Recent Posts

651

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox Extensions: Your favorite or most useful

« Last post by Innuendo on March 05, 2012, 11:48 AM »

The keyboard shortcut for "find next" (F3) doesn't work for Find Toolbar Tweaks in later FF versions... 

-nosh (March 04, 2012, 10:16 PM)

Odd of you to say that as it works just fine here, but....I'm not running nearly as many extensions as I used to so maybe there's a conflict with another extension you are running?

652

General Software Discussion / Re: Can anyone be a Hacker!

« Last post by Innuendo on March 05, 2012, 11:44 AM »

What Gwen said. Once upon a time the term hacker meant something. A hacker was someone with elite skills that could do wondrous things with computers (and nearly nothing was done out of malice, but rather the pursuit of knowledge).

However, these days a hacker just means someone who tries to take advantage of exploits in software through the use of scripts & automated programs that target certain vulnerabilities of other programs & platforms.

So...what kind of hacker do you want to be? If it's the former, study hard & get your IT certifications. You'll learn a lot and you'll be in demand in the job market.

If it's the latter type you wish to become, just hang out on IRC. It won't be hard to find the script kiddies.

653

Living Room / Re: Renew Encryption Key for offline PS3

« Last post by Innuendo on March 05, 2012, 11:33 AM »

We just put in a Harry Potter 7 Part 2  Blu-Ray and it worked. I thought that if the encryption key had expired that all Blu-Ray discs would no longer play.

-Deozaan (March 04, 2012, 04:36 PM)

To over-simplify things, there's a key in your player & there's a key on every disc. You are required to update the key in your player to keep up with new disc keys that are issued. However, a lot of new releases still use older keys that your father's player shouldn't have any trouble interfacing with.

654

Living Room / Re: Sansa Clip+ and Rockbox

« Last post by Innuendo on March 05, 2012, 11:29 AM »

I think the 16 GB limit was a limitation of the Rockbox firmware as the stock firmware could access larger SDHC cards with no problem. I say *was* because I'm pretty sure the Rockbox devs worked through that limitation & now their firmware can access cards as large as the stock firmware can now.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Superboyac is throwing in the towel: I'm going to transition to Linux

« Last post by Innuendo on March 04, 2012, 12:48 PM »

That is because you are a cheapskate - the cheapo models use two cartridges and then they screw the money out of you for ink.

-Carol Haynes (March 04, 2012, 09:14 AM)

And here I was trying to use tact & subtlety with my replies. Leave it to Carol to come in with a sledgehammer to knock the point home.

I always buy higher spec Canon models which use 4, 5 or 6 cartridges - which have no electronics.
For me it isn't just that they are cheaper to run (still not cheap though) - they are quiet and reliable and I find the drivers a less obtrusive and just work.

You'll spend more up-front for the printer, but if you own it for any real length of time, it's cheaper in the long run due to the money you save on ink.

Lexmark are ... well Lexmark. Junk printers, crappy, flaky drivers and ridiculously expensive consumables (and shame on Dell for rebadging them and selling them as Dell machines).

Double-shame on Dell for rebadging them *and* changing the cartridges enough so you can't just drop a Lexmark cartridge in if you are in a pinch!

Lexmark, BTW, uses more black ink per page than any other manufacturer's inkjet printers.

656

General Software Discussion / Re: Linus Torvalds on OpenSUSE

« Last post by Innuendo on March 04, 2012, 12:38 PM »

It does. You can.

Which is why I'm wondering where Linus-T is coming from with this.

-40hz (March 04, 2012, 11:11 AM)

Here I thought I was just missing someting.

I just checked Google...he's only 42 years old. That's way too young to be turning into a grumpy old man.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Linus Torvalds on OpenSUSE

« Last post by Innuendo on March 04, 2012, 09:42 AM »

I'm not a Linux user, but are there any tools similar to the Group Policy Editor, etc. that are on Windows? You could lock a Windows install down so tight that you'd need admin access to change the time there as well, but it is all configurable.

Doesn't Linux offer anything like that?

658

Living Room / Re: Renew Encryption Key for offline PS3

« Last post by Innuendo on March 04, 2012, 09:40 AM »

That's pretty ridiculous making a $500 Blu-Ray player obsolete simply because it hasn't been connected to the internet for a while. . .

-Deozaan (March 04, 2012, 02:29 AM)

That's the whole premise behind DRM. Companies want to control the device you play your movies on.

And here I thought that Blu-Ray was supposed to be better than DVD.

The quality of sound & image quality are worlds better than DVD...which is why so many people are willing to put up with the draconian policies.

As the poster said above...jail-breaking is your only way out of that cycle, but I don't know if your father is willing to go that far (which is why I didn't mention it originally).

659

General Software Discussion / Re: ReImage: online Windows repair!

« Last post by Innuendo on March 04, 2012, 09:04 AM »

I'd like to know why you and Innuendo both feel that Paragons program is to blame when, by your own admission:

-4wd (March 04, 2012, 03:33 AM)

I didn't think it was the sole culprit to blame, but it did seem to be the camel that broke the camel's back.

I guess NASA are going to feel pretty crap soon....maybe I should go out and buy a hardhat....

Oh, it's too late for NASA. You may want to get a roll of tin foil while you're out to line your new hard hat.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Superboyac is throwing in the towel: I'm going to transition to Linux

« Last post by Innuendo on March 03, 2012, 11:42 PM »

Canon has a 1 color per cartridge philosophy? My MP490 takes 2 cartridges....one black, one color....

-Josh (March 03, 2012, 07:22 PM)

Perhaps I should have said Canon has that philosophy on their mid to high-end printers.

661

Living Room / Re: Renew Encryption Key for offline PS3

« Last post by Innuendo on March 03, 2012, 11:38 PM »

Welcome to the world of DRM.

The way Blu-Ray works is that playback devices only have temporary rights to play movies as their encryption key has an expiration date. If you want to play the newest movies your player has to keep up with the newest firmware.

If your father really wants to keep the Other OS option then his only option is to buy a new player & start playing his movies on it.

662

General Software Discussion / Re: Superboyac is throwing in the towel: I'm going to transition to Linux

« Last post by Innuendo on March 03, 2012, 07:18 PM »

Canon is the best inkjet printer manufacturer, IMHO, so I don't blame you for wanting to keep using them, Carol. They design their printers with a one-color-per-cartridge philosophy so they are much more economical to run than their competitors' models.

663

Living Room / Re: Notable Spam...

« Last post by Innuendo on March 03, 2012, 07:16 PM »

Now I know what the IRS is talking about when they mention 'stiff' penalties.

664

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox Extensions: Your favorite or most useful

« Last post by Innuendo on March 03, 2012, 04:57 PM »

Curt, I see you are discussing Findbar Basics from way back in 2009. I have since moved on to the more versatile and configurable Find Toolbar Tweaks v3.0:

https://addons.mozil...find-toolbar-tweaks/

It does everything Findbar Basics did and then some.

665

General Software Discussion / Re: ReImage: online Windows repair!

« Last post by Innuendo on March 03, 2012, 04:49 PM »

Curt, sorry I didn't answer you before you lost your patience, but I do think you are going to be much happier with your PC.

How's the performance? I'm sure it's no slower, and probably faster, than Vista is/was.

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General Software Discussion / Re: ReImage: online Windows repair!

« Last post by Innuendo on March 03, 2012, 02:47 PM »

If all you are doing is just rescuing some files off your system I'd just do a regular install of Vista. The installer will install to a fresh directory & your old install will be left untouched. Once you hit the desktop you can safely copy off your important files & await the arrival of your Windows 7 disc.

667

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 8 to offer nine versions for sale

« Last post by Innuendo on March 03, 2012, 02:45 PM »

Nope! Apples and oranges. Not a valid analogy.  

-40hz (March 03, 2012, 11:53 AM)

I was not trying to make a direct comparison between Windows & Linux. I fully realize they are apples & oranges. My point was that people always whinge about the confusing number of Windows editions when Microsoft plainly publishes a comparison chart listing out every difference between the different versions.

However, trying to find such a comparison chart lining out all the differences between the different Linux distros is a little harder to find.

Most distros only differ in the default settings chosen, the kernal version, and which software gets included in the standard installation package. ALL distros are capable of running any GNU/Linux software and supporting any feature found in any other distro. The differences are therefore mainly cosmetic.

Why, yes. Yes, they do. So why do we need so many of them?

Different SKUs and versions represent different capabilities in Windows. Anything below the current Ultimate or Enterprise edition represents a version of Windows with an increasingly reduced or disabled feature set.

Differences in distros are examples of differing personal preferences in an OS and desktop environment. Differences in Windows versions are manifestations of a granular pricing strategy on the part of Microsoft.
 

So what you are saying is that Microsoft makes different versions of Windows to market different features to different markets. That makes sense...since they are a for-profit company.

You are also saying that distros are different due to configuration preferences. Why do there need to be so many different distros when a simple install wizard would cover 99% of all preferences in configuration?

But to your point, yes...there probably are far too many distros out there!

Yes, there are without any good reason for there to be. A good example is Ubuntu vs. Kubuntu....the only major difference is one has Gnome & one has KDE. Include both and put forth a choice in the install wizard!!  

One distro's need eliminated.....4,000 to go.

668

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Daemon Tools - Spring Sale

« Last post by Innuendo on March 03, 2012, 10:42 AM »

In 2010 Daemon Tools Pro Advanced - was  €99.90

-Bionic71 (March 03, 2012, 07:55 AM)

Exactly...and while they had no shortage of people signing up I just couldn't justify the price even though the product itself was excellent. Now that the price is down where us mere mortals can afford it, I quickly jumped before they change their mind.


And if anyone hasn't tried Daemon Tools in a while, the Duplex Secure SPTD driver is no longer required for the program to operate. It's only required if the 'advanced emulation' features are desired.

Oh, and the newest version now supports FLAC and APE disc images. I'm rather excited about that.

669

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 8 to offer nine versions for sale

« Last post by Innuendo on March 03, 2012, 10:18 AM »

Windows 8 has not even hit beta yet. In the development of every previous Windows version Microsoft has been quite liberal in trying new things...adding some, removing some, modifying some. I don't think we will see what the final form of Windows 8 will be till midway through the beta process (usually it's around the Beta 2 time-frame).

Who cares how many different SKUs there will be? There will be only one or two versions available on retailers' shelves so the sheeple won't get confused. The rest will be reserved for emerging markets & tech-oriented people who'll know where to go to get the features they want/need.

If you want to talk about confusion due to too many versions, let's discuss how many Linux distros are out there.

670

Living Room / Re: Android Tablets

« Last post by Innuendo on March 03, 2012, 10:12 AM »

Processors have gotten faster (up to 1.5 GHz if I remember correctly), but I think the smart move would be to wait till tablets are released running Ice Cream Sandwich (Android OS  v4.0). ICS will bring the ability for the OS to be hardware-accelerated so that should bring quite a performance boost.

671

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Linkman 8 Pro and Cacheman 7.10 62% off on Bits du Jour 8/15/2011

« Last post by Innuendo on March 03, 2012, 10:09 AM »

Attention all procrastinators! This offer has been extended another day!

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General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 8 to offer nine versions for sale

« Last post by Innuendo on March 02, 2012, 09:51 PM »

Windows XP has been the single most successful OS for Microsoft. OK it took some time to be picked up by businesses.

-Carol Haynes (March 02, 2012, 06:25 PM)

Windows XP was an excellent OS, but one might argue part of its success was out of all of MS's OSes it had the longest run on retail shelves without anything coming out to replace it. Although, when its replacement arrived it was less polished than it could/should have been.

Regardless, it had 5+ years on retail shelves with nothing being marketed to replace it. That helped boost its user base considerably.

673

General Software Discussion / Re: Is Antivirus Software a Waste of Money?

« Last post by Innuendo on March 02, 2012, 03:50 PM »

I used to be a "no AV, just common sense" user. But these days are long over. It's just too dangerous "out there". One wrong click or hacked homepage and it's over. Wasting hours of time to get rid of malware... I've done it several times. I don't want to do it again.

-wr975 (March 02, 2012, 01:16 PM)

When you can go to perfectly legit, big-name web sites, and get infected through an exploit in a banner ad... It's like you said. The days of just using common sense are long over.

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Found Deals and Discounts / Daemon Tools - Spring Sale

« Last post by Innuendo on March 02, 2012, 12:23 PM »

Daemon Tools is one of the best virtual disc emulators available today supporting the most disc image formats of any program in its class. It's also one of the few (if not only?) virtual disc emulator that will let you create, edit, and burn any image format it supports. Unfortunately, with great power comes a high price.

This is true no longer...at least temporarily with the Daemon Tools Spring Sale:

Daemon Tools Pro Advanced - was €54.90 - now €24.90

Daemon Tools Pro Standard - was €36.90 - now €16.90

Daemon Tools Lite - was €22.90 - now €10.90
(Note: Daemon Tools Lite is free for personal use. Purchase of a license required only for non-personal use.)

These are lifetime licenses. Prices are for one computer, but you can piggyback more PCs/instances onto your license for €8 each at the time of initial sale or later from your account. Seems reasonable to me.

IMHO, that puts even their flagship product almost square into no-brainer territory (approx US$33-34). For that price you could buy a commercial virtual disc mounting program (Virtual CD US$29.95) *or* a disc image editor/creator (PowerISO US$29.95), but even if you bought both you wouldn't have access to everything Daemon Tools Pro Advanced can do & neither support nearly as many disc image formats, either.

This is another one of those programs I said I'd buy if they ever adopted sane pricing. Given my usage patterns with disc images this was a deal I couldn't refuse.

Hope someone else finds this useful!

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General Software Discussion / Re: Superboyac is throwing in the towel: I'm going to transition to Linux

« Last post by Innuendo on March 02, 2012, 10:09 AM »

@Miles - I don't want to get into a drawn out debate over the relative merits of one distro vs another.

For someone who doesn't want to argue you sure post a lot with multiple paragraphs. As soon as I saw a Linux thread I knew it would degenerate to be honest.  Still, like the guy hoping the football would not be pulled away this time, I tried to give the OP the benefit of my experience.

-MilesAhead (March 01, 2012, 08:50 PM)

Miles, usually I follow your trains of logic easily, but you've stumped me in this case.

40hz's post, while wordy, struck me as a statement embodying the idea that one should fine what fits them best & that one shouldn't have any blind loyalty to any one distro. Perhaps you should re-read his post to make sure you didn't misread something.

This has been a very quiet, civilized thread. I'm proud of all the participants for keeping level heads while discussing a topic where level heads usually don't prevail.

All the footballs are still in plain sight & none have as of yet been pulled away, Mr. Brown.