Recent Posts

1401

Living Room / Man, those British folks sure know how to live

« Last post by zridling on January 31, 2009, 04:53 AM »

From Stonehenge to Windsor to Updown Court, the typical British home is impressive. Those guys can sure build a mean castle, no matter what century it is.



Unlike other "most expensive houses in the world," this one actually has a video tour of the interior and a narrated explanation of the amenities; and while the house is a couple years old, well, it's the only look many of us will get at how the other 0.00001% lives.

1402

General Software Discussion / Re: WINDOWS 7 THREAD (ongoing)

« Last post by zridling on January 31, 2009, 04:29 AM »

I realize that Windows still rules in most of the world and I'm going to have to teach my son the ways of it. *sigh*

-Edvard (January 30, 2009, 01:03 PM)

Make him get a job to pay for a copy? That might make that Linux DVD look a little sweeter. (Microsoft still plays nasty with your MBR with Win7.)
_______________________
That said, Windows users will enjoy Win7 compared to XP and Vista. If you're coming from XP, you'll be delighted with the improved UI. And if you're coming from Vista, you'll be able to exhale. Win7 might be another XP, where it lasts on machines for ten years! With most computing time being done online, Moore's Law has had to take a back seat.

1403

Living Room / Re: Meme time! Five Things People Don't Know About Me

« Last post by zridling on January 31, 2009, 04:11 AM »

(1) I'm a huge Hannah Montana fan. I know every lyric and can put the 8-year old girl next door to shame. Don't judge me!!! 

(2) I'm the luckiest man in the world. I married my best friend from college. We're still crackin' jokes and leaning on each other 27 years later. I owe it all to my Dad. When I asked if I should marry her, he said, "Boy, you're not going to find another one as good as [Renee]. You'd better marry her!" I did, but not before I made her ask my dad for my hand in marriage. She did! He said, "Hell, please take him!" A lot of people marry for love and fall out of love, then split. I married someone I like and cared for. You can learn to love almost anyone, but that doesn't mean you'll like them.

(3) I love cold weather. My room stays at 50F/10C much of the year. If I could, I'd live on the north side of Norway.

(4) I'm the guy who feeds all the stray cats in the neighborhood. 

(5) I suffer from crippling headaches, which in turn makes me a classic manic-depressive. I'll be in bed for 1-3 days at a time, but once I'm up, I have extraordinary mental energy for as long as 32 hours. However, the pain is so bad, I fear I will die. But in my dreams I die of suffocation. My eyesight is deteriorating at an alarming rate. Don't know if that's connected. Went to two doctors, they wanted to prescribe viagra. WTF! 

1404

Living Room / Re: R.I.P T-ShirtHell

« Last post by zridling on January 31, 2009, 03:27 AM »

There are no safety nets for small businesses, just the big corporations and banks. The IT industry alone saw 200,000 layoffs in the past five months. Except for a few exceptions (Nintendo, IBM, Amazon), this is just the start. If you're betting, put your money on ugly, because it's going to be ugly for a long time.

1405

Living Room / Meme time! Five Things People Don't Know About Me

« Last post by zridling on January 30, 2009, 05:05 PM »

List five things we don't know about you. (picture is gratuitous)

1406

Living Room / Re: Need advice how to offer/sell domain names best

« Last post by zridling on January 30, 2009, 06:37 AM »

You might point the way with a google search of the idea for ideas:
http://www.google.co...e=utf-8&oe=utf-8

1407

General Software Discussion / Re: WINDOWS 7 THREAD (ongoing)

« Last post by zridling on January 29, 2009, 08:36 PM »

There will be no upgrade path from XP to Win7, says Microsoft. Must do a clean install.

Makes sense.
_______________
@40hz - Good to know Ubuntu accommodates Win7.

1408

General Software Discussion / Re: copy paste between 2 computers on separate networks?

« Last post by zridling on January 29, 2009, 01:38 PM »

Remind me of something.

1409

Living Room / Re: Drive Dock: Turn bare drives into floppies

« Last post by zridling on January 29, 2009, 01:36 PM »

This would be especially convenient to drop an NTFS (Win) drive into my Linux box, mount it, and transfer some things to another's computer. Drivers...

1410

Older Newsletters / Re: --> Newsletter for January 28th, 2009 - Codename "New Years Revolutions"

« Last post by zridling on January 29, 2009, 01:32 PM »

2008 was... busy!

1411

Living Room / Re: Going Into Frugality Mode -- What are your Tricks and Tips

« Last post by zridling on January 28, 2009, 11:56 PM »

---> Good points. Depending on your lifestyle and age, health insurance might be a massive ripoff. Note that I said, depending on your lifestyle. I'm practically a hermit, and haven't been to a doctor but once, which confirmed my disrespect for them. I diagnosed myself using WebMD and Google, and then tested remedies.

---> I also don't do life insurance or pension plans. In the US, companies can bankrupt pension plans without penalties as they themselves go bankrupt, and at 47, I've seen far too many of my friends in their 50s who've watched 20-30 years of payments vanish overnight.

THINGS I WON'T SCRIMP ON:
- a comfortable bed; good computer desk chair
- best monitor I can afford

Everything else is negotiable!

1412

Living Room / Re: Going Into Frugality Mode -- What are your Tricks and Tips

« Last post by zridling on January 28, 2009, 05:28 PM »

I happen to know these circumstances very well, so here are my 2 cents (they're free ;-):

* Recreational activities: do something with your friends without spending (much) money. For example: organize poker nights, those are cheap + you can win something too). If you organize such activities at your home, make a pot & share all costs (drinks, chips, etc...)
__________________GREAT IDEA!!

* Do not buy new stuff if it isn't broken yet. Don't upgrade your computer, etc.
__________________YOU BASTARD. YOU ABSOLUTE BASTARD. THIS IS THE ONE THING I WANT TO DO THIS YEAR. 

* Sell stuff you dont need on ebay.
__________________I USED TO DO THIS, EXCEPT eBAY TAKES TOO BIG A PERCENTAGE. CRAIGSLIST IS PREFERRED NOW IN THE US.

* Track your expenses & evaluate what costs you too much, get rid of that / replace it with something cheaper but equally valuable.
__________________VERY GOOD IDEA!!

-Djiezes (January 27, 2009, 06:39 AM)

Thanks!

1413

Living Room / Cool animated history of the Internet short film

« Last post by zridling on January 28, 2009, 03:27 AM »

History of the Internet is an animated documentary explaining the inventions from time-sharing to filesharing, from Arpanet to Internet. Worth five minutes.

1414

Living Room / Drive Dock: Turn bare drives into floppies

« Last post by zridling on January 28, 2009, 03:09 AM »

If you've upgraded the hard drive in your laptop or desktop machine, then you've got a naked, homeless hard drive sitting around in one of your drawers. Put that puppy to use by plugging it into ThinkGeek's External USB SATA Drive Dock and boom, you've got extra storage without the enclosure.


I've got several old hard drives lying around with great stuff on them, and I can plug them into the dock as needed. At $40, it's worth a shot. And just so you know, there are tons of these from other companies on Newegg.com.

1415

General Software Discussion / Re: Forum 2.0 Suggestion

« Last post by zridling on January 26, 2009, 10:45 PM »

Those are always eye-pleasing colors, Lutz. Thanks for the .png.

1416

General Software Discussion / Re: PlayOnLinux might be what the Linux world needs to succeed

« Last post by zridling on January 26, 2009, 10:41 PM »

Great DLSquad link, Paul. Thanks!!

1417

General Software Discussion / Re: WINDOWS 7 THREAD (ongoing)

« Last post by zridling on January 26, 2009, 10:36 PM »

Finnie makes some good points. He made the jump to Mac several years ago pre-Vista. I think [Windows] users will welcome 7, but what will it offer the enterprise customer? If businesses don't jump on it -- and face it, they don't have the money to upgrade hardware or licenses these days -- then Microsoft will need a Plan B business model. As Finnie notes, users are not willing to pay for single-platform data lockdown in the age of the cloud. The OS takes a backseat to the app.

1418

Living Room / Re: Going Into Frugality Mode -- What are your Tricks and Tips

« Last post by zridling on January 26, 2009, 10:24 PM »

I've been doing frugal since I left college... 25 years ago! Something that being $161,000 in debt causes. But here are pieces of my ascetic lifestyle:

• Cultivate cheap hobbies. Hunting, fishing, season tickets to Pro sports, motorcycles, etc. will eat you alive over the years.
  
• Switch to free, open source software (knowing I won't be paying for the next MS Office or Win7 tickles me)
  
• Instead of upgrading your entire computer, upgrade only your motherboard, chip, and memory. Save the spare parts just in case.
  
• Turn out the lights (the old man was right about this one)
  
• Drive that used car until the gas tank falls off. A car for most of us is a necessity, but a new one isn't.
  
• Never ever get involved in a lawsuit, and if you do, settle. You'll be pissed, but you'll save money.
  
• Don't buy expensive furniture. Why do you care what someone thinks. Unless you entertain regularly at you home, forgettttaboutit.
  
• Cancel as many subscriptions as you can live without, including cable TV (nod to mouser), and stop spending so much money on that damn phone. It's the single most profitable item ever invented.
  
• Combine trips to the store, to a friend's house, to an appointment, etc.
  
• If it doesn't come in a box or a can, I can't cook it. (I don't have the patience.)
  
• If you can manage it, work off the grid, and don't pay taxes. The government will always throw it away on someone/something other than what you want from it. (And no, I don't give a fap about a new runway.)
  
• If you subscribe to porn sites, cancel the subscription the same day. Most sites offer you a half price discount if you stay signed up. But with broadband you can download all the site's content in a day. Or just wait to find it on Usenet.

1419

General Software Discussion / Re: WINDOWS 7 THREAD (ongoing)

« Last post by zridling on January 26, 2009, 08:16 AM »

I still think it would go a long ways toward customer relations and good PR to give all registered Vista users a free or deeply discounted price on the full Win7 version. It won't happen, but that my half cent.

1420

Living Room / Re: Gadgets that make you look like a jerk

« Last post by zridling on January 26, 2009, 08:09 AM »

No, I'd want to know where the person got it (thanks for the link)!

1421

Living Room / Re: Gadgets that make you look like a jerk

« Last post by zridling on January 25, 2009, 02:12 AM »

Navin Johnson: I damn thee! (pointing to his Opti-Grab glasses) 

1422

General Software Discussion / Re: Links for Windows 7 information and tips

« Last post by zridling on January 25, 2009, 02:03 AM »

I forgot who posted this one: Windows 7 News, which has a lot of training, update, hotfix info on it.

1423

General Software Discussion / Re: How would you market Windows 7?

« Last post by zridling on January 25, 2009, 02:00 AM »

Ha!!  I won't be switching back from Linux, but I'm hoping my XP-loving/Vista-hating wife enjoys 7. For anyone using Windows, they deserve a good experience with it.

As for slogans, one of the best was Microsoft's Where do you want to go today? But this time around I think,

Windows 7: 4chan approved!

will do nicely.

1424

General Software Discussion / How would you market Windows 7?

« Last post by zridling on January 24, 2009, 08:35 PM »

Microsoft is looking for a marketing manager for Windows 7. Word of mouth is important to establish the buzz of an OS version. (Vista's was "The wow starts now" and that didn't play well, as we know.) But off the top of your head, how would you market Windows 7?


(Sorry, I love this calculator)


_______________________________________
PS: This example does not qualify!

1425

Living Room / Re: I have returned...

« Last post by zridling on January 24, 2009, 08:18 PM »

Fantastic, kyrathaba, and thanks for the reminder on the tutorial series. Welcome back!