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4051

General Software Discussion / Re: WordWeb

« Last post by Stoic Joker on June 02, 2011, 11:42 AM »

I like the software version too.

But if I had a grand to blow I'd rather spend it on the 60 volume Great Books of the Western World collection put out out by Encyclopedia Britannica. I've read a little over half of them. I intend to read them all before I'm in my dotage. 

That or save up the additional $400-$500 and get the encyclopedia itself. 

-40hz (June 01, 2011, 08:46 PM)

Well, of course!  He had that entire set long before he got the dictionary!  Cmon now...

-superboyac (June 02, 2011, 08:56 AM)

He had the entire set?  (40hz surpresses a rare twinge of envy. )

-40hz (June 02, 2011, 09:44 AM)

$1,000? Any interest in the full set my parents had in their last yard-sale? It was printed back in the early 70's ... But I'd wager at least half of it's still right...
 

4052

Living Room / Re: Is the Core i7 2600K really worth the extra cost over Core i5 2500K?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on June 02, 2011, 11:19 AM »

Same here too - I stepped-off on nVidia back when Vista was in beta, they were just taking way too long to create a stable driver. I grabbed an ATI card (X300 IIRC) for my at the time test box ...(damn thing ran just fine with OOB drivers)... And I ain't looked back since.

4053

Living Room / Re: Microsoft unveils new UI prototype - Windows 8?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on June 02, 2011, 06:29 AM »

I am NOT trading in my taskbar full of icons for that stupid start screen!

-app103 (June 01, 2011, 08:48 PM)

Um, Yeah... Pencil me into the You Gotta Be Shitting Me! list also. Totally did not see this coming. Crap.
 

4054

General Software Discussion / Re: How can I delete over 6,000 recursive directories?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on June 01, 2011, 06:17 PM »

Have you made sure you have the necessary permissions for the directories in question? Taken ownership of them etc.?

rmdir /S /Q dirnamehere

-Krishean (June 01, 2011, 05:56 PM)

hehe Been awhile since I've had to use that one for anything. It might not hurt to try this also:

rmdir /Q /S \\.\C:\Target_Folder

Had to use that on a few hidden directory FTP server cleanups (back in the day).

4055

Living Room / Re: Decided on RAID 1 - SSDs or HDDs?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on June 01, 2011, 03:22 PM »

eh,
hope it's going well there Renegade

-tomos (June 01, 2011, 12:52 PM)

Thread has been eerily quiet for a while now, hasn't it. Hope he skipped the spill vodka in computer, and jump out window steps.

4056

Living Room / Re: Decided on RAID 1 - SSDs or HDDs?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on June 01, 2011, 07:17 AM »

Hm... if SeaTools wont run on a SeaGate HDD (assuming it is th latest version...), that would indeed be a bad sign. Hitachi has a good one for doing any (or oddball) drives, but there's enough propriatery error checks/codes to make cross brand testing a bit iffy.

 Perhapps best to stop screwing with it until everythng is safely backed up. (Yes, a last minute quicky - for the really critical stuff - is recommended if the ship is sinking slowly enough)

4057

Living Room / Re: Which is more important: the gadget, or the software and apps that runs it?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on June 01, 2011, 07:09 AM »

You people are making it really hard to curtail my cynicism.

 

4058

Living Room / Re: Is the Core i7 2600K really worth the extra cost over Core i5 2500K?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on June 01, 2011, 07:04 AM »

IMO, if you're doing professional video editing, CGI/animation, or serious 3D modeling, the i7 may be worth the extra money. For everything else most mortals will be doing, the i5 2500 should do just fine. And then some. It should be overkill for what you're using it for. If I had an extra $100 burning a hole in my pocket, I'd opt for a more powerful video card rather than spend it on a hotter CPU. But that's me. I'm usually out for more 'bang for the buck' than I am for absolute specs. So I always look for that sweet spot. Which is usually two or three down from the flagship when it comes to Intel's CPUs.

Not having deep pockets does that to you. 

-40hz (May 31, 2011, 07:59 PM)

+1

I'm running Windows 7 x86 on an AMD 64 X2 3800+ with 2GB of (Mushkin) RAM here at the office, and it's actually quite tolerable for a 4/5 year old machine. Having 50 windows, MSVS2005, and a Virtual PC running doesn't even cripple it (Adding a 2nd VM will however).

I've setup several i5 (and i3) office workstations and the i5's really are nice even with a basic (business) hardware package.

4059

Living Room / Re: Decided on RAID 1 - SSDs or HDDs?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on June 01, 2011, 06:44 AM »

Just wanted to point out that while the error does look ominous...It's not necessarily damning. Get a copy of the manufacturer's diagnostic boot CD, and see what it says first.

I have seen disk errors flood logs simply because of a driver hiccup. The first time it happened I too had a similar reaction. However. The box in question (My SuperMicro server), has continued to run just fine on the very same drives for several years (about 4) after the initial incident.

Best I can tell the Virtual Servers occasionally get into a pissing contest with the host machine, which causes the logs to get flooded with disk events until the next reboot. Damn strange, but I still do an offline diag on the drives now and then just to be sure all is O-Tay.

4060

Developer's Corner / Re: Buy & Sell Source Code

« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 30, 2011, 12:19 PM »

@Stoic Joker

I hope you're wrong.

-Renegade (May 30, 2011, 10:05 AM)

Me too man ... but never the less. That (rather dark) cloud... is (rather obviously) on the horizon.

Though, I'm still partial to paid software... Feel free to call me on that one. Yes. I have a vested interest.

-Renegade (May 30, 2011, 10:05 AM)

Understood, and I wouldn't dream of calling you on it. But you're are talking about a finished product there. Not a piece of something, that could be something, if... (Ya know)

Hell I wish I could come up with something that people would buy. But I'm just not quite that clever. So I suffice with creating things that make me happy ... And occasionally share them in the hopes that they may help someone get something done, or at least make their day suck less.

It only has the potential to be 'monetized' (oh how I hate that term)

-40hz (May 30, 2011, 11:26 AM)

+1 as it was coined by the crowd that is doing their dead level best to suck the innovative spirit out of everything. Create something out of curiosity, or for the betterment of mankind? pffft hog wash - The Ferengi will not tolerate that kind of nonsense!

4061

Developer's Corner / Re: Buy & Sell Source Code

« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 30, 2011, 08:42 AM »

I've written about this so much I must sound like a broken record, but I think I have the opposite impression than Stoic Joker.

-mouser (May 30, 2011, 08:08 AM)

Not so much really, you're speaking to the why/how we got there ... and I'm speaking of the what's next.

As Renegade mentions peer envy/camaraderie (however you slice it) drives Certain behavior. However. That dynamic assumes/requires that people be into a technology/field because they actually like it (/enjoy what they do) ... And people of that ilk are a dying breed. They are quickly being replaced with the monetize any & everything crowd as the InterWeb slowly (glacially) slides into the hellish despair that is cable TV.

So yes I can easily see the likes of Code Project disappearing, as the trend toward the product being less important than the profits being made off it continues.

4062

Developer's Corner / Re: Buy & Sell Source Code

« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 30, 2011, 07:56 AM »

While superficially it may sound cool for commercial coding, I fear it may also signal the end of an era for the free access hobby coders (e.g. Not all of us are in it for the money - per se).

Most of the code I write is (one off stuff) done for the companies internal systems. It's not for resale, or even (due to being rigidly focused and therefore inflexible) marketable. The rest is stuff I play with, because it's fun.

So if the trend catches on (and they tend to $$$), that you can get top dollar for a program fragment ... Instead of having to waste time developing the whole thing. The comraderal support offered by the free source code sample sites may quickly dry up.

4063

Living Room / Re: 26 Terabits Per Second... WHOOSH~!

« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 28, 2011, 10:43 AM »

I'm still on 1 mbps!  (see attachment in previous post)

-nosh (May 27, 2011, 10:55 PM)

And I'm lucky to get 26 kbps! The only downside to living in a forest.

-cranioscopical (May 28, 2011, 10:19 AM)

So your connection Tera-Bites?

4064

Living Room / Re: 26 Terabits Per Second... WHOOSH~!

« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 28, 2011, 08:06 AM »

Is that fast enough for anyone here? 

-Renegade (May 27, 2011, 10:14 PM)

I'm a bit scared of how to view all those DVD's in that short timespan, afraid that my head will explode

-Ath (May 28, 2011, 05:17 AM)

That'll probably be the new RIAA penalty for the p2p crowd - Spontaneous Decapitation - It's not just from snorting dandelions anymore!

4065

Living Room / Re: Now you're REALLY screwed...

« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 28, 2011, 08:01 AM »

To every season, Turn, Turn, Turn...

4066

Living Room / Re: Which is more important: the gadget, or the software and apps that runs it?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 28, 2011, 07:58 AM »

Wouldn't you love to see all the devices on the table and be able to say:
I want THAT tablet,
with THIS OS,
without a cellphone contract,
with THESE apps.

-superboyac (May 26, 2011, 05:21 PM)

If only I could say it with such brevity. Thanks! And as you say, we have to ability and for the most part, the [open] formats to make it so. But as you note, companies are after excessive profit, and to get that, they run a continuous series of lawsuits against everyone else under the guise of patent infringements. Patents were around for centuries before the US adopted its own Patent Act in 1790. In the following century a certified Steve Jobs-like jerk named Tom Edison patented everything he looked at, and then spent the rest of his life suing everyone on the planet (sound familiar to today tech landscape?). Until this line of thinking is changed by governments, then my Holodeck ain't never gonna come true.

Patents are not the sole evil of the modern world, but they are a big one. Capitalism has always been far too wasteful with resources:
-- Kill the environment, to hell with the future;
-- Distribute all the wealth to few at the top, creating a plutocracy;
-- Enact laws like DMCA, ACTA, et al., then sue everyone from former employees to competitors to even your own customers;
-- Find ways to charge people for every little move they make --

• Want to own and drive a car? Let me see how many ways I can tax it and fine you over it.
• Want to start a business? Let's see if you have the guts to withstand the crushing regulations and taxes you'll pay every three months.
• Want to listen to a song? Let me see how many ways I can make that act illegal.
• Want to read a book? Let me make sure you pay for every time you try to read it for the rest of your life.
• Want a college education? Let's saddle you with crushing debt that will last a lifetime and hinder your future with each decade that passes.

Oy.

-zridling (May 28, 2011, 01:51 AM)

+1

You said what I could never say without resorting to massive amounts of obscenity and profanity.

-Renegade (May 28, 2011, 02:02 AM)

+2 (one for each)

4067

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 27, 2011, 07:42 PM »

Yepper it's definitely WindowBlinds (T-Clock is handling transparency in the below Screen-Shot):

4068

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 27, 2011, 03:54 PM »

Ah Ha! Now that sounds a plausable theory. Usually IIRC Skinning requires either WB or a hacked copy of UxTheme.dll. T-Clock does load and use functions from UxTheme.dll so if WB is stepping around it the results would be rather, unpredictable...

I've spent years hating StarDock for killing one of my favorite sites. But I may have overlook that to get  this tested properly.

Let me know what you find.

4069

Developer's Corner / Re: Thoughts on HTML5?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 27, 2011, 03:28 PM »

Some of this has to do with the end consumer too. I kind of see it as similar to the IPv4 story. The end user doesn't want to care as long as youtube videos work (or in IPv6's case, as long as you can just type youtube.com and go)
This kind of 'as long as it works' attitude doesn't create motivation at the business level.

-rgdot (May 27, 2011, 02:44 PM)

He's got a point there folks - Not everybody is as picky as we are...

4070

Living Room / Re: Kaydara - 55 minute Matrix Fanfilm

« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 27, 2011, 02:39 PM »

Commercials, during a web video...Are you kidding me?!?

I thought the claymation sequence made virtually no sense but was funny as hell, and was therefore OK. The ending I didn't really like, primarily because it didn't make a damn bit of sense to me. What the hell is the point of running away from the dead body of the guy you just killed - Twice, by not saving him... - solely for the purpose of going into VR to hug his virtual corpse?!?

4071

Living Room / Re: Skype Outage

« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 27, 2011, 02:29 PM »

Maybe when governments finally wrest control of the internet from the people by calling it a "civil right" we'll see some of that, but hopefully that's still a long way off...

-Edvard (May 27, 2011, 11:55 AM)

Sounds like we get screwed by corporations or by governments. Sigh... 

-Renegade (May 27, 2011, 11:58 AM)

Which is why the lot of them is pushing for a two class system. That way you either have power (like them), or you have to do what you're told (like us). There is no more (inconvenient people) middle ground (class) that (foolishly) thinks they have a right to negotiate.

4072

Developer's Corner / Re: Thoughts on HTML5?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 27, 2011, 11:43 AM »

Did anybody else notice that Safari has much better HTML5 support on Windows than it does on (its native) Mac? I'm not really sure what to read into that. Other than perhaps that Mac is just gum-balling code together for the Windows version so they can work out how and what not to do on their own doorstep.

Save on support headaches by screwing up on somebody else's dime, yeah, that's inovative... Not!

4073

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 27, 2011, 06:57 AM »

if I cannot find a way of rely-ably reproducing the issue with the software ... Then the issue, most likely, does not exist within the software.

-Stoic Joker (May 26, 2011, 10:08 PM)

Yes, I fear you're right. It does seem to be connected to the way Win7 handles Theme colors. I'll just have to experiment some more.

-Mugsy (May 26, 2011, 11:50 PM)

Please do let me know what you find. I'm not giving up on the issue, I'm just at a bit of a lose as to how to define it. Where is the Spring theme you're using from? Is it a 3rd party item? I never really got into the skinning craze back when so I'm not really "up" on what all of the MS themes are available.

If there was a way to *add* a background box/color to the area behind the T-clock text (I believe a much older version of T-Clock could do this), that might "fix" the problem.

-Mugsy (May 26, 2011, 11:50 PM)

Yes that was one of the legacy items I removed (back when). The transparency worked better as a default going between (Win2000 & XP) the two primarily available OS of the time. And with Vista and 7 both being themed there was no real compelling reason to bring the background color option back going forward either. This was compounded by the fact that when using either of the transparency methods (Aero or the one built into T-Clock) the background was also subjected to the transparency...Which made its effect rather moot. Well that and I thought the squared corners looked like poo.... *Shrug*


What I usually do in testing is drag either an explorer window or a command window down behind the taskbar for quick extra contrast when needed. This helped out a great deal when I was trying to resolve the fuzzy font issue (which is why the font quality setting was added) awhile back. I don't know (kinda doubt) if it'll help here as it seems like something is either blocking, mangling, or not sending a paint message to that window. But it might be worth a shot.

4074

Living Room / Re: Macs More Attractive for Malware Authors?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 26, 2011, 10:24 PM »

As Mac Defender and countless Windows malware show, successful attacks are more about social engineering than lax operating system security.

It's good to finally hear some good information in the media. The OS isn't the security issue... It's the USER!

-Renegade (May 26, 2011, 09:28 PM)

Damn Straight! ...There is no point in trying to blast your way through a  steal door when the *Ding Dong* Avon Calling approach works so much better. And there's a boat load of folks in glass houses fixin' to get all sorts of un(intentionally)welcomed attention.

4075

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 26, 2011, 10:08 PM »

Changing "Desktop" color seems to disable text transparency (regardless of color selected).

-Mugsy (May 26, 2011, 08:17 PM)

Unfortunately that doesn't really prove anything because the applied color settings just force a repaint of the entire desktop. Which is the shotgun version of Refresh T-Clock forcing a repaint of the systemtray. The question on the table is: How do we make it do that in the first place?

Themes that have "transparent" text lack a black bar in the "preview" icon. Themes with opaque text show a black bar on the "window" graphic. The icon/theme on the left would give me transparent text. The right one: opaque.

-Mugsy (May 26, 2011, 08:17 PM)

Certain fonts are harder to render at runtime than others. T-Clock renders its own font at runtime independently of what the system is doing. Which is why the Font Quality setting had to be added. But the issue there was in the fonts washing out and appearing transparent. The issue I'm concerned with at this point is the (white) backgrounding that is appearing in your screen-shots. It is something I've simply never seen before. I did have limited success reproducing an ephemeral version of it ... But that's in a Virtual PC which means it's stuck with a crap virtualized video card.

Now I get the impression that your's are persistent. And I'd like to help. But if I cannot find a way of rely-ably reproducing the issue with the software ... Then the issue, most likely, does not exist within the software.