Messages

51

Find And Run Robot / Re: Launching win7 start menu items

« on: April 05, 2011, 09:25 AM »

On Win7 64-bit, there are *two* program File folders - the one you would expect to find and another called Program Files (x86) for 32 bit apps.

I've seen a number of vendors' scripts for their products fail because they did not make the distinction.  Dunno if this is related (probably not as yer talking about windir) but there might be some similar changes in other locations that you should be aware of also.

52

Living Room / Re: Wow!! Are Any of You THIS limber?

« on: February 04, 2011, 10:21 AM »

I am *TOTALLY* that flexible, when I do the back bend just before I squeeze myself into my plexiglass cube for the night.

I have to admit though, that at 232 pounds, my ribs don't stick out quite as much as the performer.

Okay, it's lunchtime and that means it's time to squeeze myself into the shoebox cafetia.

Later gator!

53

Living Room / Re: Darwinism + geneticism + two-wheeled vehicles = ... awesomeness.

« on: January 28, 2011, 01:40 PM »

Okay, stoppit!

I'm at work and was just mezmerized for 30 minutes.

grumble grumble...eye candy...grumble

54

General Software Discussion / Re: Anyone else here have an unhealthy fascination with progress bars?

« on: January 12, 2011, 06:42 AM »

Hah!

I have that cartoon on my wall.  I do so many software installs in the course of a day, you'd think a progress barr would become JAPB.

I prefer the minimal approach as well, and have often cursed M$ for their animated flying papers that wriggle and float from one folder to another.

For my part, not being a programmer, I have often wondered how the darned things work.  Do they actually measure progress? Is it a percentage of the over all program size that's measured?  Is it the percentage of the number of files that are to be installed?  Does it measure the programmers' perceived notion of how long the install should take?  Does it measure some sort of programmatic "marker" during the install, and then in turn updates the progress bar?

Maybe now someone will be able to answer these questions for me, and I can get on with more important things in my life, such as how they get the tiny grains of sand into that little hourglass, how close to the speed of light does my clothes washer goes on the spin cycle, or perhaps why my cat has a slice of buttered toast stuck her back....

I guess I'm still the retard everyone tells me I am.

55

Living Room / Re: Jeans pocket - the square-ish one on the right

« on: November 26, 2010, 01:08 PM »

Thanks guys! Looks like that pocket of mine will stay unused then. Well, unless I should finally start smoking

-phitsc (November 26, 2010, 09:52 AM)

Sweet jesus no!  Do not take up smoking.  I have a lot of regrets in my life, but smoking is right there at the top.

56

Living Room / Re: Jeans pocket - the square-ish one on the right

« on: November 26, 2010, 06:25 AM »

I always assumed it was a pocket watch, um, pocket.

I don't use a watch, but I am a smoker, and so, this pocket has plenty of use for me.

I can carry a lighter or matches in there.  I also use it to dispose of extinguished butts, until I can find a garbage can.  I've never been one to toss a butt onto the ground.  Rather, I squeeze the "heater off onto the grass, stamp it out, and then the resulting paper/filter gets rolled up and stored in that little pocket until I can find a garbage can.

When I'm working outside on a small project, that doesn't require my overalls, it's a great pocket to store loose nuts and bolts, screws, other fasteners, or snips of wire that should find the way to the garbage rather than just being tossed on the ground.

I despise littering and those who do it, so I guess for me, it's a great temp garbage keeper.

A lot of jeans makers do make that pocket too small for anything.  Mark's Work Wearhouse jeans give a very generous sized watch pocket, so there is no leap to imagine a pocket watch going in there.  Keep in mind too that this wouldn't be yer fancy pocket watch for a fancy man.  *Real* men had their watch on a chain, and it was always tucked into their *vest* pocket.  Vests being for a gentleman, and jeans with a watch pocket being for the blue collar scum like me. And possibly you

YMMV

57

Find And Run Robot / FARR gets props at Freeware Genius

« on: November 18, 2010, 09:05 AM »

Read it and weep tears of joy!

http://www.freewareg...reewaregenius.com%29

58

General Software Discussion / Re: Help me come up with a Windows XP-->Windows 7 transition strategy.

« on: November 03, 2010, 06:57 AM »

I don't have any suggestions for the transfer, beyond what has been offered here.

However, I have one if you discover software that does not run on Win7 - try Microsoft's XP Mode for Win7.

http://www.microsoft...tual-pc/default.aspx

This is a specially developed XP VM with some neat features, that I have started to use at work. We have a number of terminal programs and other assorted programs that won't run under W7.

With the XP mode VM, anything installed on the VM will drop an icon into your Win7 start menu (if it doesn't, just drop a shortcut into the "All Users" start menu). Drag it out to the desktop and when you dble click, the XP only app runs in an XP window, within W7! The VM is still there for further installation, but if you just run the app, you'll never see it. Locally mapped drives (USB etc) and network mapped drives will fall through from the host to the VM. This was a big help for our apps that need a network drive - there was no need to install the network client.

This version of the MS VM software runs much faster than the usual Virtual PC software and the best thing of all - if you use the supplied Win XP image, you DO NOT need an XP License.

Check it out.

59

Living Room / Re: Looking for Refrigerator Magnets that work

« on: September 28, 2010, 08:36 AM »

Lee Valley also sells rare earth magnets, in several configurations, one of which might suit your purpose:

http://www.leevalley...px?cat=3&p=42363

60

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Mark browser text to print, not other way around

« on: September 28, 2010, 08:29 AM »

Thanks for the heads up on that.

Is Aardvark a DonationCoder item?  I was really hoping I had come up with a cool idea for DC. I guess I'll be crying myself to sleep yet again tonight!

Cheers!

61

Post New Requests Here / IDEA: Mark browser text to print, not other way around

« on: September 27, 2010, 10:22 AM »

Just saw another hit for a browser plugin that allows you to "hide" or remove parts of a webpage you don't want to print.

Seems bass-ackwards to me.  I've tried these things and they *all* fail because I have to do so much clicking and turning off of things that it's just a huge waste of time.

Why hasn't someone come up with the idea of choosing the part of the page you *DO* want to print and ignoring the rest.  One click and print..yer done and Bob's yer Uncle (unless you don't have a Bob in your family, or if he's the *creepy* uncle).

There may be reasons this can't be done, of which I am unaware.  First time for everything I guess....;0..roflmao

Anyway, if this can or can't be done, I'd love to hear about it!

Cheers!

62

DC Gamer Club / Re: Civilization V

« on: September 21, 2010, 12:16 PM »

In a similar vein, I'd be happy to offer some viewpoints from a franchise addict ...um, later this week.

Well, okay, let me just finish this turn.  Okay then, this game.  Okay maybe it'll be next month......

63

Living Room / Re: Linux Learning - what to do after basic install?

« on: June 25, 2010, 01:01 PM »

40hz,

I've already setup semi-LAMP; we use Postgres rather than MySQL, but all the rest is there.  But I'm glad you mentioned it because yer basic website setup had totally slipped my mind. Now at least it gets on the list. However, all I did was the installs for those products, no configuration.  As I'm just starting, my jobs for the past couple of weeks are to learn the general environment and tools we use, and then those "joe-jobs" that prepare the real NetAdmin to get to the heavy lifting.

So I've configured a few blades, installed a few VMs and then in them, installed Debian with PHP, Apache (A Patchy Server - still makes me laff) and Postgres.

The intro texts I'm working through assume bash, which is what I have at my disposal. Using Debian here at work, so that's what I'll be working with. Have done zero scripting on linux, but plenty of scripting in other environments so that should be less of a hill to push my brain up.

When you're off the road, I look forward to whatever else you have to suggest.

housetier,

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm tracking down vimtutor right now.  I've had limited experience with Vi in the past, but know that it will become a daily tool.  Mind you I am a big fan of eMacs.  When I was running DLG BBS on my Amiga, I installed a version of the emacs editor as the syste/user editor and a lot of people told me they liked it.  Of course, that was back when computers were steam-powered so who knows what it's like today.  Got a good laugh out of the illustration though

64

Living Room / Linux Learning - what to do after basic install?

« on: June 25, 2010, 09:59 AM »

I've had a job function change, from end user support back to the server side of the force, for which I was originally hired about 15 years ago.

It was unexpected and has caught me a little flat-footed as I never expected to be reprieved from the user side of the force.  Now I am trying to catch up on all of the server skills that have been dormant and unnurtured, lo all these years.

So I'm jumping to Linux (as a server - no interest as a desktop as yet). I have one project to play with - putting my Xbox on my home network as a media centre - but I'm looking for other tasks to help me learn more about getting around in, and managing Linux.

I have a zillion pdfs on how to *begin* learning Linux, but after installing etc. and learning basic commands, how to get around, and all the other basic stuff, I don't know what to do next to put my beginner skills to use.

Any suggestions are gratefully accepted.  Considering that my work focus is on managing servers, more tasks to practise those skills would be more appropriate than learning to play a movie an mp3 or other "desktop/User" oriented tasks.

Thanks Y'all!

65

Living Room / Re: Why does the computer have to pause when you stick in a blank dvd/cd?

« on: June 25, 2010, 09:41 AM »

I don't know why (well okay it was pointed out above that disk i/o needs multi-threading) but it seems any disk activity puts everything else to sleep until Windows wakes up after disk i/o.

-Daleus (June 21, 2010, 11:27 AM)

Could this have something to do with the use of pagefiles and the need to complete page transfers in one go without interruption?

-Carol Haynes (June 22, 2010, 06:34 PM)

Dunno Carol - you're the MS expert here, not me.  But your comment suggests that perhaps I could make some adjustments/tweaks to improve that performance.  Can that be done, without impacting the rest of the system. It really bugs me that much!

As for fries with that, I'd prefer it would ask me if I'd like a long and langourous foot massage - something I could use rather than an extra inch on the ole waistline!


[/quote]

66

Living Room / Re: Why does the computer have to pause when you stick in a blank dvd/cd?

« on: June 21, 2010, 11:27 AM »

It's called crap PC architecture.

I don't know why (well okay it was pointed out above that disk i/o needs multi-threading) but it seems any disk activity puts everything else to sleep until Windows wakes up after disk i/o.

Back in the Amiga days, they implemented a custom chip to handle all disk i/o, and the pause that gnaws was eliminated. It's something that has bugged my britches since I started using PCs.

Further, what's with Windows Explorer, when switch to a new folder, briefly shows you the contents just fine, then at times, blanks the list and proceeds to "Search" for a minute to find what it just displayed perfectly fine?  Grrrrr.

Okay I feel better now.

67

Living Room / Re: Dagnabbit - I want my cercle!

« on: May 11, 2010, 02:02 PM »

Sorry, didn't mean to cause controversy!

Yeah I saw the spam posts in the RSS feed and wondered about them.  But when I followed up the posts had already been removed.

So I thought I'd be funny...sigh.  I am just no good at this humour business. So much for my career in standup.

68

Living Room / Dagnabbit - I want my cercle!

« on: May 10, 2010, 01:38 PM »

I want my image cercle - two of them in fact, and a site cercle to boot!

69

Living Room / Re: UK amateur photographers: if you're good, don't use Boots!

« on: April 14, 2010, 09:28 PM »

Interesting story.

When I played Eve Online, I played with a fellow who worked for a Boots outlet.

According to him, management at all levels were a pack of ass hammers. In his case he was always being "spied on" while at work and eventually his stress level led him to quit.

70

Living Room / Re: Apple Attacks Adobe

« on: April 14, 2010, 09:24 PM »

I'm surprised by Apple's stance - they have a long history of being a "closed shop" and extreme control freaks.

As for Adobe, I've less and less impressed with their products. They are good in conception but more and more Adobe products are becoming bloatware, buggy and when seeking customer service, they have become less and less responsive.

I am happy to see two angry rip each other apart.  Perhaps the resulting legal costs will make them both take a step backwards and in doing so allow lessen known and superior products step in the fill the gap.

This is strictly my end-user point of view.  I'm not a programmer like a lot of you here, and I'm sure there are good technical arguments on both sides of the fence. But I just can't sympathize with either side in this case.

Cheers!

71

Living Room / Re: The little bug who grew up to become a feature

« on: April 07, 2010, 08:23 AM »

Interesting story.

Without trying to be too philosophical about it, I wonder if there is a lesson to be learned from the story when considering AI.

It would be prudent when working on Artificial Intelligence projects, that we not mistake coding errors for human behaviour.

And that's about as deep as I can go - the thought just popped into my head when reading the blog post.

Please, return to your normally scheduled aspirating.

72

Living Room / Re: Donationcoder: How did you find it + What has your experience been like so far.

« on: March 16, 2010, 06:35 AM »

My mother brought me.

The old troll said I didn't work hard enough, and she was gonna show me how hard really smart people work. But that's all I can remember really, cuz that's when she started hitting me.

Personally, I think I was following a link to some cool piece of software, but Mom says no.  Thanks God she stopped hitting me so I could make this post.

73

General Software Discussion / Re: Trying to remember an old game

« on: March 15, 2010, 09:09 AM »

Mission Impossible?

74

General Software Discussion / Re: Recommend anti-spyware, please?

« on: March 09, 2010, 07:05 AM »

My university has a license for MBAM.

We tested the free version independantly, along side a few others, only one of which was competitive - SuperAntiSpyware.

I prefer MBAM, due to the simple interface and the fact that it finds everything the others do, and a few more. YMMV

In fact, because we use the near useless Trend Micro product, MBAM is invaluable - when you do a scan, as MBAM touches files, Trend finds virii.  Unfortunately, it's too stupid a product to find virii on it's own. Pathetic and embarrassing for the company and it's coders no doubt - what a piece of trash.

If it wasn't for MBAM, we'd be in big trouble.

75

General Software Discussion / Re: Return of the Son of the best *free* Windows Text Editor

« on: March 09, 2010, 06:59 AM »

I was an UltraEdit user for ages, as my deparmtnet had a license.

But I wanted something for home too. The feature I most apreciated in UE was the block colum mode, mentioned in an earlier post.

Whuile searching for a text editor replacement, Crimson Editor was the only thing I found that was free and had colum editing mode.

As for anyone else's requirements, I have no idea how it might fulfil them.