Recent Posts

1901

General Software Discussion / Re: directory opus send to specific file collection folder shortcut - possible?

« Last post by nudone on August 27, 2007, 06:50 AM »

good point. i didn't search too hard i must admit.

1902

General Software Discussion / kinda reinstall xp without reinstalling it - possible?

« Last post by nudone on August 27, 2007, 06:33 AM »

madness perhaps but i wonder if there is a method of resetting xp back to its basic first time installation - without wiping the hard drive and reinstalling as you would normally do.

the reason is, i originally had quite a bit of trouble getting my raid floppy disk accepted by xp when doing the install about 18 months ago (i think it's the floppy drive - but i couldn't get the driver to work from a cd either). i can't remember how much of a nightmare it was but i'd hate to find myself trying to do it all over again and second time around not succeeding.

so, is it possible to clear all the crap out of my current xp installation so that it pretty much resembles a fresh install. that is, clean the registry and system folders, drivers, whatever, so that everything appears clean and fresh. then i'll start installing the stuff i want.

i normally have a backup image of my operating system just after i've installed it but, for some unknown reason, i appear to have deleted it.

anyway, is it possible or will attempting this cleaning process lead to more troubles later on?

1903

Coding Snacks / taskbar at top annoyance - autohotkey to the rescue?

« Last post by nudone on August 27, 2007, 04:24 AM »

i've got my taskbar at the top of the screen - always on show and set to prevent application windows appearing on top of it.

the problem is that i have a few programs that misbehave by opening up with their titlebar exactly under the taskbar - so i can't click on their titlebar because the taskbar is directly above it. resizing the window of one of the naughty apps will push its titlebar down a few pixels but it's way to fiddly to be fun.

i'd like a quick autohotkey script that would either automatically move these badly positioned titlebars away from the taskbar when the corresponding app first opens, or a shortcut key that i can hit that will then move the window down enough.

maybe an automatic method would cause more problems - i sometimes use programs in full screen - like web browsers and photoshop that i do actually want to cover the taskbar, so a hotkey combo would be more than enough for me.

credits waiting for the right coding candidate...

1904

General Software Discussion / Re: directory opus send to specific file collection folder shortcut - possible?

« Last post by nudone on August 27, 2007, 01:10 AM »

absolutely incredible!

so simple and yet i didn't believe it could be done.

thanks, Dirhael.

a few credits on their way...

1905

General Software Discussion / directory opus send to specific file collection folder shortcut - possible?

« Last post by nudone on August 26, 2007, 02:35 PM »

i'm using directory opus as my note management program - why? because i can use plain txt files (and plenty of other file types) that can be stored anywhere on my hard drive but directory opus allows me to collect them in one place using the 'file collection' virtual folders feature.

all very clever, but i'd like a super quick way to add one of my note files to the notes 'file collection' folder. at the moment i have to do a right click and send to kind of thing, navigating a couple of menus.

it would far better to have a shortcut on one of the DO toolbars that allows me to click it and it sends the file to the correct 'file collection' notes folder with the minimum of fuss (drag and drop would also be good).

the problem is that i don't know if it's possible to create such a shortcut. shortcuts are easy but what about one that goes to a specific 'file collection', i can't see any options that fit when editing DO - 'file collections' seem to be missing from the customise options.

failing that, other quick ways of doing the same thing would be helpful to know.

any suggestions?

1906

DC Website Help and Extras / Re: Graphics

« Last post by nudone on August 25, 2007, 04:35 AM »

umm, never thought of it like that but you are right.

1907

DC Website Help and Extras / Re: Graphics

« Last post by nudone on August 25, 2007, 04:04 AM »

i think Crysis will also be supporting directx 9. or maybe it was unreal tournament.

obviously everything is going to look better with dx10 - but from the reviews i've seen it sounds like the current crop of dx10 cards aren't really up to the job of playing dx10 games - not at high settings anyway.

1908

Living Room / Re: A joyful addition..

« Last post by nudone on August 25, 2007, 03:57 AM »

Congratulations lanux!!

Upload screenshots of your 3.31kg Lanux Expansion Pack now!

-Wordzilla (August 25, 2007, 12:05 AM)

haha, congrats from Cody and the clan.

1909

DC Website Help and Extras / Re: Graphics

« Last post by nudone on August 24, 2007, 11:14 AM »

Nick! Congratulations on the new website!!
The pages look seriously outstanding 

-mouser (August 24, 2007, 10:56 AM)

thank you very much for saying so.

(it's just a quick start with plenty waiting to upload - i think i will be bending your ear soon with a few things.)

1910

DC Website Help and Extras / Re: Graphics

« Last post by nudone on August 24, 2007, 09:37 AM »

from reviews i've seen:

BFG NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS OC 320MB PCIe http://www.bfgtech.c...bfgr88320gtsoce.aspx hightly rated for under £200.

this is an overclocked card so be careful to get the right model - otherwise it might not be such a great card.

if you aren't bothered about directx10, and i don't see why anyone should be at the moment when none of the current cards seem to be up to the task of playing directx10 games, then you could go for something a bit older and therefore cheaper.

if you want directx10 then i'd wait until next year before buying a new card - there might be something available by then that will be worth buying. or maybe we'll have games that are a bit better tuned to work with the cards that are already for sale.

1911

DC Website Help and Extras / Re: Graphics

« Last post by nudone on August 24, 2007, 07:12 AM »

what's your motherboard support, agp or pci-e?

1912

DC Website Help and Extras / Re: Graphics

« Last post by nudone on August 24, 2007, 03:57 AM »

what's your budget?

1913

Living Room / Re: Does my future pc suck ?

« Last post by nudone on August 23, 2007, 08:05 AM »

looks like a good choice from the reviews 

1914

Living Room / Re: Does my future pc suck ?

« Last post by nudone on August 22, 2007, 10:11 AM »

i'd try and get something that has 1000:1 contrast ratio - the model you've picked out has 800:1

i'd say that's one of the reasons why cheaper monitors look the way they do - just not enough contrast.

i've seen current monitors that are meant to be 3000:1 but when you look at the details they'll say 1000:1 and the higher figures are produced by some kind of trickery. i'll admit i've not seen one of these higher contrast monitors in action so i can't really offer a good opinion - it all seems a bit dubious when the figures are presented something like this 3000:1 (1000:1).

anyway, LCDs are pretty terrible at black as they just allow too much backlight to come through - but then it isn't too noticeable a lot of the time because of all the bright elements on screen - but it's almost unbearable when playing darkly lit games, i.e. doom3, fear, etc... probably not an issue for you.

1915

Living Room / Re: a wet tv remote control problem

« Last post by nudone on August 22, 2007, 07:32 AM »

Why don't you take it to the shop before it starts to corrode?

-pro3carp3 (August 22, 2007, 07:10 AM)

i don't think it will corrode - if it does then i'll have no choice but to return it to the shop.

(cody assures me that the remote will magically start working again tomorrow after the night pixies have been to work on it or even replaced it with a fully working replica.)

1916

Living Room / Re: a wet tv remote control problem

« Last post by nudone on August 22, 2007, 07:04 AM »

thanks for the tips so far.

opening it up really isn't going to happen. i'm a careful kind of person when it comes to these things so i've managed to dismantle gadgets and put them back together many times before (including complete strip downs of laptops).

this remote really does look like it's designed to break the casing unless you know where the magic button is to get it open. maybe a good twist would make it spring open but i can't really risk forcing it if its just going to snap.

at the moment it's drying out on top of the tv as that appears to produce quite a bit of heat. if the insides do start to corrode then i will have to return it to the shop - but for the moment i'll just hope that it will dry out during today (and tomorrow, and the next day, etc.)

it does seem to be working a bit better at the moment - maybe.

1917

Living Room / Re: a wet tv remote control problem

« Last post by nudone on August 22, 2007, 05:34 AM »

now using a hair dryer on it...

1918

Living Room / a wet tv remote control problem

« Last post by nudone on August 22, 2007, 05:15 AM »

my mother managed to spill soup over the tv remote control handset.

so i quickly splashed water over it - i didn't submerge it or anything daft - just a quick sprinkle of water over the outside to clean it off.

but now, of course, there is obviously moisture trapped inside the handset because it has a mind of it's own - if it actually works at all.

any reliable suggestions that will dry the handset out?

i think it safe to say that if try to open the screwless handset case i'll snap something - i'd rather keep everything in mint condition for when i have to return it to the shop - if the drying out method doesn't work.

any tips for drying it out?

1919

Living Room / Re: Does my future pc suck ?

« Last post by nudone on August 21, 2007, 11:29 AM »

LCD will be fine - providing you are happy to spend a little more for a decent LCD monitor.

i've got an EIZO screen and i've compared it with many other LCDs - nothing compares to it.

it's still not as good as a very good CRT but that's only in the blacks - the rest of the colours are fine.

i used to be one of the hardcore CRT boys and held out for quite a few years before going LCD. i've still got my old CRT monitor (which still isn't a bad one even today) but the EIZO is far better to work with. less eye strain, sharper image, more vibrant - just better really.

just get a good LCD, budget ones or the ones at the lower end of the market are fine for general use but as you are an illustrator i'm sure you are going to hate how they look.

i paid over £1000, it's probably half that price today, but when i compare it to LCDs that cost around 300 or less the difference in picture quality is obvious. and i do mean obvious.

1920

General Software Discussion / Re: Jeff Atwood's School of Blog Writing, Episode 999

« Last post by nudone on August 18, 2007, 02:26 AM »

read it all - very wise words.

1921

Living Room / Re: ARGHHH .... CD/DVD burning woes ... any ideas.

« Last post by nudone on August 16, 2007, 05:20 AM »

all i can add is, are absolutely sure that it's a bad batch?

i know i've had bad batches before but i can't remember if they were branded. other times, some disks would work on one drive but not on another and for no good reason that i could see.

100 years shelf life sounds too good to be true. i thought disks were only reliable for about 15 years - but that's old information. i hope they do last longer.

1922

Living Room / Re: suffering online status anxiety

« Last post by nudone on August 16, 2007, 03:57 AM »

Armando, i couldn't agree more with what you've said. i was trying to make a serious subject a bit facetious but i do have to admit the anxiety is real. i doubt that it's simply a web related thing, i just thought it would be novel to blame the internet - and you've done it better by connecting it to the web2.0 term. how appropriate that web2.0 also invokes anxiety about one's identity with all of the social interaction it promotes. ha, ha, not content to be worried about our status within the workplace or keeping up appearances with our neighbours we can now be stressed about being a nobody in a digital universe.

has anyone rephrased andy warhol's "everyone will be famous for 15 minutes" for the online community? i can't think of anything witty enough but i'd like to hear suggestions. i think the internet allows everyone to be famous for about one point five seconds - about the length of time it takes someone to click on your blog/myspace/facebook/etc page and then quickly click away from it.

isn't it about time simon cowell invented a show that just seeks out bloggers and elevates one of them to a be national hero - a hero for about 3 minutes and then the search begins again. (if you are reading this Mr. Cowel then i expect recognition for this idea. a few hundred thousand dollars will suffice.)

tsaint. you are so wonderful . you're making my ego grow beyond acceptable limits - i can feel my skull beginning to crack open as my head expands.

1923

Living Room / Re: ARGHHH .... CD/DVD burning woes ... any ideas.

« Last post by nudone on August 16, 2007, 02:16 AM »

Just emailed my supplier - hopefully they will send out a new pack.

I can't believe I have spent so many hours trying to sort out my system when it wasn't the problem!

-Carol Haynes (August 15, 2007, 08:08 PM)

ya know, i was going to ask if you'd tried using other media just in case you had a bad batch - i even wrote the post but i never clicked the button.

i decided not to because it seemed like a dumb solution to your problem just as you obviously thought so yourself.

Carol, it's just another example that you should try the obviously daft solutions when you are trying to fix things - will we ever learn, i guess not.

(oh, and i guess it also means you shouldn't shy away from making a post even if it seems silly.)

1924

Living Room / Re: suffering online status anxiety

« Last post by nudone on August 16, 2007, 01:19 AM »

thanks for the encouragement. but it sounds like i'm the only person suffering from the condition - that makes me feel even more anxious. perhaps i'll start blogging about my anxiety and hope that it's recognised by similar people also suffering like i am...

1925

Living Room / suffering online status anxiety

« Last post by nudone on August 15, 2007, 01:23 PM »

i'd like to propose a new classification for people that are anxious about not having a recognised online presence.

just as westerners are increasingly suffering from 'status anxiety' (or so we are told) i wonder if many 'netizens' are suffering from an online equivalent.

every man (and woman) and his dog appears to think they have good reason to create a blog and start filling the internet with their profound insights - so profound that several thousand other people have already blogged about it before them.

i know, i know, my complaints are just as hackneyed as what i'm describing. but i feel i'm suffering from this 'online status anxiety'. i read blog after blog after blog. i don't know who these people are - i may not even look at who the author is. one article melts into another article on another blog - the only author i recognise is the internet or, to be more precise, the computer i'm sat next to. my machine is the author; feeding me this endless stream of words.

amongst these merging faceless blogs i feel left out. i know deep down that someone created the blogs, they must be important - crucially, they must be more important than me. i need to write a blog just like them - it's unavoidable, i have broadband - i won't exist until my online inane ranting is recognised by at least 3 complete and utter strangers.

embrace my bloggy goodness and swoon at my spam free comments section.

anyone else suffering like i am? i don't believe i'm the only one.

[dislaimer: this is in no way related to wtfcody.com - that's a real website thing with a real purpose. honest.]