Messages

5276

Living Room / Re: DC T-Shirts idea.

« on: January 08, 2009, 05:12 PM »

Here's a plugin for Firefox: Mobile Barcoder

Let's you generate a QR Code for the page you're viewing and zap it with your mobile.

Although the use the site gives for it is rather strange, ie. why would you generate a barcode for a site you're browsing with Firefox on a PC just so you can then have the pleasure of squinting while trying to read it on your phone ?

I'd much rather have a plugin that let's me read QR Codes from within Firefox.

5277

Living Room / Re: ASUS eee PC - Any owner?

« on: January 08, 2009, 03:59 PM »

I'm perversely tempted to buy another for myself, just because it's a neat little machine.
Were I to do so, I'd probably wait for the new tablet version(s) to appear in local stores.

-cranioscopical (January 08, 2009, 01:14 PM)

If I were going to buy one again I would wait to see what the new Intel chipset designed to compliment the Atom is capable of, (since the current 9xx based solutions aren't optimised for it), if it had a X3100 or X4500 based GPU I'd be sorely tempted.

nVidia are bringing out a chipset for netbooks, (even though I wouldn't buy another desktop nVidia chipset based PC).

Also, AMD are bringing out the "Athlon" again, revamped for low power devices but true dual core, maybe with integrated GPU ala the Geode.

5278

Living Room / Re: ASUS eee PC - Any owner?

« on: January 08, 2009, 01:57 AM »

one year on with more manufacturers throwing their hat in the ring, is there any outstanding models? i know lenovo's ideapad is getting rave reviews. just wondering, how many in the DC community have adopted netbooks?

-lanux128 (January 07, 2009, 08:34 PM)

I picked up an Acer Aspire One, (AOA110 8GB SSD Linpus), for AU$320 after a AU$60 MIR - it will go on my forthcoming Sth America/Antarctic/Turkey/Hong Kong jaunt and keep me sane.

Added 1GB for a total of 1.5GB and installed a much nlitened XP Pro, installed EWF to speed it up, (the supplied SSD is rather shockingly slow), and I have to say I'm rather impressed.  Runs Delta Force Land Warrior and Task Force Dagger rather well.  I think I'll do it a favour and pick up a 1.8" HDD in Hong Kong while I'm there

It won't replace the P4 laptop I drag over to the UK for 3 months every 2-3 years, (mainly because I record a lot of TV shows on it), but for 'throw in the car' use in conjunction with my GPS it'll be good - lots better than a PDA.

5279

General Software Discussion / Re: The Monkeys Have Hit The Button

« on: January 07, 2009, 10:06 PM »

One more reason to be glad I only use IE when MS forces me to: at update time. 

-raybeere (January 06, 2009, 02:38 PM)

And not even then if you're still using XP:  WindizUpdate

5280

General Software Discussion / Re: photo duplicate scanner

« on: January 07, 2009, 07:24 PM »

Finally, I didn't see a mention of XnView in this thread. Among its myriad attributes, this excellent freeware image viewer at http://www.xnview.com/ works amazingly well in finding similar images via "Tools/Find similar files". With its adjustable similarity/tolerance level, it doesn't get much easier to process an image collection.

-sajman99 (January 06, 2009, 04:43 PM)

OFGS!!!  

I've been using XnView for years and I've never known about that feature because I don't use Browser mode.

Thanks sajman99!! 

5281

Living Room / Re: make family tree in Visio - manually or automated via db?

« on: January 07, 2009, 06:42 PM »

You could try the free Personal Ancestral File - reports are able to be customised to a degree, you can add media, and all the standard family tree stuff, (it's what my wife uses).

And once the data is in there you always have the option to export as a GEDCOM^w file to another database, online site, (eg. Genes Reunited) or create your own website using a free GEDCOM to HTML converter, (eg. PAF above, check here or use the excellent phpGedView if you have access to a decent server).

If you like you can use phpGedView as your family tree program, you can run it stand-alone on your PC and enter all your data in.  It uses MySQL database, (or variants), so should be able to be read by anything else that can read MySQL, (don't quote me on this, I'm not database literate ).

If you want a simple program that allows entering/displaying of basic family tree data and notes, then it doesn't get much simpler than Simple Family Tree - good if you just want to put the executable and the database on an autorun CD and then send to relatives.

5282

Living Room / Re: Please help me build my new computer, DC!

« on: January 07, 2009, 06:16 PM »

Don't do it - if it is anything like my experience before you know it you will fill it up on your old system and then you'll have to go and buy another one

-Carol Haynes (January 07, 2009, 01:22 PM)

That is so, so true.....

5283

Living Room / Re: Recommendations for small, 4-port USB hub?

« on: January 03, 2009, 12:25 AM »

I recommend APACER PH150:
http://emea.apacer.c...ages/product/454.jpg

I have two of them and works with now problem with low price. It's 4-port device.
Innovative rotating USB port design, Plug-and-play, High-speed data transfer USB2, Over-current detection and protection
more info here:
http://emea.apacer.c...n/products/PH150.htm

-nebojsaf (January 02, 2009, 05:34 AM)

Looks nice but I don’t believe that is externally powered, which means that you could only run small, non-power-intensive devices on it.

-J-Mac (January 02, 2009, 01:35 PM)

From the specs on it:

Power source     Bus-powered mode (max. 500mA)
                        Self-powered mode

Self-powered means you can plug in an external 5VDC supply.

Also, listed under Accessories:

External power adapter(optional)
- Input: 100-240V~0.3A, MAX 50-60HZ
- Output: +5V - 1.2A

I use a cheap Sansai 4 port USB hub I bought at a local $2 shop, (contrarily it cost AU$11), it has the option to plug in an external 5VDC adapter, (I already have a couple), and it just works..............when/if it blows up, I'll buy another.

As can be seen from the posts above, a brand name product does not guarantee quality - they're probably all made in 3 factories in China, (nothing against Chinese made items, in fact I'm sure I more than contribute my fair share to their economy ).

5284

Living Room / Re: GPS and Google earth

« on: January 02, 2009, 05:56 PM »

I want to by new car's GPS and budget not over $300, which one is the best product? (I never use it before)
Bestsellers Car's GPS Listing from Amazon.com

-grishconner (January 02, 2009, 03:52 AM)

The one that gives that best features, (that you will use), map coverage and detail in the areas that you want for your selected price range.

Unless you provide a lot more detail on where you want to travel and what features you want then the only way to decide is for you to visit each manufacturers website and discover what maps are available and what the unit can do.  Or visit a store where you can play with the actual units.

Anything we could recommend is biased towards what we use the units for.

For example, I have no need of a SatNav unit, (AFAIAC it contributes to the dumbing down of the species ), however I do have a GPS that can tell me where I am, (coordinates only), but I still require a map and knowledge of how to read it to locate my position with respect to the environment.  So anything I could recommend definitely won't apply to someone who wants a unit to tell them where to go.

5285

Living Room / Re: Vista has gone nuts: [Major] Help please?

« on: January 02, 2009, 01:41 AM »

I have a games list that people literally awe at (GRAW2 is a great game, btw, I have it as well )

-wreckedcarzz (January 02, 2009, 12:51 AM)

[OFFTOPIC]
Unfortunately, I find it too annoying to be worth more than playing once a month for an hour or so, (aside from its extremely stupid bugs, ie. try and get any multi-player game to run consistently with any mods or even just run without crashing).

eg. I have a weapon that can shoot the nuts off of a fly at 200 meters, yet in GRAW2 I can't hit the guy at 102 meters.

Why?  Because the maps are so small that they have to artificially reduce the range on ALL the weapons.  If they're going to make what is basically a CQB game then don't give us weapons that aren't suited to it.

Also, the name is Ghost Recon yet there is no sign of binoculars.  WTF!?  It's why I end up carrying a rifle with a scope all the time - so I can actually recon locations.

This is why I always end up returning the Delta Force/Joint Operations games despite their faults - they have HUGE maps and you can shoot the nuts off the guy at 800+ meters with your M82.

They are just plain fun.
[/OFFTOPIC]

5286

Living Room / Re: Beware the Google Threat - Big Fat Ass Brother (BFAB)

« on: January 02, 2009, 12:48 AM »

Most of those features are rendered moot by cookie blocking, NoScript and POPS with Thunderbird. It occurs to me though that you use Customize Google to prevent clicktracking and removal of UID.

-Ehtyar (January 01, 2009, 11:40 PM)

I don't block all cookies, (third party only), but all cookies are cleared when I exit Firefox.  And blocking cookies won't give me back the screen space occupied by Google's ads.

Using Thunderbird is OK when I'm sitting at my PC, however when I'm on the road with a laptop I use the web interface - I don't keep email on my laptops.

And it's not removal of UID, it's anonymising it.

So to sum up:
Allow cookies = get ads, waste screen space.
Disallow cookies = No Google account access at all.
Use Customize Google = Google account access, no ads, customised search, force Google pages into https, lots of other options to happify my Google experience.

I could whiz up a GreaseMonkey script to do the https, no ads, etc, but why bother when someone has already created a add-on that takes care of it and adds a few more things ?

Why would you be concerned only about Google and no other corporate entity?

I visit corporate websites very rarely and NoScript is still running when I do.

And what's with the Spanish Inquisition, (not that I expected it) ?

You, being paranoid, should just accept that the more layers of obfuscation between yourself and everyone is a Good Thing^TM

EDIT: Sorry, noticed you said corporate entity.  Oh well, there's still NoScript, AdBlock and OSS has a rather large list of sites to block.
        Plus while I can't do something about all of them, I can at least do something about one of them.

BTW, getting back to Carnivore which links to Magic Lantern^w, there's a reason right there not to buy or use USA based anti-virus.
Instead, take advantage of the current Lifetime special on the Russian based Outpost Security Suite.   

5287

Living Room / Re: Beware the Google Threat - Big Fat Ass Brother (BFAB)

« on: January 01, 2009, 10:18 PM »

**Ehtyar boots f0d man out of the tin-foil-hat-brigade and inducts kartal as an honorary member.

-Ehtyar (January 01, 2009, 02:12 PM)

I think Kartal should be President actually, he's way too paranoid to be an Honorary Member

-4wd (January 01, 2009, 09:55 PM)

WTF? I'm easily equally paranoid, shutup

-Ehtyar (January 01, 2009, 10:04 PM)

No way - he actively discourages people from posting Google links as an answer to his posts 

Any suggestions? No googleing advices please.

-kartal (January 01, 2009, 01:29 PM)

If you're going to deal with Google then at least deal with them on your terms and use Customize Google.

-Ehtyar (January 01, 2009, 02:12 PM)

I tried it and wasn't too impressed. Which features do you find most valuable?

-4wd (January 01, 2009, 09:55 PM)

All the 'Remove Ads' selections, (increases screen space for more info) - except in Products and Books for obvious reasons.
'Anonymize Google UID' - so I don't have to block the cookies - I have a few GMail accounts.
'Add links to other search sites' - just in case I want to check other results.
'Remove Click Tracking' - because I don't want to be.
'Switch to https' - wherever possible.

Plus a few others to preset Google Search, etc.

5288

Living Room / Re: Beware the Google Threat - Big Fat Ass Brother (BFAB)

« on: January 01, 2009, 09:55 PM »

**Ehtyar boots f0d man out of the tin-foil-hat-brigade and inducts kartal as an honorary member.

-Ehtyar (January 01, 2009, 02:12 PM)

I think Kartal should be President actually, he's way too paranoid to be an Honorary Member

I also use NoScript and cookie blockers.

If you're going to deal with Google then at least deal with them on your terms and use Customize Google.

5289

Living Room / Re: Portable MP3 player recommendations

« on: January 01, 2009, 09:45 PM »

Here's the official statement: http://www.zune.net/...s/support/zune30.htm

-cthorpe (January 01, 2009, 08:00 PM)

From the above page:

"Early this morning we were alerted by our customers that there was a widespread issue affecting our 2006 model Zune 30GB devices (a large number of which are still actively being used)," reads a new statement from the company.

Kind of implies surprise that they expect anyone still to be using that old a model.

Obviously their planned obsolescence has back-fired 

5290

Living Room / Re: Vista has gone nuts: [Major] Help please?

« on: January 01, 2009, 09:20 PM »

System Restore is... (I'm going to get shunned to death for this) - completely disabled. Disk space is EXTREMELY scarce (111GB for Vista, Programs, Games, Programming projects, and backups (before they are moved to a different location)). So that obviously is a lost cause.

And no, I have no place nor method of doing disk imaging (I was going to post asking about that later on here @ DC, my backup server PC needs 2 new HDs </offtopic>).

Normally I would go and just wipe the whole thing and go "Yay, fresh install!", except I used Windows Anytime Upgrade on this machine, and it is an absolute ***** to get working. Format, install, remove crap, install drivers, upgrade, remove crap, install programs, update for 8 hours, install games, replace documents & whatnot, reactivate Vista, call Microsoft, talk to machine... ugh. And Microsoft wonders why piracy for Windows is still common.

-wreckedcarzz (January 01, 2009, 05:27 PM)

No offense but if you need to image at least 111GB for basic system integrity then I'd have to say that your system is a bit disorganised.

eg.

My OS partition is 20GB, it contains the OS and the few programs I use that require installation - of that 20GB, 9GB is in use, (5.25GB of that is the pagefile.sys and hiberfil.sys).  I realise that Vista is no where near as space efficient as XP but even so, I don't see a reason for your OS partition to be over 30GB.

All my games, (65GB+), Documents and all other programs are on another partition or HDD - and only Documents and programs are regularly backed up.  Games will be fully re-installed if catastrophic HDD failure happens.

Regarding games, I have very few games that actually require re-installation - I'm mainly a FPS person but most run without requiring re-installation or just re-entering location/key data back into the registry.
If I had to do a full OS install there's only two games that require anything more than a simple reg file:- Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 requires me to re-install the PhysX driver and only UT3 requires a full re-installation, (and I'll get around to working that out one day).

Programs, if I can find a program that can do what I want without requiring installation, (or even better, it's portable), I use that because it means I don't need to re-install it - so it resides on a non-OS partition.

When I image my OS, (I use True Image), I tell it to exclude pagefile.sys and hiberfil.sys - they're not required, the system will recreate them on restoration.

So a full OS image that will enable restoration of the system to a full-before-catastrophe state will require me to image approx. 4GB of data and at maximum compression that ends up as 2GB or less, (ie. it will fit on one of my many 2GB flash drives).

I could even do a format and install of the OS and it will have minimal impact, games will still run, all the programs that didn't require installation will still run.  I could boot off of an external USB HDD and most of my system will run, (dependencies aside).

If you're going to go to the trouble of a full OS re-installation I suggest you seriously look at re-defining your HDDs and/or partitions for ease of backup and system recovery.

BTW, if you are after a drive imaging program I'd suggest the free version of Macrium Reflect which is well regarded.  Or, if you'd like a more Ghost like offline imaging solution, try PING.

5291

Living Room / Re: Vista has gone nuts: [Major] Help please?

« on: January 01, 2009, 05:29 PM »

System Restore is... (I'm going to get shunned to death for this)........

-wreckedcarzz (January 01, 2009, 05:27 PM)

Not from me, I think it's a waste of space 

5292

Living Room / Re: Vista has gone nuts: [Major] Help please?

« on: January 01, 2009, 05:09 PM »

Have you tried Vista Safe Mode and what was the result, ("everything Windows has as far as diagnostics" doesn't mean much) ?

If Safe Mode made no difference then you'll probably have to format and re-install because nothing should be running under Safe Mode except the base OS.

You might also try uninstalling all Vista updates that appeared from just before the problems started, wouldn't be the first time that an OS update has broken something, (I also recommend you don't set it for Auto Update in future).

Did you try System Restore before you tried Repair Installation ?

You could still try a System Restore if you imaged the drive before the Repair Install...............

You did image the HDD before you tried working on it, didn't you, [SOP #2 which is right after SOP #1 (a.k.a The Hammer)] ?

HDD imaging should be the very first step for anyone who starts trying to repair a PC, whether it's their own or especially if it isn't theirs.

5293

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Outpost 2009 – A lifetime license for 3 PCs for the price of a 1-year!

« on: January 01, 2009, 04:11 AM »

If you don't let bad things in you won't have bad things going out.

-Carol Haynes (December 30, 2008, 06:37 PM)

I didn't mention malware or similar, just that I want to know what's trying to get out.  eg. The strange way HP printer drivers can report printer usage to HP as well as other non-necessary communication.

Call me cynical but security apps in general areplaying a game of smoke and mirrors with users ...

Don't quote me but I've heard that Anti-Virus companies actually create the virii 

By the way Vista's firewall has outgoing protection (FWIW).

Just too bad the whole OS is:

5294

Living Room / Re: Happy New Year, DC, and watch out for fire hazards!

« on: January 01, 2009, 04:03 AM »

Considering I live in one of the most bushfire prone areas in the world, that picture wasn't really necessary   

mmmmm.......smoked venison.......

Merry New Year!!!!

5295

Living Room / Re: GPS and Google earth

« on: December 31, 2008, 06:23 AM »

one last thing... I bought a TyTN II smartphone which has a gps built in. It came bundled with "mapking" maps and they're supposedly specialists in asian maps. I'm not recommending them, just pointing out an alternative mapsource to look at. They're at http://www.mapking.c.../eng/home/index.html or http://www.mapking.c...m/tc/home/index.html (chinese)
no, here's the last thing... have you looked at google maps for mobiles? (http://www.google.co...le/default/maps.html).

-tsaint (December 31, 2008, 03:11 AM)

There's also The GPSMap Project - bidirectional interaction between your GPS and Google Maps.

cGPSMapper - Create your own maps for Garmin GPS's, (note that you'll need a mapping GPS unit which the Gecko 201 is not).

5296

Living Room / Re: End of year humor (I apologize in advance)

« on: December 31, 2008, 02:37 AM »

..... steven seagal are classics

-f0dder (December 31, 2008, 02:19 AM)

Go back 20 years and replace Steven Seagal with Charles Bronson 

5297

Living Room / Re: GPS and Google earth

« on: December 31, 2008, 12:55 AM »

OK, now I understand the proposed use of it a bit better, however as you've found, there's very little in the way of software with Asia map data.

I think you're going to have to work from the reverse end, find software with the map data that you require and then find what units it can be loaded into.

After you've found what units you can load it into, then find which of those allow you to do the other points you want, (track log, POI and navigation).

After a quick Google, the only units I've found with Chinese/Japanese/Thai map data are those designed to be installed into a car.

TomTom gets the closest with map data for Hong Kong but nowhere else in Asia.

Google Maps have the best coverage but unfortunately you need net access to use them.

Personally, I'll stick with my Gecko and a paper map 

5298

Living Room / Re: GPS and Google earth

« on: December 30, 2008, 07:39 PM »

I've used a garmin emap gps receiver often in the past and imported routes into google earth. Worked easily and well. Have used it to log path of a plane too, and had a 3d route in google earth.

-tsaint (December 30, 2008, 06:42 PM)

Hi tsaint

What is the model number?

-Davidtheo (December 30, 2008, 07:16 PM)

Any half-way decent GPS receiver that can record a track of where you've been and that has a means of getting it on to a computer will work.

I've got a Garmin Geko 201 and have logged tracks through the USA, Australia, UK and from Helsinki to Hong Kong by train.

You can download the track data from the GPS using the free EasyGPS program and the requisite cable of course.

About the only thing you need to check on is the number of points the track log can store (eg. the Geko has 10,000 points).  A low number of points, (my previous GPS had a max of 768), and the track log starts overwriting itself.

However, before spending big on a proper GPS unit when all you want to do is log your location and get the track into Google Maps/Earth, you may want to check this out since you're in the same country

Ooppss, forgot the bit about you wanting to load maps on it - oh well, couple it up with a cheap netbook, (eg. Acer Aspire One), and use it for the mapping part.

5299

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Outpost 2009 – A lifetime license for 3 PCs for the price of a 1-year!

« on: December 30, 2008, 05:49 PM »

Personally I won't be tempted (though it looks like a good deal if you want Outpost).

-Carol Haynes (December 29, 2008, 10:39 AM)

Unfortunately, I was tempted...........unfortunate in the regard that I now have slightly less money to spend 

However, I'm finding Outpost Security Suite to be rather good, the firewall rule creation is what swayed me to part with my not-so-hard-earned - it is very similar to PCTools Firewall, which I like.

It's unobtrusive, just popping up when a new program or suspect malware is detected.

And on the Settings->General page it says:

License Type:  Lifetime
Expires in:       Never

Overall, I'm happy, see-> 

I found a much simpler solution that I am happy with - buy a router with a hardware firewall and then just use Windows Firewall on each computer. Why slow down every machine you use by adding overly complex and bug ridden security software.

-Carol Haynes (December 29, 2008, 10:39 AM)

I also run a router with a SPI firewall but I also want to know what's trying to get out of my PC.

5300

Living Room / Re: Bad smells ... UPS recommendations ?

« on: December 30, 2008, 02:54 PM »

It seems to have settled down now and I contacted APC customer support who said I should let it charge for 8 hours and if there is a problem get back to them.

-Carol Haynes (December 30, 2008, 01:01 PM)

That should be the normal thing to do for any UPS, charge before use - I'm surprised that the User Manual doesn't mention it.