Recent Posts

326

General Software Discussion / Re: PSA: Woe to Thee Who Performs a Windows 10 Clean Install

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on August 02, 2015, 11:40 PM »

ugh i hate this about ms.  whats happened is that ive installed windows 8 on computers i dont really care about to see how well it works.  but my main computer is windows 7.  now it's turning out that windows 8 is good, but my important activity is on windows 7.  im much less inclined to change things on my windows 7 computer because of this, so ive been holding off.  i tried once and ran into problems with uefi, so i quickly went back to the original setup.  i guess i'll have to plan for this eventually.

you cant admin windows 2012 servers remotely from windows 7.  very annoying.

-superboyac (August 02, 2015, 11:24 PM)

Yep. And I have been pondering all that from the other end sitting on XP with the plan to see what Win10 looks like ... and we're starting to see stuff. And all the stuff you guys solved, any one of them would sink me. But I knew these would be the "fresh out of the box" woes. But I am waiting for the tech news to catch up in a few months half way into the year period with hard commentary of "okay, so the driver issues are fixed mostly, what do we all think about this beast in general?"

Especially because by then we should see a couple of their "forced rolling release patches" in effect.

327

General Software Discussion / Re: What's living in your taskbar notification area right now?

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on August 02, 2015, 10:19 PM »

Actually prefer the clean, monochrome, easily identifiable icons over multi-coloured, wtf is that blobs.

-4wd (August 02, 2015, 07:13 PM)

I guess I have few enough blobs that I know what most of them are easily. (List sometime if I get to it!)

328

General Software Discussion / Re: Pls recommend 32-bit software for old WinXP machine I'm giving an elderly woman

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on August 01, 2015, 02:24 PM »

Depending on her area maybe put a wifi card in it and get someone's permission to use their wifi?

329

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

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on August 01, 2015, 01:55 AM »

A "Strange" pic posted by mouser on the other board:

330

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on July 29, 2015, 08:03 PM »

Apparently they're still checking to see if it'll work on one of my computers, (even though it's already running 8.1 which has the same requirements).
 (see attachment in previous post)
And I really doubt it's going to install on the other, (my old netbook), but I think I'll force the issue somewhat by grabbing the ISO 

Just clicked on the SysTray icon on the netbook, (that wouldn't install the previews), and it tells me that "This PC is compatible."

Time for some fun and games.

-4wd (July 29, 2015, 06:42 PM)

And please tell us!

This really seems to be entering a period when we can't "trust tech to just be tech" without agendas! Very vaguely it's reminding me to look hard at why my printer is chewing up color cartridges printing on grayscale settings ...

MS has a double edged marketing strategy that tries to make a mood of "This is Now!". Except half the time they later backtrack and go all "nah that was so three years ago".

MS did it to me again. This was supposed to be the end of my master plan from 2006, to wait out MS. Past Win 7, past Win 8.x's UI mess ... and into this. But now we're still a little early into their blinding marketing for me to decide anything coherent.

 

331

Living Room / Re: Security: Stagefright Vulnerability (Android)

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on July 28, 2015, 10:21 PM »

"....multimedia text..."

There was some different iPhone attack by text (that I have to invoke Fermat and say I don't recall what or why), whose solution was some setting where it doesn't parse the text message "live" but just says you have a text, and then you have to enter the full text reading mode to read it. So I did that setting, (not recalling now where it was), but I wonder if anything like that matters here - sparked by the similarity of "....(attack) text message..."

332

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on July 28, 2015, 10:16 PM »

Did any Microsoft OS really hum out of the box? I think the only ones I know of are Win2000 and possibly Win98.

I belatedly recall it took years to get XP into the (now legacy) industry defining powerhouse it is/was - something like nothing before Service pack 2 mattered.

I just would have thought that by this point *twenty years later* after Win95 Microsoft would have gotten a few things right!

333

Post New Requests Here / Re: Caption jpg files

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on July 26, 2015, 08:01 PM »

It would be amazing if this doesn't already exist, but then that's what coding snacks tend to expose!

334

Official Announcements / Re: DonationCoder Major Upgrades - Progress Report Thread

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on July 26, 2015, 07:10 PM »

I don't use any of them.

I rely heavily on the "thread aggregator" because it tends to collect some 90+ % of the posts into the day's active threads and at worst if a thread slips below "the top 10", it pops up the next day with a new post again.

335

Living Room / Re: [Help!] Boot problem/s

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on July 23, 2015, 04:11 PM »

I thought there were command line options that forced something to reboot.

Or maybe you could do one of those updates that "forces reboot now"! : )

336

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on July 23, 2015, 02:24 AM »

I read somewhere (can't remember where) that Windows 10 will officially be supported until 2020, with long-term support going until 2025.

That sounds very much like the life cycle of all past editions of Windows. So what's up with that?

I'll try to find the link again.

EDIT: Found it!
...

-Deozaan (July 20, 2015, 07:18 PM)

To me, this sounds very roughly like, MS is definitely planning on turning "updates" into much bigger things than simple security updates - maybe more like Service Packs. But this on this other side of things, they have no idea exactly what they'll be up to by then, so they're just setting the early sunset stuff in motion - really rather cheap to do to avoid accidental 10 million dollar lawsuits later.

They could at that point just "sweep everything up" and re-align customers on some standardized set of whatever exists about 2018, because I see potential fragmentation - let's say we all get the "early" Windows 10 - then your friend gets some OEM machine two years from now with "Windows 10" ... who has what? How do you tell them apart? There are a couple of real tech support nightmares here. The closest thing it reminds me of is the mobile OS scene with Android.

337

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on July 23, 2015, 02:16 AM »

I hope some volunteers take on the task of providing Vista/W7 support in perpetuity because if they really go ahead with all this cloud business I think it really will be the last version of Windows.  Either that or we can try to make various Linux distros look exactly like Windows or even OS/2. Heh heh.

-MilesAhead (July 20, 2015, 05:28 PM)

I actually think this is what someone should do - *really* mirror Windows basic look and feel on a Linux Distro. On the software side, is how Kingsoft Office and some of the others are finally really starting to mirror the MS versions. Compare this to my log-standing gripe about LibreOffice - "stuff is just somewhere else."

My rough instincts on why they don't are:

- "Linux should be different and 'our distro' is the best of the different ones". - Not sure how to un-convince anyone of that.

- Microsoft might have a whole ton of very old look-feel patents/trademarks/other on the core components, so that no Linux distro can possibly truly duplicate the look and feel. But in some ways I "only want 30 things", about ten of which are in the Right-Click menu.

- The radical nature of Linux architecture may create near-impossible logic-circles that prevent truly mimicking Windows. But way up there in the list is, I'd like much more powerful support for just "grabbing an application and/or an update" on the fly, without being *forced* to funnel it through some big package.

- Heh: "Other look and feel issues that are too specific for this post". (Nod to Fermat!)  

338

Non-Windows Software / Re: Thoughts on "next generation" forum systems? (Discourse, nodeBB, etc.)

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on July 20, 2015, 04:01 PM »

Isn't the difference in the attention span of the respective audiences? (and consequently the content)

-Target (July 20, 2015, 12:30 AM)

This has a lot of words in it! Can you make it simpler? Like in a meme gif?

339

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on July 20, 2015, 03:55 PM »

According to this GHacks Article Windows 10 Home Users will have to agree to forced automatic updates when clicking the EULA on reboot.

At the end of the article it goes on to say that at the moment(as in RTM build 10240) it is still possible to set the Windows Update Service to Disabled.

I have a feeling that disable-ability will either be removed or bypassed.
It is for your protection. 

-MilesAhead (July 20, 2015, 10:25 AM)

Well, yeah ...

Which is why I'm a little confused. Win8 had "funny" UI Metro issues, but it was still its own OS.

This whole "Updates will happen. Resistance is futile" going all Neo-Borg is what has us all nervous, because we're just waiting for the first big "oops" moment of it all.

340

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on July 18, 2015, 09:23 PM »

I hope about five of you can really stay on top of this whole thing, and be the "DC Win10 Expert Task Force" or some such thing!

341

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

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on July 18, 2015, 11:50 AM »

So what is that E-thingy symbol and what does the pic mean?

-TaoPhoenix (July 18, 2015, 10:14 AM)

E= Euro (€)
The image is about the fear of what would happen if Greece was pushed out of the Euro.
Search for - Greece Euro EU - that should give you lots of details.

-tomos (July 18, 2015, 10:21 AM)

Good enough to know! I might look it up later.

342

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on July 18, 2015, 10:16 AM »

Anyone got a link to the EULA? I got careless and clicked through it without reading it, thinking it was the same one I accepted when I signed up for the Windows Insider Program.

-Deozaan (July 17, 2015, 02:59 PM)

I thought the whole idea was that nobody could read those.  Are you an attorney, masochist, or joking?  

-MilesAhead (July 17, 2015, 03:15 PM)

You forgot some of us luv playing "spot the differences!"

343

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

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on July 18, 2015, 10:14 AM »

Heh I chose to adblock that image Ren for sanity's sake!

So what is that E-thingy symbol and what does the pic mean?

344

Official Announcements / Re: DonationCoder Major Upgrades - Progress Report Thread

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on July 17, 2015, 12:36 PM »

I'm coding a few slick new features.. How about a (sortable) page where you can see all the topics ... (or alternatively, participated in by) a given member? I'm having fun!

-mouser (July 16, 2015, 08:52 PM)

For me, I have no interest in who started a topic - topics just appear.

So for me, "participated in by" is the power feature ...

- You can find (and cringe!) at all the things you were involved in

- You can find things other people were involved in, that slipped past that "10 topics per day" dashboard.

345

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on July 17, 2015, 11:15 AM »

You Probably Can’t Jailbreak This Tablet Made For America’s Prisoners

-Arizona Hot (July 15, 2015, 01:46 PM)

If people find out there is free WiFi they may be breaking into jail. 

-MilesAhead (July 17, 2015, 07:53 AM)

The tablet has a Calendar!?

346

Living Room / Re: Getting Things Done revisited

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on July 16, 2015, 03:00 PM »

No matter which exact setup works for you, a huge point of going kinda slow and carefully is thinking a bit ahead especially on categories of info, so that stuff doesn't get scrambled. (That's sorta how people get into a mess, it's ad-hoc-ness that finally breaks.)

One of the biggest separations is information and To-Dos. So for example one of my big categories is a standing food list of basics to start switching me out of fast food. To a point, that list doesn't change. But then "to-do" is "1-time" - you buy X, and then you're done. So something I am pondering just now, is to make little photocopies of the standing list. Then it becomes a disposable shopping list (saving hours by not re-writing it!!) (And a useful little possible idea for me is just to cross off stuff after I ate it, just to see meal patterns and maybe habits to change.)

347

Living Room / Re: Getting Things Done revisited

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on July 16, 2015, 12:28 PM »

Broadly, David Allen used an idea of a ride with a private pilot to fly "up and down" so you can see *both* the "forest and the trees".

The adaptation below is my simplified one.

The "10K feet" is Projects - that's roughly like the "doable" stuff you can confidently just finish, maybe like installing all the mods you know how to do, a bit of experimentation with new things, and then you "fly higher" for the next bit

So the 20K Feet one, is after you get the smaller "projects" done, what do you want to make as "areas of focus" which is the reason you're re-vamping? What can the new backbone support?

I'll suggest the first one, adding more content by resident bloggers.

To me a Win10 blog is an idea, a bit like your regular newsletters, that pulls in some 100 posts we do and follows Win10 as we see it. (Aka even if someone else writes it, a style like your newsletters.)

Sample fragment:
"So, in the first phase, Microsoft released interim builds a,b,c,d,e,f,g. Then the first launch build is X. User experiences at this link over here. ISO's and other installs over there."

And then lastly, the 30K feet is "what are the goals for the revamp when you're on your way and stuff is moving along?"

So to me, Mouser's existing thread covers the 10K feet pretty well. That leaves the open room of 20K feet for focus areas, and 30K feet for goals and visions.

Comments?

348

General Software Discussion / Re: Software wanted: warn when free RAM falls below xxx MB

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on July 16, 2015, 12:07 PM »

... What kind of icon design were you thinking of?  Simple squares of colour?  Something else?

-skwire (July 16, 2015, 09:50 AM)

I like the idea of something like the way Task Manager sits there with a square with a dark background and a solid color rises and falls showing Cpu usage. Task Manager's is green. You could do the same look with blue and it would be a great pair because at least for my daily use, Cpu use and memory use are far from the same, and I don't currently have anything fancy installed that dynamically monitors memory.

And as Miles has remarked elsewhere, the number one culprit for me too about memory is when the browsers start to hog it, typically with Flash videos.

Heh I knew about ProcessPiglet, but I had forgotten about it! I'll put a note in my DC personal space to think about it sometime later.

349

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on July 16, 2015, 11:34 AM »

Damn if I can remember where I read it, but I got the impression that the Insider Program was not per se ending. Supposedly due to the - new and ominous - subscription based nature of Windows the brave few idiots were going to be able to test the new update wave(s) as they came about for the rest of the folks what use Winders..

-Stoic Joker (July 16, 2015, 06:46 AM)

I think it's in one of the FAQs.

And I have no idea about how any of this would work, but I can forsee one of those "2-man small biz operations" where they somehow bulk buy Win10 Pro/Biz copies and resell them to consumers, with the idea that the Microsoft Biz customers get the Biz edition of updates x months after the guinea pig free beta testers "consumers" get hosed by at least one colossal mistake. Then MS sends a memo to Marketing "Hai. Put the Spin Doctor team on this will ya? K-Thx." Then Biz gets the fixed normal update like any other normal update, laughs at the funny stories at lunch, and then they go back to work.

It would be interesting if we had a couple of extra Win-10 threads here and/or ongoing articles/blog columns.

Mouser, you were pondering ideas that after you got the bolts working of the new system, to add more "content". I'm suggesting things like a curated few ongoing blogs with organized info with the Microsoft FAQs, a (by then) "history" section with these pre-launch builds, and more.

I said "a few threads" because one should be neutral and just solve "where did I see that" kinds of things, and then a separate User Experience / Rant thread. (And maybe something else.)

(And to ArizonaHot) No, I can't get "excited" about Win10 - it gives me Heebee-Jeebies!

350

Living Room / Re: 10th Anniversary - long time member check-in thread

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on July 16, 2015, 11:19 AM »

...and we'll leave a seat at the table.
__________________

-mouser (July 15, 2015, 03:32 AM)

...or a channel open on that frequency...

-IainB (July 16, 2015, 10:53 AM)

(From Star Trek Voyager)
"He lives in Fluidic Space now. It is not for us to be there!"