Recent Posts

1926

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: GOG giving away Broken Sword-Shadow of the Templars thru 10/1/11

« Last post by Shades on October 02, 2011, 09:23 AM »

The demo scene on C64 always amazed me with their prowess, given that they had so little (in regard to computing resources) to work with.

About 10 years ago was the last time I saw a demo where the SID chip produced a female voice singing a catchy tune from those days for several minutes. And it sounded good.

I can only imagine how proud the original designers of that chip would have felt, if they had heard that demo.

[on-topic]
The deal had already expired before I saw it appearing here on DC...then again I don't refresh this page that much anymore as of late (meatspace doing some recalling of this body  ).

1927

Living Room / Re: POE: Power over Ethernet confusion

« Last post by Shades on October 02, 2011, 09:06 AM »

Unfortunately there are no tricks to counter the DC voltage power drop...impedance only works with signals on a carrier wave (proved by your TV cable provider). 

AC power does not have so much trouble with this 'drop' effect (within commonly used voltage ranges).

1928

Living Room / Re: Windows 8 Secure Boot may lock out Linux

« Last post by Shades on September 26, 2011, 03:19 PM »

The shit already hits the fan when Microsoft decides to revoke the certificate your mainboard uses. Instant uselessness!

Talking about a hostage situation!

1929

General Software Discussion / Re: Couldn't be more disappointed in Windows 8 :(

« Last post by Shades on September 24, 2011, 08:10 AM »

I just saw a video (1 hour and 49 minutes of it!) from the latest keynotes convention of Microsoft. I have to be honest that it was not that much of a drag. But what caught my interest was Windows 8 Server, that one will take virtualization to a whole new and much improved level.

Also, the possibilities shown with Visual Studio 2010 in that video is to be very interesting for the developers here at DC (amongst others it rendered 3D!).

1930

DC Gamer Club / Re: Portal is FREE! (Until May 24th)

« Last post by Shades on September 17, 2011, 03:26 PM »

Steam does not even let me create an account, so downloading (till now) is out of the question.

Too bad, as the original game ignites a lot of positive comments on DC.

1931

General Software Discussion / Re: Directory Opus 10

« Last post by Shades on September 17, 2011, 03:19 PM »

Cranioscopical's tip works beautifully, I personally can attest to that.

But I also have to agree that DOpus 10 is nearly as stable as DOpus 9.

However, as it is I will not downgrade because of the 7-zip integration that, plain simply put, just works for me.

1932

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 8 Fast boot time ? Check this out...

« Last post by Shades on September 17, 2011, 03:13 PM »

Wondering why Windows 8 will be more 'snappier' than all versions of Windows before it?



Taken from:
http://blog.webwerel...ro-history-WinUI.jpg

1933

General Software Discussion / Re: Is Windows 7 boot management more broken than ever?

« Last post by Shades on September 16, 2011, 04:14 PM »

@40hz
The connector is purple, green was for the mouse....damn, just now I gave away my "computer age" away   

1934

Living Room / Re: Thoughts in remembrance of 911

« Last post by Shades on September 10, 2011, 12:27 PM »

@Renegade

Spoiler

Not to be a ball breaker or demeaning the horrible deaths of all these children, but the number you quote is 6 million Jews murdered, the total count is over 10 million. The Nazi's thought even lower of Gypsies/Romanos). The most horrific medical atrocities doctor Joseph Mengele did, was with these people.

1935

Living Room / Re: Donation gamer: Games to give

« Last post by Shades on September 03, 2011, 07:46 PM »

Thanks for the game Creeper World, iphigenie...and thanks to your friend too. He missed out on a good game that has already stolen quite some hours.   

1936

General Software Discussion / Re: Mssprxy.dll error message

« Last post by Shades on August 30, 2011, 02:53 PM »

Use a system restore point to go back to a working state (if that function is activated in your XP). A lot more involved (and gratifying when successful) method is the following:

Retrieve the file version from the .dll and check on the internet if that dll is part of a service pack, windows install CD or KB fix. Looking at the name I assume it will be a part of the installation CD. 

Then use 7-zip, WinRAR, WinZip, or any decent file manager to search for the dll in the .cab files on the CD. Extract it and copy it to the system32 folder.

If you are (too) trusting (of) the interweb, you could also google and download it directly.

1937

Living Room / Re: Goodnight Irene

« Last post by Shades on August 29, 2011, 05:57 PM »

Except for the "big" grid (everything above 30.000 Volt) all goes underground in the Netherlands...electricity, gas, water, phone and cable-TV lines are actually in quite close proximity from each each other. All these lines come into a house at one central point as well.

In all the time I spent in the Netherlands (32 years) only once or twice I have been without electricity because of no fault of my own. Because of the rather dense population over there the electricity grid is setup quite similar to the internet. There is practically always a way for electricity to reach your house.

I even dare to say that the grid is so stable that the only way you will not have electricity is when you don't pay the bill or hit the circuit breaker yourself.

Maintenance is more expensive for sure, but the fact that you don't need too much of it helps a lot. The last house I lived in over there was more than 50 years old and the original copper wiring still functioned fine. The transformer building that controls the power for the whole neighborhood was at least that old as well. And the doors to access it did not show signs of too much use either.

I honest to god do not understand why people want power lines above ground. Here in Paraguay everything is above ground. Besides being ugly, the power is not stable, people crash their ATV cars into the poles way more often than everybody likes. The same is true for the water lines. These do go underground, but break so often it is unbelievable. And the maintenance crews f.ck up the streets so badly, it is amazing.

Ah well, enough ranting for the day

1938

Living Room / Re: Anyone else using Ramdisk in Windows 7?

« Last post by Shades on August 26, 2011, 05:28 AM »

As far as I know Windows really likes to manage a swap-file (pagefile.sys), no matter the amount of RAM it has available. So if you have enough, it is not a bad idea to configure the pagefile into this RAM Disk.

For the security-conscious (read: paranoid) user this has the advantage of wiping the pagefile each time the computer is turned off.

Some of the RAM Disk software is even smart enough to use RAM that is not addressable by a 32-bit O.S. (example: the not addressable part of the 4 GByte RAM in WinXP can be used by some of the RAM Disk software).

I would say that if you have more than 4 GByte of RAM on a Win7 PC, you could consider using a RAM Disk. Below that I doubt it has any (noticeable) effect.

1939

Living Room / Re: Why My Mom Bought an Android, Returned It, and Got an iPhone

« Last post by Shades on August 23, 2011, 03:22 PM »

Even in a backwater like Paraguay it is becoming seriously hard to buy a new "dumb" phone. Whether you want it or not, the only options available are the not so-"dumb", the smart and (when money is not a problem) really smart phones.

Went to the official Nokia dealer here to get a dumb one....and I leave with a 5530! Besides good salesmanship and my attraction to the "blinkenlights" it offered I now do not have what I actually was out to get...a phone to call with.

Ah well, at least it is relatively easy to write SMS messages with it, which is often the most efficient way of communicating over here anyway.

1940

General Software Discussion / Re: Problem: I can't understand how to get a W7-64 machine into an XP-32 network

« Last post by Shades on August 22, 2011, 06:14 AM »

Regain control over your files by changing ownership would be a way to go, but when you place the disk back in the Win7 PC you will expect problems (differences between the NT filesystems from win7 and XP).

1941

Living Room / 50 Typografical pieces of art

« Last post by Shades on August 21, 2011, 03:22 PM »

When I was catching up with the news (through a Dutch newspaper) a link was presented to 50 truly masterful pieces of typographical art.

After taking a quick look I can say that it is too good not to share!

1942

Living Room / Re: how does your <insert device here> stack up?

« Last post by Shades on August 20, 2011, 05:41 AM »

I think Target is just whipping up an excuse...

1943

Living Room / Re: HP announces it's discontinuing all WebOS device development

« Last post by Shades on August 19, 2011, 08:29 AM »

Well, I still have a fully functional 10-year old HP laptop, which is still used several hours a day for playing (small) games, minor office work and an occasional movie. Their server room hardware was always very good. and HP LaserJet4 and 5 printers...rock solid.

So yeah, I would miss 'em.

1944

Living Room / Re: how does your <insert device here> stack up?

« Last post by Shades on August 18, 2011, 04:31 PM »

Here I have the latest model that stacks up perfectly...the iBrick

1945

Living Room / Re: Stop the Machine! (anyone seen this?)

« Last post by Shades on August 18, 2011, 10:16 AM »

Sorry for not letting it rest.

Although I see your point and actually agree with practically all of it, there is something nagging.

Taken from the U.S. Census bureau:
In 2009 there were 117,181,000 households in the US. The phrase that keeps returning is: "the top 1% controls 95% of the money in the US"
So that leaves a solid 116 million households. How much Federal taxes are for each of those households I don't know, but assume that when on average each of these households pays 1000 USD/year, there would be 116,000,000,000 USD/year on tax revenue.

How can one say that the rich pay the lion share? (yes, I am fully aware that this projection of numbers is way too simple)

Then again, such numbers also mean that taxing the rich more will not make much of dent either. So government spending is the major issue.

Hmmm, how many secret agencies you you really need? The US military machine is also quite costly. Spent a few less percentage points (single digit!) less on these and invest that money in infrastructure (more jobs), alternative energy sources (more high-tech jobs).

Everyone is better off for it (incl. the rich, so I truly don't understand why the Tea party gets their knickers in such a twist about tax increases if the need arises).

If the above makes me a socialist simpleton, so be it. Live and let live.
 

1946

Living Room / Re: Samsung hard drives - don't buy them unless you like subliminal mental torture

« Last post by Shades on August 16, 2011, 04:07 PM »

Ah well, it is advisable to take your PC once or twice a year apart for cleaning out the accumulated dust, A good time to change the rubber bands as well.   

1947

Living Room / Re: Samsung hard drives - don't buy them unless you like subliminal mental torture

« Last post by Shades on August 16, 2011, 02:35 PM »

I saw one time a person who used rubber bands (the big, postal kind). He used two of those, twisted around the drive and the twisted ends were put through chassis openings in the 5,25" bays. The drives were suspended, creating a very silent PC.

Still not a good idea to subject the PC to sudden movements, but silent it will be...and no heat insulation issues. Brilliance in simplicity.

1948

Living Room / Re: Stop the Machine! (anyone seen this?)

« Last post by Shades on August 15, 2011, 10:49 PM »

@Rover:
At this link you can read the thoughts of Warren E. Buffett about the tax matter. Straight from the horses mouth...well, written down by the (business section of) New York Times.

1949

Living Room / Re: The Foreclosure Scam

« Last post by Shades on August 15, 2011, 10:17 PM »

Indeed, a very passive response for a country where everybody and their grandmother appear to have guns... 

1950

General Software Discussion / Re: Problem: I can't understand how to get a W7-64 machine into an XP-32 network

« Last post by Shades on August 15, 2011, 03:46 PM »

Hooray!

All stations on the network are communicating.

-cranioscopical (August 15, 2011, 03:12 PM)

Glad you got it working.

Windows 7 should be able to connect just fine to an XP workgroup right out of the box. I did two of them last week with zero issues.

Main tripping points tend to be Simple File Sharing (unless everybody is Home edition, then you're stuck with it), Blank passwords (MS killed that action by default in XP SP2), Firewalls, and selection the wrong network type/location:
Public (locks it down like a nun's knees)

-Stoic Joker (August 15, 2011, 03:29 PM)

[evil joke]

Spoiler

Than we should be thankful for the "God-mode" in Win7...(as nun's are the brides from God)...

[/evil joke]