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Recent Posts

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8526
Hi....guess I better stop lurking ( tho I don't think I'll have much to say anyway ;) )
I'm an Aussie sheila, living simply, in a ghost town in South Australia.
I love reading  on here, even tho most of it is beyond my comprehension....too many years on the clock to really get into all the coding stuff...more a "user" than a coder anyway.
-phoenixxinOz (April 20, 2009, 07:20 PM)

a belated welcome phoenixxinOz - and you wont be the only non-coder here ;)
8527
Living Room / Re: for the past 50 years, American students were taught bullshit
« Last post by tomos on April 21, 2009, 09:51 AM »
For what I see as good German language, I recommend reading Siegfried Lenz or Günter Grass. So going back to the English language: What's your recommendation of a Good English Book? Should I try the classic Shakespeare, or Hemingway, or Poe?
first, thanks for the german book recommendations :up:

so,
you're looking for a Good English Book - I'm not sure what you're implying by those capitals there, lol. That'll be like searching for the "Great American Novel". I cant tell you what's good in the context of this thread but I'll happily recommend a couple of books.

these below are all older books (but all 20th C. except for Jane Austen) - I would have to think/search some more for more recent writers.

Jane Austen "Pride and Prejudice" - you may be confronted with some not so modern English, and convoluted sentences too, but she did write great books!

I've only read one short story by F.Scott Fitzgerald but that was really beautifully written.

P.G.Wodehouse not only writes in beautiful English but is also very entertaining along the way (a rare combination) - there can be a lot of slang in his books - maybe, as a non-native English speaker, avoid the "Jeeves" series because they're the worst 'culprits'. Actually, I'm not sure how readable he would be for a non-native English speaker :-\  I'd recommend any books about Blanding Castle/Lord Ermsworth.

Hemingway "For Whom the Bell Tolls" & "The Old Man and the Sea" are both great books. "For Whom the Bell Tolls" does use a sort of archaic style in the dialogue to indicate when they are speaking Spanish (or it may be a dialect, I cant remember exactly)
8528
Living Room / Re: for the past 50 years, American students were taught bullshit
« Last post by tomos on April 21, 2009, 02:52 AM »
going back to the example of learning a second language -
hmmm -  well you could learn it by example if you had the option of living/working with native speakers, but if you want to learn it quickly and in a school scenario you really do need the grammar to hang the language on, so-to-speak.

Of course to really learn the language you've then got to use it with native speakers (e.g. in dc forums!) and then you'll often find that this (or that) way of saying something, while correct, is very stilted and everyone actually says it another way. The language is alive, not a set of rules.

So I guess that leaves me somewhere between Kartal and Eóin ...
but you just gotta love f0dder's spanner in the works ;D :-*

Actually grammar is a relative construct by human beings, it is unnatural. I would  say that do not rely on grammar much. Grammar kills the language and puts it in a box. Grammar is elitist and creates class division.  Let languages flourish as they want to be. I hope it makes sense. I am an anti-grammar guy, really :)
Eye r liek 2tally in aggrement!
Whut can i say 2 dat ????!!!!? omg wtf
8529
Living Room / Re: for the past 50 years, American students were taught bullshit
« Last post by tomos on April 20, 2009, 04:01 PM »
Here we have a good example, Jimdoria is claiming that couple hundred years ago grammar was not established properly that is why he is having hard time understanding literature from that time. Well guess what, actually the language you talk today is probably more like a radiation infected amorph language compared to the past. I think you guys think that mankind keeps moving forward thus language and grammar move forward as well. That is a false feeling in my book.
I agree there.

There is no right or wrong way of talking a language, there are only vague patterns that are accepted by all levels of the society.
agreed again

I am sure none of you could pass your english class if you fail in grammar even if you write an amazing poem or story with the grammar of 500 years ago.
I think if you write "an amazing poem or story" - even using modern language, you're probably going to break any number of the more rigid grammar rules that exist today  :)
8530
General Software Discussion / Re: Total Commander v7.50 Public Beta 1
« Last post by tomos on April 20, 2009, 07:32 AM »
2tomos
I've sent an e-mail to author few days ago
-fenixproductions (April 20, 2009, 07:07 AM)

well that's great :up:
8531
General Software Discussion / Re: Total Commander v7.50 Public Beta 1
« Last post by tomos on April 20, 2009, 04:35 AM »
tomos, if you look I already voiced support in that thread days ago supporting a request for a discount.

Ooups, sorry Innuendo!

re getting discounts, AFAIK the problem is that no-one is really running that section at the moment..
If anyone was willing to take the initiative and contact Total Commander's author, I'm sure mouser would take it from there (if a discount were offered)
8532
General Software Discussion / Re: Total Commander v7.50 Public Beta 1
« Last post by tomos on April 19, 2009, 03:55 PM »
and,
not wanting to rub salt in (honestly! - I'm happy to see loads of requests for Total Commander discounts :Thmbsup:)
Total Commander discount?
8533
Living Room / Re: for the past 50 years, American students were taught bullshit
« Last post by tomos on April 19, 2009, 02:45 PM »
Guys I think your over reacting a bit. The point of language is just communication. We can all see different dialects around us and so of course some consistency and rules have to be established to create a common base that all can understand and read and information can flow freely.
good point Eóin

I've just read the whole thread quickly so a couple of thoughts inspired by same

unfortunately,
the origin of actually creating a standard English (in England) involved class, elitism, and keeping the little man down. Ironically, you get snobbery on both "sides" these days - if you speak proper (:p) you may just as well get looked down on as if you don't. So everyone has to look after themselves, which is only natural after all (innit!? - I find myself alternating between compulsive urges to speak not "proper", and worrying that I'll make some stupid grammar mistake - that says a lot in itself I guess ... )

I'm living in Germany - when I moved here I went to the local Volkshochschule and did four months or so of full time courses learning German. But when I get served in the shops or meet people through the Sport club, or wherever, they speak a different language - in lots of ways it's almost the same, but it's so different that I really feel like I'm learning two languages. Then I heard people speaking Dutch and I realise that's also a closely related language. English too for that matter as you move further north. Gradually I got a sense of an area with related languages with one merging into the next. So, while it is artificial that someone at some stage decided that the dialect from around Hamburg should be the "High" German language, it is also very helpful* as Eóin says above  :)

* [edit] especially when you have over 100 million native speakers of many different dialects. I know North America doesnt have much in the line of different dialects as such, but worldwide, English is spoken very differently (natively) in many different countries. And judging from some English people I've heard, they still have some pretty strong dialects within the country over there - never mind some of the Scottish accents ;) [/edit]
8534
Living Room / Re: Tech News Weekly: Edition 16-09
« Last post by tomos on April 19, 2009, 01:19 PM »
yeah,
#4 is very entertaining:
> TWC will shelve the trials "while the customer education process continues."
dont you just love to get some "free" education for a change ;D

#2 - they'll just have to go back to old-fashioned banking :-\

#9  LOL  ;D
8535
Living Room / Re: Please help me build my new computer, DC!
« Last post by tomos on April 17, 2009, 03:38 PM »
MonitorBenQG2400WD (x2)$610.17NCIXUS

how are you getting on with these two :) ?
8536
Note Taking Software / Re: SuperboyAC's Notetaking Software Roundup #1
« Last post by tomos on April 17, 2009, 04:22 AM »
I know (I believe) that IQ/SQLNotes saves in real time as well but it's a very different beast to Evernote! There are surely othjer notetakers that have that capability - this was talked about somewhere here :-\

EDIT/
related thread:-
pls recommend a good benign keylogger I think there was another one too but ...
8537
What's the Best? / Re: Anti-Virus Package
« Last post by tomos on April 16, 2009, 05:17 PM »
In no way did I mean to imply that I care ;)
gotcha lol
No, the aspect I was considering was someone physically checking up your computer to see what liscences you have.
8538
have you seen this
Guide for Creating an Acronis Bootable USB Hard Disk
I have no experience with it so cant really comment myself ...
8539
Note Taking Software / Re: SuperboyAC's Notetaking Software Roundup #1
« Last post by tomos on April 16, 2009, 03:24 PM »
No, it's stored locally then synced.  If you don't want it to sync, then don't put in the password.
Yeah, I don't know why ver 3 is getting such bad press. It offers the opportunity of online storage/sync but you can use it solely offline just as you could ver 2.2. Personally, I like the online capability and I much prefer ver 3's interface.

I cant remember the details now but I recall people saying the actual programme was dumbed down (in comparision to previous versions) & I thought that was a big factor in upsetting lots of people.
can it still do all that nice tagging it used be able to do?
8540
Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Total Commander 7.50 public beta 1 - mini-review
« Last post by tomos on April 16, 2009, 11:18 AM »
Thanks Fenix :Thmbsup:
8541
Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: move small dialog windows to cursor position
« Last post by tomos on April 16, 2009, 09:34 AM »
Well I enabled the shortcuts and clicked the one for
> MakeNotDetectableTitle
when the popup window was visible (& presumably had focus) and it's remained in it's corner since (good window!)

Re changing the shortcuts - it's difficult to know what works without doing a big experiment - I mean to say:-
I dont know how to type in e.g. Control key or Windows key - do you think should I use the Autohotkey shorthand for the different keys ?

thanks!
8542
What's the Best? / Re: Anti-Virus Package
« Last post by tomos on April 16, 2009, 06:18 AM »
Somebody please enlighten me. How would they actually know that you use it commercially?
...
I use my lapdogs at home and at the uni but use some 'free for private use' software. Am I commiting a crime :tellme: :o
I dont think so - and wouldnt care if I was you ;)
it's more if you're registered as self-employed or as a business -
then you can get checked up on (probably varies from country to country)
These days there's so much good cheap or free software I made a decision to stick to the rules - it's one less thing to worry about
8543
Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: move small dialog windows to cursor position
« Last post by tomos on April 15, 2009, 03:48 PM »
more starting up stuff :)

how do I exclude a particular popup window or is that possible?
it's from Filehamster -
it popups a notification that it's making a revision and I dont want it going to where the mouse is

Would it be one of the shortcut options:
> MakeNotDetectable
> MakeNotDetectableTitle

thanks for any help ;)

8544
thanks dan
I'll pass on that info (good to know about AVG too ..)
8545
Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: move small dialog windows to cursor position
« Last post by tomos on April 15, 2009, 07:15 AM »
a word of warning to anyone trying it out for the first time - it has hotkeys on by default -
so it steals the F8 through to F11 keys from all apps
8546
Now i've been looking at COMODO's free firewall and AV:
http://www.personalf...om/download_cis.html

Any takers on this one? Is it low on resources? Quick to update?

did you try that out yourself Dantheman?
(I've got the same questions!)
8547
What's the Best? / Re: Anti-Virus Package
« Last post by tomos on April 15, 2009, 06:36 AM »
does anyone know of a reasonable anti-virus that's also free for commercial use ?

I'm presuming Comodo would be free that way, seeing as they dont have a paid version
Actually there's not much reference to Comodo anti-virus here (& most references are quite old now) - anyone got experience there?

It's for a vista laptop (for a family member who last year paid Norton a huge fee and is now broke lol)
8548
Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!
« Last post by tomos on April 15, 2009, 04:22 AM »
As for videos, Phil Collins Land of Confusion video was one of the most memorable to me.  I remember it mostly because it REALLY freaked me out the first time I saw it.  The song's not too bad either.

when you can get past that firewall have a look as best ever spitting image part 1 of 7 (slightly NSFW I guess) - they did that Genesis video too.
Not music but well worth a look (even if you dont know any of the politicians, well, Reagan and Thatcher are in there, and the Queen of course!)
8549
Site/Forum Features / Re: New DC Member Kit Stuff
« Last post by tomos on April 15, 2009, 04:01 AM »
I'd be happy with the bookmarks but not so interested in the stickers (but no objections to them either)
I'd buy a shot glass if they were produced
8550
Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Super Flexible File Synchronizer Mini-Review
« Last post by tomos on April 15, 2009, 03:58 AM »
So, how is the company going in general? Are they bug fixing and feature updating and such? Does anyone know?

yes, very regular updates/fixes
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