Recent Posts

1801

Living Room / these new cheap core 2 due laptops - any good?

« Last post by nudone on October 20, 2007, 04:12 AM »

since vista has come along i've noticed there are plenty of laptops available below the £500 price mark (no idea what they are priced at in the US and everywhere else but i'll guess that they are less than $1000).

typically, these laptops will have vista home premium and 1 to 2 gig of ram and a hard drive over 100 gig. they'll have wifi but won't have a high end graphics cards. they'll have an intel core 2 duo chip.

i don't know anyone that owns one of these budget machines but i'm tempted to buy one. but before that i'd like to know if anyone has used any of these cheap laptops and whether they perform well for typical internet and office related tasks.

my interest is in whether they perform better than a laptop from a few years back. i have an old gericom pentium 4 laptop with 512 meg running xp home - it's crap and always has been, it's sluggish and prone to crashing (i've cleaned it and reinstalled a couple of times but it just isn't up to the job). at the time it cost me £1000 which seemed like a bargain but i wouldn't be at all surprised if these new cheapo intel core 2 duo laptops easily out perform it.

i could add more ram to the old gericom laptop but as the machine is such a noisy lump of plastic that cuts off the blood supply to my feet when i place it on my lap, i'd rather just sling it into a nearby lake - and then buy one of these new cheapo things.

anyone had a go on these new laptops and been able to compare them with older machines?

1802

Living Room / release important information after your death with this service

« Last post by nudone on October 20, 2007, 03:09 AM »

i'm sure somewhere on this forum there is a brief thread asking for a service that would do something like this http://www.deathswitch.com/

if you fail to log in after a period of time your stored information will automatically be released to people you have specified using the deathswitch service.

i can't remember if the previous thread mentioned any services like the above so i might be repeating what has already been stated.

I'd consider this service useful if it included more than a simple email forwarding service. there are people i'd want to pass on information to that do not use computers so a physical mail service (or even telephone service) would be required - does anyone know of such a company offering such things?

(if there isn't such a service then perhaps we should start one.)

edit:
forgot to mention that i found it amusing to see a 'human league' http://en.wikipedia....iki/The_Human_League photograph being used as a bit of stock photography on the deathswitch site.

edited to attach picture:

1803

Living Room / Re: how do you represent 'time' in your head?

« Last post by nudone on October 20, 2007, 02:47 AM »

very interesting links - which i shall attempt to read this weekend, time allowing

the 'abstract' section of the icastic page is probably the kind of thing i was thinking of for representing time but i still wonder how true they are.

when i think of the days of the week or months of the year i 'kind of' see an arrangement of images in sequence - but that doesn't hold true when i try to analyse things more closely. the arrangement of images are not really there - it's more a concept, like i know they should be in an sequence but the actual construction of the sequence doesn't materealise. instead there is just a very hazy representation of a single image - and that isn't really much of a picture - just a very loose image of a single moment of a day.

it's like my brain knows there is more to a day than a single snapshot image but realises there is no need to provide more information. so, i find that trying to visualise or describe time is a bit beyond human capability (or maybe it's just beyond my capability). it seems more of a low level brain thing that is just on the borderline of our awareness. habit and routine allow us to get by when thinking about time stuff but trying to articulate how we perceive time is about as easy as getting your head around infinity (and i'd be bold enough to say that such things are related and that our feeble brain just isn't wired up correctly to ever grasp such things outside of a mathematical representation).

hopefully i'll be more enlightened after reading the recommended links (Dennett hasn't really convinced me in the past, but then i was probably expecting irrefutable answers).

1804

Living Room / Re: Hallow-e'en

« Last post by nudone on October 19, 2007, 11:57 AM »

best pumpkin i've seen, cranioscopical. 

1805

Official Announcements / Re: Draw Cody competition - win incredible prizes!

« Last post by nudone on October 19, 2007, 02:17 AM »

Cody thinks the entries so far are fantastic and Audrey's are exceptional 

1806

Living Room / Re: do you have a monitor screen size - 1440 x 900 OR 1440 x 960 pixels

« Last post by nudone on October 18, 2007, 12:56 PM »

 

1807

Living Room / Re: do you have a monitor screen size - 1440 x 900 OR 1440 x 960 pixels

« Last post by nudone on October 18, 2007, 08:16 AM »

My Fujitsu laptop's native resolution is 1400x1050.

-sri (October 18, 2007, 05:59 AM)

yeah, thanks, that one's in the new page list also.

i think i've got all the different aspect ratios and typical sizes covered now.

1808

Living Room / Re: do you have a monitor screen size - 1440 x 900 OR 1440 x 960 pixels

« Last post by nudone on October 18, 2007, 05:52 AM »

thanks, Wordzilla.

that does appear to be a better page of information so i'll use that a reference.

1809

Living Room / do you have a monitor screen size - 1440 x 900 OR 1440 x 960 pixels

« Last post by nudone on October 18, 2007, 04:14 AM »

i'm making 'wallpapers' and decided to check out the different LCD screen sizes.

i'm a bit confused about 1440 x 900 and 1440 x960 screen sizes. according to http://en.wikipedia....i/Monitor_resolution there isn't a 1440 x 900 and yet this size appears in various places around the web as a typical wallpaper screen size.

i'm assuming that there is no real physical LCD monitor that has the 1440 x 900 size and it's just one of those mistakes that no has bothered to correct - so much so, that the 900 has become accepted and correct when it should be 960.

if you do own a monitor that is 1440 x 900 pixels, would you please say so below. and, of course, if someone knows that there are no '900' sized monitors but knows where this 900 dimension came from, i'd also like to know that too.

thanks.

1810

Post New Requests Here / Re: REQUEST: Picture Codyfier

« Last post by nudone on October 17, 2007, 02:36 AM »

I don't wish to imply my daughter has become obsessed, but there are quite a few Cody drawings around the house ever since that blasted "draw Cody" contest.

-Ralf Maximus (October 16, 2007, 08:45 PM)

you really should be scanning them in and uploading them to the contest so we can all enjoy them...

1811

Post New Requests Here / Re: REQUEST: Picture Codyfier

« Last post by nudone on October 16, 2007, 01:42 PM »

that would be a nice gadget...

...but what do you mean "Cody really exists".

you've got Cody confused now.

1812

General Software Discussion / Re: IrfanPaint - a painting plug-in for IrfanView

« Last post by nudone on October 15, 2007, 06:35 AM »

i've been using FastStone's MaxView http://faststone.org/FSMaxViewDetail.htm for several months now and i've only just realised today that it already has an inbuilt quick editor or 'draw' feature (located under the Edit menu, then select Draw).

i'd say it's yet another reason to give MaxView a try if you an IrfanView user.

1813

Official Announcements / Re: Draw Cody competition - win incredible prizes!

« Last post by nudone on October 11, 2007, 01:03 PM »

hehehehe.

Nudone i hope you are planning a page on wtfcody where you will show off fan art.

-mouser (October 11, 2007, 12:48 PM)

of course 

1814

Living Room / Re: The worst thing about Macs

« Last post by nudone on October 11, 2007, 09:03 AM »

the worst thing about macs? how about this...

i knew someone that was out to buy a new computer. i said get a pc you'll be able to do more with it and it will be cheaper - i also said to them "if you get a mac i'll never speak to you again". yep, they bought a mac. and yep i don't speak to them anymore. harsh but it's a true story.

also have a relative. needed a machine to do video editing. of course, i recommended a pc. they bought a mac laptop - guess what, it wasn't powerful enough for the job so they are going to have to buy another machine - they are looking for a new mac.

no point trying to give the pros and cons to someone intent on buying a mac - most of them want to be in the mac cult (note i said most and not all).

1815

Official Announcements / Draw Cody competition - win incredible prizes!

« Last post by nudone on October 10, 2007, 04:41 PM »

Cody fans pay attention! Now is  your chance to win some truly astounding prizes - and all of them involving Cody - yes, it is truly amazing!

All you need do is post a picture of Cody to this thread and in a few weeks time Cody will decide upon the winner and runners up. The picture must be an original piece of work, so either a quick sketch or painting will be fine. If you prefer to use a more technological advanced medium then that is also welcome but Cody will judging the images simply by how amusing they are and not on how well crafted - in other words, a quick mess about with Microsoft Paint will be more than enough.

The competition is open to all but it would be nice to see some children's pictures of Cody. Any DC parents wishing to exploit, er, I mean encourage their child's artistic temperament now have a good reason to do so - how else are you likely to win some fabulous Cody prizes?

What are these mind blowing prizes? Look below and gaze in awe...

1. A DonationCoder Cody Mug (unbelievable!)

2. A signed picture of Cody (beautiful!)

3. A deluxe member kit and certificate of Cody Club Special Member (brain meltingly generous!)

4. A special Cody badge in your forum profile to demonstrate you entered the competition (fair!)

and for the overall winner, a signed genuinely unique limited edition of one single print special poster (absolutely insane!! <- look, 2 exclamation marks)


The competition is now open so feel free to submit your picture. Mouser will perhaps mention when the contest will end.

Oh, and Cody says "good luck to all and he can't wait to put the winning entry up on his wall" - yes, he really did just say that, right next to me, just a moment ago.

1816

Living Room / Re: Ghost car!

« Last post by nudone on October 08, 2007, 01:36 AM »

i'd go with that, Darwin. first thing that came into my head after watching the video was "that looks like a springy kind of fence - one that would give way and then 'spring' back into place" but Cody tells me this is how it was done...

Spoiler

just before the car reaches the fence, a UFO flying directly over the ghost car beams the car up. the UFO then flies over into the field and beams the car back down. all quite obvious really when you think about it.

1817

Living Room / Re: Ghost car!

« Last post by nudone on October 07, 2007, 12:17 PM »

after pausing the video and taking a screengrab i think i have a very good idea how it's possible...

Spoiler

truth is stranger than fiction yet again!

1818

General Software Discussion / Re: Is there a way to directly write notes onto the Windows desktop?

« Last post by nudone on October 07, 2007, 08:05 AM »

i've used a program that does it - it was a few years back so i can't remember the name - but it does exist.

1819

Living Room / Re: Versioning of files

« Last post by nudone on October 05, 2007, 12:35 PM »

if you are doing vectors then you need adobe bridge. i don't think there is a freeware alternative that will display vector files - not illustator ones anyway.

i think keeping track of what you do to your computer is very useful - even if it just means putting it in a txt file. i've finally accepted that trying to remember things just isn't going to work - including how you installed everything - there are just too many settings and it's so easy to 'break' things without realising.

1820

Living Room / Re: Versioning of files

« Last post by nudone on October 05, 2007, 11:45 AM »

tomos, er, yes it's somewhat confusing having more than one system but they are kind of independent too.

filehamster is only used when i'm working on something, the current project. i use it just in case i need to revert back to an older version of a file - filehamster has automatically saved the different versions for me. so it's the automation thing that is the most useful to me. when designing web graphics i'll do many variations of an image - with filehamster i don't have to manually rename the file or move a previous version to another location. i just create the new image and it drops right into place in the web page design - if i change my mind about the graphic i just bring back a previous version using filehamster. no messing about renaming, etc. after i've completed the project i'll dismiss most of what filehamster what saving for me - lots of the files will be almost duplicates or too similar to bother keeping.

acdsee this is more of a reminder to what i might do with an image (or file). lots of images will have the same comment (or maybe a tag or both comment and tag). other images will have a comment that is a unique list of instructions for what needs doing to that particular graphic.

text file a project like a web site design will have plenty of things done to it that i'm sure to forget about. easy to forget how something was made to work in an awkward browser or whatever. so, i'll make a note of it all - if i used a tip from a book i'll state the book and page number - it it was a website then i might copy and paste the information and url from the site . they are all just little things to remind me of how and why something was done. and i'll also include a todo list of what needs finishing, etc, etc.

1821

Living Room / Re: Versioning of files

« Last post by nudone on October 05, 2007, 10:09 AM »

I'd agree with Ralf's system. i just use a typical file naming system but put comments inside a text file so that there's room to add enough explanation for what the different variations are - i know i'll forget what things are within a couple of months so i make it all as descriptive as possible.

i also use filehamster - when i think there will be plenty of revisions and i may wish to return to an old file version.

also use ACDSee to add comments to individual files - not much use outside of ACDSee but it's a quick way to see your comments directly alongside an image (or any other file you've allowed ACDSee to display).

1822

Living Room / Re: BioShock Demo Shock!

« Last post by nudone on October 05, 2007, 10:00 AM »

ah right, i admit i haven't read that many reviews about the game - the one's i saw before i bought the game just set me up for a big fall i think - i should have looked around a bit more and read a few other reviews. or you might be right about the steampunk theme, Ralf - i love sci-fi, but probably not steampunk imagery.

1823

Living Room / Re: DC Unofficial Meeting #5 Took Place - Veign and Mouser meet

« Last post by nudone on October 05, 2007, 09:49 AM »

nice photo, but i see you've deliberatly restricted the size of it - that's a shame as i wanted to cut both of your faces out and stamp them onto some card to make a couple of DC member masks (yes, i'm creating my very own DC community so i can have my own DC gatherings!)

edit:
your beards are nearly as good as allen's.

1824

Living Room / Re: BioShock Demo Shock!

« Last post by nudone on October 05, 2007, 02:03 AM »

i seem to be the only person on the planet that doesn't like Bioshock. i've played to about half way through the game and i have to say the 'action' is very repetitive.

it's now uninstalled and i'll be selling it on ebay from sunday. i've never done that before with a game so that pretty much sums up how much i don't care for the game.

1825

General Software Discussion / Re: Help - Looking for Some Fun Software Ideas

« Last post by nudone on October 01, 2007, 11:10 AM »

i've sent you a message...