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4201

Living Room / Re: Olympic Gold Medals a Whopping 1.34% Gold

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 30, 2012, 04:39 PM »

I think the Internet devalued fame. Back when EVERYTHING was scarce, things were "celebrated"

-TaoPhoenix

It may have accelerated an existing trend. The internet wasn't in full swing when Andy Warhol noted that everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. The movie was horrid but I enjoyed the novel Bonfire of the Vanities. Once the bond broker made the front page, even though he was accused of a crime, the people who totally ignored him in the past hung on his every word.  The old "no such thing as bad publicity" bit.

The internet just lets some people who can't afford a PR firm do it themselves.

edit: the concept of being known for being famous is pretty weird if you think about it. When I was a kid growing up, the panelists on game shows were there for so many years I never knew what they did before to merit being on the show.  Or... Betty White will never die because she's really an android.

4202

Living Room / Re: esata vs. USB...fight!

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 30, 2012, 04:33 PM »

Don't forget to disable the selective suspend option in Windows Vista/7 power settings too!

-Carol Haynes (July 30, 2012, 04:15 PM)

Also I should probably mention that the first USB 3.0 docks I tried were Sharkoon. They worked well enough but it drove me crazy they seemed to have a spin-down time-out that could not be disabled. Perhaps this has been changed in the interim, but when I got them a year or so ago I had to write a stupid "keep alive" app that wrote and deleted a tiny file every 5 minutes.  Although many may just use docks for storage in my case I've found the WD drives in docks to be faster than my system HD(since I have off the shelf HP stuff the system HD is only Sata II.) Muxing video using the drives in the docks is much faster. Also reduces thrashing. It's really annoying if the dock spins down your drive.

4203

Living Room / Re: Olympic Gold Medals a Whopping 1.34% Gold

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 30, 2012, 02:42 PM »

Fame is one of those things that's in the mind of the beholder. It may let you cut the line at a restaurant(or even get a free meal) if the owner is a fan. But if you watch the video when they tout the Tennis Hall of Fame
during the last grass court tournament of the season, played at that site.. a guy walks in with a hand-held video-cam.  You see a few pictures on the wall. A couple of trophy cases. And maybe 2 laptop computers showing video of old matches. I think I'd pay $5 to be spared taking that tour.

During one of the broadcasts of the Newport Tournament I remember Barry MacKay talking about how in the old days the tennis pros were paid so little he had to sleep in the attic of the museum, to the director of the tournament who came on air for a bit.  The director replied to the effect "the attic is still available if you need it Barry."  

4204

Living Room / Re: esata vs. USB...fight!

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 30, 2012, 02:28 PM »

One serious drawback of esata for external docking solutions is that you need one esata port and cable for EACH DRIVE in the dock.
This was a nasty surprise for me, and i've never forgiven esata for this issue.

To me, the external usb docks are great in that they are so portable; speed is not my main concern -- I just want to be able to quickly connect and disconnect and move the dock to different pcs, etc.  USB has seemed like a better match for my needs over esata.

-mouser (July 30, 2012, 01:22 PM)

I haven't had eSata to try, but one thing I enjoyed with USB 3.0 card, while I was waiting for my USB 3.0 docks to arrive I plugged an external Seagate 500 GB USB 2.0 (that's a 2 not a 3) drive into the SIIG USB 3.0 card. Doing nothing else on large file transfers I saw an immediate throughput increase of about 15%.  That thing would only copy large files, such as copying a single .avi file, at 24 MB/s max.  Just by plugging it into the SIIG card I got copies of 28 to 30 MB/s copying the same file. So it's not a total waste to buy USB 3.0 card and maybe a dock while waiting for internal HD price gouge dissipation.

4205

Living Room / Re: esata vs. USB...fight!

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 30, 2012, 02:19 PM »

@superboyac the thread in your link is from Jan 2011.  The only thing new I've learned since then is check Device Manager to make sure your USB 3.0 hub does not have the option to power off to save energy enabled. Otherwise if the drive in the dock is idle for awhile it may shut the port off. I've already posted my experience on that thread in detail.

4206

General Software Discussion / Re: Ripping My DVD Collection

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 29, 2012, 09:48 PM »

Another alternative is book storage for your DVDs - you can buy storage solutions that pack hundreds on indexed CDs and DVDs into scratch resistant and chemically stable sleeves together with inlay cards and booklets. You do have to be organised (I'm not and that is why I gave up on it) but it can reduce the clutter enormously.

-Carol Haynes (July 29, 2012, 08:15 PM)

I wish the free db programs you can get now were around when I started buying CDs. If I could have entered the CDs in as I went along I might have kept up with them. Those aren't in too bad a shape because I bought those already assembled wooden Fellowes turrets 240 CD capacity.  Unfortunately Fellowes stopped making them. Now if you don't feel like assembling them yourself you have to shell out over $200 ea.  I think back in the day the Fellowes already assembled sold for about $74 ea. in the CD stores.

I got a DJ case for my DVDs but it took years just to fill up the 600 capacity one.  Too tedious even when the movie data is filled in "automatically."  Now if I was that guy in the movie Limitless I'd come up with a truly brilliant solution.... pay somebody else to do it.

4207

Living Room / Re: Olympic Gold Medals a Whopping 1.34% Gold

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 29, 2012, 07:05 PM »

@jgpaiva but aren't the medals more valuable as collectibles than for melting down?  Stolen Superbowl rings likely go for more as-is on the black market rather then melted down for the metal.

-MilesAhead (July 29, 2012, 05:17 PM)

I agree, but now imagine how much they'd be worth if they were in fact true gold!

-jgpaiva (July 29, 2012, 05:37 PM)

Also when I posted I didn't think of smaller events. A 24k statue for a local foot race might go missing even if the thief never heard of the event.

4208

Living Room / Re: Windows 7 boot time woes ... anyone any ideas?

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 29, 2012, 05:20 PM »

Can't help with the hibernate. I've always disabled that and sleep. I don't even run a screen saver. Seems like no matter how I set it, the saver kicks in just before I touch the keyboard. Too annoying.

4209

Living Room / Re: Olympic Gold Medals a Whopping 1.34% Gold

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 29, 2012, 05:17 PM »

@jgpaiva but aren't the medals more valuable as collectibles than for melting down?  Stolen Superbowl rings likely go for more as-is on the black market rather then melted down for the metal.

OTOH if they had some intrinsic value maybe Jim Thorpe would have melted his and told the committee he "lost 'em." 

4210

Living Room / Re: Olympic Gold Medals a Whopping 1.34% Gold

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 29, 2012, 04:27 PM »

Doesn't this threaten the entire concept of the __________ (Copyright Unmentionable) games themselves by encouraging Lowballing? Just pick a safe routine with fewer risks, because you can't afford a fall.

-TaoPhoenix (July 29, 2012, 04:08 PM)

Supposedly that was part of the reason for getting rid of the 10 point system. Nadia Comăneci hit everything with no errors and stuck the landings. She racked up a bunch of 10s. Comes full circle except now while watching we have no clue which score is a "good" score for which exercise. The TV network has to put a graphic of a steaming turd so we know the gymnast stunk up the place.

I watched some of the selection competitions. Some of the gymnasts who flopped to the floor from uneven bars should have opted for a body slam by one of the WWE dudes instead.  Easier on the chin.

4211

Living Room / Re: Olympic Gold Medals a Whopping 1.34% Gold

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 29, 2012, 02:20 PM »

Hmm, I kind of lost interest after watching the Olympics in China. Not only did they abandon a perfectly fine scoring system for gymnastics(perfectly fine meaning a person could understand it without consulting a professional) but the position of judge for the Women's Gymnastics became a "no show job."  Nearly every contest was determined by falls off the beam or uneven bars, and stepping out of bounds on the floor exercise.  IOW, the judges were taken out of the equation.  Didn't matter if they took a tenth off for this balance bauble and not for that. The mandatory 5 tenths deductions for falls and step-outs determined the results.

Instead of trying to calculate levels of difficulty and some jazz about a possible max scroe of 15.77588991112 I just counted the falls for each team.  The team with the fewest falls won.

Kind of reminded me of watching World Team Tennis.  There's more time and effort involved introducing the players and playing hyped up music than in the actual tennis played. No-ad scoring and some retarded scheme where number of games won(real tennis is all about winning sets) may determine the winner.  I can understand retired players and up and comers may need a cash cow. But I sure as hell don't want to waste my time watching that crap.

4212

Living Room / Re: Windows 7 boot time woes ... anyone any ideas?

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 29, 2012, 01:55 PM »

I would try on this forum
http://www.sevenforu.../installation-setup/

Also you might consider using another boot loader that's more versatile.

The most knowledgeable people I've found where I didn't have to pay, concerning all things bootable is on this board:
http://reboot.pro/index.php?

They gave me some pointers to make a USB "boot key" that booted to the boot menu, then loaded Windows off the HD just the way the old Linux boot diskette worked. Stuff like that is hard to find just willy-nilly.

4213

General Software Discussion / Re: Ripping My DVD Collection

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 29, 2012, 01:45 PM »

I've found this works well:
BDlot DVD ISO Master

-MilesAhead (July 29, 2012, 01:42 AM)

I don't know if BDLot are maintaining their programs, but they surely aren't maintaining their site
- or maybe they merely confused Seasonal with SeasonAll:

...

-Curt (July 29, 2012, 09:49 AM)

I don't think Feb this year is all that out of date for a free decrypter. That's the latest release I'm using. If you want latest greatest to decrypt against new blockbusters you'll probably have to pay. If you want to rip DVDs that have been in your collection for years this app in combination with DVD Shrink will do the job for most of them.

edit: Also it's good to look here:
http://www.videohelp.com/

You can find things no longer available other places. For example the author of Imgburn is proscribed from hosting DVD Decrypter that he wrote. If for some reason you still have a use for this old app, such as other no longer developed tools that expect to use it, you can still download it from videohelp.

4214

General Software Discussion / Re: Ripping My DVD Collection

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 29, 2012, 01:42 AM »

For a free tool to rip DVD to an .iso file I've found this works well:

BDlot DVD ISO Master

It may not decrypt some "ancient" encryption schemes. I always put the output .iso through DVD Shrink to make sure. Usually I only want the main movie anyway. For episodic dvds, (my WD set top box does not handle these well) I use MakeMKV to output episodes to a folder as .mkv titles.

4215

General Software Discussion / Re: Shape Shift 1.0.9.0 and MoveIt 1.2.5.2

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 28, 2012, 04:29 PM »

MoveIt 1.2.5.2 Now user-defined keyboard hotkey is not set to start. Use one of the Tray Menu commands if you wish to assign your own keyboard hotkey. If the user keyboard hotkey assignment fails on program startup, the app resets the value to blank, then quits after writing the .ini file.

4216

General Software Discussion / Re: Delayed Cuts 1.1.1.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 28, 2012, 10:15 AM »

Delayed Cuts 1.1.1.0 Recompiled with new release of AHK_L.  DelayedLoad now invokes "skip next load" command when Tray Icon double-clicked.

4217

General Software Discussion / Re: Shape Shift 1.0.9.0 and MoveIt 1.2.5.1

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 27, 2012, 02:20 AM »

MoveIt 1.2.5.1 Added a line to About Box.  No biggie.

edit: Now user-defined keyboard hotkey is set to none (not set IOW) to avoid conflicts. Use one of the Tray Menu commands if you wish to set the Keyboard hotkey.

4218

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

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 26, 2012, 11:29 PM »

Or just use a tool that doesn't have the Ansi limitation. I just tried it by making folders in FreeCommander named "L" only it's 50 "L" s in a row.  Sure enough it worked up to 250, and next go got an error.  Might be a quick way to test for file managers that don't have the limit.

4219

General Software Discussion / Re: Shape Shift 1.0.9.0 and MoveIt 1.2.5.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 26, 2012, 06:10 PM »

MoveIt 1.2.5.0 Added code to screen out unusable keys in the case of "hotkey,then press a key" actions. If the key is not in 1 - 9 and is not in list of letters for sections, (such as t,b,l,r,s,c,h,v,u,z) a "ding" is played (unless the key in the Esc key. In which case the function returns silently, as that's the valid key to cancel an operation.)

It may seem like a lot of particulars.. but it's kind of like the vi editor. If you use it fairly regularly, before you know it your fingers remember what to do.

4220

General Software Discussion / Re: Shape Shift 1.0.9.0 and MoveIt 1.2.3.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 26, 2012, 05:40 PM »

Thanks Miles

I wrote a mini-review -
I hope there's no major mistakes in it as I'll be away/offline for the next day and a half ;-)

MoveIt - windows management app - Mini-Review

-tomos (July 26, 2012, 05:13 PM)

Thanks for the effort you put into both the feedback and the review. I appreciate it.

4221

General Software Discussion / Re: Shape Shift 1.0.9.0 and MoveIt 1.2.4.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 26, 2012, 04:44 PM »

MoveIt 1.2.4.0 Pressing Esc key now bails out of "hotkey, then press a key" actions without an error.

4222

General Software Discussion / Re: Shape Shift 1.0.9.0 and MoveIt 1.2.3.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 26, 2012, 04:35 PM »

Thanks. I'll set it to use Esc to bail out of the input on next release.

4223

General Software Discussion / Re: WinDim 1.1.4.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 25, 2012, 08:32 PM »

The example case is already done.  This ahk_l script runs MBAM and puts it right where I want it.

[Select]

#NoTrayIcon
handle := 0
Run,C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbam.exe
WinWaitActive,Malwarebytes Anti-Malware,,8
if (! ErrorLevel)
{
  handle := WinExist("Malwarebytes Anti-Malware")
  if (handle)
   WinMove,ahk_id %handle%,,67,365
 }

With WinDim there was no farting around required to get the exact position.

edit: another way of doing the same thing is a utility like WinSize2. Different ways to skin the cat.

edit2: added ErrorLevel check in case MBAM doesn't come up by the time-out. Avoids moving just any active window.

edit3: updated the code so you don't have to run the script and wait for MBAM to come up. It gets the handle as soon as MBAM window is active, rather than depending on it remaining the active window.  Should work ok even if different windows are getting the focus. For example, you run this script then use FolderCache to open the last 4 folders.

4224

General Software Discussion / Re: WinDim 1.1.4.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 25, 2012, 08:17 PM »

Try using something like an onscreen caliper or ruler just to get the window's width and height. Then you'll see it's simpler and more exact for simple window width and height, to do it via a Windows function. One function call returns the window's size and position to the pixel.

For one example, every time I open Malwarebyes anti-malware it opens at a different spot. If I want to make a script to launch it with position and size, it's trivial if I have the exact numbers. In fact I think I'll do it now because it's annoying launching, then hotkeying it into place every time I run it.

It's probably more useful for programmers than for the average user.  If I have a window that's the perfect size for a particular task, there's no pre-fabricated way to get the exact numbers. Often what people do is lay another window on top and mess around with the mouse trying to get the 2 windows to match perfectly. That's a real time waster.

4225

General Software Discussion / Re: WinDim 1.1.4.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on July 25, 2012, 03:25 PM »

I wonder when WinDim may be useful.

-Giampy (July 25, 2012, 03:15 PM)

I can't tell you what's useful for you. Other than the occasional request for a small script, all my programs are written for my own use. I just share 'em. If you have no desire to precisely position or size a window, then it's likely of no use to you at all.