Messages

9201

General Software Discussion / Re: an entire drive suddenly missing!

« on: May 06, 2010, 11:24 AM »

--- you can set up a RAID 1 array for not much expense.

-wraith808 (May 06, 2010, 10:14 AM)

-sounds interesting. However, I don't *need* a server (but may of course buy one all the same! haha), so if I am to think of it as solely a backup unit, I would say it is too fragile for the purpose. I might be paranoid, but I found this mini review of D-Link DNS-323:

This drive is labeled as a backup drive or basically as a simple file server. All in all, it works well, until the unit fails. I used this as a file server running RAID 1 so that I had two copies of all of my files in case a drive failed. Only when the box failed and D-Link sent me a warranty replacement, did I learn there was no way to set up the new box without reformatting the drive and wiping out all of the data. After hours (and a lot of intense discussion with people on the other side of the Earth), we found a way to access the Linux file formatted drive on a Windows box and copy the files. If I had run this box in RAID 0 (which you would only do as a file server, not a backup drive), all of my data would have been lost. Be very careful when using this drive. Your data is not as safe as D-Link would like you to think.

-Reviewer PC-PRO on Mar 11, 2010

-Curt (May 06, 2010, 10:58 AM)

Hmmm... that shouldn't be the case, and in fact the Firmware supports adding a new drive (if not hot-swapping).  Here's an in-depth review here:
http://www.smallnetb...t/view/30521/75/1/2/

It might be the firmware, but I couldn't say since he doesn't say what firmware he's using.  The older firmware and builds were a problem (something in the kernel level drivers or some such), but this unit has been on the market for a while and I thought all the kinks were finally worked out...

Here's the relevant page from the DLink support:
http://www.support.d...1/103/help_tools.htm

I've been looking at getting one myself (my wife homeschools the kids and is going to a computer based system so she wants her data secure, and has just started college so we want her work secure), and this seemed like the best 'budget' NAS.  As I side note, this is also the reason I'm looking at cloud services so intently.

And as another aside, his bit about his data being gone if he'd had it formatted as RAID 0- that's one of the downsides of RAID 0 no matter what.  If one drive is gone, your data is going to be toast.

9202

General Software Discussion / Re: an entire drive suddenly missing!

« on: May 06, 2010, 10:14 AM »

a backup of the backup drive

or simply two rotated backup drives, so even if the one with the most recent backup tanks, you still have the previous one

-AndyM (May 06, 2010, 09:39 AM)

Or you could mirror the backup as an alternative.  RAID enclosures are surprisingly cheap these days, so you can set up a RAID 1 array for not much expense.

http://www.dlink.com...roducts/?pid=DNS-321 (product description)

http://www.amazon.co...5&sr=8-1-catcorr

http://www.tigerdire...52307&CatId=2670 (Cheaper after rebate)

9203

Living Room / Re: Bought (or thinking of buying) an Apple iPad? You may have been duped!

« on: May 06, 2010, 10:11 AM »

OTOH, I'm sort of stupefied with HP buying Palm.  Palm was good in the day. But I don't think it's so good now...

-wraith808 (May 06, 2010, 09:04 AM)

But Palm has an OS suited for appliances which might just be a better fit for a tablet aimed at competing with the iPad than anything MS has. I get the impression that HP would like to be able to offer a full package like Apple can rather than compete against the asian manufacturers as just another Windows OEM.

-markan (May 06, 2010, 09:39 AM)

Apple is uniquely situated to do what it is doing IMO.  It's always been an outsider company- on the 'alternate' edge.  HP on the other hand isn't and hasn't.  So it really depends on how they position Palm and how they keep up with the dedicated Palm few- when Palm got away from those is when others were able to muscle in on their market.  But with that done, is there a way back?  I'm not so sure, and if there is, I'm not sure that HP is the company that will be able to pull it off.

9204

Living Room / Re: Apple instigates Police Raid over lost/stolen iPhone 4G

« on: May 06, 2010, 10:05 AM »

The Jim & Sleazy Pete analogy shows where those matters of law and justice get confused or blended or muddled. Is it ok to break the law to catch law breakers? All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. (Rule of law for who???)

-Renegade (May 06, 2010, 09:44 AM)

Actually, I think that in the case of Jim & Sleazy Pete, if the defense was able to prove the circumvention of their client's rights, or the commission of a crime in the prosecution of the case, not only would the book be thrown out, but all evidence gathered from (or possibly gathered from) the use of the book.

The US has about 3/4 of a percent of its population in prison -- higher than any other country. Laws in the US have run amok and are destroying the country. http://en.wikipedia....in_the_United_States

In 2008, over 7.3 million people were on probation, in jail or prison, or on parole at year-end — 3.2% of all U.S. adult residents or 1 in every 31 adults.

WOW! That's simply stunning. Over 3%. There is something seriously wrong there. I have a hard time believing that Americans are really all that evil/bad. No. The problem isn't the people. It's the legislators and the judiciary.

-Renegade (May 06, 2010, 10:03 AM)

Actually, I think that America is the land of opportunity- whether your area of entrepreneurship is legitimate business or crime.  Considering the socioeconomic changes of the last 20-30 years, I'm just glad it isn't higher, though if things keep going the way they are, that percentage could well rise.  Are there people in jail that shouldn't be?  Yes.  But is it enough to make a dent in that 3%?  I don't think so.

9205

Living Room / Re: Bought (or thinking of buying) an Apple iPad? You may have been duped!

« on: May 06, 2010, 09:04 AM »

What annoys me is that its success has caused Microsoft and HP to shelve their own tablet plans. The Microsoft Courier was, in my opinion, quite a different machine from the iPad and much more in keeping with what I am looking for in the next generation of portable devices.

-Darwin (May 06, 2010, 08:58 AM)

It doesn't seem that Microsoft is shelving Courier as much as it was always a prototype is what I'm taking from the news.  OTOH, I'm sort of stupefied with HP buying Palm.  Palm was good in the day. But I don't think it's so good now...

9206

Living Room / Re: Apple instigates Police Raid over lost/stolen iPhone 4G

« on: May 06, 2010, 09:00 AM »

In the mean time, we'll all have to do our best to conserve our outrage.

-40hz (May 06, 2010, 08:44 AM)

Very good summation, and very good conclusion!

9207

Living Room / Re: Bought (or thinking of buying) an Apple iPad? You may have been duped!

« on: May 06, 2010, 08:52 AM »

I'm guessing you got a 3-cell battery and JavaJones got a 9-cell battery. I have a 6-cell battery and my netbook lasts about 5-6 hours with "normal" power settings and usage.

-Deozaan (May 06, 2010, 02:17 AM)

How heavy is it?  My battery sticks out the back already... I can't imagine how big the other batteries are.  I have a 6-cell.  It advertises 6.5 hours, but it surely doesn't seem like it.  If I keep it up using it sporadically at work, it doesn't last all day, and it seems that it should. 

This is the version that I picked up: http://www.amazon.co...ZFS0/ref=oss_product

When you start comparing the iPad with other technologies that are most like it--namely a Smartphone or a Netbook/Notebook--you really start to see how the iPad falls short.

-Deozaan (May 06, 2010, 02:17 AM)

Why?  I saw James Kendrick on jkOnTheRun talking about how he blogs with his iPad out and about... and there were tons of people saying that he should just stick with his laptop/netbook.  If he's satisfied with it, then why is it so dangerous to others?  If he finds that he doesn't need these other functions to get what he needs done, then where is the need for the other functions?  Like I said, I use my iPhone currently for *most* of my reading, so I don't see where the iPad will feel that much different.  And it will let me do a lot of other things that the nook doesn't do.  And with the digital book wars going on, I like the fact that by getting the iPad I can use (a) my eReader books, (b) my non-drm multiformat books (c) my Kindle books (d) my b&n books.  If I purchased a nook or a Kindle, I'd give up one or more of those categories.  Recently, I wanted to get the new Dresden Files book in digital format.  The only distributor that had the rights to sell it was B&N.  One of my colleagues has a Kindle, and he had to get the dead tree edition.  I don't want the book seller's war to inconvenience me.  In addition, PDFs don't look good on any of them.  I tried to turn my netbook into something to do just that- but in the end, I was trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.  If you need to do a lot of keyboard intensive things, and plan to use it as a mini-laptop, I think a netbook is better.  But for what I do, I've come to increasingly see that the iPad is a good fit.  And if that's the case, then how does it fall short?  They're all tools- use what works for you, not what anyone tells you is right for you, whether it's the company that makes the tools, or the people around you that use them, IMO.  And a lesson that I took away from it also- don't depend on the marketing or anti-marketing efforts, try the device and see if it will fit your workflow.

9208

General Software Discussion / Re: Welcome, come back in a year

« on: May 06, 2010, 08:28 AM »

Its threads like these that remind me why I love this site.

Now daSHiZZLE has an interesting view on us, I guess. 

-Tuxman (May 05, 2010, 09:33 PM)

Fo-shizzle he dizzle.

-alivingspirit (May 05, 2010, 11:09 PM)

 

Oh no you didn't! LOL

9209

Living Room / Re: Bought (or thinking of buying) an Apple iPad? You may have been duped!

« on: May 05, 2010, 10:19 PM »

Wraith, it sounds like you either have a crappy netbook, or a broken/old one.

-JavaJones (May 05, 2010, 09:21 PM)

Nope.  Bought less than a year ago on Amazon.  Top of the line 8.9 Acer Aspire One.  If I want to do any real work, I use my desktop or my laptop.  So this wasn't for real work, but something for the living room and to take around with me- web browsing, writing, e-mail, reading books and comics, taking with me to the gaming session (better than a stack of gaming books).

Might goes 9+hrs on battery, about the same as iPad as far as I know. I leave it laying around for weeks not plugged in and it still has basically a full charge.

-JavaJones (May 05, 2010, 09:21 PM)

9 hours?  What do you have the power settings on?  I go full power all the time b/c the lower power settings feel sluggish.  And from my friends that have it, the iPad is more than 9 hours of usage, but that's not empirical in any way.

The Kindle's screen is specifically designed for reading though. I don't know if the display technology in the iPad can keep up. (Things like eye-strain and readability are key there.)

-Renegade (May 05, 2010, 09:24 PM)

I read on my iPhone all the time and it's not really a problem other than screen real-estate.

9210

Living Room / Re: Bought (or thinking of buying) an Apple iPad? You may have been duped!

« on: May 05, 2010, 08:42 PM »

Actually, seeing it made me change my views on the paradigm.  Against my netbook, the iPad does well.  The trade off is in multi-tasking on the netbook vs battery life on the ipad.  I don't use my netbook all that much.  Why?  Because it's pretty much tethered to the wall.  When I'm at home, I use my desktop.  Only in a few cases do I use my netbook.  Then when I go out to work- I don't necessarily get to use it daily.  When I finally get to use it- even on standby- in most cases, the battery is dead or almost dead.

I was a nay sayer, but seeing it in person and broadening my horizons when it came to the use of the netbook made me see things in a new light.  It's not going to work for everyone, but I'm now to the point where for the purposes I bought my netbook, the iPad will work better.

9211

Living Room / Re: Apple instigates Police Raid over lost/stolen iPhone 4G

« on: May 05, 2010, 02:29 PM »

So is that what you're doing?

-wraith808 (May 05, 2010, 01:22 PM)

Ummm...I think 'Stoic' was only trying to insert a little levity into the discussion.

And I'd suspect he is also a very nice person.

 

-40hz (May 05, 2010, 01:35 PM)

I didn't mean it in a bad way... sorry if it came off that way; it was a lazy reply which apparently didn't convey what I meant very well if you thought that.    I should have waited to reply since yours summed up everything better anyway in a non-lazy way.

9212

Living Room / Re: Apple instigates Police Raid over lost/stolen iPhone 4G

« on: May 05, 2010, 01:22 PM »

Sleasy Pete is a snitch - Who has (he feels) a hankering need for that $4,000... So be bumps into Jims table (a few times), fetches the notebook from the floor (when it falls), and then beats feet down to the local PD to turn in the notebook (of Jims) what he'd "found"...

The Fuzz happily pay Sleasy Pete the $4,000 for the notebook, because it has everything they need to bring down Jim's opperation and be rid of him for good.

Now do you really think that anybody in the DA's office is gonna give a rats ass about Jims complaint that his notebook was stolen?!?

Do you really think Sleasy Pete is going to get arrested for stealing Jims Notebook?!?

Hell No - He'll be way to busy posing for photos with his shiny new Key-to-the-City...

-Stoic Joker (May 05, 2010, 12:46 PM)

So, let me summarize:

You'd equate law enforcement with technical journalism?  For all of the talk about individual rights and such, and the sensationalist approach to using such an example, that in the end is what you expect the reader to be shocked into denial over.  Sort of like the very true reason behind the fact that Universal Health Care will never be repealed- the fact that they take the edge case and use it as the total of their defense.

So is that what you're doing?

9213

General Software Discussion / More Dropbox hints - from the developers themselves

« on: May 05, 2010, 11:52 AM »

I never knew until now that Dropbox has their own wiki.  Of particular note are the Tips and Tricks with Dropbox and the Dropbox Add-ons.  Good stuff!  Some of the links are to other online resources, but a lot of it is home-grown, which is quite impressive!

9214

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Steam Sale: 50% off Guild Wars Trilogy

« on: May 05, 2010, 08:19 AM »

If you have it or get it, let me know. It would be fun to party up with some fellow DC members.

-Deozaan (April 29, 2010, 09:57 PM)

Well, I was going to let you know... it appears that they added an extra layer of security that you have to name a toon on your account when you login.  Who was the genius that came up with that idea?  It's been literally years since I've played.  And NCSoft hasn't responded yet to my pleas for assistance.

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Living Room / Re: Apple instigates Police Raid over lost/stolen iPhone 4G

« on: May 04, 2010, 04:51 PM »

I definitely agree that the police (and Apple if they were behind it) went a bit far with that.  But I see all sides of the disagreement to be at fault- not just Apple.  The only person that I see that is getting the short end of the stick truly is the engineer if what I've read is true- that Apple does have their engineers go out into the field and use the phone as their primary phone.  Because if that's the case, then this was eventually going to happen, and he just seemed to draw the short stick in this deal.

9216

General Software Discussion / Re: NewEgg

« on: May 04, 2010, 04:48 PM »

An update on my newegg situation:

After the chat with the customer service person, the money was almost immediately refunded, which was good.  But what bothers me is that it took 2 phone calls and a chat, and getting almost irate (I kept myself in line... but it was frustrating) to get this done.  Why do you have to become that customer that you don't want to become to get anything done?

9217

General Software Discussion / Re: NewEgg

« on: May 04, 2010, 03:15 PM »

I generally use BensBargains and FatWallet to score deals and go from there.  However, if I'm going after a particular item, I check buy.com, tigerdirect.com, amazon.com, and newegg.com.  I also check pricewatch.com as they have an excellent search engine- even better than newegg, and list all of the vendors, though sometimes it comes up short.

9218

Living Room / Re: Apple instigates Police Raid over lost/stolen iPhone 4G

« on: May 04, 2010, 03:12 PM »

That is incorrect, and stated quite succinctly in the post:

California law, like the law of every other state, provides that if you find lost property and know who the owner is, yet fail to make reasonable efforts to return it, you’re guilty of theft.

In this case, not only did Mr. Hogan reportedly not make reasonable efforts to return the lost property to Apple, but he allegedly engaged what is commonly called a “fence” to contact various technology blogs offering to sell the phone to the highest bidder.

It's already been established that he knew and sold the engineer's name.  Why, given that he had the engineer's name and place of employment could he not return the device directly.  Especially given that gizmodo was able to get in touch with him after the fact (using the information that had been sold to them by the finder)?

9219

Living Room / Re: Apple instigates Police Raid over lost/stolen iPhone 4G

« on: May 04, 2010, 01:48 PM »

What's not so clear about it?  The facts seemed the same as what the actual facts that have come out are... so what's the difference?

9220

Living Room / Re: Apple instigates Police Raid over lost/stolen iPhone 4G

« on: May 04, 2010, 01:27 PM »

Another op-ed on the whole debacle:
http://www.csmonitor...-clarity-about-crime

9221

General Software Discussion / Re: NewEgg

« on: May 04, 2010, 01:26 PM »

I just had (and am still having) and experience with NewEgg, and though I've used them quite often in the past, this left a bad taste in my mouth.

I plan to get a GPS for my wife for Mother's Day.  I saw a decent deal on NewEgg, and placed an order last Friday for the device.  They processed it, and my PayPal account was debited the amount Saturday.  Saturday evening, I get an e-mail saying that the item was backordered, and that my Paypal account should show the balance in 1-2 business days.  It seemed like a long time considering that they took it out on Saturday and found out the same day, but I could go with it- I found the item in Amazon, so as long as the money was there by Wednesday, I could get it by Friday.

Yesterday, it didn't even show the refund as initiated, so I wondered what was going on.  I called them, and they said that it had been initiated, but I wouldn't see it until today.  I thought that strange, but let it go.  I called paypal today to see if it had indeed been initiated, and they said no, that no action had been taken on it by NewEgg.  So I called them again, and they said that it would be 3-5 business days, and that I should see the refund initiated by Thursday.  So I asked if anything at all had been done on it, since Paypal said it should show up on their end... and he said no, that nothing would be done until Thursday.

I was in a quick chat session, and the representative said that she'd sent a communication to get them to accelerate the process but what I don't understand is:
1) why charge before they ship?
2) why does it take so long to return money that you've done nothing with?
3) why does the e-mail say one thing (1-2 business days) and their representatives say something else?

I'm just really put out by this... anyone want to take a stab at why?  I might be a bit irrational about the whole thing since my money is involved, and wanted to know if anyone else thought it was a bit unreasonable.

9222

General Software Discussion / Re: What's your preferred File Manager

« on: May 04, 2010, 01:07 PM »

He's very resistant to criticism, even when it's intended to be constructive, because he has his own vision of what his program should be, and won't be swayed from it.

-CWuestefeld (May 04, 2010, 12:34 PM)

Which is not actually bad, as it avoids XY to become bloatware. So that's why we have the choice when it comes to file managers, right?

-Tuxman (May 04, 2010, 01:00 PM)

I don't think the criticisms are necessarily of him having a vision and a direction, but the manner in which he interacts with people that don't have the same vision.  IMO, there is a problem with that.

9223

General Software Discussion / Re: Welcome, come back in a year

« on: May 04, 2010, 10:06 AM »

I'm sure that you'll get an official response soon enough, but the policy is explained in great detail here.  Basically, you get an expiring key when you first download the software.  This key is good for 6 months.  At the end of 6 months, you have to come back for another 6 month key.  Then at the end of a year's time, you get a non-expiring key.

The basic idea of the license key was to "equalize" the work involved in donating and not donating. After donating to the site, a user gets a single license key which works on all of our programs and lets them run forever (a donation also entitles users to other membership benefits).

If a user chooses not to donate, he/she must sign up and download a free license key which lasts six months, after which the user must return to the site to download another free license key. After a year they are given a permanent license.

The main idea for requiring people to sign up for free license keys was that we wanted to make it actually "easier" and "quicker" to donate than to not donate. In this way, we hoped to remove the effort imbalance that keeps people from going through the work of donating. By making people work a little to get the freeware keys we hoped to make it easier for those with money to donate than to grab the free version, while still putting only a minor inconvenience on those who couldn't afford to (or refuse to donate).

Asking users to sign up to download a free license key had another substantial side benefit, which was that by default such users are signed up to receive our mailing list that goes out twice a month. We do not send out advertisements to this mailing list or sell access to it, but it does give us a chance to let people know about new features on the site and give us a chance to reach potential future donors (users can easily remove themselves from this list if they don't want to be contacted).

Again, I'm sure that mouser will reply himself at a later time, but I just wanted to respond to let you know that you were being heard.

9224

Living Room / Re: My new digital camera...

« on: May 04, 2010, 08:39 AM »

viewfinder

viewfinder sounds like if you find a... 

-PhilB66 (May 03, 2010, 07:03 PM)

Ok... I feel stupid now 

9225

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Steam Sale: 50% off Guild Wars Trilogy

« on: May 03, 2010, 10:33 PM »

I've just decided not to worry about finishing games- if I do, then it's an accomplishment.  Makes me feel a bit better about my stack.