Recent Posts

1851

General Software Discussion / Re: AOL active virus shield fails to update - is it just me?

« Last post by nudone on September 13, 2007, 12:42 AM »

umm, i tried read only, it made no difference. it looks like the program is actually downloading a new file and replacing it - well, when it updates it says it's replaced that particular file - something it didn't do a couple of days ago.

1852

Living Room / Re: Forum Signature Spam: Let's discuss how to handle..

« Last post by nudone on September 12, 2007, 09:38 AM »

cody says ban all signatures unless he's in them. and make the minimum allowed size be 1000 px tall.

1853

General Software Discussion / Re: AOL active virus shield fails to update - is it just me?

« Last post by nudone on September 12, 2007, 07:51 AM »

anyone else having problems again?

the active virus shield had been updating after the two lines had been removed but now i find that the lines are automatically reinserted after each update is now performed - thereby preventing it from updating successfully.

is it just me?

1854

Living Room / Re: Anyone know how to capture video + audio (uin good quality) from WMP ?

« Last post by nudone on September 12, 2007, 01:32 AM »

can you tell us which was the 'best' method, please?

1855

Living Room / Re: Anyone know how to capture video + audio (uin good quality) from WMP ?

« Last post by nudone on September 11, 2007, 02:33 PM »

I haven't had a good experience with kmplayer in the past - if I can get it to work will it play encrypted WMV files ?

-Carol Haynes (September 11, 2007, 01:32 PM)

that's the bit i don't know. i've never had an encrypted file. i'll guess that kmplayer won't play such things - but i wouldn't be surprised if there is a workaround either.

1856

Living Room / Re: Anyone know how to capture video + audio (uin good quality) from WMP ?

« Last post by nudone on September 11, 2007, 01:28 PM »

can you download the file and play it in kmplayer - kmplayer is pretty good at converting with full 25 or 30 fps straight to xvid - that's all i've done with it so i can't say anything about DRM.

1857

General Software Discussion / Re: Instant Boss featured on Lifehacker

« Last post by nudone on September 11, 2007, 11:47 AM »

fantastic, app. well done.

1858

Living Room / 60's video clip of how home computer will be in the future - pretty close hit

« Last post by nudone on September 11, 2007, 01:29 AM »

as the subject line says...


http://video.google....2025998102&hl=en

1859

Living Room / Re: How to stop worrying

« Last post by nudone on September 10, 2007, 11:21 AM »

i 'worry' about whether this kind of thing can work.

consciously you have removed or shifted the thing that is worrying you. subconsciously you have done nothing at all, well, you have performed an action not unlike performing a ritual or token gesture (maybe that is enough for the subconscious to be satisfied).

do these conscious gestures resonate with the subconscious part of the mind - the subject you are worrying over is still there, consciously ignoring it but perhaps subconsciously fretting over it until the stress manifests itself in either physical or psychological problems.

i find myself worrying over things, sometimes real concerns, sometimes trivial things that are exaggerated because the larger concerns seem sated, i.e. the big worry hole needs to be filled with something even to the point of inventing a problem to fill it.

personally, i've found that being occupied with an activity you need to give full attention to will remove the problem of worrying about something. (oh, this is just being distracted isn't it - we all do it - i thought i was going to say something profound.) i think the point i'm trying to make is that if you are occupied you'll stop worrying about the trivial problems - they cease to be an issue and you realise they really weren't important. the other point i'd like to make is that i think, by nature, the human mind will find things to worry about or become annoyed about or become stressed about even when life is running perfectly smooth.

it's like we have a worry quota or a stress box that needs to keep topping itself up - if there isn't a real problem to satisfy it the brain will invent one as a substitute. the level of worry or stress or no less real just because the problem is a fabricated one.

probably stated the obvious there - which i'll apologize for.

edit:
just wanted to add that the 'worry/stress' thing i'm talking about is the kind that lingers in the back of your mind all day long, every day, all week, all month, all year - not the type of worry that you believe you'll make a fool of yourself at a particular moment in time like a public speaking event. though, i guess, they could well be the same thing.

1860

General Software Discussion / Re: ReNamer: The best freeware file renamer? (yes says cybernetnews.com)

« Last post by nudone on September 09, 2007, 01:55 PM »

The Bulk Rename Utility interface looks a bit messy and overcrowded though :/

-f0dder (September 09, 2007, 01:53 PM)

i agree - hence the use of Rename Master - it seemed the most intuitive to me.

1861

General Software Discussion / Re: ReNamer: The best freeware file renamer? (yes says cybernetnews.com)

« Last post by nudone on September 09, 2007, 01:50 PM »

Rename Master for me also.

1862

General Software Discussion / Re: AOL active virus shield fails to update - is it just me?

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

I fixed it.

Since I'm quite fond of my free legal Kaspersky (AOL) Scanner, i looked for a workaround, and it looks like i found it.

Close the scanner.
Start Notepad, and open
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\AOL\AVP6\Data\aol-updcfg.xml

This is the file containing the update servers.
Remove the lines for the aol servers, it should be the first two in the list,
something like http://downloads.newaol.com, it definitely has aol in the address.
Leave all the kaspersky servers in the list.
Save the file.
Restart the scanner.

Mine updated perfectly afterwards.

-xyme (September 07, 2007, 05:44 PM)

fantastic.

i was secretly hoping someone would come up with a naughty workaround like this - is it naughty? well, nothing has been added, only removed, that doesn't seem so bad to me.

thanks, xyme.

a few credits will be sent your way.

1863

Living Room / riding the hype train - emergency stop at reality station (or dx10 so what)

« Last post by nudone on September 07, 2007, 02:02 PM »

i've been playing bioshock for a few days now (well, about an hour or two at night).

looks nice enough but, personally, it's a bit too cartoony for me to really love it. i like the ideas but i think i've yet to get far enough to see all the revolutionary things that are hinted at in the reviews. (maybe i'm just jaded and annoyed at waiting for crysis and the next episode of half-life 2.)

anyway, i had a look at one of the tweaking guides http://www.tweakguid....com/Bioshock_1.html which mentions a few of the differences you can expect to see with the game if you are running directx 10 hardware and vista - i'm running xp with directx 9 so i'm naturally curious about what i'm missing out on.

sounds all very underwhelming to me - the water looks a bit better, yeah, okay if you say so.

this tallies with other reviews i've read about directx 10 capable games. isn't this all a bit strange. i seem to remember reading about how dx10 was going to be a massive leap forward in graphics, how it would be cinematic quality (i'm sure that must have been said for every release of directx even from the very beginning).

i've seen the screenshots and movies of far cry and unreal 3, yes, they do look incredible. but, ya know what, i think they are going to look almost identical on a directx 9 machine.

so, i'm sure this has been said many times before but it's something that has just dawned on me (perhaps yet again), new pc technology isn't really that hot. it never lives up to the hype that journalists yapping on about how cool and essential all this new hard/software is going to be.

i subscribe to a uk pc mag - they have been going on about directx 10 cards for months - you'd think they were the elixir of life they way they promote them.

i thought i was reading articles that were well informed and telling me things in my best interest. i now think not, sir.

they are just part of the hype machine: company announces new product nearly ready, magazine survives by bleating about amazing new product and get readers all excited, magazine continues to bleat on about product when released. desire is generated in reader, magazine regurgitates how bleedin' good this new product is for several months, reader finally goes out and buys life changing directx 10 card. reader plays directx 10 game. reader thinks, duh, i've gone and done it again - why do i listen to those hype merchants.

i don't read the tech blogs and online tech sites but i bet they've been wetting themselves just as much over all the directx 10 stuff - and now look at it. it doesn't do anything. well it doesn't do anything remotely worth upgrading your graphics card and operating system for.

yeah, i know, potentially someone could make a game that will do dx 10 justice - but i still think it would look pretty similar on dx 9.

that's it. the hype train is now leaving reality station, i must get back to my seat. toot toot!

1864

Official Announcements / Re: FreeThesaurus.net - new official DC web service, is now up and running!

« Last post by nudone on September 06, 2007, 06:03 PM »

great job on the site wordzilla.

1865

JGPaiva's GridMove and Ahk Tools / Re: GridMove - grids here

« Last post by nudone on September 06, 2007, 01:36 PM »

well, i have to say that complex grids seem like a good idea but they are counterproductive - for me anyway.

so, i've just gone back to the original suggestion i made for gridmove way back when.

i drag to the side of the screen and the window resizes to either fit either the left half or the right half. i have an 'ontop' region at the top of the screen and a 'restore' box just under it.

okay, that is probably even more minimal than what i thought i wanted originally but i definitely now think that simplicity is more useful.

the great thing about gridmove, of course, is that it can be as simple or as complex as the user wants 

1866

JGPaiva's GridMove and Ahk Tools / Re: GridMove - grids here

« Last post by nudone on September 06, 2007, 01:23 PM »

darn, and i was hoping i'd done the most complicated with the nud super grid 01 - which i didn't use anyway after about 5 minutes.

i do like what eric has done though be using a graphical way of representing how the windows will resize. not so sure about the corner resize zones being that practical.

1867

General Software Discussion / Re: AOL active virus shield fails to update - is it just me?

« Last post by nudone on September 05, 2007, 06:21 AM »

the AOL mcafee suite is only available for US residents (requires zip code, UK residents have to pay for the same product).

so AVG here i come.

1868

General Software Discussion / Re: AOL active virus shield fails to update - is it just me?

« Last post by nudone on September 05, 2007, 05:24 AM »

Kaspersky doesn't really have anything to do with the lack of updates, since AOL several versions back moved all updates to their own (AOL) servers. As such, Kaspersky doesn't really have anything to say in the matter.

-Dirhael (September 05, 2007, 04:41 AM)

i've only just noticed today where the updates where coming from - yep, it's an AOL address.

oh well, it was good whilst it lasted.

1869

General Software Discussion / Re: AOL active virus shield fails to update - is it just me?

« Last post by nudone on September 05, 2007, 01:47 AM »

well, i did doubt that they could because i assumed that the active virus shield program would just be a rebranded kaspersky product - if all it uses is the kaspersky virus definitions then i'd expect it to keep updating.

it seems i was foolish to assume they'd be so generous to allow it to keep running - not a good business model i suppose is it.

i'm going to try the AOL mcafee thing instead of avg - i'm curious as to what it's like.

1870

General Software Discussion / AOL active virus shield fails to update - is it just me?

« Last post by nudone on September 05, 2007, 01:09 AM »

is anyone else having problems with the AOL active virus shield - the free thing they were generously giving away a while back.

mine hasn't updated correctly since last saturday (or friday). it's failing on more than one machine.

i know that AOL are no longer providing this anti-virus software but i didn't expect it to stop updating - i wonder if kaspersky are no longer supporting the virus definitions or something.

anyone else having trouble - anyone know of a way to get it to update correctly?

ta

1871

Living Room / Re: $7.5 to optimize XP NTFS Drive access : rip-off or not ?

« Last post by nudone on September 03, 2007, 07:22 AM »

i'll donate 3.5 DonationCredits to the first person that finds out what it is and reports back...

cody won't allow me to pay more than that.

1872

Living Room / Re: For Discussion: Search engine query repository and bookmarking service

« Last post by nudone on September 02, 2007, 11:55 AM »

is this a flaw in the idea or is it irrelevant - if you are searching for something that has been done very well on many websites - how will the search pick the right one?

if several sights are equally good and the general opinion is that each one has something good to offer - what comes up as a result?

or does the super search term return a list of several results - maybe with a bit of info for each one?

i'm just thinking how i search most of the time - no one website usually fits the bill (i'm sure it must sometimes but i can't think of any) and so i'll flick through several of the results that come up in google - not just on page 1 either.

(if you've already explained that it won't return just one result i apologise for not paying attention.)

1873

Living Room / Re: starfish: walking self-conscious robot

« Last post by nudone on September 02, 2007, 06:36 AM »

looks like a head-crab from half-life 2, especially those big spider ones.

valve ought to buy into the project and start selling them - i'd rather have one of those running around than the robosapien.

1874

General Software Discussion / Re: Why choose XP PRO (NT 5.1) over XP Home?

« Last post by nudone on September 02, 2007, 01:17 AM »

just thought i'd do a quick check to see if was losing my mind...

http://en.wikipedia....Media_Center_Edition

might be wrong but it mentions that media center is xp pro???

There are four versions of Windows XP Media Center Edition. All editions of MCE are based on Windows XP Professional with all features enabled (with exception to Active Directory in Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (see paragraph "Features removed in the last release") and Terminal Services in the original release.

1875

Living Room / Re: For Discussion: Search engine query repository and bookmarking service

« Last post by nudone on September 02, 2007, 01:05 AM »

it's a potential revolutionary idea. i can imagine that is how newcomers to the internet think that google works anyway. (well, that is how my father seems to understand things - i've given up trying to explain to him.)

you should do it - and then sell it.