Recent Posts

2276

Living Room / Re: First compelling reason to switch to Windows 7

« Last post by Shades on March 14, 2010, 10:06 PM »

I switched to 7 and it is a mixed blessing at best. After installing 7 my PC just drops network connection for no apparent reason beside randomness. For this MS should be ashamed, especially if they want to sell to companies.

-Shades (March 14, 2010, 09:09 PM)

I haven't seen this before. What type NIC are you using over there?

-Innuendo (March 14, 2010, 09:27 PM)

Onboard (Asus PQ5LM motherboard), Realtek RTL8168C(P)/8111C(P) Family PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.20).

The thing is that XP never gave me this problem, and that was very likely why my XP installation was botched beyond repair after a laptop was hooked up to the network, trusting that its owner had properly screened and cleaned it.

Now I know that MS made a lot of changes in their networking layers with Vista and Win7. I use a Linux PC as a router/DNS server. Maybe I could still take a look if the Samba version on that one can cause my network drop-outs.

2277

Living Room / Re: First compelling reason to switch to Windows 7

« Last post by Shades on March 14, 2010, 09:09 PM »

I switched to 7 and it is a mixed blessing at best. After installing 7 my PC just drops network connection for no apparent reason beside randomness. For this MS should be ashamed, especially if they want to sell to companies.

It pains me to say but for me the first reason is/was UAC. You could say that Vista was an option as well, but from personal experience with pre SP1 Vista I can say that the network stack in that one is even worse than Windows 7. That one was offensively bad.

2278

Living Room / Re: When you make your 100'th Post

« Last post by Shades on March 13, 2010, 02:05 PM »

It's confirmed, he's devilishly clever!

-cranioscopical (March 12, 2010, 10:45 AM)

6666 posts? What ever possessed him, I wonder...

-40hz (March 12, 2010, 11:23 AM)

At least he doesn't have any crosses to bear...   

2279

What's the Best? / Re: Best file archiver/compresser

« Last post by Shades on March 13, 2010, 02:02 PM »

I think the only archive utility that beats WinRar (only on some things & definitely not everything) is 7zip.

-Innuendo (March 13, 2010, 11:37 AM)

The Oracle database dumps I sometimes receive are preferably compressed with 7zip. The resulting 7zip file is 50 to 60% smaller than the RAR archive (both at the most extreme setting). I also noticed that using the extreme setting from 7zip in a script results in an even smaller archive than the extreme setting in the GUI.

WinRAR is handy for day to day use, but 7zip (script) is my preferred method for storing data. GUI wise WinRAR beats 7zip as in 7zip a lot actions that you take for granted with other archivers simply do not work and/or not implemented.

2280

General Software Discussion / Re: Watching web channels on your TV?

« Last post by Shades on March 11, 2010, 08:25 PM »

Solutions depend very much on the available output methods on your video card and the input methods on your TV.

In principle it is possible, but if you want to have some kind of picture quality on your TV, try to prevent the use of analog signal transfer.

When both your TV and video card have a (spare) HDMI port you can hook up the PC to the TV with a HDMI cable and use your TV as second monitor on your PC/laptop. Then open the channel and make sure it is playing on the second "monitor".

2281

Living Room / Re: Is this True????

« Last post by Shades on March 11, 2010, 06:58 PM »

I know that the Dutch postal system only requires the zipcode and house number. Once that is know, they are able to deliver. The extra postage information makes it a lot easier and faster for them.

1234 AB (generic format of a Dutch zip code)

first digit stands for one of the 10 main regions in the country
second digit stands for one of the 10 sub-regions in a main region
third digit stands for one of the 10 regions in a sub-sub-region
fourth digit stands for one of the 10 regions in a sub-sub-sub-region

This sub-sub-sub-region is divided into 26x26 blocks. Believe me, you are by now already on street name level. By now the only thing essential is the house number. Once they know that, they can deliver.

The US is "slightly" bigger than Holland, so they require extra digits I assume. One or two should suffice.

2282

Living Room / Re: Motherboard issues? What's my problem?

« Last post by Shades on March 11, 2010, 05:50 PM »

As far as I know Windows XP power save mode shuts down everything on a very low level. It is possible to turn this off (per device) in the Windows device manager.



The screenshot was taken in Win7 but the principle is not different from XP.

2283

Living Room / Re: Help me build my new Home Theater PC

« Last post by Shades on March 08, 2010, 09:16 PM »

Would an i5 not suffice?

I read on Tom's Hardware that the performance of some i5 processors rival with the i7 while costing a lot less. In that way you more money to spend on Netflix (or whichever online/offline distribution system you prefer).

If you plan to use this system for not only for decoding video but also for a lot of encoding video, get an Intel. My daily PC is an AMD and I am fond of using it. Until I want to encode some video, there is where Intel always had the upper hand in my experience. However if encoding is not a primary concern, get AMD...which leaves you again with more money to spend on content to watch.

Onboard audio quality from motherboards nowadays is fine enough by my standards. Besides that, spend money on a decent amplifier (Revox) and good speakers (Wharfedale is my brand of choice), those pack a whole lot of "punch" in small boxes. Not only your ears will love you for it, your better half will too. Again from personal experience, I have to meet the first woman that likes to have big speakers in any room.

JavaJones is absolutely right about video cards and media center software.

EDIT: Added link

2284

Living Room / Re: Strange question about salsa

« Last post by Shades on March 02, 2010, 08:36 PM »

...but my "special" cake (Dutch recipe) cannot stop raggeaton dancing... 

2285

Living Room / Re: Fixed my network - The Hard Way

« Last post by Shades on February 28, 2010, 10:18 AM »

Hmmm....use a different password on your router/modem? And put that in a safe place?

2286

Living Room / Re: You are what you charge

« Last post by Shades on February 25, 2010, 05:43 PM »

Yep, I remeber a saying from one of my first bosses:
Ask the wages of a slave, expect to be treated as one.

2287

Living Room / Re: computer audio: rear + front jacks, different results

« Last post by Shades on February 25, 2010, 05:41 PM »

About the better sounding audio on your front panel, follow this link that explains the priciple.

Don´t have too much experience with Bluetooth so no help from me there.

2288

Living Room / Re: Confessions of an Internet “Shock Jock”

« Last post by Shades on February 25, 2010, 05:26 PM »

The trouble with trolls is that they regenerate. Only acid in combination with fire will put them down.   

2289

General Software Discussion / Re: Should I pay to go from 3.0 to 3.1?

« Last post by Shades on February 24, 2010, 06:59 PM »

[joke]
Microsoft did get away with that  
[/joke]

The list of changes/fixes appears to be extensive enough to warrant a version jump several digits, maybe even a 4.0. At that time their upgrade price could be justified. Right now it is not, I would not. If the list is extensive and it warrants only a one digit jump...well, in such a case it appears to me that you sold a quite broken piece of software to begin with and those repairs should be made available for free.

So no, I would not pay and I am agreeing with you, the worth of the upgrade lies (for a huge part) in the perception of the one that has to make the purchase.

2290

General Software Discussion / Re: Why OpenOffice? Why Microsoft Office? Each one makes their argument

« Last post by Shades on February 23, 2010, 06:50 AM »

@ JavaJones:
The OLE experience from MSOffice doesn't feel as smooth as RagTime's, not by far. Just tried to include an excel sheet in a word document (MSoffice2003) and that was rather painful and slow. So I installed the last freeware version from RagTime that I have (5.6.5) and tried to do the same.  It took time to find my way around its interface again, but after that it was a breeze...and still faster than the MSOffice OLE crap.

I stand by my recommendation.

2291

Living Room / Re: computer audio: rear + front jacks, different results

« Last post by Shades on February 22, 2010, 09:43 PM »

is there not some kind of amplification going on at the front of your system?

Hiss and static is interference and that is what you get when you have long cables that are not or poorly shielded. It does not help if you bundle those audio cables with the power distribution cables (which one is inclined to do for improving the airflow within the case). Spanning cables near areas with electrical components that spin are also a cause of interference. Proper shielding goes a very long way in eliminating hiss and static.

Of course, against a shitty audiocard/audio component you cannot do too much, except repair (which in most, if not all, cases means replacement). As far as I know that is not true in your case as you are a musician.
 
Poor sound on the back I cannot say. Are you sure all audio drivers are up-to-date and properly configured? In Windows XP alone you have several places to control the audio output. This is likely also true for Vista/Windows 7 (no experience on both systems, I cannot say for sure).

2292

Living Room / Re: Right, time to work on...o_0 a shiny penny, I WANT IT!

« Last post by Shades on February 21, 2010, 04:18 PM »

How about: 'waking up your muse' (google books)

Here is another link describing the (exact) same subject (everything.com).

With the advise provided by these links you can still indulge each of your whims and call it....book research.  

2293

Living Room / Re: Right, time to work on...o_0 a shiny penny, I WANT IT!

« Last post by Shades on February 21, 2010, 11:59 AM »

Seclusion?

Perhaps on an island...out of the range from any cell phone provider...without internet...or any other form of media.

A place similar to RobbenEiland would help I think

2294

General Software Discussion / Re: Why OpenOffice? Why Microsoft Office? Each one makes their argument

« Last post by Shades on February 21, 2010, 10:39 AM »

You are very probably right, but their software is the only time I have seen it and that it works.

The only reason I have installed Powerpoint (well, the OOo version of that) is because people sometimes send me jokes in this format. Word, Excel and Outlook are the only pieces of the MSOffice suite that I use on regular (non-extensive) basis, but not by choice. And from this set Outlook is the application I despise the most. Besides the issues that DC member superboyac reported on this forum, I would not suggest to do low level coding using its full MAPI implementation (yes, there are two of them). That is if you do not want to pull out your hair out of sheer agony about the misinformation that MS TechNet feeds you.   

Long story short, I do not like Office software and limit my exposure to that kind of software on purpose. At the time (2001) I saw that RagTime was doing their thing I thought that their idea about Office software was a whole lot better than any of their competitors at the time and to a extent even now. 

It is unclear to me how long OLE has been around and maybe they were implementing it already in their software, I do not know (and can't be bothered to look it up). Sorry if this post sounds like a rant, it is not intended as such.

2295

General Software Discussion / Re: Why OpenOffice? Why Microsoft Office? Each one makes their argument

« Last post by Shades on February 21, 2010, 07:48 AM »

What I always found very convenient in RagTime was the ability to include a fully working excel worksheet inside your letter/report/whatever DTP'ed document as well. Which is very likely why they have their own binary format to store files.

2296

General Software Discussion / Re: Game-play always beats graphics

« Last post by Shades on February 20, 2010, 09:47 AM »

Totally off-topic:
Where did you get that wallpaper? In a strange way I like it!  Can you point me to a download link?

On topic:
It is impossible for me to uninstall both NeverWinter Nights games (+mods) that reside on my system for years now.

2297

Living Room / Re: People are really (really, really) stupid

« Last post by Shades on February 20, 2010, 08:13 AM »

I'm agreeing totally with Josh. No warning labels on any product! Pain is the teacher with the most eager students...and that knowledge retains a lifetime (however short that may be for some according to the rules of Darwinism).

2298

Living Room / Re: What's a good giveaway idea?

« Last post by Shades on February 20, 2010, 07:57 AM »

If the possibility is there, ask a commenter to include a picture where they show why they need the license of that particular piece of software. The most original according to your whims wins.

2299

General Software Discussion / Re: Why OpenOffice? Why Microsoft Office? Each one makes their argument

« Last post by Shades on February 20, 2010, 07:30 AM »

Frankly I'm tired of the whole "Office Suite" paradigm and the traditional document authoring model. Why should I need a separate, sophisticated design tool like InDesign if I want to make my document look really nice and print well?

-JavaJones (February 19, 2010, 06:57 PM)

Well, practically a decade ago there used to be a piece of office software called: 'RagTimeSolo' and it would let you do DTP your document in practically any way you wanted. The pay version would handle spelling/grammar checking as well. The company behind this software is still around today, but as far as I know they do not offer a free version of their software anymore. It seems however that a lot of (dutch) download sites still offer the last freeware version (5.6.4 I believe, the version the company sells nowadays is 6.5.

Anyway, I always liked the software a lot, but IIRC there was no option to save in the "popular" .doc or .xls formats.  

EDIT:
Adjusted the recent version number.

2300

General Software Discussion / Re: DC Reveal/Hide feature

« Last post by Shades on February 08, 2010, 07:07 PM »

MS Word:
    * Hide selected text -- Click CTRL + Shift + H
    * Display Hidden Text -- Click CTRL + Shift + H
    * Include Hidden Text for printing -- Click CTRL + P, click Options Button & select Hidden text. Print.

How to Hide Text in Notepad

Here are tips to hide/show text in html. HTML is usable for email messages. Maybe it is not what you look for, but it can be "inspirational".

All these tips may even come in handy for more general use as well.

Ready made script.

EDIT:
Added one more link