Recent Posts

1576

General Software Discussion / Re: What are some good multimedia viewers?

« Last post by Innuendo on October 05, 2009, 10:00 AM »

No, ACDSee doesn't handle mp3 tags. I think if you want something that will handle all your multimedia and tag your mp3s as well you may have to try J. River's Media Center and see if that fulfills your needs.

1577

General Software Discussion / Re: Win7: Anyone else getting excited?

« Last post by Innuendo on October 04, 2009, 07:17 PM »

Does anyone know how to change the default Users directory? I can't stand the idea of storing "My Documents" and other personal files on the system partition.

-Deozaan (October 04, 2009, 03:00 PM)

Can't speak for Dropbox, but with most Windows directories like "My Documents" and "Downloads" you can just right-click on the folder, select Properties, and then go to the Location tab to choose where you want the directory to be stored.

Other directories Windows 7 is smart enough if you try to move the folder somewhere to ask if you want to make the destination the new default location.

1578

General Software Discussion / Re: I'm tired of being told.

« Last post by Innuendo on October 04, 2009, 07:12 PM »

I've really liked a-squared (free version) for at least the last few years, but "holy crap" is exactly my reaction of late.

-sajman99 (October 04, 2009, 04:03 PM)

I wasn't too concerned. I'm lucky enough to have a 10 meg connection so I wasn't too inconvenienced by the download, but I think this is the first program I have ever downloaded where the updates were significantly larger than the initial download.

1579

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows vs. Mac: I'm starting to change.

« Last post by Innuendo on October 04, 2009, 07:09 PM »

I'm curious how much ground they are losing, if they are at all.  Maybe I'm wrong and I'm not able to see the big picture.

-superboyac (October 04, 2009, 06:48 PM)

Probably not much ground at all, at least in the corporate business world. These companies have too much money invested in their specialized software to switch computing platforms. Heck, there are a LOT of companies running custom apps that have been written in COBOL and can't make a switch to a newer programming language as it'd cost the company millions & that's just the cost of moving from one PC programming language to another PC programming language. Start talking about moving to a different computing platform and having to leave *all* your software behind there'll be people in accounting having strokes.

1580

General Software Discussion / Re: I'm tired of being told.

« Last post by Innuendo on October 04, 2009, 03:12 PM »

a-squared(btw--likely to dump this one due to huge signature updates)

-sajman99 (October 04, 2009, 02:49 PM)

Just installed A-Squared Free the other day and was shocked. 52MB download for the program and then a 60+MB download for the signatures. Holy crap!

1581

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows vs. Mac: I'm starting to change.

« Last post by Innuendo on October 04, 2009, 03:06 PM »

That alone seems like a pretty unarguable point for him using a Mac. It is his college machine after all.

-40hz (October 04, 2009, 01:56 PM)

I think the unarguable point for cmpm is (and please forgive me if I'm putting words in your mouth) that with that Mac there's an ample enough supply of software available to help his child excel in college without there being an ability to run much software that will distract the child from his studies, i.e. no abundance of games that will take him away from his studies.

And I can appreciate that. If one is putting their child through college (paying tuition, buying books, buying a PC for studies, etc.) one would want to ensure that one is getting a good return on one's investment rather than finding out later the child has been spending time best spent on studying on trying to become a professional gamer.

1582

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows Security Essentials

« Last post by Innuendo on October 04, 2009, 11:41 AM »

MSE does not have excellent virtual "standing" but is a lot better than your email indicate Innuendo. Actually just an average AV which any Grandma can use is enough to reach "approved" status if you ask me.

-Bamse (October 03, 2009, 03:30 PM)

I think you misread my message. I was replying to sajman99 who was saying that *I* was in excellent standing, not MSE. As I have said all along, it's too early yet to see how well MSE's standing will be in independent tests. If it's anything like my friend's experience, however, it will not be suitable for recommending even to Grandma...unless you like going over to Grandma's once a month to clean up what MSE lets through.

Which reminds me of an exception. Avast just released an almost completely functional beta 5.

I hope they have fixed the bug that interferes with the operation of some programs that write a lot of data to the hard drive.

1583

General Software Discussion / Re: What is best program to create a DVD from any video file?

« Last post by Innuendo on October 04, 2009, 11:34 AM »

http://www.consumer....-dvp5996k_98/prd/za/ might be a better choice for the future, if you can afford this player.

-Curt (October 04, 2009, 03:51 AM)

Ooo...looks like that model can even play WMVs.  I may have to see if I can buy one of those.

1584

General Software Discussion / Re: The quiet disappearance of the top two mp3 cataloging software.

« Last post by Innuendo on October 04, 2009, 11:31 AM »

I don't have any collectorz progs myself, so I've just been an observer. Decided I needed to be more organised with my mp3s & starting with the J River jukebox.

-Dormouse (October 04, 2009, 05:06 AM)

Like you, I don't have any Collectorz programs as well & judging from the twit they have running their company making the business decisions I count my lucky stars I never hitched my wagon to that star.

Also like you I have decided I needed to get more organized with my mp3s and such as well. It's been a long journey & I thought about starting a thread documenting my adventures, but it's turning out to be way too long to effectively post in a forum and expect people to read it.

1585

Living Room / Re: Be warned - Acronis Backup and Recovery

« Last post by Innuendo on October 04, 2009, 11:27 AM »

Is Acronis going to be in it's final death roll over this one? I cannot see how a manufacturer of corporate recovery software can survive with this debacle. I would imagine corportate clients will abandon the sinking ship in droves.

-Carol Haynes (October 04, 2009, 06:49 AM)

Looks like their quick rise to greatness is only going to be matched by their quick decline into....well....poo.

1586

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows vs. Mac: I'm starting to change.

« Last post by Innuendo on October 04, 2009, 11:24 AM »

What I do know is, it doesn't take long for a reformat,
since the OS has everything he needs already.

-cmpm (October 04, 2009, 07:32 AM)

No. What you know is that it doesn't take long for a reformat since the OS has everything it thinks he needs already. Every week I run across messages posted in software support forums by Mac users pleading that xyz software program for the PC be ported to the Mac & the author's response is always the same: it's just not worth it financially.

If you are a fish who doesn't mind living in a small aquarium then buy a Mac. If, however, you are a fish who craves the open sea & all the diversity it will provide then your only choice is to buy a PC.

1587

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows vs. Mac: I'm starting to change.

« Last post by Innuendo on October 04, 2009, 11:21 AM »

The plus of macs imho, is that you can reload it/reformat and get everything back without 3 days of updates. And downloading things to make it do what it needs to.

-cmpm (October 03, 2009, 07:33 PM)

[Talking about the Mac] and it's flexibility to [not be able to] get almost any program to accomplish any task.

What you said in the first quote is directly related to the second quote. If your choices in flexibility are very limited you therefore don't have much to do when you do a reinstall...not because it's not necessary, but because you simply can't. You are mostly stuck with the choices Apple has chosen for you for better or worse.

1588

DC Gamer Club / Re: Battlefield Heroes

« Last post by Innuendo on October 03, 2009, 11:41 AM »

Battlefield Heroes is out of beta. Even if you're not gonna play it you owe it to yourself to watch the intro they have on their site.

-p3lb0x (July 21, 2009, 02:15 PM)

Just watched the intro....had a very "G.I. Joe cartoon from the '80s' feel to it.

1589

General Software Discussion / Re: What is best program to create a DVD from any video file?

« Last post by Innuendo on October 03, 2009, 11:33 AM »

Thanks for info! 

-CleverCat (October 03, 2009, 01:28 AM)

What Miles said.

The bonus feature with Phillips DVD players is that after you get it you can punch an access code on the remote and the DVD player will become region-free allowing you to play DVDs no matter what country they were released in. That alone was worth the price of admission for me.

1590

Living Room / Re: Play Media Files on my Network House-wide?

« Last post by Innuendo on October 03, 2009, 11:29 AM »

Just share the folders your media files are in, on the network.  The other machines can mount them as a drive and easily access the files, and even copy/paste them to their hard drives...

-y0himba (October 03, 2009, 08:34 AM)

I don't think that's what he wants to do. The way I read his original post he is looking to stream his media to non-computer devices so standard file-sharing won't work.

1591

Living Room / Re: Play Media Files on my Network House-wide?

« Last post by Innuendo on October 02, 2009, 10:27 PM »

One problem is that it is DLNA, not DNLA. That helped a little. Not much, though.

-J-Mac (October 02, 2009, 01:08 PM)

Oh crap...dyslexia. Sorry about that.

This article looks like a good start to choosing a DLNA media server:

http://www.rbgrn.net...ws-mac-os-x-or-linux

This "best practices" article looks like it may also be worth a read:

http://www.twonkyfor....php?f=15&t=6124

Twonky is an awesome media server that gets good reviews. You could do worse than using that to serve your media if you don't go for a media server appliance.

1592

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows Security Essentials

« Last post by Innuendo on October 02, 2009, 10:15 PM »

Given your excellent standing here in DC land, I don't for a millisecond question your veracity, so thanks very much for sharing this important information. I will certainly not be rushing into this one.

-sajman99 (October 02, 2009, 02:37 PM)

Excellent standing? Nah...the guy with that is over there. I'm just a guy who talks a lot.

1593

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Tray icon stacking

« Last post by Innuendo on October 02, 2009, 10:12 PM »

I've looked around for a program that can do this for a long time and I've found nothing... I was wondering if anyone would mind making a program that would allow you to choose any tray icons that you want (My tray space is so limited due to massive amounts of tray icons...) to hide, and simply hide them all into one..

-937o5 (October 02, 2009, 07:44 PM)

Not that it helps you now, but Windows 7 changes the way the system tray works & how icons are stored there. Other than the icons you configure to show all the time there's a little up arrow at the left of the system tray and when you click that a small window opens up and shows the rest of your system tray icons.

It's hard to explain, but it's pretty cool...

1594

Living Room / Re: Be warned - Acronis Backup and Recovery

« Last post by Innuendo on October 02, 2009, 12:44 PM »

So! Whatcha doin' that you're getting a monthly BSOD? Curious minds want to know.

-40hz (October 02, 2009, 11:36 AM)

Agreed...only time I see a BSOD is if I install a new piece of software & it is buggy. Then I uninstall it and I'm back to a BSOD-free existence.

1595

General Software Discussion / Re: What is best program to create a DVD from any video file?

« Last post by Innuendo on October 02, 2009, 12:39 PM »

Can u recommend any good DVD Player with USB models - we have Phillips and LG here at mo....

-CleverCat (October 01, 2009, 11:50 PM)

I'm just using a cheapie Phillips model that I bought for less than US$50. It's only flaw is if you're playing a Divx file & the bit-rate gets ultra-high during a scene it'll stutter a bit till the bit-rates drop back down to sane levels. I run into such stuttering in probably 1 out of 100 shows/movies I watch, though.

1596

General Software Discussion / Re: Win7: Anyone else getting excited?

« Last post by Innuendo on October 02, 2009, 12:37 PM »

Hmm... most disturbing! I'll join you in hoping Yuri can get TLB sorted - I LOVE TLB 

-Darwin (October 01, 2009, 11:25 PM)

So far he's got it working if you use TLB in stand-alone mode and don't mind another toolbar on your screen, but it's just not the same to me.

1597

Living Room / Re: Play Media Files on my Network House-wide?

« Last post by Innuendo on October 02, 2009, 12:36 PM »

I don't see why you couldn't do what you wish without entering a proprietary solution. All you have to do when shopping for components is make sure they are all DNLA-compliant. It's a standard that ensures equipment from different manufacturers all work together without any vendor lock-in.

1598

General Software Discussion / Re: Win7: Anyone else getting excited?

« Last post by Innuendo on October 01, 2009, 10:33 PM »

Crap! Hopefully it serves as a nice replacement for True Launch Bar?

-Darwin (October 01, 2009, 07:50 PM)

It's a nice replacement if your idea of what a taskbar should be matches Microsoft's idea. However, most TLB fans are going to miss the customizability and the plugins. Here's hoping Yuri can figure out how to work it back into Windows.

1599

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows Security Essentials

« Last post by Innuendo on October 01, 2009, 10:31 PM »

This just in....

Got an email from a friend who placed his trust in Microsoft Security Essentials. Seems he ran across a couple malware-laden sites & what's curious is while MSE popped up dialogs that it was blocking the download when he double-checked with MBAM he discovered that some malware MSE said it blocked had gotten through to his hard drive & installed itself.

I think I am going to recommend people for the time being to NOT install MSE & trust their safety to it.

1600

Living Room / Re: Be warned - Acronis Backup and Recovery

« Last post by Innuendo on October 01, 2009, 10:25 PM »

Offtopic: What is the purpose of that 100 MB partition?

-Lashiec (October 01, 2009, 06:18 PM)

Some PCs freak out if the Windows boot files are too far out on the disk topography. I think this is MS's attempt to make sure all of the boot files are right at the beginning of the disc.