Recent Posts

3251

Living Room / Re: In Car Gadgets & Doodads

« Last post by 4wd on March 01, 2013, 06:13 AM »

Jackall Farm Jack - Rated at 3.6 tonnes, (mine can jack up to 4 foot), can be used as a winch, (which is fun), firewood splitter, fence post puller, floor board cramp, window bar spreader, lifting the house to change a stump, etc, etc.

The true jack for all trades



Made in Canada....feel proud Renegade  

A couple more things kept in the 4x4:
Esbit Solid Fuel Stove
Pocket Chainsaw
And bolted on is the Shower

3252

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Free Software from Microsoft.

« Last post by 4wd on February 26, 2013, 10:06 PM »

No MS support seems to be about it for limitations.

-4wd (February 26, 2013, 06:11 PM)

That's about it.

--------------------------------------

Note: WebsiteSpark also gives you access to much more software.

-40hz (February 26, 2013, 09:22 PM)

It's always nice to have more free Microsoft applications - why limit your choice 

Just seemed strange that in the WebsiteSpark program you got an older version of MEW, albeit with support presumably.

3253

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Free Software from Microsoft.

« Last post by 4wd on February 26, 2013, 06:11 PM »

It seems that Microsoft Expression Web 4 is free - is this different from the MEW3 you get under the WebsiteSpark?



No MS support seems to be about it for limitations.

Overview

Expression Web 4 gives you the tools you need to produce high-quality, standards-based Web sites: built-in support for today’s Web standards, sophisticated CSS design capabilities, and visual diagnostic tools. Whether you work with PHP, HTML/XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, ASP.NET or ASP.NET AJAX, Expression Web makes it faster and easier to create and maintain exceptional web sites.

Please note: This free version of Expression Web is not eligible for Microsoft technical support and is community support. For more information, visit the Expression Community site.

3254

Living Room / Re: Show us a picture of your.. CAR!!!

« Last post by 4wd on February 26, 2013, 04:09 PM »

I drive a Scion xD. I haven't had any problems with it, it's been entirely reliable and surprisingly utilitarian for its size... and it's nearly paid off!
 (see attachment in previous post)

-allen (February 26, 2013, 03:49 PM)

That's neat, I've been thinking of something similar for the wife - do you get much mud splashing up from the rear wheels, (don't want to ruin her shoes) ?

3255

General Software Discussion / Re: Desactivated services and irregular things

« Last post by 4wd on February 26, 2013, 09:10 AM »

Please how can I suscribe to the Black Viper blog ?
I don't see the option
 

-Contro (February 26, 2013, 08:04 AM)

Front page, right below his picture:

Registration Disabled
Registration is currently disabled due to the vast amount of spam bots and fake accounts. Please check back later.

But he does have RSS feed links just below that.

3256

General Software Discussion / Re: Desactivated services and irregular things

« Last post by 4wd on February 25, 2013, 10:28 PM »

Black Viper's site is what I've used since XP to determine what services I can safely disable.

While YMMV, I've yet to have anything I've disabled due to his info cause any problem on my computers but you do need to know what role your machine has before you go fiddling with them.

And naturally make a backup before you start fiddling.

3257

Living Room / Re: Anyone Know any GPL Smart Devices? Phones/Tablets?

« Last post by 4wd on February 25, 2013, 10:15 PM »

AuraSlate - Open source tablet.

I think they're still just shipping development kits though, not a fully finalised product.

US$99 for the 7" and US$179 for the 10".

However, this post in xda-developers may give pause for thought, (it's 9 months old though):

Quote:
Originally Posted by garuhhh View Post
Anybody have tried this tablets? The website says it's open for deliveries. The 7 inch version is just 150usd

Adam Outler did an "unboxing" with the 10 inch version.

I'm interested with a review of any of the unit, have any suggestion?
At least Adam's first impression (him being an actual device owner) and mine (based on reading through their site) is they are not nearly as open as they claim to be.

1-2 months ago they were providing ICS firmwares without kernel source - that's less open than any legitimate Android tablet manufacturer. Not sure if they've rectified these issues, but any vendor claiming to be open source/open hardware should NEVER have done that except by accidental error - however there was a post in their forums effectively saying they were withholding source.

http://auraslate.fre...nel-for-ics-t53.html - found it, see auraslateadmin's post - This is UNACCEPTABLE from ANY company, ESPECIALLY one that claims to be open source. If you have provided a kernel binary to the public, you MUST provide source code upon request.

Auraslate's marketing of being "open" is a blatant lie - they keep talking about how open they are to sell devices, but then withhold kernel source.

3258

Living Room / Re: Show us a picture of your.. CAR!!!

« Last post by 4wd on February 25, 2013, 09:59 PM »

Toyota BJ73 Landcruiser work/play horse - 27 years old, reliable and has a heat exchanger for a nice hot shower in the bush




Our other car is a boring 2000 Hyundai Accent with hail damage, (although I maintain that enables it to go faster as per a golf ball).

3259

Site/Forum Features / Forum Search query (or ideas)

« Last post by 4wd on February 24, 2013, 06:38 PM »

I was trying to use the forum search the other day to find all posts by a specific author in certain boards but it appears there doesn't seem to be a way to do this.

Is this correct?

Are wildcards disabled in the word search parameters?

eg.



Any chance of enabling wildcards, (or leaving it blank), in the search but only if the author is a valid member and/or doesn't contain wildcards?

Also, when the board list is expanded the Search button drops down out of sight, any chance of another one up in the top section, (same thing Google and a few others do) ?

And finally, (Yay! I hear), any board selections you've made reset if the search isn't accepted, so you have to select them all again - can they be made "sticky" until a valid search is completed?

EDIT: CRAP! I've put it in the wrong area, can a mod move it please.

3260

Living Room / Re: Google Glass

« Last post by 4wd on February 23, 2013, 09:49 PM »

Now all I want is a device that will cause them to self-ignite whenever one comes within 50m.

3261

Post New Requests Here / Re: Script to autoload xml profiles

« Last post by 4wd on February 22, 2013, 06:01 PM »

Argh!  Added to other thread before I saw this one  

Anyway, a simple DOS batch/command file with the following commands, (users may need Admin permission to add networks), should do it:

Code: Text [Select]

1. netsh wlan add profile filename=profile1.xml
2. netsh wlan add profile filename=profile2.xml

Use netsh wlan add profile help to see what extra parameters you might need, depending on whether you want the profile to apply to all users/interfaces or not.

netsh wlan help will give you all the available commands to do with Wireless LANs.

3262

Post New Requests Here / Re: WIFI profile deployment

« Last post by 4wd on February 22, 2013, 05:57 PM »

See here.

3263

Living Room / Re: More speed/bandwidth from an 802.11n laptop<-->WiFi Router/Modem connection?

« Last post by 4wd on February 22, 2013, 05:02 PM »

Yes, I already have a design in mind using some cardboard and ally foil.

-IainB (February 21, 2013, 03:48 AM)

I've used a cardboard/foil parabolic reflector on a USB 802.11n adapter to get a signal over 150m through 10-12 brick/concrete houses.  It boosted an on/off marginal signal enough to have a permanent connection.

I've also used the Stan Swan's WiFry antenna  

A bit beat up now, (it's gone round the world twice):

3264

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows Batchfile can't recognize long file name...!!!!

« Last post by 4wd on February 22, 2013, 04:45 PM »

a message from 4wd

-tomos (February 21, 2013, 11:29 AM)

WTH    I'll have to stop reading more than one thread at a time...thanx tomos!

I have those nasty peckers on my current Win7 installation - "fsutil 8dot3name set 1" and "fsutil 8dot3name strip" time >_<

-f0dder (February 21, 2013, 05:32 PM)

WHS2011 and Win8 also 

3265

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

« Last post by 4wd on February 21, 2013, 10:03 AM »

***** Ignore, I stupid 

3266

General Software Discussion / Re: In search of ... networking experience

« Last post by 4wd on February 20, 2013, 09:50 PM »

Re. #2: Have you tried collocating the routers and direct connecting via ethernet to get everything working, then trying it with the powerline link?

ie. Eliminate the powerline stuff to start with.

Just an idea but maybe the 8 character/digit pin code is the last four MAC address character groups of the router, (the NIC specific bits).

3267

Living Room / Re: More speed/bandwidth from an 802.11n laptop<-->WiFi Router/Modem connection?

« Last post by 4wd on February 20, 2013, 08:42 PM »

I hadn't known it was a Broadcom chip in the TP-Link TD-8950ND.

-IainB (February 20, 2013, 07:32 PM)

Oops! I only got half, it's Broadcom, (for the wired), and Atheros, (for the wireless) - I'll see if I can narrow it down a bit.

The laptop's WiFi is a Broadcom device also, and I have triple-checked that the drivers for that are up-to-date. Shouldn't they work in harmony?    

Apart from the obvious that the laptops device is pre-802.11n spec  

Another reasonably cost effective thing to try would be replacing the antenna on the router with a higher gain omni-directional.

Or try a beer can.
[NOTE: There are some semi-naked ads on the page.]

3268

Living Room / Re: More speed/bandwidth from an 802.11n laptop<-->WiFi Router/Modem connection?

« Last post by 4wd on February 20, 2013, 06:41 PM »

Not sure what chipsets TP-Link use.

-Carol Haynes (February 20, 2013, 08:49 AM)

Broadcom in the TD-8950ND.

Agree with 40hz about the firmware, ASUS RT-N16 WiFi was reasonable but still had the occasional drop-out, reflashed with Tomato and it's been rock solid....now if only I could do the same with the power company 

3269

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows Batchfile can't recognize long file name...!!!!

« Last post by 4wd on February 19, 2013, 07:55 PM »

Playing with the Start command, these will run a program:
Start c:\progra~1\pathto~1\filename.exe
Start "" "c:\program files\path to a program\filename.exe"

These open a new CLI with the title set as given:
Start "c:\progra~1\pathto~1\filename.exe"
Start "c:\program files\path to a program\filename.exe"

The first parameter encountered with quotes is assumed to be a window title.

3270

Living Room / Re: Create Your Own Pirate Bay?

« Last post by 4wd on February 19, 2013, 07:11 PM »

What happened to "Pirate Bay on a USB stick" they brought out awhile ago?

-Stephen66515 (February 19, 2013, 02:55 PM)

Arrrrrrrrr!

It be pirated!

3271

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows Batchfile can't recognize long file name...!!!!

« Last post by 4wd on February 19, 2013, 07:37 AM »

Unless you've disabled 8.3 naming you can do dir /x at a CLI to get the short name.

C:\>dir /x
 Volume in drive C has no label.
 Volume Serial Number is 0A69-264F

 Directory of C:\

26/07/2012  17:52                24              autoexec.bat
26/07/2012  17:52                10              config.sys
26/07/2012  17:29    <DIR>                       PerfLogs
17/02/2013  21:13    <DIR>          PROGRA~1     Program Files
02/02/2013  17:37    <DIR>                       Users
17/02/2013  21:19    <DIR>                       Windows

eg. progra~1 = "Program Files"

Ergo:

C:\progra~1\aomeip~1 = C:\Program Files\AOMEI Partition Assistant

3272

Living Room / Re: More speed/bandwidth from an 802.11n laptop<-->WiFi Router/Modem connection?

« Last post by 4wd on February 19, 2013, 03:12 AM »

The rate seems to fluctuate  between 32 and 52mbps, regardless of whether you are up close to the router or 9 meters away and with two plasterboard and steel-framed walls in between. I have seen momentary peaks of 58.5 and 59.0mbps at the 9 metre point and momentary troughs of 23mbps.

-IainB (February 19, 2013, 02:13 AM)

I'd be tempted to try a cheap 802.11n USB adapter in the laptop, (to eliminate the Draft-n component).

FWIW, I've used this, this and this, (all of which are Realtek 8188/8192 chipsets), to connect a WDTV Live to my ASUS RT-N16 over 12-15m through two plasterboard walls, a 50cm CRT TV, a couch and a CD rack, they all connect at 150Mb/s.

After searching a bit, it seems to me that "802.11n Lite n" just means it's 150Mb/s as opposed to 300Mb/s - 600Mb/s, (ie. it's still full 802.11n compliant, just that because it's single antenna it's speed is limited).

3273

DC Gamer Club / Re: Pre-Purchase Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army 4-Pack

« Last post by 4wd on February 18, 2013, 08:26 PM »

...Sniper... Nazi... Zombies?

Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

-f0dder (February 18, 2013, 06:35 PM)

I think he's started on the same stuff Stephen drinks.

3274

Living Room / Re: More speed/bandwidth from an 802.11n laptop<-->WiFi Router/Modem connection?

« Last post by 4wd on February 18, 2013, 08:18 PM »

^What he said plus you've said nothing about the environment you're trying to operate in.

ie.
How far from router?
Other close electrical apparatus, (especially stuff operating in the 2.4GHz area)?
What obstructions, (walls, etc), and construction?
Are the antennas polarised in the same direction?
Did you have your fingers crossed as a meteor flew overhead, etc, etc, etc.

You should be able to get more than that but it can come down to something simple like the devices don't like each other, which is a PITA trying to determine when they individually work OK with other devices.

3275

Living Room / Re: Gadget WEEKENDS

« Last post by 4wd on February 16, 2013, 11:45 PM »

Sometimes you just want to smell nice (i.e. on meetings). Of course, it does not replace proper shower and may be used in "comb situations" too


But alcohol in it can:
1. make better fire,
2. be antiseptic,
3. make it easier to clean things.

-fenixproductions (February 16, 2013, 04:49 AM)

4. Impromptu Mace/Capsicum spray.

Anyway, another favourite technician gadget: the butane soldering iron



Since I got this ~17 years ago I could probably count on one hand the number of times I've resorted to my old electric version.  The above is the original Portasol, (with a Telecom Australia logo stamped on to stop people nicking them ).

Hmmm, explosive gas and made in Ireland.....