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3551

Living Room / Re: MIT's biopic of 4chan's founder, Chris Poole (moot)

« Last post by superboyac on August 31, 2010, 12:03 PM »

 

unique mix of humor, pornography, offensiveness, and, at times, borderline legality.

When I first learned about 4chan, i was surprised that a seasoned supergeek like me had never heard of it.  Then I went there and saw how stupid it was.  It's utter chaos and nonsense over there, typical kiddie stuff.  I mean, just the fact that they have a popular forum called /b/ has a certain level of eye-rolling annoyance to it.  It's chaos, just like the rest of the internet, just like yahoo and all the other search engines were before Google, and just like Google currently is.

3552

General Software Discussion / Re: wireless (wifi) network connection manager with saved profiles

« Last post by superboyac on August 31, 2010, 10:28 AM »

OK, I have a more specific question.  These managers are ok and I'm happy with what they do.  I'm using Mobile Net Switch and it's good.

But, is there a software that actually takes over the wifi configuration that Windows/Intel uses?  These managers manage the connection, but they still are using the Windows/Intel windows and dialogs for the actual configuration.  I want a whole new interface.  Something easier, something more intuitive, something more simple and elegant.

3553

Living Room / Re: MIT's biopic of 4chan's founder, Chris Poole (moot)

« Last post by superboyac on August 31, 2010, 10:09 AM »

First, the 4chan story is fascinating.  Second, the internet is 99% trash and it's no wonder that 4chan would be mostly trash also.  i don't know why I continue to be shocked by this.

3554

Living Room / Re: Double-sided tape with one side to be removed later?

« Last post by superboyac on August 30, 2010, 05:43 PM »

Forget about stationery stores, you need carpet tape.
It's thin enough to attach paper labels to things and strong enough to hold well for larger items.
Sticky one side, removable backing.
Try a flooring company or your local hardware store.

-cranioscopical (August 30, 2010, 05:23 PM)

Ah!  Thanks.  i will look into this immediately.

3555

Living Room / Re: Double-sided tape with one side to be removed later?

« Last post by superboyac on August 30, 2010, 05:43 PM »

...
All I'm asking for is double-sided tape.  It's not a complicated product.
...

-superboyac (August 30, 2010, 04:02 PM)

It can be frustrating.  I wanted to get a small plastic stack of drawers to store internal drives when not using them in my docks.  Somehow I couldn't hit the correct search term.  Finally I just looked through every container WalMart had sorted by price to find the thing.  Took me about 3 hours of work to find a $7 item.

-MilesAhead (August 30, 2010, 05:08 PM)

I totally, utterly, completely feel you.  That's how useless the internet has become. There's so much trash out there, it's easier to just go to your local brick and mortar store and browse their stuff for hours.  It's sad.  I think it just goes to show how humanity is naturally destructive all the way down to our core.  Human nature will always destroy.  Sure, there will be inspired moments, but taken at a macro level, we all point towards destruction.  For you chemistry majors, it's the law of entropy: it takes no energy to increase disorder (it happens automatically).  But it requires mucho energy to mover towards order.

3556

Living Room / List the crappiest websites you know here. (warning: potentially NSFW)

« Last post by superboyac on August 30, 2010, 05:35 PM »

I figured I'd start this thread for myself.  I'm just going to list the shittiest websites I know of here.  This is purely for venting purposes, don't expect me to be rational here.  There are a couple of things that makes a website shitty:
1) Just being generally shitty.
2) Not only being shitty, but being so pervasive as to make the internet (as a whole) significantly more shitty also.

OK, here I go:
about.com
We all know and hate this website.  It tries to answer every question known to mankind, yet accomplishes so staggeringly little with that task.  In true shitty fashion, it makes sure to be at the top of any google search.My bad, overreation.
Experts-exchange
Along the same lines, this website is masked as a helpful forum to answer all your geek questions.  Yet, they want a subscription to see any of their answers.  I've never seen nor had the need to see their answers, but I can safely assume that the answers are pretty shitty.  And even if they are not, the website is still shitty.
http://www.oracle.co...primavera/index.html
Primavera is the industry standard for scheduling software.  It's like MS Project on steroids.  Funny enough, when you visit the website, the word "schedule" does not appear on its front page.  Just the idea of that makes me laugh.  If you didn't know the program, you would have no idea what it does.  The first sentence states:

a leading provider of Project Portfolio Management (PPM) solutions for project-intensive industries.

WTF does that mean??  How do you not stick the word "schedule" in there somewhere???
Also, if you google "scheduling software", Primavera is nowhere to be found (on the first few pages, at least).  Very nice.
Ok, friends...join in the fun!

3557

Living Room / Re: Anyone using Backup4All on Windows 7, please?

« Last post by superboyac on August 30, 2010, 05:00 PM »

I'm surprised the developers don't work with you to solve the problem.  Most software developers for non-huge companies would do that.  If I have time, I can check this for you tonight.

3558

Living Room / Re: Double-sided tape with one side to be removed later?

« Last post by superboyac on August 30, 2010, 04:58 PM »

I guess they might have it in some sort of dispenser that spits out bits of tape with no liner (rolling up the liner on some spool inside the dispenser), but I'd also guess that that would be the exception rather than the norm.

-mwb1100 (August 30, 2010, 04:40 PM)

That's exactly how it works.  For most of the off-the-shelf scotch double-sided tapes you'll find in a normal store (walgreens, office depot, etc.) that's how they work.  Just a roll of tape with no liner.  You pull it out, tear it off, and stick it on with the remaining side exposed.  It's fine for most situtations.  But in my situation, I need to put it on and use it later.  I used to work in a lab that had some tape applications, and I can tell you that 3m/scotch are pretty serious about their sticky technologies.  For those double-sided tapes in the stores, they went through a lot of experiments and analysis to have a roll of tape that doesn't need a liner, but still remains sticky on both sides.  I guess they figure it reduces their cost by not having to add another paper cover, and it saves most consumers the extra step of pulling it off.

3559

Living Room / Re: Should I buy a tablet pc, ipad, netbook, or other?

« Last post by superboyac on August 30, 2010, 04:10 PM »

Nice, Darwin.  You are only encouraging me more, which i'm glad to hear.  Yes, I realize it's not really an ipad competitor.  But we all understand that to most people, any device with a touchscreen is going to be perceived as an ipad competitor.  For more knowledgeable people, we understand that there is a difference to having an oversized iphone and having a portable tablet+keyboard with a full Windows OS are very different animals.  Unfortunately for us, we are in the minority of people who would prefer the latter.  Most people truly do prefer the ipad over a full-blown portable pc, and for their needs, they are correct.  That's why ipad is so successful, and why apple is brilliant in making it that way.  That's also why we powerusers so often bash it.  But we have to realize that it wasn't meant for us.  And that doesn't make it bad, just different.  Again, WE are in the minority, not the other way around.

But, yeah, I'm excited about it.  I love the fact that I actually NEED it now that my laptop is breaking.  It's going to force me to buy it.  I was thinking of getting a small netbook, but I've realized that i just don't like the devices with small screens.  I like big screens, even if it reduces portability.  I don't do any portable computing, so any small screen device will quickly become useless to me after the honeymoon phase wears off.

3560

Living Room / Re: Double-sided tape with one side to be removed later?

« Last post by superboyac on August 30, 2010, 04:02 PM »

Once I know the exact model of what I'm looking for, it will be easy.  The problem is that I can't tell on the website what the heck kind of tape it is.  They are very unclear...both the distributors and manufacturers.  I can't tell at all if the tapes have a removable liner or not.  They use words to describe the tapes that are strange enough where I just can't tell what they are selling.  They have dozens of tape types and you just can't tell what the differences are.  They need one of those comparison charts or something.  It's all a bunch of bullshit.  I'm getting sick of all of this.  Last week, i was ranting about all the business software sites that NEVER clearly tell you what they are selling, nor do they have any prices.  They just have forms to fill out so a rep can call you back.

I keep insisting: the reason why Apple is going to take over the consumer markets for whatever they make is because they pay attention to this stuff and just about all other companies do not.  I visit the apple site and all of my immediate questions are answered.  I know the product name, I know what the differences are between models, and I know the price.  All within seconds.  That's why they are successful.  They don't do all these bullshit things like most other companies do to hide the fact that their product is not up to snuff or overpriced or whatever the reason is.

All I'm asking for is double-sided tape.  It's not a complicated product.  There's only a few characteristics that distinguish one type of tape from another.  Why they have paragraphs of scientific explanations that say nothing of interest is beyond me.  For the .0001% of the population that actually cares about that stuff about tape, just have it available in the specs pdf.  But in the main website summary explanation, tell me the obvious stuff: price, the main tape features.  Sheesh.  I'm getting so tired of this.

3561

Living Room / Re: Double-sided tape with one side to be removed later?

« Last post by superboyac on August 30, 2010, 03:41 PM »

Darwin, I didn't see any double sided tape on the source site.  Maybe they don't sell it anymore.

MilesAhead, the poster tape is what I'm talking about, except it's a foam tape also.  I'm looking for regular (thin) tape.  The clear kind.  The kind they put on USPS boxes to seal the lids.  You peel it off and stick it together.  That's exactly what I want.

3562

Living Room / Re: Double-sided tape with one side to be removed later?

« Last post by superboyac on August 30, 2010, 03:21 PM »

Actually, most normal double-sided tapes have no liners on either side.  Once it's rolled out, both sides are exposed.  There's nothing more to peel off.  Now, it seems as though the foam tapes usually come with a liner on both sides (or at least one).  But I need to find the same for regular scotch tape.

I went to the store yesterday, but they only had double sided tapes with no removable liners.  The foam ones all had it, but i don't want foam tape.

The hard thing about all this on the internet is that the descriptions aren't clear at all about the liner and stuff.  I went to all the online stores and I also looked at the scotch 3m sites.  The descriptions were very unclear about this specific issue.  Man, websites have been really bothering me lately.  They are never clear about what they are selling.  They write all sorts of BS information, but they avoid saying anything about what I really am looking for.  Such crap.  They go on and on about the tape strength and chemical properties, like I can understand or care about it, but about the actual tapes and what are the differences...barely anything.

It seems as though double-sided and double-coated might mean two different things, but hell if i can know for sure from anything i'm reading online.  I think what I'm looking for falls under the double-coated category.

3563

Living Room / Double-sided tape with one side to be removed later?

« Last post by superboyac on August 30, 2010, 02:53 PM »

I'm looking for some double-sided tape, but I need one side of it to have some kind of paper or film over it that can be removed later.  For example, I want to put the tape on a card, but I don't want both sides to be exposed right away.  First, I'll put the tape on the card...then, LATER, I want to remove the paper protecting the other side when I'm ready to stick it to something.  But all the double sided tapes I've seen just come with both sides open.

Do any of you know of a tape like I described above?  Please let me know.  Or if you know of another solution, let me know that also.  Thanks.

3564

General Software Discussion / Re: Suggestions for a Quick & Easy ircd for my private LAN

« Last post by superboyac on August 30, 2010, 12:51 PM »

Update:  I've been successfully using Winpopup Lan Messenger at work for several weeks now.  i'm very happy with it.  It's simple, free, and pleasant to use.  So anybody looking for a similar tool should give it a shot before trying too many other things.

3565

Living Room / Re: I'm ready for the TV revolution to hit!

« Last post by superboyac on August 30, 2010, 11:46 AM »

Here's a nice Engadget article about this topic.  I put my favorite excerpt below:

Third, and most importantly, cable and satellite providers simply aren't interested in opening up their boxes.Your service provider already owns input one on your TV, and it has no intention of giving it up. Even with government-mandated laws to allow access, consumers in reallty are offered few options to make third party solutions integrate with their television service. Devices such as the Roku or Apple TV have no way to connect to cable content, and even devices like TiVo that support CableCard are expensive to purchase relative to the "free" service provider box and require users to jump through hoops just make things work. CableCard issues also hampered PC / TV efforts that were well-thought-out, like Media Center, and by the time Microsoft sorted everything out, many consumers had simply moved on.

http://www.engadget....evolution-of-the-tv/

3566

Living Room / Re: Should I buy a tablet pc, ipad, netbook, or other?

« Last post by superboyac on August 30, 2010, 11:04 AM »

Well, it's been a day and I haven't changed my mind.  Looks like I'm going to do this!  Yeah baby!  I like this hp.  I'll explain why in case anyone is still reading this:
I'm fairly certain most of my use for this portable computer will be in laptop mode (keyboard stuff).  From what I know about myself, that will be how I use it at least 70% of the time.  Now, for those times when I am just bored and have nothing to do at the moment (which is hardly ever), that's when I will use the tablet mode (no keyboard).  Lightly browse the net, watch movies, listen to music.  Stuff like that.  The only wildcard is the touchscreen stuff.  if it's anywhere close to productive, I may be able to use the computer as a portable notebook that I actually write on with the digital pen.  I would be very excited if that turned out to be productive.

And I'll probably get the updated  model with the extra RAM and more CPU.  All of that for under $1000, which is not bad in my opinion.  My Acer laptop that is on it's last legs is from 2002, so my stuff lasts a long time.  And that still works fine, it's just a little underpowered and keeps having bad stuff happening about twice a year, which requires me to reinstall XP.  I think the battery is failing and it has affected some of the other hardware inside.

[edit]
How cool would a touchscreen tablet + Onenote be?  Anyone?  To me, the thought of it is scrumptious.
I'm excited.

3567

Living Room / Re: Should I buy a tablet pc, ipad, netbook, or other?

« Last post by superboyac on August 30, 2010, 08:44 AM »

A couple more links for you on the tm2t (if you haven't seen them already)

http://www.laptopmag...touchsmart-tm2t.aspx
http://www.engadget....uchsmart-tm2-review/

-wraith808 (August 29, 2010, 08:01 AM)

Thanks!  I hadn't read the laptopmag review, that was good.  of course, I already ran into the engadget one.  I like what I'm seeing.  A lot of the complaints have to do with the custom touch software that HP puts on the computer.  but I'm going to do as you described and tweak a basic Windows 7 installation for my own needs.  I don't need HP's software.  I'll find something better, or I may not even need a special touch software.  Just use regular windows 7.

tomos, thanks for that link.  I'll definitely use that, looks like the best deal around the net.

3568

Living Room / Re: Should I buy a tablet pc, ipad, netbook, or other?

« Last post by superboyac on August 28, 2010, 06:13 PM »

OK, I've changed my mind for the 17th time...
I've been working on my business with my business partner the last couple of weeks.  My 2002 laptop is starting to die on me (battery problems leading to other problems, leading to lots of crashing, reinstalling, etc....it's on its last legs).  So, I actually need to get some other portable computing devices relatively soon.

The HP Touchsmart tm2t is the thing I'm looking at right now.  It's a laptop, it's size is what I like (not too small, not too big), it has touchscreen stuff should I care to explore that.  It's pretty neat.  So how's that?  Wraith apparently had it right all along.

[to wraith]  Thanks for the posts on the first page.  If I get this (and don't change my mind), I'm going to format the thing, and install Windows 7 from scratch.  Then I'm going to optimize it the way you did.  I think it will be very snappy, especially reading how you are happy with your older model hp.  That's good stuff.  I'm excited.  I know the swivel-tablets didn't really catch on in pop-culture, but that's where users like us are different from 99% of the people: we don't mind fiddling and tweaking things.  I know I'd miss the keyboard.  This might be the perfect thing to hold me over while I wait for an awesome tablet to come out.  And, of course, I actually have a real NEED this time: my laptop is becoming non-functional, so I need SOMETHING.  If I don't change my mind by Tuesday, I'll order this or buy it by then.  If anyone knows of any deals/coupons, post away!

3569

Living Room / Re: Scantron alternatives: I need cheaper/creative solutions.

« Last post by superboyac on August 28, 2010, 06:08 PM »

One of the creative solutions I've just been thinking about is using the software Vuescan (or something similar) to process the scans and do something with it.

sounds like a horrible idea.

surely this is a case where you should find some software that is designed to help you create and print multiple choice forms and facilitate their scanning and data processing.  this is something that is done all the time for surveys, etc.  find a good piece of software or software+hardware combo made for this.

-mouser (August 28, 2010, 12:55 PM)

Haha.  I agree 100%.  I just threw it out there to kick start the discussion.

Yes, please send me the alternatives that are out there for test systems, or survey systems.  Knowing me, I'm going to be more attracted to solutions where I can buy the machine independently from the software.  I also love the idea of being able to print the testing forms instead of having to buy pre-printed forms.  So flexibility and independence are the two key things I'm looking at.  As with most business products, there's always some kind of gimmick built into things to make you keep relying on the same company.  In this case, scantron has really cornered the customers by forcing them to use THEIR forms to use the machine.  The money is really in the forms, not the machines.  I think most of the alternatives follow the same scheme.  But I've come across one or two that allow you to print your own form from a standard form that they provide you (for $600), but it's still better than always needing scantron's forms.

3570

Living Room / Scantron alternatives: I need cheaper/creative solutions.

« Last post by superboyac on August 28, 2010, 12:50 PM »

Hi everyone, I'm looking for a cheaper alternative to Scantron products.  Here is what I'm looking for:

1) A machine that can quickly scan a bunch of multiple choice exams on a form like the scantrons that we are all used to.  But I don't want a scantron machine because they are too expensive.  There must be cheaper solutions out there and I've already come across.  Apperson GradeMaster seems to be a pretty good alternative that I've found from my initial Google search.

2) Ideally, I want the machine to be able to read a form that can be printed from a normal printer.  I don't want to worry about buying official scantron forms or proprietary forms.

3) Software.  Whether the software is tied to the machine or not, I'd like to use some kind of software to process the tests.  Meaning, I want more than just the machine marking correct/incorrect answers on the test.  I want a software to process the scans and have the data available on my computer to use with excel, etc.

One of the creative solutions I've just been thinking about is using the software Vuescan (or something similar) to process the scans and do something with it.  So that would mean I just need an ordinary scanner. But I need a little more than that.  I need a normal scanner that can zip through a pile of papers.  Or even if it doesn't fly through them, I don't want something I need to open the lid, place the paper, close the lid, scan, open the lid, remove the paper, etc.  I'd like a slot-feeding thing or something like that.

Any ideas?

3571

Living Room / Re: I'm ready for the TV revolution to hit!

« Last post by superboyac on August 25, 2010, 07:13 PM »

barney, I don't like your points, but they are sound.  I don't want to agree with what you are saying, but I can't disagree either.  Good stuff.  Yes, I always catch myself doing the "back in the old days" thing only to find out that back in the old days wasn't so much different than today.  There are significant differences, of course.  But so often with business and finance and capitalism...etc...we keep seeing that the root intentions of it all were no different.  Thanks for the input.  it's sad, but such is life sometimes.

3572

General Software Discussion / Re: wireless (wifi) network connection manager with saved profiles

« Last post by superboyac on August 25, 2010, 07:08 PM »

Thanks 4wd, I really appreciate it.  I've been away working on an intense project and I feel tired.  I'm going to try all those programs as soon as i get the chance.

3573

General Software Discussion / Re: It is impossible to remove the network connection icon from the system tray.

« Last post by superboyac on August 20, 2010, 04:50 PM »

you can use a tray manager like PSTray to hide them..

-lanux128 (August 20, 2010, 04:44 PM)

yes, I do use ps tray.  I guess i don't have it on my laptop.  Sometimes, though, with the network connections, ps tray doesn't always recognize the setting.  Even though you've set it to hide, it will show up again upon rebooting.  Actually, I don't remember if that was the network connection icons or some other weird program that was giving me that problem.  It usually happens with icons where the status name changes, and that confuses ps tray, and it shows up again.

3574

Living Room / How much would it cost to create my own high-speed server hosting solution?

« Last post by superboyac on August 20, 2010, 04:45 PM »

I'm getting tired of relying on other servers to meet my computing needs.  Except for the gracious hosting DC has provided me, it's all a headache I want to avoid.  So I am now considering managing and hosting my own server.  I'm a total newbie to this, so I'd like to know what is involved and how much I can expect it to cost.  I'm mostly concerned about monthly bandwidth charges and other similar monthly charges I may not be aware of.

I'm assuming I will be the IT guy, so I wouldn't have to pay for someone's services.

I'll buy the equipment.  The OS, server equipment, etc.  I'm assuming I can get away with a good solution for under $20,000.  If it's significantly more, please tell me, because I'm assuming I'm overshooting here.

I have no idea how much bandwidth I'd need.  But I want fast upload/download speeds.  Faster than residential speeds, but it doesn't necessarily have to be as fast as youtube would need.  I would like enough bandwidth to stream pretty good quality videos.  I don't know what else statistics to write here...I'm guessing no more 5000 visitors a month.  My current website gets about 500 visitors a month, and if I do some other sites, I don't imagine getting more than 10x that.  If it gets more popular, then hooray, and I'll deal with that then.

I know I'll need to buy a domain name, but that's relatively cheap.

I'm assuming the high speed connection service from the ISP will be the bulk of the cost.  Am I right?  Discuss, please!  I forgot who it was, but I know somebody here has their own server and he even let me use it once for something.

3575

General Software Discussion / Re: It is impossible to remove the network connection icon from the system tray.

« Last post by superboyac on August 20, 2010, 04:15 PM »

Windows 7 at least allows you to hide them. :Thmbsup

-Deozaan (August 20, 2010, 04:12 PM)

At least they fixed it.  That's good.

Yeah, this issue is normally seen on laptops.  most laptops will connect using the wifi, which is fine.  but they also have an ethernet jack with its own adapter.  When it's not connected, the icon will ALWAYS show up, no matter if the checkboxes are unchecked or not.  That's the lame part.  Most desktops that are hard-wired will not see this problem.