Recent Posts

201

Living Room / Re: In Car Gadgets & Doodads

« Last post by techidave on March 02, 2013, 02:22 PM »

I always thought those "suicide knobs" were illegal.  S

-Edvard (March 02, 2013, 10:04 AM)

they were outlawed in Kansas years ago.  But they served a purpose before power steering became popular.  I noticed your picture even had the button that you could press to lower the know so that you couldn't use it.  I think everyone has had the knob slam into their hand on the rebound.

202

Living Room / Re: In Car Gadgets & Doodads

« Last post by techidave on March 01, 2013, 08:34 AM »

4wd, here in farm country (western Kansas) we call them "widow makers", because they can be quite dangerous.  Also one of the first companies to make them was HiLift hence they are also known as a HiLift jack.

203

Living Room / Re: In Car Gadgets & Doodads

« Last post by techidave on March 01, 2013, 05:45 AM »

heated seats are the bomb!   

204

Living Room / Re: Show us a picture of your.. CAR!!!

« Last post by techidave on March 01, 2013, 05:41 AM »

Guys, maybe I am not looking at the fuel consumption properly but a liter and a gallon are not equal.  1 gallon=3.7541 liters.  But I cannot get get my head wrapped around the mpg differences shown in Carol's VW comparisons.

but then again, maybe it ain't worth the energy!

205

Living Room / Re: 3000 Days Online: 30th May 2013

« Last post by techidave on February 18, 2013, 12:07 PM »

you mean rebooting the server for updates, doesn't count as an offline day?

206

General Software Discussion / Re: MS Office 2013 Home/Business - non-transferable (1 PC p.person) - Caveat emptor.

« Last post by techidave on February 13, 2013, 06:27 PM »

I didn't think that there was much difference between LibreOffice and OpenOffice... just two different companies doing it.

207

Living Room / Re: Hi-Tech laptop cooling modification for laptops.

« Last post by techidave on February 13, 2013, 07:19 AM »

Renegade, maybe you should get a walk in freezer, then there would be enough room for you and the laptop.  A guy could work all day at that rate.  But then you might have to worry about freezer burn!

208

Living Room / Re: Hi-Tech laptop cooling modification for laptops.

« Last post by techidave on February 13, 2013, 05:30 AM »

Ianb, wouldn't it be better to not have the moisture or "warm humid air" going into the laptop?  I have not been sold on the laptop cooling pads that have the fans in them and are powered by USB. 

But I also have to wonder about putting it into the freezer... how good can that be for it??

209

Living Room / Re: Suggestions for low vision problems while working on a computer

« Last post by techidave on February 12, 2013, 06:04 AM »

Man that nosquint is the bomb!  just trying it out on my own computer and it rocks!   

210

Living Room / Re: Suggestions for low vision problems while working on a computer

« Last post by techidave on February 12, 2013, 05:47 AM »

Screen Mask also looks useful.  As does some of the other programs on that site

211

Living Room / Re: Suggestions for low vision problems while working on a computer

« Last post by techidave on February 12, 2013, 05:45 AM »

thanks for the suggestions, Ianb.  I will check them out.  I have personally used f.lux before.  I havent heard about nosquint before.

As for the inbuilt windows system colors, etc., they are in my opinion, limited and difficult to set and have them set for any "window". 

I have also compared the display settings on my win 7 and win computers and they do have a few more settings that XP does not have.  I may have to upgrade her as her condition deteriorates to see if that can help her.

212

Living Room / Re: Suggestions for low vision problems while working on a computer

« Last post by techidave on February 11, 2013, 04:47 PM »

yes, ath, the tv is set to extend desktop.  tv resolution is 640 x 480.  the laptop is 1024 x 600.

213

Living Room / Re: Suggestions for low vision problems while working on a computer

« Last post by techidave on February 11, 2013, 05:13 AM »

I tried out the 32" TV yesterday and it was wonderful.  I think that she will like it alot.  I plan on setting it up for her later on today.

Is it common for the tv to not fill the whole screen?  the laptop is 10.1" which is widescreen and so is the 32" tv.  I looked at settings on both but didn't find anything that helped fill the whole screen.

or maybe my perception is distorted? 

214

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Minimize Outlook 2007 instead of closing

« Last post by techidave on February 07, 2013, 03:52 PM »

at $59 USD, it does seem a bit pricey.

215

Living Room / Re: Suggestions for low vision problems while working on a computer

« Last post by techidave on February 06, 2013, 05:25 AM »

based upon your suggestions, here is what I am going to do.  I have a 19" tv/monitor LCD that we are going to try with an existing laptop that she has. (VGA).  I also have a 32" LCD flat panel that also has a VGA port in it.

Then we shall see how she does with each of them for a few days.  That will tell us which one she can see with.  I could also come up with a 19" LCD computer monitor just for comparison sakes.

216

Living Room / Re: Suggestions for low vision problems while working on a computer

« Last post by techidave on February 04, 2013, 08:50 PM »

nope its VGA on an older laptop.  Of which she can hook her laptop up to her big 60" or so LCD TV. But i don't think she does that much.  Heck, maybe I just need to see if her internet could hook up to her tv and just let her use that? 

She wants to replace a different laptop back in her office with a desktop computer.  So now, I have been trying to decide what kind of monitor to get her.  So that is the why I am asking all the questions.  I have even wondered about the all in one computers but i think the optical drive would be too difficult for her to use.  I have also wondered about the mini pcs with the Atom processor.  But havent been around one of them.

217

Living Room / Re: Suggestions for low vision problems while working on a computer

« Last post by techidave on February 03, 2013, 04:55 AM »

now maybe this website has it right, dunno.  site  If you look across the top of the page you will see where you can change the font size and the contrast.  I am not sure what this program would be called that could do this especially if it could do it for any window no matter the program.   

218

Living Room / Re: Suggestions for low vision problems while working on a computer

« Last post by techidave on February 03, 2013, 04:49 AM »

so now for another question:  Is there a difference between flat screen computer monitors and flat screen televisions?  other than the connectors on the back maybe?

219

Living Room / Re: Suggestions for low vision problems while working on a computer

« Last post by techidave on February 03, 2013, 04:37 AM »

Ok JoTo.  I didn't think my post out to well.  To be honest, I am now not sure what color her cursor is.     I know it has black on her big 17" laptop (XP) but it has white back ground.  On her smaller 10" laptop (Vista) it is black background so it is probably white there.  I believe that she would be interested in your cursor if you don't mind sharing.

I am not sure how she will feel about Windows  but she does have an open mnd about it.

one of the problems with the black background is in her Windows Live Mail desktop program.  If she creates a new mail, then the blackground is black and people cannot read it.  If she forwards or replies, it ignores her background and uses the original senders so its ok.  I have tried changing the settings on live but I only make it worse.

220

Living Room / Suggestions for low vision problems while working on a computer

« Last post by techidave on February 02, 2013, 03:21 PM »

Looking for suggestion for a new flat screen monitor for a friend with macular degeneration.  She needs the everything to be as big as it can be PLUS a black background with white lettering works the best for her.  She also would like to have a mouse pointer that is BIG and black in color. 

I am thinking that someone here has dealt with this problem before and could give me a few hints.  Maybe a bigger screen isn't better or an LED screen would be the answer.  Or would a better video card help?

I originally posted on the forum here with a similar question

thanks,
dave

221

Living Room / Re: Scientists test functional 'tractor beams'

« Last post by techidave on January 30, 2013, 06:51 PM »

Come on Guys....how much difference is there in a tractor beam and a tractor pull?

-Shades (January 30, 2013, 03:34 PM)

Only the weight Shades, only the weight! 

222

General Software Discussion / Re: 2013 Version: Browser Wars

« Last post by techidave on January 30, 2013, 06:49 PM »

While I really like Firefox there are a few sites that work better with IE.  Our Office 365 login and MS Volume Licensing download pages work so much better with IE than anything else.  There are others but I cannot remember them right now.  I never was a Chrome fan and have tried it several times.

223

Living Room / Re: Companies Keep Us Buying New Stuff

« Last post by techidave on December 29, 2012, 03:09 AM »

planned obsolescence I tell ya.  more info

224

N.A.N.Y. 2013 / Re: NANY 2013: Release - PRNter Widget

« Last post by techidave on December 27, 2012, 07:07 PM »

I agree with Mouser.  just a smaller audience.  If I did alot of repairs on printers, I would be interested.  Your other printer utility was great and I still use it.

225

Living Room / Re: Merry Xmas to all DonationCoder folks

« Last post by techidave on December 25, 2012, 08:37 PM »

Merry Christmas to all and a very prosperous and Happy New Year!

We actually had a white Christmas here in Western Kansas.