Recent Posts

5501

What's the Best? / Re: Anti-Virus Package

« Last post by Darwin on May 31, 2007, 12:31 AM »

Here you go, Grorgy - it's been immortalized!

5502

Living Room / Re: When you make your 100'th Post

« Last post by Darwin on May 31, 2007, 12:29 AM »

Grorgy just reached 100:



Congratulations Grorgy!

5503

What's the Best? / Re: Anti-Virus Package

« Last post by Darwin on May 31, 2007, 12:23 AM »

(and of course i wanted to get 100 posts   useless and inconsequential as they may be )

Congratulations, Grorgy, on your 100th post! I'd hardly call your contributions here useless and inconsequential!

5504

What's the Best? / Re: Anti-Virus Package

« Last post by Darwin on May 30, 2007, 09:50 PM »

OK wading back in here - my subscription to AVG Pro is up in a month and a half and I'm reviewing my options. One of these is to dump it and add the Sophos based AV protection to Webroot SpySweeper. I'm a bit uneasy about doing so and wonder if anyone has a strong opinion (yes, I know, be careful what I ask for!) about whether I should A. stick with what I've got and renew AVG for $19.48, B. Add SpySweeper's AV module for $10 or C. go for something else?

Thanks,

Mike

5505

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: MusicIP Mixer Premium Memorial Day Weekend Sale - 40% off

« Last post by Darwin on May 30, 2007, 09:37 PM »

I took advantage of the Memorial Day weekend promo and am glad that I did but I'm thrilled to see that there will be a Donationcoder discount coming up. Good work, and thank you, Carl! 

5506

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Power Desk 6 Pro, half prize until Friday

« Last post by Darwin on May 30, 2007, 09:35 PM »

Well... happy DOpus 9 user here (and before 9, 8 and before 8, 6) but just thought I'd drop a note to note ( ) that the $9.95 offer is still alive and well. I'm a bit of a software-a-holic and a total file manager junkie, so this is STILL tempting. I'm walking away, though, walking away...

5507

General Software Discussion / Re: www.mind-mapping.org

« Last post by Darwin on May 30, 2007, 06:10 PM »

By 9 seconds - woo hoo! As noted, though, your post improved upon mine anyway (though I very sneakily incorporated your work around into mine 

5508

General Software Discussion / Re: www.mind-mapping.org

« Last post by Darwin on May 30, 2007, 06:07 PM »

Hi 222fbj - I had trouble with the formating of a normal text hyperlink and had to ask myself! Here's the syntax:

[Select]

[url=https://www.donationcoder.com]Text you want here[/url]

To yield:

Text you want here

EDIT: Thanks Josh - I always forget about using the Insert Code feature to enable brackets...

5509

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox 2.0.0.4 released

« Last post by Darwin on May 30, 2007, 05:32 PM »

On a different note altogether - I'm running FF 2.0.0.3 and it's not picking up the update... Guess I'll have to do it manually. Ah, just read this at the link Carl pointed us to:

The Firefox homepage has not been updated with the new versions yet so I have put together two downloaders for each of the new versions. The downloaders below use Mozilla’s load balancing techniques to distribute the downloads across their mirrors, so you don’t have to worry about hammering their servers.

Thanks Carl!

5510

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox 2.0.0.4 released

« Last post by Darwin on May 30, 2007, 05:29 PM »

12 security fixes? Hmmm, this is starting to sound like IE. Is it just me? I bet if opera got the same amount of exposure as either of these two, we would see the same thing. This just proves that no application is "more secure" than any other.

-Josh (May 30, 2007, 04:15 PM)

A-f'n-men!

Same goes for the Windows vs. Mac/OSX thing.

The whole "more secure" thing is really getting old. Especially when we know better.

-Renegade (May 30, 2007, 05:07 PM)

I've ranted and raved about this kind of thinking elsewhere and am only going to say "here, here" or is it "hear, hear"? Anyway, I completely agree!

5511

Living Room / Re: Latest Apple Mac vs PC Commercial: PCs suck because of all the software choices

« Last post by Darwin on May 30, 2007, 03:14 PM »

I don't appreciate or enjoy half the software that comes pre-installed on a laptop when you buy it (oh and desktops though I build mine now). Most of them are just ones you eventually have to pay for and often have freeware or donationware that works even better then the pre-installed ones. So I spend the first 30 minutes uninstalling the junk. However, I do love finding and trying new software out that I find on the web and read about.

PCDecrapifier is your friend!

5512

General Software Discussion / Re: Increasing Notebook PC Volume

« Last post by Darwin on May 30, 2007, 11:02 AM »

Hi Vincent - I'm running a Gateway Centrino notebook and the above was experienced using the onboard soundcard and the system speakers. What's weird is that I've just attached my Creative USB soundcard and the static is gone, regardless of the media player that I use. Funny that ONLY XMPlay gives good, clear sound when both it and WebEQ are running through the onboard sound/built in speakers.

Is it OK when the Equalize button is OFF?...I heard a lot of distortion with iTunes (Rock) at my Maximum setting, but it was fine at the Rock setting.

If the equalizer button is OFF everything is fine (but note that if the bass boost is ON, and the equalizer is OFF, the problem is there). I played around with all of the presets and it didn't make any difference. Anyway, I've contacted the developer and await his/her response. I'll report back.

5513

General Software Discussion / Re: Increasing Notebook PC Volume

« Last post by Darwin on May 30, 2007, 09:36 AM »

Hmmm... Interesting - it works with XMPlay no problem (with or without DFX processing the output) but in every other player I've tried if it is processing the sound my speakers crackle, regardless of whether or not it is the eq, bass boost, or both that is activated AND regardless of whether I am using one of the presets or have all of the sliders zeroed. Weird. So far I've tried WMP 11, iTunes, MusicMixerIP Premium and GOMPlayer (hadn't realised how nice an mp3 player GOMPlayer is until this morning). I tried all of them both with and without their respective equalizers (or equalizer plug-ins - DFX in WMP) enabled and disabled. Didn't make a difference.

Right, time to do some research on this - help manual and FAQ!

5514

General Software Discussion / Re: Increasing Notebook PC Volume

« Last post by Darwin on May 30, 2007, 08:55 AM »

Interesting - thanks for the link, I'm off to test it.

-Darwin (May 30, 2007, 12:23 AM)

I just paid for it.  I think you get an very small break additional if you buy it after you download the trial.

Vincent

-Kruskal (May 30, 2007, 12:30 AM)

Yes - it *looks* like you get an additional 10% off. I haven't installed it yet (went to be - it's now just about 7 am here), but am going to test fly it today.

5515

General Software Discussion / Re: Increasing Notebook PC Volume

« Last post by Darwin on May 30, 2007, 12:23 AM »

Interesting - thanks for the link, I'm off to test it.

5516

General Software Discussion / Re: Increasing Notebook PC Volume

« Last post by Darwin on May 29, 2007, 03:06 PM »

Yeah, I was a bit disappointed by the article as well. No doubt following the suggestions will improve things, but I'm looking for something that will simply increase the volume on my system without requiring me to tweak each app. On a related note, my notebook has on board sound (Centrino). I have circumvented the problem with a Creative USB soundcard - much, much improved when routed through some active speakers. Another interesting thing is that using headphones plugged into the onboard soundcard, I can crank the volume beyond the limits of my ability to bear it, which suggests that Vincent's original suggestion that there must be some way to increase the volume is right.

5517

Living Room / Re: POLL: How many students are active here (instead of writing up?!)

« Last post by Darwin on May 29, 2007, 02:40 PM »

Go for it then, Viktor! There are worse professions than psychology to pursue for the love of knowledge - you will have a real, marketable skill at the end of it. Another consideration is that as a PhD you'll have acquired both teaching and research skills, which are marketable irrespective of your discipline (I keep repeating this like a mantra to myself!). Finally, once you've got your PhD you can teach to earn your bacon and help those in need who may not be able to get help otherwise (as in, you would be able to keep your fees down or even donate your time at shelters and the like). I've no idea what community college instructors make in the States, but up north of the 49th the compensation and benefits are very good considering the amount of work that is required. You'd certainly have time for a practice outside of your teaching load. Almost all of the psych instructors I know at the college I teach at are in private practice as well.

5518

General Software Discussion / Re: To Vista or not to Vista that is the ?

« Last post by Darwin on May 29, 2007, 01:18 PM »

Excellent point - Hirudin. Hadn't made that connection, either.

5519

Living Room / Re: Sony's special screw will make your everyday screws blush in shame!

« Last post by Darwin on May 29, 2007, 01:17 PM »

It's quite high compared to Spain

-Lashiec (May 29, 2007, 12:43 PM)

22% - Doh! No mistake about the package and its contents being accurately described - buy this and you're getting screwed by all parties concerned!

5520

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Mini-Review: Wubi - Painless, partion-free WindowsXP/Ubuntu dual booting

« Last post by Darwin on May 29, 2007, 12:46 PM »

After a few hours with ubuntu, I am really impressed. I've tried Mandrake (versions 8.2 and 10) as dual-boot installs in the past and have also tried a number of live cd distros. Obviously, this beats the pants off a live cd but I am also impressed by how easy to use ubuntu (and presumably other linux distros in 2007) are to use. They really are at the point where anyone who simply needs an internet machine and a glorified word processor is "good to go". I think linux is almost ready for primetime...

5521

Living Room / Re: Why don't you pay for software?

« Last post by Darwin on May 29, 2007, 12:14 PM »

Interesting wraith808. I've heard of similar stories with people dealing with major players (can't remember specifics but by big I mean Microsoft or Adobe level companies) and getting similar results. I've not experienced this myself but it makes sense. I've always found that the general Judeo-Christian ethic of "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" holds true in any situation. More often than not, if you as the customer are polite, level-headed and appreciative of the efforts being made on the other end some sort of accomodation can be reached. People working for large companies often have a much greater degree of leeway to "deal" with customers than smaller concerns and often have an incentive, too, to meet quotas and keep both the customer and their management team happy!

Good advice wraith.

5522

General Software Discussion / Re: To Vista or not to Vista that is the ?

« Last post by Darwin on May 29, 2007, 12:08 PM »

I wonder how many of those 40 million copies are sitting on retail shelves? This *may* be remininscent of inflated sales figures for records wherein the labels report the number of copies shipped as the actually sales figures... so, they are/were? reporting the volume of shipments to the middlemen rather than sales numbers to the buying public. Don't know when this practice started and if it's still being done, but a very easy way to garner a gold/platinum record for an artist and to create a lot of hype around them to create actual sales! Well, that and buying playtime on radio stations...

5523

Living Room / Re: Why don't you pay for software?

« Last post by Darwin on May 29, 2007, 11:41 AM »

Probably because for the first group, money isn't expected. While for the second group, money is expected. And if it's one thing I do despise, it is money's control over everyone including myself as long as I live in this world.

Also, the second group keeps threatening to litigate, litigate, litigate if you don't pay up! Kind of takes away any warm, fuzzy feeling that you might have about paying the piper!

5524

Living Room / Re: POLL: How many students are active here (instead of writing up?!)

« Last post by Darwin on May 29, 2007, 11:38 AM »

Thanks for casting a vote and posting Laughing Man (is it Viktor, per chance?). You've embarked on a long and rewarding process. I told myself coming into the PhD that I was doing this for "the achieve of, the mastery of the thing" and not with my eye on an economic payoff at the end of it. I still feel that way, though I wonder if I should have "stuck" with the MSc. Looks like Armando is feeling much the same way! The trouble is that the Masters degree always felt like a learner's permit and the PhD looked, from that perspective, like a licence to drive!

5525

General Software Discussion / Re: A Warning about Thinkall.com

« Last post by Darwin on May 29, 2007, 11:32 AM »

Nice pointers, Carol - thanks! It took me over a year to post about it because I was that embarrassed. C'est la vie...

I thought $99.95 was excessive - outrageous, actually. $199 is just plain obscene. I had a full membership for one year and didn't really use it very much. I tried quite hard to get my money's worth, but succeeded only in so far as it was a lesson learned. Their service isn't that bad, actually, just not overly suited to academic research. Quite valuable as a repository of newspaper and magazine articles. My main complaint was that the emphasis is on text rather than graphics, so many interesting articles would be missing the illustrations and tables.

Overall, I just had a bitter taste in my mouth over the money, which was at least 50% my fault anyway.