Messages

326

Living Room / Re: New square monitor (27" 1920x1920)

« on: November 22, 2014, 11:40 PM »

Cool. 
Mine is sort of square; it's a super-old Compaq P900 CRT.

327

General Software Discussion / Re: Best Anti-spyware.

« on: November 22, 2014, 04:02 PM »

Detekt
Comments, anyone?

328

Living Room / Re: Where do you buy your printer ink?

« on: November 22, 2014, 03:46 PM »

But I don't remember how laser printers work..

-MilesAhead (November 18, 2014, 01:49 PM)

(condensed version)Laser draws image on drum, drum picks up toner where laser has altered the drum's charge, drum transfers image to paper, fuser (or fixing unit as they are sometimes called) melts toner into paper.

Side note: In certain really cold environments a laser printer will emit a visible amount of steam when the paper comes out if the humidity is high enough for the paper to be just a tiny bit moist ... Oh the fun we had on that service call..

-Stoic Joker (November 21, 2014, 06:51 AM)

I always thought the laser beamed directly onto the paper and the ink was magically transferred to the paper somehow. 

329

General Software Discussion / Re: Outline 4D >>50% off sale<< (only $50)

« on: November 21, 2014, 10:05 PM »

Tnx for the head's-up about Outline 4D. 
This and the other software mentioned all seem xlnt.
Any software, if it improves your style, is worth getting no matter how old, so long as it is compatible with your OS.
I would only add that the best method of final review I've found, is to play it all back on headphones or speakers with text-to-speech.
AFAIC, the ear just has a way of picking out typos and mistakes that the eye might miss, and it's also an xlnt way to smooth out rough passages b/c if it sounds smooth it'll read smooth.

330

General Software Discussion / Re: CCleaner 5.0 Beta?

« on: November 21, 2014, 08:04 PM »

I've been using CCleaner v.3.03.1366 for at least a couple of years now, b/c the next version had something I didn't like, but don't remember what now.
I always run the backup-saves of fixes, but have never had a problem.

331

Living Room / Re: Where do you buy your printer ink?

« on: November 20, 2014, 06:30 PM »

I read somewhere lasers can change the color of metal by the wavelength of the cut-scan.
Not sure what could be done with paper, but perhaps a partial effect like 'smokey color' could be produced (just wild conjecture).

332

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« on: November 20, 2014, 01:54 PM »

Just a random comment:

What if there was a super-proofed show, your choice of genre, with virtually no horrible bloopers? It's okay if episodes took longer than a week. (Think movies - TV shows produce 13-25 hours, movies are only two?!)

Instead of wasting the $40 million on CGI, use it to pull/poll a ton of pundits, experts, and flaw-finders to make sure everything is darn near perfect. (Prob can't use Homeland Security because they purposefully corrupt the TV shows to make sure their real tech isn't precisely shown!!)

I'd even go for the British model of "6 episodes per season", but with American budgets, just to have a show smash the bounds of getting the little details right!


You could prob do five of these, each in its own genre.

-TaoPhoenix (November 20, 2014, 10:19 AM)

^Asian dramas with English subtitles.

333

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« on: November 19, 2014, 11:16 PM »

I wondered what that thing was called...

334

General Software Discussion / Re: 32bit vs 64bit question

« on: November 19, 2014, 10:20 PM »

It's just that I'm running an aging machine in an endless game of catch-up on ever newer more complex stuff.
Especially after adding MalWareBytes, everything slowed down (but I wouldn't be without it now, after I saw it in action blocking a few nasty little PUPs).
Aside from getting a whole new machine, the best I've come up with is getting a faster HD.
But I've seen reports that SSDs have a fatal flaw that their memory slowly starts to decay somehow, with individual sectors either failing or working more slowly over time.
So I chose a 10K rpm Western Digital last time I got an HD, rather than an SSD.
But one is never sure what to decide, except when you have enough cash; then you can just ignorantly throw money at the problem until something works.

335

Living Room / Re: Tech/Science News + Some Other Things (From Around The Web)

« on: November 18, 2014, 10:53 PM »

^nice

336

Living Room / Re: Where do you buy your printer ink?

« on: November 18, 2014, 01:32 AM »

Altho this is purely wishful thinking, I'm surprised at how inexpensive some laser engraving machines are becoming, as here.
Interestingly, while ink printers continue to waste consumers' money on exorbitantly over-priced little ink pots, blowing ink to 'clean heads', and auto-croaking in planned stealth obsolescence, the inkless laser engraving machines are steadily dropping in price.
In between the two domains, 'concept printers' are 'tanning' paper ink-free but never offered in the 'real world' for public sale.
We are so close to having an off-the-shelf laser engraving machine that can self-feed (or -what the heck- manual feed) notebook-size typing paper, and pseudo-'engrave' with a laser at an ultra-low power setting (thereby also possibly extending the lifespan of the laser tube) and produce black & white text or image 'print-outs'.

337

Living Room / Re: Stephen Fry's eloquent response to Grammar Nazis

« on: November 16, 2014, 10:46 PM »

Sometimes the entire subject leaves me feeling like Nova trying to spit out one intelligible word:
'Beneath the Planet of the Apes' - Nova speaks.

338

Living Room / Re: Where do you buy your printer ink?

« on: November 16, 2014, 06:21 PM »

Before our 4-in-1 printer-scanner died, I found an excellent source at CastleInk.
I speak absolutely from personal experience they have great prices and wide selection.

-bit (November 15, 2014, 08:45 PM)

I am a bit confused as to what they are selling here. This is rather pricy, but it's not clear if they are an unmentioned brand compatible with Canon printers, or the Canon branded ones. Reading the description does not really answer that. And I am unsure what info is in their chart. Does "Brand" refer to the cartridge brand? Or the printer brand it's made for? And the image is too small to be able to read anything on it to be able to tell that way, either.

For that price, I would expect the real thing, but who knows?

-app103 (November 15, 2014, 09:56 PM)

^I stand corrected.
I'm done with the printer game; I've seen the scandals of printers programmed to waste ink and quit working after they're out of warranty.
They also print an invisible set of microdots that ID your printer serial number on every page; my typewriter never pulled that sneaky trick.

About that 'concept printer' that 'tans' the paper with a laser, it occurred to me a wood-burning plaque-making machine could be reset to 'tan' one page at a time at lowest 'burn setting', but it would only give one page every few minutes, on an expensive machine.
But look at all the ink you would save.

In fact, I'm so put-off by the printer scandal of overpriced ink wells combined with printers deliberately programmed to waste the ink 'cleaning' the jets, or set to quit working after x-months, and allowed to lapse into 'new Windows version' incompatibility limbo, that I would happily switch all my photo printouts to b&w on a wooden plaque-burning machine with its laser power set to 'paper tan' if only I could get my hands on one for an affordable price.

Imagine what could happen if an artistically-minded friend found out you had just acquired such a machine, and discovered to their delight that they could now write (i.e. 'laser burn') on any number of formerly impossible mediums.

For my limited needs, a manual Royal typewriter would suit me, but I usually just do handwritten, and have a great liking for gel ink pens.

FWIW, this thread also prompted me to wonder what would happen if I cut out a flat white paper donut and stuck it in my CD-image burner.
Maybe if I could find some plain white newsprint paper, that stuff fades to off-sepia in a day or two in the sun and might work in the CD-burner.

339

Living Room / Re: Where do you buy your printer ink?

« on: November 15, 2014, 08:45 PM »

That said, I am curious where you guys buy your printer ink.
What I need is for you to speak from experience, offering only those sellers that you have purchased from, that in your opinion gave you a great deal on a great product, that was as described.
So, can you steer me in the right direction?

-app103 (November 14, 2014, 06:31 PM)

Before our 4-in-1 printer-scanner died, I found an excellent source at CastleInk.
I speak absolutely from personal experience they have great prices and wide selection.

BTW, I recently saw a promo for a 'conceptual printer' that ran on solar power and 'printed' by 'tanning' (i.e. 'moderately burning') the paper with a laser; turned out the promo was at least 1 or 2 years old and apparently going nowhere.
I wouldn't care if it ran off a wall outlet instead of solar, but I would be interested if somebody would show me where to buy something like that for a reasonable price.

340

Living Room / Re: What books are you reading?

« on: November 11, 2014, 07:25 PM »

Countdown to Zero Day
The Inside Story of How Stuxnet Was Discovered.
I haven't read it yet, as it just came out today and I'm going to wait for the price to drop a little more, but seems like a fascinating read, and the Amazon link where it's #1 in two categories and #2 in another, includes a recommendation by Kevin Mitnik.

Update: excerpt 'adapted from the ^book'; please go here:
quote: "Son of Stuxnet - The Digital Hunt for Duqu"; "This wasn’t a simple hack anymore; it looked like it might be a nation-state attack with national-security implications."

341

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox begins its mass rollout of ads on new tab tiles

« on: November 11, 2014, 07:08 PM »

Oh, okay, I didn't quite pick up on what you meant when you wrote 'ad tiles'.
Yes, if you like using tiles that would be annoying.
I don't recall where the tiles option is, but I seem to recall switching it off and don't see it in my FF.

I suppose this may be what FF was thinking of when they created this new 'feature':

342

General Software Discussion / 32bit vs 64bit question

« on: November 11, 2014, 05:54 PM »

This may be kind of a 'duh' question, but here goes;
If 32bit implies 32bits of data to do anything, and 64bit implies double that, then does that mean that a 64bit system will process exactly 2x as much data?
Wouldn't that make the computer run half as fast?

343

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox begins its mass rollout of ads on new tab tiles

« on: November 11, 2014, 12:51 AM »

I haven't noticed anything on my Firefox like this yet.
But I've got some old VCR tapes of movies, complete with tv used car commercials and other sales pitches, and you know what?
I used to hate those old tv ads, or not care for them so much, and now, the nostalgic value is incredible.
I mean, when I see the old movie, and then those old commercials pop up, it's like being in the past, before all the modern things that went bad and made the world go crazy (crazier than it already was) happened, and I wouldn't trade those old shows for nothing because of those commercials.

But as for your Firefox, nope, haven't noticed anything like you pointed out yet.

PS - I use AdBlock Plus and Ad Muncher.

344

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« on: November 11, 2014, 12:43 AM »

Once I thought I was wrong, but my computer was mistaken.

345

Living Room / Re: My cat needs your thoughts | RIP Saffron my dearest cat

« on: October 26, 2014, 04:04 PM »

Whether for a cat, dog, hamster, or human, and whether you plant it over a grave or just anywhere as a 'tribute', one thing you can do is plant an Easter Lily or white tulip.
Then, for most of the year, the spot remains barren or grassy, with no sign of what you have done.
But once a year in early Spring, green leaves will magically pop up where before there was no trace of a plant, and then a stem, and finally, a white flower.
Then within about a month, it will wither and die back, and disappear again and totally vanish as if it never was, until next year.

346

Living Room / Re: My cat needs your thoughts | RIP Saffron my dearest cat

« on: October 26, 2014, 03:16 PM »

So sorry to hear of your loss.
I've had cats all my life, and miss every one of them.
This site is pretty cool:
Pet Loss>Rainbow Bridge

Quote: Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

347

General Software Discussion / Re: Massive malvertising campaign on Yahoo, AOL and other sites delivers ransomware

« on: October 25, 2014, 02:45 PM »

Like the USB controller chips that are in every USB device: This thumbdrive hacks computers. “BadUSB” exploit makes devices turn “evil”

Two separate Security Research groups have confirmed the viability of this attack. One of them released the source code for it during the last Black Hat conference to the public at large (it's available on GitHub). It's an equal opportunity infector that can bidirectionally hop from computer to any USB device (or device to computer) and is currently completely undetectable because - infecting the low level hardware controller chip - the OS never sees it.

-Stoic Joker (October 25, 2014, 01:20 PM)

Awesome.
I'm a home user, no one else ever uses my machine, and I don't use a microphone.
I see Halloween is coming up; if anyone is planning on scaring the kiddies with spook stories, save your breath and just read this thread to the grownups instead.
What I just read in your link royally scared the crap out of me.

348

General Software Discussion / Re: Massive malvertising campaign on Yahoo, AOL and other sites delivers ransomware

« on: October 24, 2014, 11:13 PM »

^this -to me- is what donationcoder is all about; this is where 'the rubber meets the road';
I give a thoroughly thought-out, beautiful response of my tried-and-proven methodological approach to virus control, and Stoic Joker gives a straight-to-the-point no-frills wake-up call with one word: fail...
I like that.
Of course, my next question is, what's the best approach if you think you've already been infected (besides calling a shop)?
"Don't reboot." Okay, but what next?

349

General Software Discussion / Re: Massive malvertising campaign on Yahoo, AOL and other sites delivers ransomware

« on: October 24, 2014, 10:15 PM »

What I would do if hit with something like this, is;
-Shut down.
...

-bit (October 24, 2014, 09:06 AM)

Fail ... That is what they want you to do. Any rootkit's ability to burrow in and completely take over a machine is contingent on panicking the user into performing that ever critical first reboot. After which, with system level permissions it can do massive damage to mapped drives.

Now disconnecting any external backup drives you have would be a good idea in the hopeful assumption that the attack focused first on drive C: ... But nothing is guaranteed with these people.

-crabby3 (October 24, 2014, 09:27 AM)

I think I see what you mean; a rootkit can get into the mobo.
Actually, before shutdown, I ran Malwarebytes.

But one time, when I ran Malwarebytes before shutdown, then Malwarebytes itself wanted to reboot, and on reboot my vid card died.
But then I installed a friend's old vid card (that was actually newer than mine), and all problems disappeared.
I never could figure out if there was a virus-rootkit or not, or if the vid card just happened to pick a very odd moment to die.

So, do you think Norton 360 or Malwarebytes would stop the ransomware, or do I also need something like Hitman Pro?
Do do also run CryptoPrevent (paid version).
I don't have Hitman right now, b/c of cost, and it wants to run a scan on every boot-up.

350

General Software Discussion / Re: need duplicate word scanner

« on: October 24, 2014, 02:09 PM »

I'll go back to my fav review method; text-to-speech playback.
Works like a dream.