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2576

Living Room / Re: Every Episode Of Every 'Star Trek' Series Ever, Ranked

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 20, 2014, 06:25 AM »

Apparently the Trek universe has evolved past Earth's PC phase by the time TNG boldy went...wherever to do...whatever.

-40hz (December 19, 2014, 01:54 PM)

One thing that bummed me was when they toned down Troy's Uniform on TNG.  She was showing some nice cleavage(and enjoying it according to one of her interviews.)  That move seemed counter-productive in my estimation. 

2577

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 20, 2014, 06:17 AM »

I'm sure this is old.  It has to be!  But I've never seen it before:

Never argue with an idiot... they'll drag you down to their level and beat you with their experience!

-wraith808 (December 19, 2014, 01:53 PM)

I remember seeing Yul Brenner on The Mike Douglas Show.  He made a career of playing The King and I and gunfighters(Magnificent 7 which was a redone 7 Samurai.)  Mike asked him what he learned of Eastern Philosophy while doing on location stuff in the East.  He gave that reply stretched out a bit:

"Never deal with idiots.  You can only deal with them on their level.  And they are much better on their level than you can ever hope to be."  Not sure what year it was.  But that bit of advice impressed me, esp. with his delivery.

2578

Non-Windows Software / Re: Looking for Kubuntu Plasma 5.1 that works with VMWare Player

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 20, 2014, 06:07 AM »

If I boot directly to the plasma I get black screen or scrambled eggs.  Just not worth the effort.

-MilesAhead (December 19, 2014, 05:52 AM)

I'm experiencing similar video errors when attempting to install Kubuntu 14.10 Plasma 4 or 5 in VirtualBox. I can't get it installed because the graphics are messed up. :-/

-Deozaan (December 19, 2014, 05:20 PM)

I even tried the Kubuntu Plasma 5.1 nightly 386 build.  It comes up to 800x600 screen with no resolution settings in the Monitor settings.  Strange.  I guess I'll have to try once a week until the VMs catch up.

2579

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 19, 2014, 12:05 PM »

.. new cereal 
 (see attachment in previous post)

-crabby3 (December 19, 2014, 11:49 AM)

I bet it's advertised in

2580

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 19, 2014, 11:33 AM »

(see attachment in previous post)
Obviously satirical humor since absolute zero is –459.67 degrees F.

-Arizona Hot (December 19, 2014, 11:14 AM)

For absolute zero I like to use Kelvin.  It's easier to remember 0 K.  Also that old fridge ran just about forever. 

2581

Living Room / Re: A stoned guy renamed some of his favorite items while high...

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 19, 2014, 10:52 AM »

Better that than the CIA, NSA, and Executive Branch renaming some of their favorite things while stone cold sober.

-40hz (December 17, 2014, 11:08 AM)

Heh.  When I lived in Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis was credited with substituting the term "Revenue Enhancement" for taxes. 

-MilesAhead (December 17, 2014, 12:45 PM)

LOL!  Right up there with "five-finger discount."

-40hz (December 17, 2014, 12:59 PM)

Heh heh. After he rode the tank a lot of voters gave him the "one finger salute."

2582

Living Room / Re: Every Episode Of Every 'Star Trek' Series Ever, Ranked

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 19, 2014, 10:03 AM »

Another example is that whole breaking the Warp 10 barrier.

-TaoPhoenix (December 19, 2014, 09:51 AM)

In TOS what cracked me up was The Prime Directive.  I think they broke TPD on 90+% of the episodes.  I suspect Roddenberry was giving a little dig to America's foreign policy stricture of "self determination."

2583

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 19, 2014, 09:47 AM »

@IanB Speaking of bottoms and speaking, Julia Morely is obviously talking out of her ass.    If they want to reward the intellectuals then go to M.I.T. and give the chick named Zelda with the thick glasses a free vacation:



Also the bit with the swimsuit private review reminds me of The US Supreme Court watching porn.  I guess a lifetime job at a good salary wasn't incentive enough? 

2584

Non-Windows Software / Re: Looking for Kubuntu Plasma 5.1 that works with VMWare Player

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 19, 2014, 09:09 AM »

Do any of these Known Problems/Known Plasma 5 Problems seem to fit your issue?

http://www.kubuntu.org/news/kubuntu-14.10

-Deozaan (December 19, 2014, 07:18 AM)

What happens on the install is that the partitioning program reports an error.  It can't partition the virtual drive.  Ubuntu got the same error but installed after I hit Ignore.

2585

Non-Windows Software / Looking for Kubuntu Plasma 5.1 that works with VMWare Player

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 19, 2014, 05:52 AM »

I've been trying to check out KDE 5.1 Plasma but so far the live CD images won't install in VMWare Player.  I can play them but the included theme has no transparency as far as I can see(pun acknowledged.)  Since I can't install I can't download themes and use them etc..

I tried going the Ubuntu 14.10 route and got one to install, but it gives video errors on startup.  I have to boot to the default window manager, get the error, then switch to the Plasma.  If I boot directly to the plasma I get black screen or scrambled eggs.  Just not worth the effort.

Right now I don't have an expendable machine to try installing on the metal.

2586

Living Room / Re: Every Episode Of Every 'Star Trek' Series Ever, Ranked

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 19, 2014, 05:45 AM »

Sherry Jackson (whose legendary costume by Bill Theiss most emphatically answered the question in the TOS episode: What are Little Girls Made Of?), Beth Toussaint, and any of the 'Onion Girls' are more my speed.

-40hz (December 18, 2014, 08:13 PM)

I liked Sherry Jackson since  Make Room For Daddy.

She was hot even wearing those ridiculous calf length skirts.  I think her only nude was in the Italian version of Gunn.  The Peter Gunn movie.  I saw her on Dick Cavett after that film was released.  She put on this sexy voice answering his questions and I had the impression they didn't call him "Dick" Cavett for nothing.  He turned a bit red because he was really getting turned on.  I can't blame him for that.  I always thought Sherry should have had lead roles. But perhaps she refused to do the casting couch bit.

A few of Sherry's stills from Gunn were in Playboy.  Likely a google will bring up some poor quality scans.

She spoke about the Trek outfit on one interview.  She pointed out that it wasn't actually very revealing.  But as the designer asserted, it gave the impression something interesting may be visible if you just paid attention. 

2587

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 18, 2014, 12:10 PM »

Speaking of carrots ..  (see attachment in previous post)

-crabby3 (December 18, 2014, 07:28 AM)

Oh cripes... That's even funnier~!

Have you heard "Disgustipated"? It totally fits that!

-Renegade (December 18, 2014, 07:41 AM)

Makes me think of the nasty carrots on Lexx.  Now they were rude!

2588

General Software Discussion / Re: Farewell, Dr. Dobbs

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 18, 2014, 05:38 AM »

Oddly enough, I was thinking earlier this week that I felt sure that - from a user's perspective - multithreading seemed to work better under OS2 than it seems to work under Win8.1, but I have no factual performance

-IainB (December 17, 2014, 04:06 PM)

When I saw Borland release that C++ compiler for OS/2 I thought the OS would reach critical mass.  I think much of the problem was IBM did not sell computers with it preloaded.  Also CDROM was a new thing.  Most PCs were sold with a HD and a 3 1/2" floppy drive.  Inserting 15+ diskettes to install OS/2 was quite a chore.  I shelled out about $500 to add a Toshiba 2x SCSI CDROM to my 486(the cost of a bare drive with SCSI cable from Computer Shopper if you can believe that.)  At that time 2x was as fast as there was.  Only 2 CDROM makers made a 2x drive for PCs.  It seems incredible now.  

OS/2 had full 32 bit multitasking and very good Dos emulation when Windows was still on 3.x.  I remember when OS/2 2.1 was released most of the stability bugs were fixed.  I bought that one on CD.  It worked quite well on my slow but sure ISA bus 486.  

As for the code in the article, it was extremely easy to get working as the Queue routines were in the OS API.

2589

N.A.N.Y. 2015 / Re: Program Idea: Configurable application launcher

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 17, 2014, 12:53 PM »

Note that a big drawback to doing a browser utility from the "outside" rather than writing an AddOn is, in this case, selecting the text can only get that text into the clipboard.  If it is just a label for a link there's no way I know to get the actual link.

On the other hand if I wrote say, a Firefox AddOn, I don't know if I could use it to launch external programs.

2590

Living Room / Re: A stoned guy renamed some of his favorite items while high...

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 17, 2014, 12:45 PM »

Better that than the CIA, NSA, and Executive Branch renaming some of their favorite things while stone cold sober.

-40hz (December 17, 2014, 11:08 AM)

Heh.  When I lived in Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis was credited with substituting the term "Revenue Enhancement" for taxes. 

2591

General Software Discussion / Re: Farewell, Dr. Dobbs

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 17, 2014, 05:59 AM »

Dr.Dobbs was an amazing programmer's magazine in its prime - at the top of its class.

-mouser (December 16, 2014, 06:55 PM)

They were numero uno afa programming magazines.  I published a few articles for R&D Publications back in the day.  They had C/C++ Users Journal and a few others.  Dr. Dobb's parent company bought them out and posted most of the articles and source code including stuff from the C Users Group.  The DDJ archives are the only location where I found a couple of my works.  For selfish reasons I'm glad they intend to keep the current content online.

It brings back memories of the good old days when I was making good money doing work I loved.  I'll miss DDJ.  It seems the Programming Paradigm is about to shift to dumbed down phone apps.  

If anyone is curious this is the last article I wrote for publication.  It appeared in the August 1994 issue of C/C++ Users Journal.

I guess surviving means you keep losing those things you enjoyed along the way.

2592

Living Room / Re: Every Episode Of Every 'Star Trek' Series Ever, Ranked

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 16, 2014, 06:26 PM »

IMHO it began to slip with Deep Space Nine. And I do my best to not think about Voyager or Enterprise.

But it was an interesting list. And I definitely agree with their #1 and most of the top 20.

-40hz (December 16, 2014, 04:59 PM)

I just didn't get the concept of a Star Trek Space Station.  It could have been Russ Myer's Motel as it was just a Soap in space.

Enterprise I watched because it was in HD and I recently got HD service.  There wasn't all that much HD content on my cable then.  Well, that and Linda Park.  I apreciate she took one for the team and tried to boost ratings by showing some skin in an episode that featured her.  But it wasn't enough.  A bare back ain't enough to counteract a sanctimonious Scott Bakula.  Bakula should have played the ship's surgeon and left the lead for someone who could carry it off.

The main beef I have with Star Trek is that they are telling me in a technologically advanced future hundreds of years pass but there's only about 10 years worth of tech advancement.  Like all the Treks have a Transporter a Phaser, some kind of defensive shields/screens etc..

Same series different actors and uniforms.  How about a bit more imagination?

2593

General Software Discussion / Re: Some unknown webpage opens itself after starting my PC!

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 16, 2014, 05:42 PM »

I'd try running Malwarebytes to see if it identifies any unwanted programs.

Note that you don't always have to install programs to get malware - sketchy sites often try to take advantage of hole in browsers to perform 'drive-by' installs of malware or to modify browser settings (such as start up pages).  Note that the sketchy sites don't have to be ones that you explicitly visited - advertising servers have been known to pass malware in the advertisements many websites use.

-mwb1100 (December 16, 2014, 04:30 PM)

Also it is good to scan with SuperAntiSpyware Portable

The Quick scan is very good at catching PUPs and tracking cookies.

2594

Living Room / Re: Movies or films you've seen lately

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 16, 2014, 05:36 PM »

Maybe it's also because I had trouble with how the story seemed to present virtually every male as a sexual predator

-40hz (December 16, 2014, 09:15 AM)

I had the same reaction watching it.  But then I told myself this is about what can happen among the elite.  There's no check on their appetites.  The old canine does it because he can bit.  But even if a film has cliches it is refreshing somehow that they are cliches from another culture.  That's one reason I enjoy watching the original with subs.  To be fair, I didn't watch the English language "cover" flick.  But I did see both versions of Insomnia.  The Al Pacino flick is a totally different movie than the foreign film.  About all they had in common was snow and murder. 

2595

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 16, 2014, 05:26 PM »

Guantanamo ketchup:
 (see attachment in previous post)

-Renegade (December 16, 2014, 07:55 AM)

Makes you wonder if the Kerrys use ketchup instead of KY.  I mean, she can get boxcars of it free.  

2596

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 16, 2014, 05:24 PM »

Please don't tell me this is a real sign...

-Renegade (December 16, 2014, 05:45 AM)

By the silhouette it should say "Obese Children Crossing"

2597

Living Room / Dragon Tattoo Anyone?

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 16, 2014, 05:50 AM »

@40hz your post about Smila reminded me of another foreign flick I saw.  The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

It was "covered" I guess you could say in English.  But the original flick wasn't hard to follow with the subs.  I didn't get to see the others in the series though.

2598

Living Room / Re: production salt-water pwrd car

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 16, 2014, 05:43 AM »

I used to have the same problem with my kitchen faucet, having to constantly replace the washers...until about 10 years ago when my new landlord replaced the faucet with one of these:

-app103

It's too bad I wasn't skilled in stuff like plumbing and carpentry when I lived in the condo.  My neighbor I shot 8-ball with used to be an apartment Super.  He knew all the right stuff to get like bathroom faucets that did not leak, what brushes and cleaners to use to clean window screens.  How to fix ceiling fans. Just about any odd job in a dwelling he knew the right parts, tools and cleaners to use.

2599

Living Room / Re: production salt-water pwrd car

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 16, 2014, 05:37 AM »

Chances were 10-to-1 I'd goof it up, but I managed to get a perfect fit, and now my flashlight is 2x or 3x as bright as before and the batteries go on forever without going dead.

-bit (December 15, 2014, 08:40 PM)

Aside from the planned obsolescence, how about the "gotcha" booby traps for would be do it yourselfers?  One example is the Venetian blind.  It is held into the wall bracket with this flimsy plastic Chinese puzzle sliding panel  It's deliberately designed to be broken by the uninitiated.  I ran into this on my bedroom window.  It was just as well since for a fraction of the cost I bought a section of heavy dark drape and a no screws adjustable curtain rod.

Hidden fasteners really piss me off. 

2600

Living Room / Re: Movies or films you've seen lately

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 15, 2014, 04:50 PM »

I watched Smila myself awhile back.  My premise is that many full length feature films have a good 20 minutes at the start.  You don't know where it's going.  Maybe the film has an original premise or bohemian lead characters.  But too often around the 20 minute mark the cliches start to kick in.  Often it's possible to predict the plot line.

I don't remember much about Smila other than that I watched the whole thing.