Recent Posts

2201

General Software Discussion / Re: WIndows Vista Ultimate ... worth upgrading ... CNET say no!

« Last post by nudone on February 09, 2007, 11:09 AM »

ah yes, you are right, Carol. i had forgotten that it was aimed at the business side.

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General Software Discussion / Re: WIndows Vista Ultimate ... worth upgrading ... CNET say no!

« Last post by nudone on February 09, 2007, 10:05 AM »

was it that bad? i didn't realise win2k wouldn't run on many older machines. i've got it running on a pentium 2 laptop with 128meg which is kind of borderline annoying but pentium 3's seem okay. how all this nostalgia takes you back - incredible.

i can't remember what machines were like around win2k's release, was it still common to use 486's and pentiums?

2203

Living Room / Re: Geek squad / Best buy Busted!

« Last post by nudone on February 09, 2007, 09:58 AM »

well, it looks like we can all chip in and evolve the thread how we like as no one seems to be too eager to say anything about the geeksqaud video. how strange.

Gothi[c], i think your right about the conversational tone of DC threads. i think the regulars around here know what to expect. i was just making a point of it all as i guess there must be plenty of visitors that do expect to see a thread relate to the title that was originally created.

i assume it's no problem, anyhow. no one else has complained but i do feel a little guilty about letting my ego take control of my comments some times (just like now).

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General Software Discussion / Re: What Is That Program Called? I Forget!!!

« Last post by nudone on February 09, 2007, 09:49 AM »

what you are looking for seems to stir a distant memory in me - so distant i may be suffering from false memory syndrome.

if i'm not imagining it, then it would have been a util downloaded from www.nonags.com because that's where i used to get all the free utils from. i'll have a quick look.

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General Software Discussion / Re: WIndows Vista Ultimate ... worth upgrading ... CNET say no!

« Last post by nudone on February 09, 2007, 09:46 AM »

sunsound, i have to admit i really can't remember which came first so i thought i would just check up.

according to http://en.wikipedia....of_Microsoft_Windows they put February 17, 2000 for Windows 2000 and September 14, 2000 for Windows Me on their timeline which means ME followed win2k. i wouldn't be surprised if they had different release dates in different parts of the world so maybe you are correct where you are.

at the time i just seem to remember thinking, why have microsoft released something like millennium when win2k was out - and better. i was kind of dismayed that people were rushing to get millennium when they could have gone for win2k - but then the hype machine wasn't telling them to get win2k.

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Living Room / long exposure photos of classic arcade games

« Last post by nudone on February 09, 2007, 02:21 AM »

by Rosemaire Fiore...

long exposure photography of old arcade machine screens.

http://www.rosemarie...php&navGallID=12

and other nice and curious art.

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Living Room / Re: Underpinnings of Consciousness from a Cellular Perspective

« Last post by nudone on February 09, 2007, 02:08 AM »

just chipping in to say that i've read Pinker's 'the language instinct'. i wish i could remember what is was about but i do seem recall being impressed by it at the time.

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Living Room / Re: Geek squad / Best buy Busted!

« Last post by nudone on February 09, 2007, 02:03 AM »

that's a very interesting idea, benjahuda. i'd never have considered doing such a thing for a local shop.

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Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Mini-Review: Altiris SVS

« Last post by nudone on February 08, 2007, 04:06 PM »

thanks for the explanation, brownstudy.

i was holding off trying svs until i had some spare time but after reading about your experience i'll probably just leave it completely. it sounds like svs wouldn't really compliment how i work and i do have vmware already so i think i'll stick to that instead.

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Living Room / Re: Geek squad / Best buy Busted!

« Last post by nudone on February 07, 2007, 03:02 PM »

a real pro being what exactly?

edit:
i perhaps better just say that i didn't intend to hijack this thread. but as the first reply was by Gothi[c], the author of this thread, and the topic didn't move back to the 'geek squad' then it seemed okay to carry on.

i'll refrain from carrying on with my nonsense and maybe someone will post something referring to the original youtube link.

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Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: drag window to edge automatically resizes it

« Last post by nudone on February 07, 2007, 12:39 PM »

i've a 24" monitor and gridmove works fine - so it's not the size of the monitor that is the problem. might be that something else you've got running is conflicting with it?

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Living Room / Re: Geek squad / Best buy Busted!

« Last post by nudone on February 07, 2007, 12:35 PM »

tomos, that's another good point which i had forgotten today for some reason... what to do when you can't fix it. i can only remember one occasion where i was completely lost for ideas what to do with a machine so i returned it to it's owner and explained the situation. i didn't charge but i think they might have given me a tip as they appreciated the amount of time i spent trying to help - but, of course, this can't be expected unless you've set out some rules to the customer first.

this is probably the worst and trickiest area when dealing with pc trouble shooting. there are going to be times when something can't be fixed for a reasonable cost, i.e. a new component is required and the customer can't or won't agree to it. you can't force the customer to upgrade or replace the part and they might be unwilling to pay for the time it took you to check out their machine.

this is probably one of the reasons why i've always held back from doing this as a real business. friends and friends of friends aren't likely to refuse to pay but unknown customers don't have any loyalty to you. i think i might be blowing this thought out of all proportion though, as things can't be that bad in the real world.

the point of selling as well as fixing is a good idea but it requires more commitment than i wish to put into this kind of business. that is, unless the selling could be kept to a minimum.

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The Getting Organized Experiment of 2006 / Re: Do wallpapers aid your productivity?

« Last post by nudone on February 07, 2007, 07:01 AM »

i'd go with the wallpaper that allows you to see all your desktop icons in a clear way helps productivity (if you have desktop icons).

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Living Room / Re: Geek squad / Best buy Busted!

« Last post by nudone on February 07, 2007, 06:50 AM »

good point. many people i've fixed things for aren't on a great income, others a typical income and one or two a mind boggling income. regardless of their income the response and satisfaction has always been the same, the only difference being that the response is usually more appreciated when money changes hand.

doing a 'favour' for someone hasn't really ever invoked a response of "you are my hero and i shall forever be in your debt." instead the response to the free service is often "thanks" and a tacit belief from them that you are obliged to help (like you, f0dder, said above). making someone pay for something appears to make them think a little more about what has been done - like they now understand the value of the service. okay, i'm talking obvious business practise - i just need to remind myself what it's all about.

back to the question of their income. i've never had a fixed rate so i've just charged what seemed correct at the time - or let them make an offer and i'll take less if they've been over generous. the problem of charging an hourly rate, and you'll know this already, is that some pc problems take quite a while to figure out - charging an hourly rate wouldn't be realistic. maybe having a cap on the total to charge is a compromise, but then that of course means you could have spent one or two days on something and the payment your receive isn't going to match the time you've spent. i see the solution to that is to multitask repair jobs just as a shop would do.

i guess you set a fixed rate, reduce it by 10, 20 or 50 percent for friends/family. if something is so simple it would be an insult to charge for it then don't charge - that's just good promotion for yourself - you've shown yourself to be a fair business person and hopefully that will spread through word of mouth.

as usual, i've thought about all these things, but the action is still in the land of dreams.

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Living Room / Re: Geek squad / Best buy Busted!

« Last post by nudone on February 07, 2007, 05:57 AM »

Then I moved to the US, haven't heard the guy in a year, then out of the blew he finds me on msn, messaging me with a problem he has,...

haha, oh dear.

i know what you mean about whether it's something i'd be able to enjoy. i would consider it as a 'job' and not a hobby so i wouldn't be expecting it to be too much 'fun'. i worked in a school for a while as an IT technician and found it pretty dull. the people were great, it was nice to help them out but the boredom came from having to sit around and pretend you were busy when you waiting for the next problem. i imagine being self employed wouldn't be so dull as i'd be able to crack on with other stuff during the slack periods.

i could easily live with charging people for the service i'd provide - i can provide a more personalised service than a shop so that has to count for something AND the point of charging is so that you don't end up with 'friends' like you described above. no point resenting someone pestering you if you've made it clear to them that you are their free personal assistant, but if you make it clear there is a fair charge to be made and they don't wish to pay it then it's time for the them to find another sucker.

my only real issues are not whether to charge but how much to charge. i can price myself lower than the local pc shops but i'll not be dealing with as many customers as them so unfortunately i need to charge more to make it worth while. so, the service i provide has to be better than the competition - which might equate to spending more time helping the customer or just providing a better quality or faster service.

hard to say really with all this - i guess i've just got to do a trial run and learn as i go along rather than theorise about it all.

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Living Room / Re: Geek squad / Best buy Busted!

« Last post by nudone on February 07, 2007, 04:14 AM »

very interesting.

i got into computers when windows 3.1 was all the rage, which means i'm a bit of a novice compared with many people on this forum. but, like everyone else around here (i suspect) i've fixed many other peoples computers in my time. sometimes in return for money, sometimes not.

i'm not an expert in any field. i've done a few pc repair courses a few years ago but they didn't actually teach me anything regarding fixing a typical computer. just gaining experience is better of course.

right. i'm currently working on a portfolio for the creative things i can do but i'm living off of my savings in the bank. i can support myself for about a year or two if i'm very careful. this leads me to think that maybe i should do a little part time 'pc repair' thing or maybe even 'pc tuition'. to bring money in rather than have it going out all the time.

i've always felt that i've either undercharged clients/friends for the pc repair/tuition in the past or i've really just wasted a few hours of my life when i could have been doing something else. obviously, sometimes it's just nice to help someone and expect absolutely nothing in return except for their gratitude. sometimes it's just satisfying solving a pc problem for the sake of solving it - you've won the battle against the machine (for the time being).

i'd like to hear a few opinions from others that have found themselves in similar situations. are there any of you that have gone 'official' and made a living from pc fixing?

the geek squad sounds like a great idea but (as usual) it's open to abuse. i find myself belittling the effort involved to fix a pc a lot of the time and so will feel guilty about accepting payment (i know this contradicts what i said above), so it seems very difficult to me to know what to charge - have you any thoughts on this.

and lastly, i'm considering this 'pc repair' thing as an official means of self employment. i'm in the UK so i'd be following the law regarding tax and liability, etc.

if you think i'm talking nonsense then i'd like to know - i don't wish to think i can make a small 'living' from this if it's a bad idea. i'd only be working at the domestic level but should things get a bit more interesting there may be other people i could draft in if the task required it. maybe a 'part time' way of doing it would be pointless - if so, then i'd just forget about the whole idea as i need time to concentrate on my art/design portfolio wotsit.

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General Software Discussion / Re: General brainstorming for Note-taking software

« Last post by nudone on February 06, 2007, 03:12 AM »

Papel, does indeed look interesting.

i'm giving it a go now, but i've got that kind of feeling that the program is going to seem limited quite soon.

but as the program saves to .txt file, them maybe it's possible to use another program in conjuction with it - something that would provide tree views maybe?

2218

Living Room / truecrypt thread orphan

« Last post by nudone on February 05, 2007, 11:46 AM »

whoooooops!

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Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: drag window to edge automatically resizes it

« Last post by nudone on February 03, 2007, 01:42 AM »

excellent. i'm glad you are prepared to have a crack at creating yet another window moving program, jgpaiva.

(i'm also using gridmove now, with just a slightly modified 2 part vertical edge grid. i think i had made things too complicated for myself before by creating ridiculously complex grids. simple is definitely better.)

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General Software Discussion / Re: General brainstorming for Note-taking software

« Last post by nudone on February 02, 2007, 05:33 PM »

i did delete notes but nothing happened.

problems solved now. i've reinstalled the beta and all the icons are there and a 'recycle bin' category. maybe it wasn't working before because i had installed the free version before trying the beta. the free version didn't show any icons or recycle bin either - so something must have gone wrong somewhere.

i'm glad i can now use the program with all the features in place.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Is there any way to abort a reboot?

« Last post by nudone on February 02, 2007, 02:08 PM »

can't you change the layout of the menu to prevent it happening?

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General Software Discussion / Re: General brainstorming for Note-taking software

« Last post by nudone on February 02, 2007, 02:08 PM »

i'm going to have to try reinstalling or something because that panel has been there in view for me all along - it just doesn't have anything that says deleted in it. it doesn't have any icons either, unless i right click on the items and assign my own using the properties.

looks to me like i'm missing quite a bit.

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General Software Discussion / Re: General brainstorming for Note-taking software

« Last post by nudone on February 02, 2007, 11:03 AM »

oh dear. i'm not sure if that's good or bad news. i assumed the program just wasn't working correctly on my system, now it sounds like a common problem. (or even a bug?)

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General Software Discussion / Re: General brainstorming for Note-taking software

« Last post by nudone on February 02, 2007, 07:54 AM »

forgive me for asking here, rather than on the evernot forum, but how do i see my 'deleted' category where all the notes go when they are deleted. i can't find it anywhere.

2225

Living Room / be my valentine!

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

one of my favourite books Love Sick: Love as a Mental Illness (Paperback)
by Frank Tallis http://www.amazon.co...?ie=UTF8&s=books is a great gift to send this valentine's day, but if you'd rather not stretch that far you can get a few nice ideas here instead http://www.meish.org/vd/

bitter? moi? surely not.