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1576

Living Room / Re: PORTAL 2 AVAILABLE NOW FOR PRE-ORDER

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 11, 2011, 05:58 PM »

Been there - done it - got the T-Shirt (at least for the single player game).

I have to say I am not really a game fan but I REALLY enjoyed this one and immediately bought Portal because I felt bereft when I finished it and had missed the original when it was released (you can buy it online from steam much cheaper than old copies at online retailers - just a large download so you need a reasonably fast internet connection).

Personally I prefer Portal 2 - the end game is nowhere near as random or long winded (which suits me) and there was some genuinely funny story telling and twists to the plot.

I have now started Half-Life 2 Episode 1 and am enjoying that too - although I find the story line goes on a bit and I am not overly bothered with the shoot-em-up aspect of the game.

Now I need to try Portal 2 in the multiplayer version - unfortunately I am a sad loser and don't have any friends so it is a bit tricky! I don't feel it is appropriate for a middle-aged woman to pick up random teenage boys via the web interface (though I don't know it might have some interest .... no no never mind)

1577

Living Room / Re: Google Chrome Hacked, Sandbox Escaped

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 11, 2011, 03:52 AM »

Oh dear ... and that is the current version ...

1578

Living Room / Re: Farewell Skype ...

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 11, 2011, 03:31 AM »

Take Windows Defender as an example - they bought up another anti-spyware product and made a complete hash of it.

-Carol Haynes (May 10, 2011, 05:16 PM)

I don't think that's entirely accurate.  Isn't MSE based on Windows Defender?  And to be sure, MSE is decent enough AV that I run it and nothing else.

-wraith808 (May 10, 2011, 07:55 PM)

Is it? I thought MSE was built on the same engine as their corporate AV solutions ???

Windows Defender was based on Giant Anti-Spyware which MS bought in 2004 and MSE dsiables WD and replaces the functionality.

Trouble is the current version of WD is pretty useless (as were most of the versions since it was released in 2005 as a beta) - so much so that you need to use other products to detect spyware. The only thing I find WD achieves is a level of annoyance as the settings are so dumbed down that you can't do much to address any issues it flags up (especially when they are false positives). Classic example, yesterday I was working on a client computer and WD kept complaining it detected changes but refused to give me any information as to what those changes are to try and check them out!

If they do keep Skype going in any standalone format you can bet your life they will integrate it with Windows Live with all the annoyances that causes with passport accounts and impenetrable security settings.

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Living Room / Re: Farewell Skype ...

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 10, 2011, 05:16 PM »

I wholeheartedly disagree, Carol. Just because MS buys this does not mean it is done for as I outline in my second posting here

-Josh (May 10, 2011, 12:07 PM)

Actually I probably agree with what you said but I would be surprised if the Skype technology isn't used within other MS products rather than keeping Skype as a free service as it is now. OK they say that isn't their intention but MS have acquired much in the past that has been absorbed and transformed into other projects and completely disappeared in its original form. Unfortunately MS don't always do justice to their acquisitions.

Take Windows Defender as an example - they bought up another anti-spyware product and made a complete hash of it.

I can't help feeling that the basic technology of Skype will be absorbed in to the Windows Live cloud (and in particular Windows Live Messenger which is pretty crap at voice and video IME) and also into some premium products. Personally I used to use Windows Messenger (the one that was built into Windows XP) and also MSN Messenger but the Live incarnation is unpleasant to use because of all the crap-bloat and the settings that make Facebook look transparent!

Whatever they do they will be working hard to recoup their $8.5bn so you can bet there will either be a massive advertising push onto cloud products or they will start pushing communicator to businesses in a bigger way - probably both!

1580

Living Room / Farewell Skype ...

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 10, 2011, 11:16 AM »

See http://www.zdnet.com...ion/9406?tag=nl.e539

Presumably that will be the end of Skype as we know it and it will all be bundled into Windows Live Messenger with all the attendant crap that comes with it!

MS apparently are upbeat about support non-MS users but haven't we heard that before somewhere?

1581

Living Room / Re: What's your experience with 3rd party color inkjet ink replacement?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 10, 2011, 03:58 AM »

In the cases I have seen there seems to be a convincingly odd correlation between the ink used and the head failures - some within warranty period (which I have never seen on Canon printers using genuine ink).

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Living Room / Re: What's your experience with 3rd party color inkjet ink replacement?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 09, 2011, 07:34 PM »

FWIW I have seen a fair few dead Canon printers that are the product of cheap ink.

-Carol Haynes (May 09, 2011, 01:47 PM)

interesting, what manner of death did they suffer?

-Stoic Joker (May 09, 2011, 06:28 PM)

Heads totally clogged and even after repeated cleaning in alcohol they never totally recovered. It might just be the local crappy inks off the local market that causes the problem but since Canon printer's most expensive spare part is the print head there is little justification to risk it by using cheap ink.

I have to say I don't find Canon inks too bad - unless you buy a printer that takes just a black and colour cartridge. Most of the more expensive printers in the range take 4, 5, 6 or more cartridges and I find those cartridges are not cheap but pretty reasonable (esp. compared with other manufacturers) and at least you get every last drop.

1583

Living Room / Re: What's your experience with 3rd party color inkjet ink replacement?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 09, 2011, 01:47 PM »

FWIW I have seen a fair few dead Canon printers that are the product of cheap ink.

Having said that I still prefer Canon to the competition and haven't seen many problems from genuine ink (unless the printer is getting quite old).

1584

General Software Discussion / Re: Anti-Virus that allows EASY reporting of false positives ?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 07, 2011, 05:44 AM »

AVAST free AV allows submission of false positives.

Not sure how actively they take notice of those submissions - especially from users of the free version. I'd guess you might get better response from the subscription based version because then they offer support.

Avast is easy to configure files to ignore though.

1585

Living Room / Re: Congratz to the US Military Forces!

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 02, 2011, 08:42 PM »

Sorry but I can't let that go:

1) The people of Iraq did not cause the war - they had nothing to do with Al Qaeda - even Hussein was opposed to bin Laden (except in the mind of Bush who was looking for any excuse to go after the Iraqi oil revenue and lots of money for his mates).

2) The war in Iraq was illegal because it was purely regime change - and that is illegal under international law

3) The premise for the war - WMD - was proved false and pretty much everyone knew it was false before the war took off - that is why they stopped the UN inspection scheme so abruptly because they weren't coming out with 'helpful' results.

As for casualties in Iraq I have every sympathy and respect for the soldiers (US, UK and others) who found themselves sucked into that war - many of whom have openly said it shouldn't have been fought (including commanding officers) - but WTF were the Iraqi people supposed to do as their cities and towns were flattened by an invading power - just sit and take it and say thank you that wives and children were massacred in blanket bombing raids.

The question now arises what will happen in Afghanistan given that the prime objective of that war was to get bin Laden - and he wasn't even in Afghanistan anyway! Are the US and allies going to pull out now?

Sorry but it makes me really angry to be described as an 'apologist' on the basis of faulty memory and illegal actions that escalate and cause many of these problems.

1586

Living Room / Re: Congratz to the US Military Forces!

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 02, 2011, 07:42 AM »

How about 2,977 of "us" to 1 of "them"?

-wraith808 (May 02, 2011, 07:26 AM)

Sorry this is my last comment on this but... it isn't 3000 to 1, it is 3000 to untold numbers (probably more than 100000) of innocents in Iraq and Afghanistan. OK bin Laden deserved what he got but aren't the US and UK supposed to be civilised countries that say they want to show the way to a better future? If so how do street celebrations help? Relief that he is no longer part of the problem yes - celebration over murder (not justice) is no way forward. And don't forget the cost paid by all those other civilians caught in the middle.

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Living Room / Re: Congratz to the US Military Forces!

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 02, 2011, 05:49 AM »

That's assuming they got the right guy - a quick burial at sea seems a bit fishy to me (sorry for he pun).

1588

General Software Discussion / Re: corrupt office 2003 file

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 01, 2011, 07:56 AM »

I will check it out.  thanks shades

BTW, LibreOffice must be a OO offshoot that I haven't heard of before.  

-techidave (April 29, 2011, 08:54 PM)

OO has pretty much ceased development as far as I can tell. The core of OO has been picked up by LibreOffice  and they are continuing a separate (and much more active) development of their own. As far as I know it is still going to be a free product.

Check it out at http://www.libreoffice.org - seems to be getting good reviews.

1589

Living Room / Re: Apple - not quite grasping the concept of privacy.

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 28, 2011, 08:47 AM »

Just to redress the balance:

1590

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Windows 7 Pro Academic Discount

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 27, 2011, 12:35 PM »

You mean "the one with the big 'ooter"?

1591

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Windows 7 Pro Academic Discount

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 27, 2011, 09:53 AM »

True - but ever heard of Asterix the Gaul ?

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Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Windows 7 Pro Academic Discount

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 27, 2011, 07:15 AM »

Hmmm - strange conversion rate:

US - $29.99

Canada - $39.99 (English and French price - not clear if this is US$ or CAD) = $42 US (if in CAD)

UK - £79.99 = $132.31 US

Australia - $119 (not clear if US$ or AUS$) If AUS$ then equivalent to $128US

France - 35 Euro = $51.32 US

So which country is the rip off version? You guessed it!

What is particularly gauling (no pun intended, honest) is that the EU is supposed to be a single market so why is the UK version $80 more expensive than the French?

More interesting is the discount price for Microsoft Office 2010 Pro for Students - UK under £50 ($80 for US students) which is a pretty good deal if you need the works.

1593

Living Room / Re: Karen Kenworthy RIP

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 26, 2011, 02:51 AM »

I just received the letter from her brother too - very sad day.

1594

Living Room / Re: Easiest laptop (brand) to take apart ?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 25, 2011, 01:43 PM »

Sorry - as for ease of access to the CPU why do you want it - surely almost all CPUs these days are surface mounted?

1595

Living Room / Re: Easiest laptop (brand) to take apart ?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 25, 2011, 01:39 PM »

Out of curiosity, why is access to the CPU so  important?  Most are surface mount and wave-soldered to the mainboard so they're not field replaceable.

As long as there's access panels for the RAM slots, the HD bay, and possibly the WiFi card, what else do you normally need access to?

The DVD, the floppy (if there is one) and the battery usually just slide out once you release the retention catch sliders.

Anything else you'll probably have trouble getting raw service parts for anyway - so why worry? Most manufacturers have a policy of not shipping boards to consumers. Those are strictly "authorized service center only" parts.

Besides, If you need a new main or video circuit board you're usually better of just getting a new laptop since it was likely damaged by a power problem on the regulation circuit. Any time you had a power sourced failure it may also have damaged other components besides the one that failed. That turns into a spiral sometimes as you gradually end up replacing one component after another until you effectively end up with a new laptop anyway.
 

-40hz (April 25, 2011, 01:20 PM)

That's pretty much the approach I take - the only non-obvious part I replace is the screen inverter (though there is a fair amount of voodoo getting in there at times). Mostly laptop repairs are memory upgrades, hard disk replacement/upgrade, WiFi card install/replace, keyboard replacement, battery/power block replacement and CD/DVD drive replace.

It isn't really practical to replace other parts that much as most people who bring me laptops bought them over 3 years ago and short of buying an eBay model to cannibalise for parts you can't really get many replacements. Most electronic parts are generally soldered these days to GPU, CPU and PUS replacement are pretty much not possible.

I have cleaned out air paths to remove dust and fluff build up (one computer I cleaned had so much cat hair it looked like felt material) but that depends on where things are located and how easy it is to get to (sometimes tweezers work quite well from the outside followed by a strong vacuum cleaner).

The only other thing I would have a stab at is replacing a damaged screen - but then the problem is finding one for an old machine!

1596

General Software Discussion / Re: FinePrint vs. priPrinter

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 25, 2011, 09:40 AM »

If priPrinter lives up to form version 4 will be a free upgrade from version 3 - in which case don't hold your breath for discounts!

1597

Living Room / Re: Easiest laptop (brand) to take apart ?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 23, 2011, 07:35 PM »

Strikes me the question is "which laptops have the best access to service manuals?" and only then "which models are easiest to disassemble?"

At least with a manual you get some clues how to get into things without breakages and lots of frustration!

In my experience Toshiba and Dell seem to have the best access to service manuals - almost all other makes seem reluctant to release their manuals.

The other big frustration is that whenever you search for an engineers manual you get totally blitzed by spam sites trying get you to buy something that should be free (and usually is if you persevere).

1598

General Software Discussion / Re: FinePrint vs. priPrinter

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 22, 2011, 05:56 PM »

The Pro version is useful if you use the added features. Even though I have Adobe Acrobat 9.0 Pro installed I still find priPrinter more convenient for PDF generation and the quality seems to be just as good to me.

I also use the highlighting and redaction features.

PriPrinter isn't prefect but I prefer it to the other pseudo-printer apps that I have tried (including FinePrint). As you have already said it is also updated pretty frequently and once you have bought a version upgrades to that version are included.

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Living Room / Re: PORTAL 2 AVAILABLE NOW FOR PRE-ORDER

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 20, 2011, 12:06 PM »

Releases 21st in UK - I ordered a copy (don't know why as I am not really a gamer but it looked intriguing) from Amazon and it is in the post!

1600

Living Room / Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 20, 2011, 07:04 AM »

Here here - I must say my back hurts and my carpal tunnel syndrome is playing me up as I type, not to mention eye strain and a feeling of nausea from all the junk food.

Otherwise I feel fine.