09:04 AM »

Since there are many web-based solutions (Google Docs, TiddlyWikis, and Del.icio.us), I wonder how many of them have spawned open-source solutions, that you can install on your own server?!

I once found a Del.icio.us clone! Totally forget what's it called though.

I use TiddlyWikis for a large number of things, searching is almost instant.
I used it to store my software licenses, installs & uninstalls on a new PC, track my work schedule, mileage log. I once had as many as 4 Tiddlys on mu USB stick, but, as is an inherent problem with this solution, they get slow with TOO much data.

134

General Software Discussion / Re: Is this a way to tame the CSS beast a bit?

« on: September 06, 2007, 02:38 AM »

Exceptional!
I've used TopStyle Lite for a long time now.
Always wanting something new!

Actually, just yesterday I tried AStyle (http://www.athlab.com/Astyle/), but haven't like the UI that much. It's not very intuitive?!

135

Developer's Corner / Re: What about web-based (php, ruby, python, etc) DC coders doing some web snack

« on: August 31, 2007, 10:48 AM »

yes yes, I second the opinion.

'Do you concur Doctor?'
"Yes, I concur!"

136

General Software Discussion / best text editor WITH ftpability???

« on: August 25, 2007, 05:19 PM »

This may seem JUST like all the other 'best text editor' threads floating around, but this is *ahem* different.

I just bought a new laptop with *cue-drum-rolls* Vista Premium, I still use my desktop XP Pro for daily work. After disabling UAC and tweaking a few other things, I'm ready to get downloading all my new/old software.

I've previously used Editplus, then Notepad++, then PSPad.
#1 choice: PSPad, I love the extensibility and plugins - most importantly the FTPability!
#2 choice: Editplus, I loved the FTPability!
#3 choice: Notepad++, I sorely miss the FTPability, but totally fell in love with its code-folding!
#4 choice: after reading many great reviews, I bought e-texteditor, LOVVVE the code folding, love the Textmate bundles, but it's getting slower to load ANND has no FTPability. However, a $30+ well spent!

IS there such an editor for Windows Vista that has FTPability and code-folding?! + ofcourse all the other text editor features, syntax highlighting, regex search, tabs, etc.

137

Living Room / Re: Build a $250 PC That Doesn’t Suck

« on: August 22, 2007, 12:52 AM »

So, after a month of contemplating and sourcing the right parts ... I broke down and bought a Gateway laptop, model MT3421.
bahahahaa ...

Thanks to everyone for their interests, remarks and help with my computer build.
Overall, I determined that mobility was/is a little more important to me than a powerful desktop. Now I just need to buy me a new copy of XP Pro, since Vista is such a horror to deal with on a daily basis. But that's for another thread, another time.

138

Developer's Corner / Re: Blueprint: A CSS framework to help you make grids and stuff

« on: August 19, 2007, 02:53 PM »

The *problem* I see with the YahooUI system is that there are too many options, too many selections.
I've been using Blueprint for 2 weeks now, and it has significantly aided me in my site restructuring.

I went with YUI about a month ago, and I was just overwhelmed.

139

General Software Discussion / Re: a honest review from someone who went full-time mac and came back to windows

« on: August 09, 2007, 04:00 PM »

... I love fiddling with/tweaking/customizing linux--but in the long run, -that- love leads to decreased producivity for me ... Windows is my primary OS--if for no other reasons than familiarity and native support of all of my favorite applications ...

-allen (July 23, 2007, 11:03 AM)

Superbly spoken.
That applies to me 100%.

Which is why I HAD to switch back from Ubuntu to XP Pro.
"familiarity and native support of all of my favorite applications" = ActiveSync & Outlook compatibility with my new Smartphone.
Plus the tinkering was getting outta hand, haha, I would spend more time messing around than actually GETTING something done.

140

Living Room / Re: Build a $250 PC That Doesn’t Suck

« on: August 07, 2007, 08:52 PM »

I've just selected everything i want to buy, and clicked on ADD TO CART, on all items.
I've never done anything like this before, this is VERY exciting!



I've changed a few items to keep costs low. All selections were based on the ratings on NewEgg. Nearly everthing has a high satisfactory level with others.
Here are the ones I've changed:
LG 18X DVD±R DVD Burner with 12X DVD-RAM Write Black E-IDE/ATAPI Model ... - OEM   http://www.newegg.co...Item=N82E16827136119      $27.99

At the comment by Carol Haynes, I've chosen a bit cheaper video card. I read about PixelPipelines, and chose this one cause I don't think I need anything higher, as I'm not a gamer:
 GIGABYTE GV-NX73T256P-RH GeForce 7300GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail   http://www.newegg.co...Item=N82E16814125036      $69.99

Also changed the PSU, going from the above 430W to a 500W unit:
 Thermaltake W0093RU ATX 12V 2.0 Version 500W Power Supply 115/230 V UL, CUL, TUV, FCC, and CB - Retail   http://www.newegg.co...Item=N82E16817153028      $79.99

And lastly, the RAM. I felt that yeah, $150 is kinda pricey. But I read so much good about Crucial memory, I wanted to stick with them. So:
 Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail   http://www.newegg.co...Item=N82E16820146565   $30.00   $109.99

So after switching a few things around, I managed to go WWAAYY over-budget, hahaha, but, I feel I really needed to. After the shipping fees I'm at $781.81 minus the $50 in rebates (Case -$10, RAM -$30, and bundle deal on CPU+MoBo another $10 off) = $731.81.


Does anyone know how long I can keep my items in the shopping cart?
I'm getting paid next week by a client for whom I did some web development work for, so am waiting for that.

141

Living Room / Re: Build a $250 PC That Doesn’t Suck

« on: August 07, 2007, 05:31 AM »

oops, I can't forget this:

CABLES UNLIMITED ACC-1400 Anti Static Wrist Strap With Grounding Wire - Retail
http://www.newegg.co...Item=N82E16899339002
$5.99

 

142

Living Room / Re: Build a $250 PC That Doesn’t Suck

« on: August 07, 2007, 05:25 AM »

Okay folks.
After much more deliberation, and a little more saving, I'm in the clear to add about $200-$300 MORE to my estimated $250+/- BudgetPC, bringing me into the $450-$550 range.

If it isn't a daft question why are you choosing a 939 board now? Even if you want to build a budget machine why not look at an AM2 based board - then you can use DDR2 memory and have a much better choice of CPUs.

-Carol Haynes (July 31, 2007, 03:59 AM)

@ Carol Haynes:
I don't know the difference between 939 and AM2, but with the increase in my budget, 'a much better choice of CPUs' is much more probable now. Perhaps something in the dual-core variety?

So, here are my NEW specs for the following COMPLETE system (PC Case, Hard Drive, CD/DVD R/W ROM Drive, Processor, Processor Cooling Fan, Motherboard, Memory Modules, Power Supply, Video Card, Keyboard & Mouse):



COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.co...Item=N82E16811119068
$49.99 -
$10.00 (mail-in rebate)

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.co...Item=N82E16822136074
$74.99

LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-05 - OEM
http://www.newegg.co...Item=N82E16822136074
$36.99

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+(65W) Windsor 2.0GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.co...Item=N82E16819103733
$65.50

COOLER MASTER GeminII RR-CCH-ANU2-GP CPU+ Board Cooler - Retail
http://www.newegg.co...Item=N82E16835103026
$35.99 -
$15.00 (mail-in rebate)

BIOSTAR TForce TF7025-M2 Socket AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 7025 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.co...Item=N82E16813138074
$69.99

2GB kit (1GBx2), 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-6400 memory module
http://www.crucial.c...ULE=CT2KIT12864AA80E
$149.99

Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC ATX 430W Power Supply 115/230 V - Retail
http://www.newegg.co...Item=N82E16817153023
$39.99 -
$10.00 (mail-in rebate)

EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.co...Item=N82E16814130062
$89.99

ViewSonic Optiquest Series Q7B-3 Black 17" 8ms LCD Monitor 280 cd/m2 600:1 Built in Speakers - Retail
http://www.newegg.co...Item=N82E16824116010
$159.99

49.99 + 74.99 + 36.99 + 65.50 + 35.99 + 69.99 + 149.99 + 39.99 + 89.99 + 159.99 = 773.41 - rebates = $738.41 + S/H

I've just registered at NewEgg, and plan on purchasing my new hardware by (hopefully) August 20.

143

Living Room / Re: Build a $250 PC That Doesn’t Suck

« on: July 31, 2007, 12:44 AM »

One thought - you might want to get a more powerful PSU - 300W is a bit borderline ... I would have thought over 400W (probably 450W) would be a useful minimum to aim at.

-Carol Haynes (July 30, 2007, 06:45 PM)

Thank you!

I'll modify my list to include a 400+ unit

144

Living Room / Re: Build a $250 PC That Doesn’t Suck

« on: July 30, 2007, 03:34 PM »

Not yet.
Although some more painful contractions were had today.

145

Living Room / Re: Build a $250 PC That Doesn’t Suck

« on: July 29, 2007, 11:16 PM »

Hope yours goes a bit more smoothly

-steeladept (July 29, 2007, 08:51 PM)

Thank you kindly! 
My wife was born 2 months premature. She required some surgery to repair digestive track. She has this amazing scar on her belly. Even though we are currently at week 38, her stretched belly STILL has the deep scar tissue.

I work at Costco, and have decided to get one of our Viewsonic monitors. Last week we had a $20" drop $20 we also have a good keyboard/mouse combo by M$.

146

Living Room / Re: Build a $250 PC That Doesn’t Suck

« on: July 29, 2007, 01:57 AM »

... you should consider the memory.  Upgrading from 2 2x512 to 1 2x1GB modules would allow for future expansion without wasting the memory later.  My experience with VMWare and Ubuntu (I do that too already  ) is that 2GB memory is the MINIMUM you want so that you can give XP 1.5GB and Ubuntu 512MB memory.  I also found out they both work much better with XP@2GB and Ubuntu@1GB.  Of course that could just be my setup, but going with the 2x1GB would allow for the 2x512 addition (or even another 2x1GB) later without wasting anything.

-steeladept (July 28, 2007, 06:11 PM)

Thank you immensely for the tips on the memory.
This should be sometime in the next week.

If it ends up happening later, that's fine too. Expecting baby to be born any day now, so ... that's put a hold on some projects.

Thank to everyone for their advice.

147

Living Room / Build a $250 PC That Doesn’t Suck

« on: July 28, 2007, 04:18 PM »

I've never built my own PC, though looked forward to it for many yyeeaarrss.
I came across this article the other day on ComputerShopper.com

Their total bill came to $242.46 (after a $20 bundle discount and a $15 mail-in rebate).


So can I just share below what I am considering? I want to make absolute certain everything is compatible
This is just a budget PC, no gaming, mostly internet surfing, web development, scripting, minimal stuff. Preferred 2GB RAM so I can safely run VMWARE+Ubuntu

I'll use the same processor as the article, but a different motherboard, so I can get some bundle pricing.
(all TinyUrl links are to NewEgg.com)

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3400+ 2.2GHz (http://tinyurl.com/26gkx6 ) = $35.99
Mobo: BIOSTAR GEFORCE 6100-M9 Socket 939 (http://tinyurl.com/3yg284) = $59.99
($20 discount for bundle @ $75.98)
<< max RAM = 4GB >>

RAMx2: Crucial Ballistix 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM (http://tinyurl.com/3bhwng) = $72.49
(after $40 mail-in rebate = $32.49 x 2 = $64.98)

Hard drive: Western Digital 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 160GB (http://tinyurl.com/2tokk5) = $48.99

Question about CD/DVD reader/writer: can I just use my old ones?
Lookig at device manager and front of tower it says:
DVDRW/R IDE 16x / CD-ReWritable
GoldStar CD-ROM CRD-8482B

CPU cooler: COOLER MASTER DK8-8ID2A-0L-GP 80mm Rifle CPU Cooler (http://tinyurl.com/yu5cz4) = $4.99
case: Foxconn Black/ Silver Steel MicroATX Mini Tower 300W PSU (http://tinyurl.com/25d3c3) = $39.50

Looks like my total, if i can use my old CDROM and DVD burner, plus with the $20 CPU+MOBO bundle and $40 RAM mail-in rebate = $234.41
<< i know the rebates and bundle pricing end soon, but I'm just getting an estimate for a budget PC. >>

If I can't use my old devices, then I can do with 1GB RAM for $32.49 and get an affordable device, but I need DVDRW for data backups (I'm pretty OCD about backing stuff up, haha. no movies, no music).

148

General Software Discussion / Vista security toolkit?!

« on: May 22, 2007, 07:51 PM »

Hi all.
I haven't posted here in a very very very long long long time.

Mostly because I've switched to Ubuntu and stopped using Windows (XP Pro/Ubuntu 7.1 dual boot = wife preferred OS and my linux).

It seems that I'm still the go-to-guy at my work cause I've repaired a few computers for co-workers and friends. Nothing big, just viruses, malware, password/data recovery, etc.
My favorite toolkit for XP has always been Hiren's boot CD (currently have v.8.9).

My question, since I've been using Ubuntu for about 6 months now, I've been out of touch with the Windows world.
I've got a date tomorrow to help a friend with a Vista laptop.

What apps should I use?
Rather than source the web for current versions of all my top apps, I'm hoping for a list of what I'd most likely need, equivalents to AVG or Clamwin, Tune-Up Utilities, Spybot S&D, etc.

149

Developer's Corner / Re: Content management solution for a small software site?

« on: February 24, 2007, 10:49 PM »

My apologies to everyone for being crass the rude in regards to EE.
I hope no one was offended or put off by me. It is true that once a 'developer' finds his/her favorite application, toolset, method, etc. they stick by it.
Some might criticize someone for using Fireworks and not Photoshop for web graphics, or for using the default MS Notepad and not Dreamweaver or EditPlus or some other editor for web development.

Everyone is entitle to make their own choices. Modern technologies have granted us the free ability to source the best tools for our trade: Google, Usenet, community forums, P2P, IRC, etc.
So to the originating author of this thread (tranglos), hey buddy, I say just try some of the available choices on http://www.opensourcecms.com/
Or try installing XAMPP (http://www.apachefri...ds.org/en/xampp.html XAMPP is an easy to install Apache Distribution for Linux and Windows. The package includes the Apache web server, MySQL, SQLite, PHP, Perl, a FTP-Server ...) and do some off-line home testing.
I wish you well, and keep your questions coming.



As for me ... one of my favorite ways of 'starting' a site, is to generate everything in regular XHTML + PHP + jQuery + CSS documents, following through with timely updates, etc etc. hand generating everything & when I understand where precisely the site is headed (usually a few months), then I determine which Blog system or CMS to use that I determine is the best fitting system.

CMS Made Simple http://www.cmsmadesimple.org/ and Website Baker http://start.website...en/introduction.html are my first choices simply cause they are SO easy to set up and use, PLUS so easy to train others to update their own content.
WordPress http://wordpress.org/ is my top choice for blogs cause there are SOO many template choices, and your blog can be made to do ALMOST anything with the countless plugins available.
ExpressionEngine http://www.pmachine.com/ee/ is my choice for my own personal projects and sites. I wouldn't choose EE for a client unless it couldn't be done by one of the models above.

150

Developer's Corner / Re: Content management solution for a small software site?

« on: February 23, 2007, 01:17 PM »

EE seems to be another blog/community thing - like anything that gets called a CMS today. It resembles TextPattern somewhat.

-tranglos (February 23, 2007, 12:54 PM)

EE 'seems' the be the opposite of what you 'think' it is amigo.
it allows total freedom to build any type of site you so wish.

example (these are some sites i have bookmarked for inspiration when i get stuck with the idea of 'what do i do next?' with my own EE sites):
http://www.solspace.com/ <~~NOT a blog. used as a content management system.
http://www.31three.com/ <~~NOT a blog. another amazing developer who uses EE exclusively for his clients.
http://www.chrisruzin.net/ <~~IS a blog.
http://www.storiesaboutgod.org/ <~~IS a blog, but more of a community driven site of short stories.
http://inthesetimes.com/ <~~definitely in the category of content management.
http://www.glcc.on.ca/ <~~ school website, content management.


as you can see, the user/developer/owner/admin of the site can make it be whatever it wants it to be. be it a blog, user community, or other.