Messages

5401

Living Room / Re: Should Microsoft become an OEM (PC manufacturer)?

« on: October 14, 2008, 07:15 PM »

I guess I'm saying - so long as they don't become an apple, but some much friendlier fruit.

-Grorgy

Kumquat? Mango? Kiwi?

-Edvard (October 13, 2008, 04:43 PM)

Hmmm hadn't really got that far, perhaps a mango, sort of squishy and soft   

-Grorgy (October 13, 2008, 09:14 PM)

Nah, they'd become Macadamias - something good surrounded by a really thick, tough shell 

Disclaimer: I'm not saying Microsoft is good, far from it, but macadamias are........mmmmmmm!

5402

Living Room / Re: Recommend a keyboard

« on: October 14, 2008, 06:19 AM »

The Logitech G11 and G15 seem to have become cult favorites. I assume from this that I'd be clear of the crashing problems I've been having. And they seem well-supported. They're also quite pricey.

-CWuestefeld (October 13, 2008, 03:05 PM)

G15 v2 here, only has 6 'G' keys but has the LCD which the G11 doesn't, (which I use to monitor various daemons and system info).

Best keyboard I've ever had - the on-the-fly macro programming of the G keys is an absolute winner.
eg.
Hit MR (Macro Record)
Hit a G key
Do whatever you want on the keyboard
Hit MR again
Macro is now assigned to that G key and is now there until you wipe it or you can go into the Profiler and save it as a permanent macro.

You can assign Macros, Keystrokes, Functions, Shortcuts and Text Blocks but with V2.00 of the software they also added the ability to create LUA scripts using the built in editor so you can simulate mouse clicks and more.

Yes, it cost a fair bit, (AU$89 here), still cheaper than some Microsoft keyboards though.

If you get a chance to try one, do it.

Personally I prefer the slimmer v2 over the wider v1 plus I don't have a need for 18 programmable keys.

5403

General Software Discussion / Re: Easy remote access to my home pc?

« on: October 12, 2008, 03:36 AM »

3) Use the PrtQuery command as mentioned on the page in city_zen's post above.

-4wd (October 11, 2008, 10:37 PM)

I didn't understand from that website how to access the Port Query. Does that come with Windows or do I have to download it separately?

-Deozaan (October 11, 2008, 11:36 PM)

Download from here.

But I did follow the link to http://www.canyouseeme.org/ and tested out a few ports. It seems that the only one that was open was port 80. I'm beginning to suspect these problems have more to do with the ISP or the school setting up filters, since I'm using University-provided internet.

4) Here's an interesting thread from 2005 about someone trying to get the DI-624 to do RDP.  Take note of the last post on the page.

-4wd (October 11, 2008, 10:37 PM)

I followed the advice on the last post on that page and forwarded port 80 to 3389 and it didn't connect. But it also didn't refuse the connection either. Well, eventually it times out, but that's after 5 minutes or so. Of course, typing in the WAN IP with port 80 in my browser asks for a user name and password for some system that is NOT in my network. Again, this is what makes me think this is school filtering stuff.

I forgot to mention, by default your router usually grabs port 80 so you can access its interface.  This is why I changed my router port far away from port 80, in case I wanted to run a web server and also to make it a little bit harder to remote access it - they have to find it's port first, (even if remote config was allowed, which it isn't).

If you can, change your router's web interface port to something else, (eg. 5000), and then set the Virtual Server for your RDP host so that the incoming Public port is 80 and the Private port is 3389 and then try accessing using both your WAN IP and DynDNS address.

I've regretted buying D-Link almost from the day I got it. I bought this router along with a D-Link Wireless PCI card for my computer in 2005, thinking that two products from the same company should be compatible with eachother. Well, somehow the router was causing the PCI card to blue screen my system. I could connect to other wireless routers without a problem, but my D-Link NIC connected to my D-Link Router made my PC bluescreen.

I use one of these and the only problem I have with it is that it runs a bit warm underneath which makes it spontaneously reboot when it gets too hot, usually only in warm/hot weather every few days or so and is easily fixed by sitting it on something so that there is a ~25mm air gap underneath.

Not only that, but the router kept resetting about every 10 minutes on the dot which made it impossible to download large files! Thankfully a firmware update and changing some settings fixed that problem. Although, it still resets every 20 minutes when I've got uTorrent open. :-(

The Zyxel also did this until they fixed it with a firmware update.  It was related to the size of the NAT Session Table, originally 1024 IIRC.  BitTorrent tended to max this out pretty quick, under an hour.  A later firmware increased this a little bit to approx. 5000 NAT sessions before the table becomes full.  That pretty much solved the problem.

The problem can be reduced by:
a) Reduce the number of connections in BT
b) Decrease the NAT time out period, ie. those connections are free'd up quicker.
c) Don't use BT
d) OR buy a new modem with are larger NAT table

If you check this link, (search for DI-624, second occurrence), you'll see that the DI-624 is not capable of more than about 200 connections.  So setting uTorrent to use 200 or less connections should enable it to last more than 20 mins.

I think all in all, I'm going to have to blame this one on the school or the ISP blocking the ports.

If you can work out what ports they allow, (HTTP, FTP, SMTP, NNTP, etc), then you can set up tunneling to bypass the port blocking.

5404

General Software Discussion / Re: Easy remote access to my home pc?

« on: October 11, 2008, 10:37 PM »

All I have is Windows XP Firewall and a D-Link DI-624 Router. You already saw the configuration for my router. Remote Desktop Connection has an exception in the XP Firewall.

-Deozaan (October 11, 2008, 06:06 PM)

Apart from what city_zen just mentioned above, some other things:

According to the manual for the DI-624, it has a Firewall and IP filtering.  Are either of these enabled?

If it is, then temporarily disable it and see what happens.  Note, some routers actually require a restart before they pick up new settings.

Some other things to try:

1) Temporarily put the LAN IP for your RDP host into the DI-624's DMZ.  This will bypass any rules in the router and expose the PC to the internet - make sure your software firewall is turned on.  If it works then, the problem is definitely the router blocking something.

2) Try using the WAN IP and not the DynDNS service - when it all works go back to DynDNS.

3) Use the PrtQuery command as mentioned on the page in city_zen's post above.

4) Here's an interesting thread from 2005 about someone trying to get the DI-624 to do RDP.  Take note of the last post on the page.

5) Buy a decent router    really, from what I've read of it so far, I hope you got it free 

Latest firmware for D-Link stuff can usually be found here: D-Link Support - it's in German but there's a Google translate button on the left.  For specifically the DI-624.

5405

General Software Discussion / Re: Easy remote access to my home pc?

« on: October 10, 2008, 05:17 PM »

My guess is that you haven't configured your router to forward outside connections on port 3389 to your PC's internal IP. That'd be step 3 of 4wd's list:

-city_zen (October 10, 2008, 10:36 AM)

I've done that, too.

-Deozaan (October 10, 2008, 03:33 PM)

We need a bit more info about your network setup:

What modem/router/hubs/etc, how is it all setup?

If you're running a firewall on the server/host PC, is it configured correctly ?
(I know you said it works from LAN but your rules may be allowing blanket LAN access while still restricting net access.)

Your modem/router, does it have a firewall, (as well as NAT)?
Is it turned on?
Have you created a rule to allow RDP to pass through the firewall?
(My Zyxel has a SPI firewall, so I need to create a rule to allow RDP before it even gets to NAT routing.)

Any firewalls you are running should have a log, (blocked/allowed/attacks/etc), set the firewalls up to report everything then try accessing via RDP.

If you don't get an ACCESS log entry in your software firewall, it will most likely be failing to get through your modem/router.  If you have an ACCESS log entry for the modem/router but none for the software firewall then it's failed at NAT.

Another tip, quite a few modem/routers allow IP loopback, (some you can set from the WWW interface, some from telnet, eg. Zyxel), by turning it on it allows you to use the WAN IP to access LAN servers/hosts from within the LAN.

eg. You already know RDP works from another LAN PC by connecting to 192.168.x.x.

By turning IP loopback on, you'd also be able to use your WAN IP, eg. 86.67.234.33.   The modem/router seeing this is your WAN IP will just loop it straight back into your LAN without sending upstream to your ISP.  It's a good way to test your server/host programs, I leave it enabled all the time.

This will allow you to test your modem/router firewall/NAT without being dependent on any outside routers/dns/etc.

5406

General Software Discussion / Re: fastest method/language to create my own software

« on: October 09, 2008, 05:23 PM »

which is the fastest method/language to create my own software?

-kalos (October 09, 2008, 09:43 AM)

I believe this could best be summed up with:

(YLtL * FL)/(LC * UoP) = 

Where:
YLtL = Years Left to Live  [in years]
FL    = Frustration Level  [in number of keyboards smashed/year]
LC    = Language Complexity  [in the number of minutes you spend studying one line of code and still not see the bug]
UoP  = Urgency of Project  [in months, where UoP = n - (n^2)]

The object of the equation is to reach unity, (a oneness), with the computer.  To become the Zen of programming.

As soon as the right side equals  you have achieved all that you seek.

This is possible......just ask mouser 

5407

General Software Discussion / Re: I am looking for system wide proxy changer-configurator

« on: October 09, 2008, 03:22 AM »

I have proxy server on my laptop. Sometimes I need to use wired connection so my proxy server adress changes on other machines. I was wondering if there is an application that lets me toggle between proxy servers on the fly so that I do not need change proxy settings in every application.

-kartal (September 16, 2008, 08:05 PM)

NetProfiles - Cost nothing, requires .NET

Otherwise, for the always useful, download nothing approach there's the always boring netsh command, included free with every copy of Windows XP.
Here's a way to use it to switch network settings.

please do not suggest things like "google is your friend". Google is not my friend...

Maybe so, but without it, it would be a sh!t load harder to find things......and that's including the manual so you can RTFM.

Google results - Oh look, within the first five results: FreeIP Switcher, NetSetMan FREE (which as said above doesn't do proxies) but gives you NetSetManPro  

Further down you get Network Switcher and buried in the results somewhere I saw how to use netsh.

5408

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: kingsoft Internet Security 6 months free

« on: October 09, 2008, 01:54 AM »

Pretty much only Joint Operations these days, it may be rather old compared to the likes of COD4, GRAW2, etc but it's a lot more fun IMHO.

Otherwise, Solder Of Fortune 1 + 2, Quake, Quake II, etc - all the good old mindlessly violent FPS games

-4wd (October 08, 2008, 12:13 AM)

I can not see the Internet Security impacting on these games to much. We play WOW and the Kingsoft online Games here and We have on problem.

-Davidtheo (October 08, 2008, 08:00 PM)

I think you might find that your connection to the internet is a little bit faster than mine, (256/64 ADSL) 

5409

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: kingsoft Internet Security 6 months free

« on: October 09, 2008, 01:47 AM »

4wd Can you please send me the dll's and if you can find the exe calling then that would also be great please send to [email protected] Please rar them and put the password 123654.

-Davidtheo (October 08, 2008, 07:43 PM)

On it's way, rename the extension to rar and you're good to go.

The executable that installed them was self-deleting and I can't pinpoint where it came from, (probably a recent LAN party).

It installs itself into an autorun area of registry and from there attaches itself to any programs you run, (eg. explorer.exe).

5410

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: kingsoft Internet Security 6 months free

« on: October 08, 2008, 04:50 AM »

If the executable and/or file is in use, it cannot be replaced until it has been unloaded from memory. Until then it is in a read only state.

-wreckedcarzz (October 08, 2008, 01:58 AM)

I never mentioned anything about an already running process being replaced, you've read too much into my question:

But what happens when your "clean" game exe goes to load an infected dll, (or exe), half way through your game?

That's any dll or exe, it need not have been installed by the game.  Games/programs are allowed to call OS executables aren't they?

After all, that's how they run in the first place by relying on the underlying OS.

The infection doesn't need to target that particular game you're playing, it only needs to reside in a file that is called by another program, it doesn't even have to be called by your game.

But by white-listing the game executable, however, you might possibly have white-listed any process started by it.

PS. Sorry David for hijacking your announcement 

5411

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: kingsoft Internet Security 6 months free

« on: October 08, 2008, 01:56 AM »

I was talking about automatic detection - I can install and not touch anything and have no issues and the software knows not to do anything until the game executable is no longer running.

-wreckedcarzz (October 08, 2008, 01:50 AM)

But what happens when your "clean" game exe goes to load an infected dll, (or exe), half way through your game?

5412

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: kingsoft Internet Security 6 months free

« on: October 08, 2008, 01:48 AM »

That's my personal concern: When I am coding or gaming, I need that to take importance over EVERYTHING else. I don't need to run into a good game of COD4/GRAW2/GRID only to have my FPS drop from 40 to 5 because my security software wants to scan the items the game is loading, or because I am running out of system resources (Crysis has this issue).

-wreckedcarzz (October 08, 2008, 12:19 AM)

All AntiVirus/Spyware programs do this unless you've turned that functionality off, (at least if they're half-way decent they do).

The question is how much of an impact it has.  PCTools doesn't have much of an impact, then again while I don't mind the firewall, the AV part of it isn't really up to the standards of Avast, etc.

BTW, Kaspersky was one of the AVs that didn't detect the trojan I had and they're supposed to be very good.

5413

Living Room / Re: How to enter code???? :)

« on: October 08, 2008, 12:50 AM »

If you don't have your entire lower arm supported on your desk, then that's not exactly good ergonomics either.

-f0dder (October 07, 2008, 07:38 PM)

I've always wondered why people think it's a good idea to have a keyboard 75mm from the edge of the desk and use it with their wrists sawing along the edge....the only way it could be more uncomfortable is to have a razor blade set into the edge.

Yet, this seems to be the standard position for almost everyone I've seen who uses one.

BTW, I'll take my G15 over an ergonomic keyboard anyday.

I'm trying to register at a forum, but there's this message. How do I make the letters go in a curve?

-tsaint (October 07, 2008, 06:22 PM)

Use a screen like this:


That way you have the option of straightening them out or entering them curved.

5414

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: kingsoft Internet Security 6 months free

« on: October 08, 2008, 12:13 AM »

I've downloaded and installed it and at the moment it seems to run quite well with minimal system impact, (TaskManager shows 0 CPU across all its processes), chews about 70MB of RAM with kwatch.exe grabbing most of that, (54MB).

Now to see if it impacts my online gaming 

-4wd (October 07, 2008, 04:54 AM)

Kwatch uses alot of Ram mainly because it is checking all processes that are accessing files and checking what they are doing, In this way it can catch and stop unknown malware.

-Davidtheo (October 07, 2008, 08:55 PM)

Unfortunately, it missed picking up a couple of dll's as Trojan.Vundo but then again so did 14 of the 22 virus checkers on VirusTotal.  I'm just lucky I don't have an installed browser it could pollute, (Portable Firefox only, IE has been expunged from the system).  I'm pretty sure it was there before I installed KIS9, so my previous AV didn't pick it up either.

However, the Anti-Spyware did highlight that an unknown dll was one of the Startup Items - so that pointed me in the right direction to remove a few dlls and ini files via an external LiveXP HDD.

What online games do you play?

Pretty much only Joint Operations these days, it may be rather old compared to the likes of COD4, GRAW2, etc but it's a lot more fun IMHO.

Otherwise, Solder Of Fortune 1 + 2, Quake, Quake II, etc - all the good old mindlessly violent FPS games

EDIT: Two things that do annoy me though is there's no way to resize the Firewall application window or to sort the programs in the Application Rules list.

5415

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: kingsoft Internet Security 6 months free

« on: October 07, 2008, 04:54 AM »

Possibly dumb questions but then I've never used an integrated security suite, I prefer discrete components.

-4wd (October 07, 2008, 02:14 AM)

The only dumb question is the one not asked

-Davidtheo (October 07, 2008, 02:32 AM)

Thanks for the info and wisdom   

I've downloaded and installed it and at the moment it seems to run quite well with minimal system impact, (TaskManager shows 0 CPU across all its processes), chews about 70MB of RAM with kwatch.exe grabbing most of that, (54MB).

Now to see if it impacts my online gaming 

5416

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: kingsoft Internet Security 6 months free

« on: October 07, 2008, 02:14 AM »

One license per computer, the license costs 29.95USD for one year and the payment system is paypal. 

-Davidtheo (October 06, 2008, 09:52 PM)

Possibly dumb questions but then I've never used an integrated security suite, I prefer discrete components.

Can I ask exactly what degree of control you have over what components get installed?

Also, say I purchase a license and I then decide not to renew after a year, this should only affect the Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware recognition updates, (and any program updates naturally).

Would I be able to uninstall those components and still use the firewall?

5417

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

« on: October 05, 2008, 10:54 PM »

Could possibly help: Select HTML and associated directory

-4wd (October 05, 2008, 08:33 PM)

What? You actually searched the Dopus Resource Centre forum?!  Nicely done, thanks 

-Darwin (October 05, 2008, 09:08 PM)

Actually, no......I typed:

"directory opus" select html file associated directory

into Firefox's address bar and let Google do it 

[url=http://www.justfuckinggoogleit.com/]Just F'n Google It! 

5418

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

« on: October 05, 2008, 08:33 PM »

Can anyone else comment on File Managers with explorer type behavior as described on the previous page.

-SleepingWolf (October 04, 2008, 05:38 PM)

 just took a very cursory look at DOpus to see if it is capable of the explorer-type behaviour you're asking about (the ability to copy/move/delete the file folders associated with html files with one automatically, if I am reading your post right?), and can't find that kind of functionality. However, I'd bet that it is already possible or that you could create a button to do this.

-Darwin (October 04, 2008, 05:54 PM)

Could possibly help: Select HTML and associated directory

5419

General Software Discussion / Re: What's your music player of choice?

« on: October 05, 2008, 07:47 PM »

[cue maniacal laughter][rant]...[/cue maniacal laughter][/rant]

-Darwin (October 05, 2008, 07:06 PM)

Your HTML nesting is incorrect, it should be:

[cue maniacal laughter][rant]...[/rant][/cue maniacal laughter]

First offense is a warning, subsequent offenses result in severe ridiculing.

Yours Sincerely,
TMC (The Markup Cops)

Disclaimer: I'm bored, so sue me.
Disclaimer: I think I'm currently on a Biorhythm high and the extra endorphins are playing havoc with my warped sense of humour.

5420

General Software Discussion / Re: Switch power profile based on which program is active in windows

« on: October 05, 2008, 07:32 PM »

I use Notebook Hardware Control on my laptop for this purpose, and it works well.

-wreckedcarzz (October 05, 2008, 07:06 PM)

Apart from the hardware monitor aspect of it, how is that different from just creating different profiles in Power Options and the clicking on the Battery Icon in the systray to switch between them?

Some interesting links regarding XP's "Max Battery" profile:

Confusing Power Profiles
Using POWERCFG.EXE

Actually, I would have thought that running a program to do what the OS is already doing would be counter-productive.  You're creating a CPU load that otherwise would not be there, thereby using a small amount of energy, thus reducing the battery life by a small, (probably negligible) amount.

5421

General Software Discussion / Re: Switch power profile based on which program is active in windows

« on: October 05, 2008, 07:01 PM »

For example, if I'm running a graphics program like Corel Draw in the currently active windows, I may want to Switch to full power.

But if I'm just reading a long text file in Notepad, I may want to switch to a much lower power profile.

What I'm looking for is a generic software that is not tied to a particular brand of laptop.

-patteo (October 01, 2008, 02:52 AM)

In XP, the recommended Power Option is normally Minimal Power Management - this lets the CPU driver handle all power management for the system.  You still set monitor, HDD, Standby and Shutdown timeout yourself.

eg. My 5000+ X2 runs at 1000MHz and 1.1V pretty much all the time - when I start video encoding or playing a game it kicks back up to 2600MHz @ 1.325V - happens within milliseconds.

And actually, most programs that I'd have thought would kick it into high-gear, don't cause a high enough CPU load to do so but I don't notice any difference.  In fact, the only way I can tell whether it's running at high/low load settings is to run the AMD Power Monitor which tells me the frequency and voltage it's currently running at.

ie. Why would you need the CPU running flat out when in Corel Draw if all you're doing is drawing lines and circles with a mouse?

5422

General Software Discussion / Re: Programs you can use during a financial meltdown!

« on: October 05, 2008, 06:05 PM »

The Free Software Foundation's definition of "free" goes beyond being free of charge. To be considered "free" in the FSF universe, a product would have to be released under GPL. Any licensing restrictions would make it "not free" even if it were otherwise given away.

-40hz (October 04, 2008, 07:33 AM)

It's a bit like saying I'll buy you a drink but the drink isn't free unless I provide you with the keys to the brewery.

-Carol Haynes (October 05, 2008, 04:25 PM)

Actually, it's more like:  I'll make you a drink (program) but it isn't free unless I provide the list of ingredients (requirements, eg. libs, etc) and mixing instructions (program code).

It's up to the end user to provide the equipment for mixing it, (ie. compiler, etc).

You're implying you'd being giving away the compiler (brewery) as well to qualify as FSF free.

Now I'm getting thirsty.....

FSF approach is just plain stupid (IMHO).

-Carol Haynes (October 05, 2008, 04:25 PM)

IMHO, it isn't.  Simply for the fact that if I have a piece of GPL software, (assuming compliance), that has stopped development and that I use, I know that if I require a bug fixed, feature added/removed, etc I can:
1) do it myself, (even if I have to learn the language - something I've done before);
2) get a friend to do it;
3) ask on the internet if there is someone willing to do it;
4) offer a donation/money to someone at DC to do it;
5) pay a programmer to do it;
6) etc, etc, etc.

A far cry from trying to get closed source, non-developed software modified or having to create a program from scratch.

Give me a program that does what I want and I have the possibility to adapt to my needs over closed-source any day.

5423

Living Room / Re: Tech News Weekly: 41

« on: October 04, 2008, 07:20 PM »

The scary thing about no 7 is not the actual monitoring itself (because it only affects the Chinese), but the fact that e-bay entered into this agreement voluntarily. Makes you wonder what they're doing with your Skype conversations.

-Ehtyar (October 04, 2008, 07:59 AM)

Given eBay's recent "F*** YOU!"¹ attitude here to their customers, (you know - the people who pay them), why should you be surprised at all ?

Thankfully, this deranged attempt to grab even more money was put down, however the advertising on eBay is still unfairly skewed towards PayPal for payment.

1 - Disclaimer: If the *** offends, then please replace them with the ROT13 encoded letters: H, P & X.

5424

General Software Discussion / Re: Programs you can use during a financial meltdown!

« on: October 04, 2008, 07:01 PM »

Lots of FLOSS is really dross.....

-Dormouse (October 04, 2008, 04:23 PM)

DROSS = Dearly Requested Open Source Software

Pretty much everything on Donation Coder could be called DROSS¹ then

1 - DROSS is trademarked by me!  You use it, I sue!   So there!!!!!

5425

General Software Discussion / Re: Programs you can use during a financial meltdown!

« on: October 03, 2008, 07:25 PM »

Or maybe when you just don't have any money to spend on software because you need to buy groceries, or pay the rent this month...

-40hz (October 03, 2008, 02:39 PM)

If paying rent is a problem: Rent A Farmhouse

Live far away from the ratrace¹.

1 - Disclaimer: I'm in no way implying that you live near or within a rat infested society.  But if you did, you can rest assured that here in Australia we can provide you with the comfort of fellow rats if you so desire.  Indeed, I've known some quite big rats.