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2476

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: AirObic/ Aerobic Vertical mouse - first impressions

« Last post by Darwin on August 25, 2008, 06:16 PM »

Heh, heh... just wondered! I have the same "capacity" for using either hand, actually. I only realised it when I started working and people would comment on weird things like my ability to sweep or mop the floor with either hand (ie with my left or right hand at the top of the handle -who knew that this is "odd"?!) or skip rocks across water or throw a football with either hand. FWIW, my handwriting is legible when I use my left hand, but I have to concentrate more while I am doing it...

Good comments on the posture - I'm working on it!

2477

Living Room / Re: MacBook Air Parody (by Wreckedcarzz)

« Last post by Darwin on August 25, 2008, 03:13 PM »

enjoyed that, cant even complain it's not pc

-tomos (August 25, 2008, 01:59 PM)

2478

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: AirObic/ Aerobic Vertical mouse - first impressions

« Last post by Darwin on August 25, 2008, 01:08 PM »

I have one left hand and one right hand.

-kfitting (August 24, 2008, 05:45 PM)

Something else we share in common!

Seriously, though - why do you switch the hand you use between home and work? (Yes! I am a Nosy Parker...).

2479

General Software Discussion / Re: PC Upgrade - A few questions

« Last post by Darwin on August 25, 2008, 12:29 PM »

If you're going to be running XP, 2GB of RAM is fine. If you're running Vista... After mucking about with it on several different notebooks (all Intel Dual Cores) I'd say that you need at least 3GB of RAM... Admittedly, the previous notebook I tried had integrated video (my current one has 512MB dedicated), but even with the still earlier notebook I tried with 128MB dedicated video, Vista was sluggish with 2GB RAM. Incidentally, all of these notebooks were tried brand new with nothing other than the OS installed and the OEM garbage removed...

2480

Living Room / Re: MacBook Air Parody (by Wreckedcarzz)

« Last post by Darwin on August 25, 2008, 12:24 PM »

Cute! Of course, I've never seen the ad that you're parodying, but then I get the gist from your video...

2481

Circle Dock / Re: Circle Dock 0.9.2 Alpha 7 Discussion

« Last post by Darwin on August 25, 2008, 12:17 PM »

Wow! The video IS cool! 

2482

Official Announcements / Re: August 2008 Giveaway Results

« Last post by Darwin on August 24, 2008, 12:41 PM »

Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to the software companies, Carl, and Mouser for organizing these events 

2483

Living Room / Re: Anyone good with search engines - I am thoroughly frustrated!

« Last post by Darwin on August 24, 2008, 12:32 PM »

Are you having any luck with the Suckow translation? Just curious... and hoping that you've been successful!

2484

General Software Discussion / Re: In search of ideal backup utility

« Last post by Darwin on August 24, 2008, 12:29 PM »

Everything is becoming bigger and bigger and it takes longer and longer to clone a full disk.

-tslim (August 24, 2008, 11:12 AM)

I run notebooks, so I just partition the drive and set aside about 30 GB for Windows and programmes and the rest as E: for Documents and everything else. I use Super Flexible File Synchronizer to backup the important stuff on E  and Acronis True Image to make incremental image backups of the Windows/Programmes partition... Both of these are done to a 500GB USB drive. The whole process, if I do it back to back (and I don't, as a rule), takes about 25 minutes for the entire 120GB over USB 2.0 connection. I usually backup documents every couple of days* and only image the harddrive if anything significant is changed (as in, installing software that requires a lot of setup and/or activation).

NB all my important data and settings files, such as Outlook data files, are also kept on the Documents partition (E:) and are automatically backed up along with my documents...

I understand, of course, that if I had a TB drive full of data to backup I might be approaching this differently!

*REALLY important stuff, like e-mail and PhD crap gets backed up to a Thumbdrive daily... just in case!

2485

Living Room / Re: Is this funny

« Last post by Darwin on August 24, 2008, 12:29 PM »

I've heard this kind of argument before... "after all these years you don't know x,y, or z about me".

-Darwin (August 24, 2008, 10:51 AM)

But now you're reformed, I hope.  Quickly, her favourite flower is?
                                                                                                 

-cranioscopical (August 24, 2008, 11:42 AM)

That's just cruel. The sad irony is that I've been caught out on this one before 

2486

Living Room / Re: Is this funny

« Last post by Darwin on August 24, 2008, 10:51 AM »

She should dump you for you not knowing what she finds funny

-mitzevo (August 24, 2008, 08:07 AM)

I've heard this kind of argument before... "after all these years you don't know x,y, or z about me".

You're on dangerous ground, FredNerd! Oh, hang on, just a friend, not a significant other. Not so precarious, then...

FWIW, I thought the joke was amusing. Not outright funny, perhaps, but amusing...

2487

General Software Discussion / Re: In search of ideal backup utility

« Last post by Darwin on August 24, 2008, 10:48 AM »

Nicely stated, mouser  This is exactly what I do as well (though I probably got the inspiration from your backup guide  ).

2488

General Software Discussion / Re: Wanted: Calendar/to-do manager with special repeat patterns (for students)

« Last post by Darwin on August 24, 2008, 02:01 AM »

Cool, so it does what you were originally asking after? Is Rainlendar the solution that you chose?

2489

General Software Discussion / Re: opera downward spiral into oblivion: most sites don't work, they don't care

« Last post by Darwin on August 24, 2008, 02:00 AM »

I don't see the big deal you're making about it.

-tide (August 24, 2008, 01:41 AM)

What else would I complain about?! Seriously, you're right (and I have IE7/Maxthon 2, Opera, and Firefox installed), but there is a sense that being able to use a single browser shouldn't be too much to ask!

2490

What's the Best? / Re: Anti-Virus Package

« Last post by Darwin on August 24, 2008, 01:58 AM »

Thanks, tide! So far I'm happy with VIPRE and with Webroot (I still have two years on a two machine licence)... I've read good things about ESET in the past - it may be time to take another look. I note that Webroot's latest engine, 5.8, does not support Win2k, though they still offer (and accept payment for!) an earlier version that does.

2491

General Review Discussion / Re: Wovel

« Last post by Darwin on August 23, 2008, 03:49 PM »

I was thinking of setting up a foundation to purchase and distribute a few hundred of these to various organizations that could use some help shoveling...whatever. The RIAA and TSA come first to mind. Maybe a dozen to each - with attached air freshener holder?

-40hz (August 23, 2008, 01:52 PM)

2492

What's the Best? / Re: Anti-Virus Package

« Last post by Darwin on August 23, 2008, 11:18 AM »

I'm interested in what you might find about Sunbelt VIPRE - I've been meaning to try it out since they released a couple weeks ago, but haven't gotten around to it.

They have a very attractive home license price - $50 for 4 or more PCs.

-mwb1100 (August 23, 2008, 11:10 AM)

Yes, this, coupled with the claims about a new paradigm in AV and AS software and speed are what attracted me as well. FWIW, on my wife's HP Business notebook (Centrino - single core, 1.73Ghz and 2GB RAM. WinXP Pro) it takes about 29 minutes to do a Deep scan of a 40GB harddrive vs. 3 hours 13 minutes to do the same on my Win2k machine (600 Mhz, 512MB RAM, 80GB harddrive that's only 20% full). A quick scan on the Win2k machine takes about 18 minutes vs. about a minute on my wife's machine.

2493

What's the Best? / Re: Anti-Virus Package

« Last post by Darwin on August 23, 2008, 10:19 AM »

Crap. Kaspersky 2009 no longer supports Win2k (though I can't find a definitive answer to whether or not it will RUN under Win2k...). This is an increasing problem (finding AV and AS solutions for Win2k)... maybe it's time to retire Win2k and load Linux on this machine  Of course, VIPRE supports WIn2k, so we'll have to wait and see how this trial goes.

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What's the Best? / Re: Anti-Virus Package

« Last post by Darwin on August 23, 2008, 10:04 AM »

Thanks, Chris  I'll take a look at it.

2495

Developer's Corner / Re: i need key

« Last post by Darwin on August 23, 2008, 09:52 AM »

Ah, forgot about the translate feature 

2496

What's the Best? / Re: Anti-Virus Package

« Last post by Darwin on August 23, 2008, 09:27 AM »

So... what are people using now?! It's been almost a year since this thread was updated, and that is a lifetime in AV and AS detection and removal technology.

At the moment, I'm running a trial of Sunbelt's VIPRE on my Win2k machine. I've completely given up on Bitdefender 2008 as it is a resource hog and takes on the order of 3 hours to perform a Quick scan (even on my brand new Dual Core notebook with 3GB RAM). I am currently running Webroot AV with AS on that machine and on my XP Pro machine.

I discovered VIPRE because my wife's IT department replaced AVG Corporate with it on her notebook and, having just gotten my Win2k machine operational again, I'm looking for a lightweight AV and AS solution for it. Only installed it yesterday but so far it seems good, albeit after I tweaked it (as per suggestions here). Webroot is still great on both my other systems. Light on resources and scans quickly. It's slipping in the virii detection stakes though, and they no longer have attractive licensing options available (as compared to Bitdefender, Sunbelt, and others) - there are no longer any options allowing you to upgrade from a 1 system licence to a 2 or a 3 system licence cheaply, that I can see. I also need something that will run under Win2k on a very low spec system, and I'm not sure Webroot will do it. Besides, if I'm going to have to spend $30 (or more) to licence it for my Win2k machine, I might as well explore my options!

So, what is the state of play for people around here? And, anyone else trying, or tried, out VIPRE?

Enquiring minds want to know.

EDIT: added link to Sunbelt forum posting on VIPRE CPU utilizaiton

2497

General Software Discussion / Re: opera downward spiral into oblivion: most sites don't work, they don't care

« Last post by Darwin on August 23, 2008, 09:12 AM »

What has had me turning to Opera of late is its speed and reliability... it just works! IE 6 and 7 both seem to have been buggered by the Aug 12 updates from MS. They're both working fine right now (have a Win2k and a WinXP machine both running and connected to the internet at the moment), but will go off on tangents wherein it can take upwards of a minute for keyboard and mouse activity to register on Google's page, for example. When this is happening, I open Opera and it works immediately... This seems to be a documented problem without a workaround. PITA, but shame on me for updating my system...

As I've mentioned elsewhere, the one thing keeping me from switching to Opera full-hog is Roboform Pro. I have literally 100's of passwords saved in it and can't face having to re-enter them into Opera... though I am increasingly tempted to do so!

2498

Developer's Corner / Re: i need key

« Last post by Darwin on August 23, 2008, 08:06 AM »

Hi qq1111, welcome to DC! The key is available by clicking on the license link from the Software page. The only additional requirement is that you sign up for the forum, but it looks like you've done that already. Good luck!

2499

Living Room / Re: What do you do during your free time?

« Last post by Darwin on August 22, 2008, 10:22 PM »

Right then - off to a video rental place to see if I can get the DVD... Must remember to follow that up with Serenity!

2500

Living Room / Re: What do you do during your free time?

« Last post by Darwin on August 22, 2008, 01:30 PM »

Hmm... looks like it might have been interesting! Was on when I was living in the UK without a tv, hence my ignorance...