Recent Posts

2851

Living Room / Re: 'Dark Knight Rises' shooting: Three heroes died in Aurora

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 24, 2012, 11:48 AM »

Not to take away from the personal and noble sacrifices made by Jon Blunk, Matt McQuinn and Alex Teves...but I'd prefer to think we could use less people like James Holmes

-40hz (July 24, 2012, 10:29 AM)

This confused me for a minute. James Holmes being the crazy shooter, of course we need fewer of those. So no contradiction at all, the world needs more people like the three heroes, and fewer crazy shooting people. So I guess that is the same as what you are saying. I think the use of the word "preference" confused me, as if it were either/or.

-daddydave (July 24, 2012, 10:42 AM)

It is an either/or. We can either have more heroes to throw into the machination of lunacy ...or...(preferably)... We could have less lunatics that force heroes to be "validated" in death.

2852

General Software Discussion / Re: Screen Calipers is currently free

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 24, 2012, 06:55 AM »

a couple of people have said that Screen Calipers had difficulties on 64-bit Win 7. One said he solved the problem, by installing new video drivers.

For the record: I have Screen -Calipers -Compass -Protractor and -Shapes, on 64-bit Win 7, with no problems. All purchased on offers.

-Curt (July 23, 2012, 04:04 PM)

+1 - I've been using Screen Calipers (v1.0 and up) for years on x64 XP/03/Vista/7 and never had a problem with.

2853

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

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 24, 2012, 06:50 AM »

"Candid camera" shows really are quite dangerous sometimes. I've seen some where I've been surprised that they don't get violent. Not a fan of them. Most often they just seem cruel to me.

-Renegade (July 24, 2012, 12:39 AM)

+1 - The show Scare Tactics on SciFi comes to mind ... Why is it that reveling in the torture of another is considered entertainment?

2854

Living Room / Re: 'Dark Knight Rises' shooting: Three heroes died in Aurora

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 23, 2012, 07:00 PM »

@zridling - You're a good guy and I like you, but while the questions are valid...this ain't the thread for them.

So what ya say we just join in on Renegades moment of silence and let it be.

2855

General Software Discussion / Re: Win7 user is admin but cannot install programs

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 20, 2012, 07:21 AM »

Some installers (like the one Adobe Acrobat uses) insist on having a cow if the documents folder isn't on LM. Quickest way out in a pinch is to log into a local admin account and try running the installer. Not a grand solution for a large number of machines, but it should at least confirm the cause of the issue.

For the rest creat an account for the IT staff to use, and give it its own GPO so the redirect policies don't apply (so the accounts folders stay on LM, and the installer doesn't whine). That way you can complete the installs without taking a chance on hosing the production GPs.

2856

Living Room / Re: Strange Windows Explorer problem - anyone know how to fix this?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 20, 2012, 06:59 AM »

All seems to work fine now - but I have 19 files in the old folder which cannot be moved.

-Carol Haynes (July 20, 2012, 06:33 AM)

Can you rename the files and/or the folder?

Last time I ran into something like this, I ended up having to share a folder a few levels above the target and then mapping a drive letter to it to shorten the overall path the system was using to access the file.

If you don't need any of the files rmdir /q /s \\.\[drive][path] should rid you of the folder and its contents. I've had to use it a few times to remove hidden file caches on hacked FTP servers back when.

2857

Living Room / Re: new DVD "M-Disc" perfect for archive material

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 19, 2012, 01:34 PM »

flash-based devices: 3-4 years
burned CD/DVD: 2-10 years
HDD: 10-30 years

-vlastimil (July 19, 2012, 01:14 PM)

Hm... So maybe it is not such a bad idea after all. I knew the flash drives had fairly short life spans ... But hadn't realized the HDDs don't store that well either.

2858

Living Room / Re: new DVD "M-Disc" perfect for archive material

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 19, 2012, 12:47 PM »

I'm with vlastimil, this is like planning for the future of a dead horse.


But I do have to wonder, what is the shelf-life expectancy (for cloudless offline storage) of the data on various other types of media?

2859

Living Room / Re: Need Critique On This Image

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 19, 2012, 12:21 PM »

Seems a little bleak (dark/somber colors) for a green statement. Kind of a press this button to end the world feeling.

2860

General Software Discussion / Re: Why Microsoft killed the Windows Start button

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 19, 2012, 11:31 AM »

Maybe it is just me with my forty-something eyeballs, but I seem to have a low tolerance for extraneous eye movement when I am at my desktop computer. I don't want to have to scan to entire screen on those occasions where I don't remember the name of the program.

-daddydave (July 19, 2012, 07:19 AM)

I agree and it ain't just scanning the whole screen! Only the things you choose to put there are on the Metro screen - other things have to be searched for.

-Carol Haynes (July 19, 2012, 08:18 AM)

Not quite, There are 3 options:
(just Win) Metro = Frequent use.
Win+Q = All Programs.
Metro->Type = Search for X

2861

General Software Discussion / Re: Why Microsoft killed the Windows Start button

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 19, 2012, 07:01 AM »

I recall being resistive (like most) to the Start Panel in XP. But after resigning myself to spending a bit of time understanding how it was supposed to do what ... I quickly discovered that I couldn't function comfortably without it. And I think the Start Screen will be much the same. Metro Annoyed the crap out of me at first. However, I have a Windows Phone and have always liked it because it is incredibly easy and intuitive to use. So with that thought in mind - and armed with a list of hot keys I typically use to navigate the Windows UI I took a run at Windows H8. 98% of what I was used to using/doing still worked just fine. Hm...

Having the All Programs menu spread out over a larger area is really quite handy for those times where one needs to find/launch a program that they (don't use frequently, and...) can't remember the name of. What is the easiest/fastest/best visual cue, the icon or the text?? Well... At my age it depends. Having the entire menu spread out  over a large area makes it much easier to use all the above at once ... Especially if one finally doesn't have to contend with the target jumping around as the auto hide (/collaps) unused menu items isn't forcing one to remember where they're at in the search for an app of some kind, that does some sort of function, that hasn't been used in a year or so (ultra/hyper/zippy something...and wtf did the icon look like again?? Damn...). I've done this on my phone enough times - Damn there it is... - to quickly appreciate the functionality of the design.

So you can't see the desktop while searching with a single screen. Okay... Are you really looking at it while searching for program X when using the Start Panel now?? No. Either you know where you're going and what your after...and are hence back is seconds (hay if it's really that critical, then you wouldn't be getting side tracked looking for other stuff then would ya?)...or you having no clue what you're looking for and quickly end up with tunnel vision focus on the tiny area of the screen you're digging through. So if the search can be done faster, by using a better vantage point ... you will ultimately end up missing less, because you can be back at it quicker.

Hay, I actually considered getting out of IT completely, just so I didn't have to contend with the silly piece of shit. But before doing anything that rash ... I figured I'd have a go at trying to understand the enemy...and he's really not a bad guy now that we've properly met...

2862

General Software Discussion / Re: Why Microsoft killed the Windows Start button

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 18, 2012, 11:51 AM »

While the Windows H8 Metro vs. Ye old Start Button debacle has raged on I haven't really seen/heard much in the way of a why any of is was done/needed. Its really just been a lot of screw Vista Metro noise. But I ran across an article over at Neowin that actually made sense to me. Which was rather handy, as the only reason I'd gone to Neowin (which I generally never visit) was to try to make some semblance of sense out of all the waa waa waa I want my start button back screw Metro noise. So... What do you guys think of this article: Why the Start Menu needed to go

I rather liked it.

2863

Living Room / Re: The first cybernetic hatecrime?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 18, 2012, 07:01 AM »

He should have assimilated them.

-Tuxman (July 18, 2012, 03:39 AM)

Dude seriously? It's a friggin McDonalds ... You start assimilating crap like that and the collective's IQ will drop like 20+ points.

2864

Living Room / Re: People Who Are Constantly Online Can Develop Mental Disorders

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 18, 2012, 06:34 AM »

People with pre-existing mental disorders naturally collect on the internet because in many cases the internet helps them be social in spite of their disorder.

-SeraphimLabs (July 17, 2012, 11:13 PM)

No wonder I steer clear of FaceBook.....

-4wd (July 17, 2012, 11:17 PM)

+1 

2865

Developer's Corner / Re: Help me think of a small ipad app idea to code

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 17, 2012, 07:10 PM »

Also, alt-tab switches between applications and not windows, which means that if you have more than one window of the same application open (think spreadsheets, or editors, for example), you'll have to use some other combination which switches between windows of the same application. I've been using Mac for over two years and I've resigned to the idea that I will *never* get used to that idiotic way of thinking.

-jgpaiva (July 17, 2012, 06:36 PM)

So Mac has no equivalent to the Windows Ctrl+Tab MDI document navigation? Bummer.

2866

General Software Discussion / Re: Drive Extender replacement due out in 2012. It's called Storage Spaces.

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 17, 2012, 06:56 PM »

I'm leaning towards DFS, but I now have to learn how it works.

-superboyac (July 17, 2012, 12:53 PM)

Not the way you want it to. The DFS root contains links to discontiguous shares in a single namespace. You don't want to be pulling and swapping drives with it, because as the drive letters change your data will be playing peek-A-boo (and with very little peek...).

I love DFS for a server for its flexibility in letting me modify storage access within a single drive mapping. But the targets really need to be static. Effecting redundancy via distributed DFS will take way more hardware that you want to/need to/should buy.

2867

Living Room / Re: Staple of people from State and Europe !

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 17, 2012, 06:41 PM »

  You want dieting tips from the country with the highest percentage of overweight people on the planet ... Are you trying to figure out what not to do??

2868

Living Room / Re: What will be your next computer?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 17, 2012, 10:19 AM »

I don't know whether to alternate between A/C or D/C...

-Renegade (July 17, 2012, 02:43 AM)

Watt's the problem?

-cranioscopical (July 17, 2012, 08:52 AM)

Being to amp'd to pick one, he tried alternating DC and just ended up going back and forth.

2869

General Software Discussion / Re: Problems with AMD/ATI Radeon HD 6500M/5600/5700 Series GPU driver/software

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 11, 2012, 12:03 PM »

This is a bit of a tangent, but it may be related so I'll toss it in.

I've got about 50 Dell T1500s running in the field in various offices. They're spec'ed virtually identical (by me) straight business machines with a (from Dell) ATi 2270 Radeon video card. 48 of them ran perfectly. 2 of them BSOD'ed often...and one of those BSOD'ed constantly.

What I found was that there was a video codec (don't recall which one) that the CCC just didn't like that would cause the machine to crash with a kernel-power event. This codec was/is popular with web video sites (like youtube), and oddly enough the machine crash pattern match the user video watching pattern perfectly.

Frequent BSOD = curious user with free time...
Constant BSOD = Doctor who spent all free time on youtube...
Never BSOD = Users with OpenDNS filtered connection that blocked access to youtube (and etc).

Uninstalling the CCC helped a bit (maybe 30%), but the problem continued until Dell finally came out with a driver update about 6 mo. ago.

2870

General Software Discussion / Re: What is the ctrl-alt-del and does it exist in other OSs?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 11, 2012, 06:33 AM »

Not to nit-pick, but actually Ctrl+Alt+Delete is the SAS (Security Attention Sequence) which does allow access to TaskMan, but is really a speed menu for user account related stuff. The (direct Windows) TaskMan shortcut is Ctrl+Shift+Escape ... Which is actually surprisingly close to Carol's Mac tip above.

2871

General Software Discussion / Re: It's official: Microsoft discontinuing Windows Home Server

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 10, 2012, 03:47 PM »

The fact he can't sync gives me pause about demoting a DC to a member server since that suggests there's a problem somewhere in the AD. Or possibly DNS if somebody buggered adjusted the DNS configuration after the initial install.

-40hz (July 10, 2012, 02:56 PM)

True ntdsutil cleanups are not any fun if one gets stuck with an orphaned server object ... But that part was mainly probative as I was assuming a (classic misconfiguration involving ISP DNS servers) DNS issue.

2872

General Software Discussion / Re: It's official: Microsoft discontinuing Windows Home Server

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 10, 2012, 12:59 PM »

[1]  Although they don't use the PDC/BDC terminology any more, it's still actually the way the domain operates internally. At any given time, one DC is still designated the Primary, and because that server isn't working right, I can't get it to surrender control to the new one. And the new one, since it can't sync changes to the old one, refuses to accept more domain members, etc.

-CWuestefeld (July 10, 2012, 12:25 PM)

Assuming the 2nd DC was joined to the 1st DC's domain, have you tried transfering/sezing the FSMO roles? Either that or just demote the 1st DC to a member server to force the issue. Assuming of course that AD is intact. I've had to deal with a few crunchy transfers ... It's usually save-able as long as DNS is working properly.

2873

Developer's Corner / Re: Help me think of a small ipad app idea to code

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 10, 2012, 08:43 AM »

A comic version of a "Bear Scare" app could work very well. Not all apps need to be "rational" or "functional".

-Renegade (July 10, 2012, 08:25 AM)

Bingo!!

Sound range is only an issue if one wants to create something that might actually work. However as a gag, it only needs to be heard by the user (e.g. Angry Birds game level sound quality). So if it just pops up a cartoon picture of a crazy old woman yelling woogie boogie boogie ... Well... That's all it really needs to do.

2874

Developer's Corner / Re: Help me think of a small ipad app idea to code

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 10, 2012, 06:52 AM »

Avoid any hair pulling ... Consider the demographic ... And then cater to the lowest common denominator...

-Stoic Joker (June 14, 2012, 06:49 AM)

In keeping with the above theme...

For those that like to hike in the woods, how about an app that will scare bears away. Don't know what it would have to sound like, but I've asked around and haven't heard of one.

-grandpastan (July 09, 2012, 11:27 PM)

I really think he's on to something. Face it coming up with a game changing, useful, functional application is fraught with complications and subjectivity. Because they really have to do something very specific, very well, and in a fashion that doesn't annoy and/or confuse users with varying to zero skill levels. However... Small toys, that will get a few laughs at parties ... Are fairly easy to get people to throw a buck at. Ya know?


Abbot: Why are you wearing that hidious hat?
Costello: To scare the lions away!
Abbot: There isn't a lion within 100 miles of here.
Costello: See! It's working...


^Click^

2875

Living Room / Re: Help me design my next Tattoo!

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 08, 2012, 08:12 AM »

imagine having ones testicle tattooed...would hurt...quite badly lol...Might try it one day...not anytime soon though rofl

-Stephen66515 (July 07, 2012, 06:56 PM)

Well - I've got about 20 tattoos - if you really want to know...

NSFW

I have a happy face tattooed on the head of my dick.

Not everything needs to be decorated.