Recent Posts

1926

Living Room / Re: Two computers - one set of secreens etc. Ideas?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 11, 2010, 06:45 AM »

Yes I know - but I don't like 'killing' a box that is hanging if I don't have to.

1927

Living Room / Re: Two computers - one set of secreens etc. Ideas?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 11, 2010, 05:47 AM »

Yes I always set up the power buttons on desktops and laptops to do a proper shutdown. It's quicker than fiddling with a mouse anyway.

Of course if it hangs during shutdown you are stuffed 

1928

Living Room / Re: Two computers - one set of secreens etc. Ideas?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 11, 2010, 05:27 AM »

Thanks for the info. Appreciated. I'll give it a go

1929

Living Room / Re: Two computers - one set of secreens etc. Ideas?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 10, 2010, 04:12 PM »

Thanks Gwen -  I see what you mean. Though I did find a dual head DVI/USB2 KVM for £179 (inc. taxes and delivery) which didn't seem excessive. I suppose if I wanted to spend that much I am more tempted to buy another 22" monitor

Actually Remote Desktop (or similar) may not be impossible. I am thinking of building a Windows 2008 server box with a spare PC and so RD would probably work quite well for that - and have the advantage of being free.

When using desktop equipment (rather than specially designed rack systems) how do you get around the lack of keyboard and monitor when you boot it up or restart it? Most BIOSes I have seen don't like starting up without a keyboard and how does RD take over keyboard functions when there is no keyboard to take over?

1930

Living Room / Re: Two computers - one set of secreens etc. Ideas?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 10, 2010, 02:27 PM »

Looking at KVM switches they seem near what I am looking for.

However, every one I have looked at only has a single monitor. Does anybody know of any with dual display capabilities or do I have to buy a KVM for each display.

Also I have noticed that all the KVMs I have seen seem to use VGA connectors - are there any true DVI versions?

And ideally I would like both PS2 and USB keyboard/mouse connectors to be available - most KVMs seen to only have either/or.

1931

Living Room / Re: Two computers - one set of secreens etc. Ideas?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 10, 2010, 01:13 PM »

No I want the opposite??? That seems to make a PC multiuser.

I need 2 or 3 PCs with only one user using the same monitors and keyboard/mouse etc. flicking between systems with a switch of button board.

I suppose what I want is similar to a terminal accessing a number of servers in a rack - only I haven't got racked systems. I have standard PCs and a laptop and ideally it would be nice to have a central point to access all of them. This way I can eg. set up a server on one PC and only need a monitor/keyboard/mouse connection when I actually want to manage the server but at other times use the same peripherals on my desktop PC etc.

1932

Living Room / Two computers - one set of secreens etc. Ideas?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 10, 2010, 07:13 AM »

I have two desktop computers and would like to set up a single array of 3 monitors/keyboard/mouse (possibly other external peripherals) that can be shared at the flick of a switch.

Anyone any idea how to achieve this?

I suppose what I am looking for is a box (if possible cheap) which I can can connect to two different computers' graphics cards (preferably 4 input from each) and have multiple VGA/DVI outputs (4 preferably) and a set of USB throughput connectors - probably about 6-8 or so (not a hub which can cause problems) plus ideally traditional PC AT-style keyboard and mouse connectors.

Ideally I need something available in the UK or at least Europe to avoid stupid import fees.

1933

Living Room / Re: One of my cats, Titch, passed away yesterday

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 10, 2010, 03:06 AM »

Things are getting easier (though there are still bad moments).

For example on Friday I was eating some fish and gave some to Crackers. Normally there is a scramble for such treats and Crackers looked very confused that she had a free run at it. Rather than eat the fish she wandered out to the bottom of the stairs and started a loud series of cries as if to say "come on Titch there's something nice to eat". It was truly pathetic and heart breaking. Since then she has been on my bed day and night - something she hasn't done for years.

1934

Site/Forum Features / Re: Friendly 404

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 09, 2010, 04:42 AM »

Why not just use the normal site header and footer (menus etc) with a message that points to them and quicklinks to the home page and Forums. All the other links are already there.

For example just use the home page as it isbut replace the main body with the 404 message and Cody.

I like the Cody image though.

1935

Living Room / Re: Bought (or thinking of buying) an Apple iPad? You may have been duped!

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 06, 2010, 03:51 PM »

Have you tried contacting Acer and seeing if they can supply a better battery pack - or just buy a spare battery?

1936

Living Room / Re: Apple instigates Police Raid over lost/stolen iPhone 4G

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 06, 2010, 03:50 PM »

Don't forget the economic incentive to get bodies into private prisons in the US (not to mention judges that are happy to get kick backs)

1937

General Software Discussion / Re: Hard drive Cleaning, which one you use?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 06, 2010, 09:32 AM »

CCleaner (but I don't bother with the registry bits) are a good way to clean up loads of crap safely (including unwanted system restore points).

1938

General Software Discussion / Re: an entire drive suddenly missing!

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 06, 2010, 09:30 AM »

I have come across this a few times with client drives. Each time it has been the USB converter that has been the problem. To recover the data I removed the drive and either plugged it in internally (they are mostly standard SATA drives these days) or used an alternative USB enclosures. Each time the drive was fine.

Glad yours is working again though

1939

Living Room / Re: Apple instigates Police Raid over lost/stolen iPhone 4G

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 06, 2010, 08:04 AM »

So basically if you live in California and you aren't a corporate entity with lots of money you are royally screwed by the legal system ?

1940

Living Room / Re: Apple instigates Police Raid over lost/stolen iPhone 4G

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 06, 2010, 03:53 AM »

Let me ask a couple of different questions ... why was a search warrant issued anyway? Apple already had their property back at that point and the article published so what exactly were they looking for? What justified confiscating computer equipment?

At best this seems to have been some sort of fishing expedition and I thought courts were only supposed to issue warrants to search for specific items such as drugs, stolen goods or illegal weapons when evidence has been presented to justify the intrusion.

If it was a fishing trip for information surely that would be equivalent to denying him the right to silence?

1941

Living Room / Re: One of my cats, Titch, passed away yesterday

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 05, 2010, 05:35 PM »

Thanks again for your kind comments. I'm off to bed to see if I can get some sleep tonight. It all finished yesterday at nearly midnight so I really didn't sleep much.

1942

Living Room / Re: One of my cats, Titch, passed away yesterday

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 05, 2010, 02:37 PM »

Thanks guys - appreciated. It is sad to see her sister (also 19) sniffing around and wondering where she has gone. This is the first day in her life that Titch hasn't been there :-(

1943

Living Room / One of my cats, Titch, passed away yesterday

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 05, 2010, 12:39 PM »

Very quiet house today and lonely sister.

See a little photo tribute to her at:

http://www.facebook....763&l=714faa53ba

1944

Living Room / Re: Apple instigates Police Raid over lost/stolen iPhone 4G

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 04, 2010, 02:53 PM »

I was under the impression that the finder tried to return the item to Apple and got no response. At that point he has no more obligation.

1945

Living Room / Re: Apple instigates Police Raid over lost/stolen iPhone 4G

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 04, 2010, 01:38 PM »

Shame they don't seem to have a clear view on the facts of what happened.

1946

Living Room / Re: Steve Jobs tells us how he really feels about Flash...

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 04, 2010, 04:00 AM »

It will be interesting to see if the EU take the hit too ...

1947

General Software Discussion / Re: HowTo repair/replace tcpip.sys ?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 02, 2010, 05:36 PM »

SFC should do the job - if it doesn't the problem probably lies elsewhere. Try SFC /SCANNOW with no  further paramters to check the integrity of all of the Windows files.

If you want to find another copy of any DLL it is worth looking in the dllcache folder as well as the latest SP installation files.

A third approach you can try is to roll back to the previous SP and then reinstall the latest SP - that should update the file to the latest version. You will need to apply any updates again that were released after the SP.

1948

Living Room / Re: Apple instigates Police Raid over lost/stolen iPhone 4G

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 02, 2010, 03:56 PM »

That isn't, nor has it ever been the case in the US.

The primary reason the corporate structure was created in the US was to provide for legal continuity. Prior to that, businesses couldn't legally survive the death of their founders. Corporations were initially designed to create a separate and immortal legal entity to act as the perpetual "owner" and representative of the business.

Try this page which explains the history if incorporation:

http://www.reclaimde...corporations_us.html

Woo...that's an interesting bit of info! Which law for the protection of freed slaves is it that the US corporate model retooled (or loopholed ?) - and which law(s) was it designed to circumvent?

It is the 14th amendment to the constitution which was created primarily to stop the removal of property from black people and in particular freed slaves. There is some info on this towards the end of the same article.

Also see http://en.wikipedia...._States_Constitution

Also see:

As Adam Smith pointed out in the Wealth of Nations, when ownership is separated from management (i.e. the actual production process required to obtain the capital), the latter will inevitably begin to neglect the interests of the former, creating dysfunction within the company. Some maintain that recent events in corporate America may serve to reinforce Smith's warnings about the dangers of legally-protected collectivist hierarchies

(source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporation)

1949

Living Room / Re: Apple instigates Police Raid over lost/stolen iPhone 4G

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 02, 2010, 07:50 AM »

First and foremost it is virtually impossible to sue large corporations unless you plan to devote your life and every penny you can raise to it (see McLibell for one of the very few exceptions to this observation - and they were minimum shareholders, only in order to go to shareholder meetings). Much simpler and a hell of a lot cheaper simply to sell your shares and move if you are not happy. The ease of selling shares is why most corporations do behave like amoral psychopaths - they don't want to lose investors.

There are plenty of arguments in the opposite direction: eg. shareholders expressing concern over the flooding of Africa with baby formula foods whilst the companies argued that they were just expanding into a global market (ie. maximizing profits). At the same time the company was blatantly lying that the formula was better than breast milk.

How about the US company that released poisonous gas at Bhopal in India and is still to admit responsibility or pay compensation to the families that are still suffering to this day?

The fact is that money markets are not the preserve of individual shareholders - most shareholders are corporate entities not individuals. Individuals are so far removed from any sort of decision making or moral responsibility that the only imperative is the bottom line.

By definition corporate life is (and has to be) amoral - it is precisely why corporations were originally conceived as business entities that had a limited scope of operation. They had a corporate charter with a remit to perform one task for a limited fixed period of time and in one particular place. They were not allowed to own other businesses. It was only sleazy corporate lawyers and corrupt judges that created loopholes from the law designed to protect freed slaves that allowed the US in particular (and now most countries using the same corporate model) to become completely dominated by multinationals that owe no allegiance to countries or any other entities other than money.

Most of the people running these large multinationals are not even involved in the day to day decisions of their subsidiaries (and their subsidiaries etc.). They only have an overview of how the corporation is performing for personal profit in the first instance closely followed by shareholders. This is precisely why banks that have almost caused the collapse of the world economy are still making profits and paying out huge bonuses.

1950

Living Room / Re: Apple instigates Police Raid over lost/stolen iPhone 4G

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 01, 2010, 05:54 PM »

it's not the game that's at fault.

-Gwen7 (May 01, 2010, 02:52 PM)

Actually that is the point - the game is at fault.

The rules are specifically set up so that corporations by law have to maximise profit - if you fail to do that then you are actually guilty of defrauding the stock holders.

It is precisely why on 911 some Wall Street traders openly admit that they were excited by the trading possibilities arising from the disaster and also a major reason why so many companies actively encourage governments (often via bribes in the form of political donations) to get involved in pointless wars.