Recent Posts

6601

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Steam Sale: 50% off Guild Wars Trilogy

« Last post by Deozaan on May 08, 2010, 05:50 PM »

There aren't many games I bought that I never played, but there sure are a lot that I haven't finished.

6602

General Software Discussion / Re: Review of 7 Cloud Storage Services

« Last post by Deozaan on May 07, 2010, 04:11 AM »

SpiderOak is pretty good. It's a bit more complicated than Dropbox, but it also has many more features.

6603

DC Gamer Club / Re: Humble Indie Bundle (pay what you want sale)

« Last post by Deozaan on May 06, 2010, 02:32 PM »

That's a great price (or maybe not) for any one of these games!

I emptied out my PayPal account for this. It wasn't a lot, but it was all I had.

6604

General Software Discussion / Re: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)

« Last post by Deozaan on May 06, 2010, 02:35 AM »

I should make it clear that I like Ubuntu and don't intend to give it (or Linux) a bad name. I'm not very fond of the Netbook Remix Edition, and think that on my netbook I'd prefer to have the regular Desktop edition.

No OS is without it's problems. It's just easier for me to figure out how to solve them in Windows, due to my experience with it.

I'm not sure if Linux will ever be my primary OS since I do a lot of gaming. But I can easily see Ubuntu being perfect for my wife, my mom, and some friends who only need/use computers for internet, Office, and e-mail, with some movies and music thrown in as well. And with so many games available in the browser, it's still easy to go with Linux even if you are a gamer. Linux also offers plenty of games for those "casual" gamers who just like playing games now and then but don't really care too much about the latest and greatest.

In short, I consider Ubuntu/Linux a tool which doesn't quite suit my needs, but I can think of plenty of cases where it would perfectly fit the needs of many people I know.

6605

Living Room / Re: Bought (or thinking of buying) an Apple iPad? You may have been duped!

« Last post by Deozaan on May 06, 2010, 02:17 AM »

Might goes 9+hrs on battery, about the same as iPad as far as I know. I leave it laying around for weeks not plugged in and it still has basically a full charge.

-JavaJones (May 05, 2010, 09:21 PM)

9 hours?  What do you have the power settings on?  I go full power all the time b/c the lower power settings feel sluggish.  And from my friends that have it, the iPad is more than 9 hours of usage, but that's not empirical in any way.

-wraith808 (May 05, 2010, 10:19 PM)

I'm guessing you got a 3-cell battery and JavaJones got a 9-cell battery. I have a 6-cell battery and my netbook lasts about 5-6 hours with "normal" power settings and usage.

The Kindle's screen is specifically designed for reading though. I don't know if the display technology in the iPad can keep up. (Things like eye-strain and readability are key there.) But superior technology is no guarantee for success (beta vs. VHS).

-Renegade (May 05, 2010, 09:24 PM)

That's just the thing. The iPad isn't really an eReader any more than a Notebook PC or a Smart Phone is an eReader. Yet it's being marketed as the superior eReader.

When you start comparing the iPad with other technologies that are most like it--namely a Smartphone or a Netbook/Notebook--you really start to see how the iPad falls short.

But Apple continues its "Emperor's New Clothes" marketing. It's almost like marketing a Honda motorcycle as the best bicycle around, while some of us are scratching our heads wondering why you wouldn't just go with a Harley-Davidson. That may be a bad analogy, since I'm not into motorcycles and don't know what would be considered low, mid, or top-class in the motorcycle realm, but I hope the idea comes across well.

6606

General Software Discussion / Re: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)

« Last post by Deozaan on May 05, 2010, 07:00 PM »

Yeah, I'm using Ubuntu (Gnome), as opposed to Kubuntu (KDE) or Xubuntu (XFCE).

Neowin.net has the latest on the 10.10 netbook version that features a single menu bar design:

-zridling (May 03, 2010, 02:27 PM)

Wait, what? That's supposed to be new for October 2010? As in 5 months in the future? Your screenshot is actually how it has looked for over a year now, since the 9.04 Netbook Remix, and how it currently looks in 10.04, so I don't get what's new (except the color scheme which is new to 10.04). There are basically three versions of Ubuntu: Ubuntu Server, Ubuntu Desktop, and Ubuntu Netbook Remix. Not sure where Neowin.net was for the last year, or even for the brand new release, but that look is not new to Ubuntu Netbook Remix Edition.

Speaking of which, this post is dedicated to my experience with the Netbook Remix Edition.

Good luck with installing it on a laptop. My biggest fear is waiting around to find drivers for the ordinary laptop's [unusual] proprietary hardware (here today, gone tomorrow).

-zridling (May 03, 2010, 08:12 AM)

The Netbook Remix edition is actually designed with netbook hardware in mind. So it installs flawlessly. With drivers working great for (almost) everything.

It's good and it works, but that doesn't mean it isn't without frustrations.

My frustration with it is really only that I expected it to be better. I figured that since it was built with Netbooks in mind, and since my perception is that netbooks are generally made up of almost the same hardware inside, that everything should "just work" and for the most part it does. One thing that never did work for me in previous Netbook Remix editions was that it doesn't recognize my built-in webcam. The new 10.04 version still doesn't recognize it. In fact, the first thing I ran when Ubuntu finished installing was Cheese, the webcam software, and the software locked up. That's not supposed to happen!

So it's really not as bad as I probably made it out to be from my "hint." Really my only frustrations have been the webcam not working and then trying to change and install things but it not letting me tweak stuff while my queue of 20 different software applications is being downloaded and installed.

I'm also frustrated with the fact that their idea of a version of Ubuntu made especially with small screens of netbooks in mind basically means making all the icons and everything so huge that it takes up half of the screen and you have to use scrollbars on everything to be able to see it all.




And there are other little things that are annoying. For instance, in Firefox, changing the toolbars to use small icons doesn't actually change the height of the bar. The icons get smaller, but the area the toolbar takes up is still exactly the same. So there's no reason to use small icons. I change to small icons even on my 19" monitors just to save the visual real-estate. But on a netbook especially, those 10 or so pixels would make a difference.

My idea of "optimized for a small screen" is to make everything minimalist and compact so I can see as much information as possible. But they did the opposite. It just feels so contradictory. It's like buying a Large Print edition of a book that's printed on paper the size of 3x5 notecards: Sure, the whole book is there, but you'd be turning the page every 3 or 4 words.

The tiny screens already have low resolutions to keep things from getting too small. No need to use 128x128 pixel icons when the vertical space only measures at 600 pixels.

For some reason the big, dumbed-down UI just feels restrictive to me. It gives me the feeling that all of the same controls of the desktop edition aren't there. It makes me feel like I'm using a Smart Phone OS, rather than a "real" computer OS. And even though I'm pretty sure you can still do everything from the terminal at the very least, I can't get over that feeling that I'm limited.

For example, when I grab a screenshot, it defaults to save to a desktop, but there is no "desktop" in the Netbook Remix. I can't make my own shortcuts and arrange them how I like, even though I typically don't like anything on my desktop. And maybe that's part of it as well. Normally I like my desktop to just be a picture. But I'm forced to have a toolbar on the side and huge icons filling up the screen.

I know this probably all comes across as scathing and negative. Don't get me wrong, Ubuntu works just fine on my netbook (except my webcam), even the wifi and video drivers. But I just don't think I like the Netbook Remix Edition. It's not my style. I prefer the minimalist approach. Ubuntu Netbook Remix Edition prefers to be in your face and your space.

EDIT: Added pics and rearranged first part.

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Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Steam Sale: 50% off Guild Wars Trilogy

« Last post by Deozaan on May 05, 2010, 06:17 PM »

Yeah, it's happened to lots of people. They will get back to you. It took them a few days to get back to my brother about the same issue.

6608

Living Room / Re: One of my cats, Titch, passed away yesterday

« Last post by Deozaan on May 05, 2010, 06:08 PM »

I'm sorry, Carol. You have my sympathies and my condolences.

6609

Living Room / Bought (or thinking of buying) an Apple iPad? You may have been duped!

« Last post by Deozaan on May 05, 2010, 05:56 PM »

How's that for a sensationalist headline/topic? I figured that with as well as my previous Apple-related thread has gone, I'd start this one up, too.

It’s pretty annoying to always have the iPad compared with Kindle and Nook and to hear all sorts of strange things -

iPad is the best-selling tablet – selling more than the Kindle tablet.

iPad is going to become the #1 eReader.

Kindle was the best tablet before the iPad came out.

There are two main ideas that are being propagated -

• The iPad is an eReader and it takes on eReaders like the Kindle and Nook and Sony Reader.
• The iPad is a Tablet and eReaders are tablets too.

It all makes sense when you dig deeper.

The real competitors the iPad is scared to be compared against

There are actually two categories that the iPad is much closer to than eReaders -

• Netbooks.
• Mobile Phones.

-http://ireaderreview.com/2010/05/04/pretending-to-be-an-ereader-is-better-for-the-ipad/

Of course, I don't expect this thread to be nearly as controversial as the other one, since generally the folks here at DC agree that Apple is all about marketing and hype. They're amazing at marketing, unfortunately what that really means is that they're really good at lying, and selling that lie for an exorbitant amount.

(thanks Allen for sharing this in your Google Reader feed)

6610

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Steam Sale: 50% off Guild Wars Trilogy

« Last post by Deozaan on May 05, 2010, 04:34 AM »

Sacred 2: Blood & Ice, however, my motivation to finish is really starting to wane.

-Innuendo (May 04, 2010, 07:14 AM)

Is that an expansion of Sacred 2: Fallen Angel? I can hardly stand that game if only for the fact that my character won't ever shut up and stop saying the same annoying (and badly/awkwardly phrased English) sentences over and over!

6611

General Software Discussion / Re: Welcome, come back in a year

« Last post by Deozaan on May 05, 2010, 04:30 AM »

Ahem!

I propose another category be appended for those who can withstand the bad puns.

-MilesAhead (May 04, 2010, 06:58 PM)

There are no bad puns!

-cranioscopical (May 04, 2010, 09:43 PM)

“Do not fear bad puns. There are none."
- Miles Davis

Or something like that.

6612

DC Gamer Club / Re: Mechwarrior 4 is now FREE!

« Last post by Deozaan on May 05, 2010, 04:21 AM »

I remember playing Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries years ago. It didn't run well on my slow PC back then. I do remember liking it though.

Too bad this download requires MTX. They should just add Steamworks support and put it up on Steam.

6613

Screenshot Captor / Re: Capture rounded corners in Vista/Win7 Aero Glass

« Last post by Deozaan on May 03, 2010, 12:05 AM »

Both issues are fixed.  

6614

Screenshot Captor / Re: Capture rounded corners in Vista/Win7 Aero Glass

« Last post by Deozaan on May 02, 2010, 08:38 PM »

New version does not capture Chrome at all (Active Window Capture). The icon in the tray turns red and stays that way.

EDIT: I'm also getting strange behavior when I capture SC window fullscreen. It captures the title bar properly but then makes half of it disappear due to transparency issues.

(Image is 1280x1024, so beware!)

6615

General Software Discussion / Re: How to uninstall Ubuntu 10.04 on Windows7 ?

« Last post by Deozaan on May 02, 2010, 06:04 PM »

For future reference: Use Wubi!

It will install Ubuntu in a directory on your PC which you can then easily remove from Windows' Add/Remove Programs.

6616

General Software Discussion / Re: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)

« Last post by Deozaan on May 02, 2010, 05:44 PM »

Okay I gave it another try. I'll post about my Desktop and Netbook experiences separately.

Desktop:

I connected my phone to give me internet access long enough to download the wifi drivers. While I was doing that, I realized why I was so sure the beta worked with my wifi adapter without a problem: Because I didn't have the internet then, so the only way I could get online was to connect my phone. Yeah, I feel kind of silly now.

Also when I went to install the wifi drivers, it listed two NVidia drivers. I installed the recommended one but I still wasn't able to do all the desktop effects and stuff. So then I installed the not-recommended one and things worked.

I tried sticking a DVD in and seeing if it would play. It doesn't. It opens in Movie Player by default, says I'm missing a codec or something like that, and asks if I'd like to find it. I clicked yes but it couldn't find anything.

So I opened up Synaptics Package Manager and did a search for DVD, found a bunch of packages that were mostly to do with ripping or converting formats. One of them was called Ubuntu-Restricted-Extras, which installs support for MP3 files, Microsoft fonts, Java RE, Flash, LAME, and DVD Playback. But it says that it doesn't install a certain library and won't allow you to play encrypted DVDs. And links to the Playing DVDs web page. Apparently in some countries it's illegal to watch your own DVDs due to the requirement of needing to decrypt them to watch them first. Sounds messed up to me but whatever. The instructions on that page were simple to follow, and after taking the 3 steps listed, DVD playback pretty much "Just Worked," but it's not exactly Linux n00b friendly.

Playing DVDs requires you to:

• Install a movie program that doesn't come with Ubuntu. (I chose VLC Player)
• Install the libdvdread4 package (for Ubuntu 9.04 and later)
• Enter a command in the Terminal

That's not exactly hard to do, but considering that I only found the URL for that in the first place because I had enough experience to use Synaptics Package Manager to search for DVD and found something I'd previously seen before, which linked to the site, etc. It's just a relatively, needlessly complex process for something as simple (in the mind of the end user) as sticking a DVD in and watching it.

I was thinking of what a hassle it was and how something as simple as this would keep me from recommending Ubuntu to my Grandma (for example), but then I realized I would never expect my Grandma to install any OS and set things up for herself. I would either have her order one already set up by the manufacturer or I'd get things working myself and then let her at it.

So in that regard, I think Ubuntu just might be ready after all for the "average Joe/Jane" who only uses a PC for internet, e-mail, and word processing.


I still don't like the minimize, maximize, and close buttons on the left side. Not only are they on the left side, but they're out of order. It's close, minimize, maximize. So it's not just a mirror image. The other thing is that my mouse is never on the left side of the window. The UI practically demands the mouse to be on the right side of the window with scroll bars and things, so it makes no sense to make the user drag the mouse over to the other side of the screen to close an application. I know it seems like such a small thing, and if only the rest of the world were so lucky to only be upset over moving a mouse a few inches to the left, but it sure is annoying! Thankfully Chrome uses it's own custom skin and keeps the Windows style Min, Max, and Close buttons on the right side.


Another thing that continually frustrates me (especially on a fresh Ubuntu install) is how the package installer works. There are three main ways to install/update software: There's the Ubuntu Software Center, the Synaptics Package Manager, and the Update Manager. I don't know exactly how it works, but they all use the same thing and you can only use one at a time. Anything else you try to do to download/install software/components/updates also uses the same thing. So if you went to the Software Center first and queued up 15 applications to install, you have to wait until they're finished before you can install your proprietary drivers, or another language pack, or even check for updates to your software.

I can understand the need to only install one thing at a time, but it should at least be smart enough to add it to a queue so it will be taken care of, and not lock out the entire system from looking for more updates while something is downloading. In fact, it would be great if it could download things more than one at a time.



And once again, as it always happens with me when I try out Ubuntu, I don't know what else to do with it. The three main reasons I use a PC are for:

• Internet
• Video Games
• Programming

The internet works on Ubuntu, once you have your Wifi drivers installed. The video games I play pretty much require Windows. I haven't tried Wine or Play On Linux but I've heard they're not always very good. Besides that, most of my modern PC Games have been purchased via Steam, and I don't think that works well in Wine. And as for programming I typically program using an engine that doesn't support Linux.

I think that's enough writing for now. I'm going to take a break and write about my Netbook Remix Edition experiences later. But here's a hint:

6617

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Steam Sale: 50% off Guild Wars Trilogy

« Last post by Deozaan on May 02, 2010, 03:52 PM »

Buy now play later!

The lack of subscription fees allows you to do that.

6618

Living Room / Re: Apple acquires music service Lala

« Last post by Deozaan on May 02, 2010, 03:16 AM »

Boo! I hate iTunes. I refuse to put it on any of my PCs.

Thanks for the answers, App. Even if I don't like them.

6619

General Software Discussion / Re: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)

« Last post by Deozaan on May 01, 2010, 02:52 PM »

I just tried the final release (64-bit Desktop Edition) a couple days ago on my PC. Unfortunately it made a bad first impression:

Wubi had a big problem with my removable media drive and caused some installation difficulties. Apparently Wubi has had this issue for over a year (since the 9.04 version). I just never experienced it before because it was only about two weeks ago that I plugged in a USB 1.44MB floppy drive to this PC. Basically it popped up an error message that seemed to be stuck in an infinite loop, but after clicking "Continue" about 10-15 times it went on with the installation. I later went into my device manager and removed the floppy drive and now Wubi runs without issue.

One thing I forgot to try after it finished installing was watching a DVD from the vanilla Ubuntu software. During the installation, it advertised that you could do that and I know I've had trouble playing DVDs with previous Ubuntu versions, so I'll be glad if that works out of the box.

Ubuntu doesn't automatically find my wireless drivers (I could have sworn it did in the beta!) so I have no internet. No internet means I can't download the applications I want, nor can I try out the new "social from the start" stuff, which means I'm not using Ubuntu right now.

I guess I'll have to tether my phone's internet connection to it long enough for it to find the wifi drivers. I don't know why I didn't think of that earlier!

What I can say is that I'm not very fond of the new placement of the minimize, maximize, close buttons. They're on the left of all windows now. In the beta I thought they did that so that people would know it was beta and not to do anything important on a beta build. You know, change things up to remind people it was unstable. But I guess that's how Macs do it. [sarcasm]And you know how much everybody wants to have a Mac.[/sarcasm]

The new theme is kind of a nice change from the dirty, earthy brown to something more colorful.

But other than those few superficial changes I can't yet speak about the experience of the new release. I suppose with an OS that has a new release every 6 months you shouldn't expect an amazing new experience like you would for Windows. Ubuntu uses more of an iterative improvement process than the typical Windows model of "patch major bugs until the new version."

So I guess that's all I have to say about Ubuntu 10.04 for now.


I'll also try out the Netbook Remix edition on my netbook in the next few days and see how that goes. It should have an easier time finding proper drivers and things, so I'm expecting a better initial experience.

6620

Living Room / Re: Apple acquires music service Lala

« Last post by Deozaan on May 01, 2010, 02:31 PM »

What the heck? I had like 50 song credits on my account and now they're gone!

6621

Living Room / Re: Apple acquires music service Lala

« Last post by Deozaan on May 01, 2010, 02:30 PM »

So how am I going to be able to listen to my digital streaming-only music I purchased from Lala?

6622

General Software Discussion / Re: 15 Hacks Every Dropbox User Should Know

« Last post by Deozaan on April 30, 2010, 12:16 PM »

I don't know about that whole truecrypt thing and it syncing on the parts of files that have changed.  I haven't tried syncing anything truly large with the service.  Has anyone else done so?

-wraith808 (April 30, 2010, 10:39 AM)

I'm not sure about that either. But I saw someone in the comments say that you have to be careful with TrueCrypt and DropBox because the TC volume is only updated after it has been dismounted.

So if you forgot to dismount the volume before you left, you won't have the updated files synced.

6623

Found Deals and Discounts / Steam Sale: 50% off Guild Wars Trilogy

« Last post by Deozaan on April 29, 2010, 09:57 PM »

Celebrate the Guild Wars 5th Anniversary with 50% off the entire Guild Wars series this week only.

-http://store.steampowered.com/news/3767/

If you don't know, Guild Wars is an MMORPG without a monthly subscription cost. Once you buy the game you're free to play it.

You can get the whole trilogy for $20 USD or if you already own one (or two) of the games you can buy them individually but at a higher total cost: Guild Wars: Game of the Year Edition is $10, while Factions and Nightfall are $15 each.

If you have it or get it, let me know. It would be fun to party up with some fellow DC members.

6624

Living Room / Re: Apple instigates Police Raid over lost/stolen iPhone 4G

« Last post by Deozaan on April 29, 2010, 04:46 PM »

That it was bought goes a long way to showing it was also considered a valuable item to others too. Just because 'most people' wouldn't see the value in it doesn't inherently devalue the item.

-Eóin (April 29, 2010, 06:23 AM)

I disagree. In fact, I think I take quite the opposite stance in most cases.

For instance, does any Toasted Cheese sandwich have an intrinsic value of over $100? How about $1,000? GoldenPalace bought one for $28,000.

Just because 'a few people' are willing to spend crazy amounts of money on something doesn't inherently give the item great value.

Although I must concede on the following point:

This phone was a very valuable commodity beyond just the sums of it's parts as it represents highly prised IP.

6625

DC Gamer Club / Re: Lets get organized so we can get gaming!

« Last post by Deozaan on April 28, 2010, 10:33 PM »

Necro Thread Warning!

I thought this would be a good time to resurrect this old thread from the dead to let everyone know that I created a DonationCoder group on Steam a long time ago, so if you're interested in joining, add me as a friend and let me know who you are from the forums and I'll send you an invite.